Juneteenth Screening: The Big Payback

Overview

For the first time in American history, a tax funded reparations bill targeted for Black Americans is passed in Evanston, IL. The film follows the fight of rookie alderman Robin Rue Simmons as she leads the community in an uphill battle to obtain this ‘big payback’. 

Meanwhile, in Washington DC, the formidable Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee continues the fight to pass HR 40: a national bill to examine the merits of introducing reparations for slavery to African Americans.

Together, they pressure the government to deliver monetary justice and appropriate remedies for Black Americans harmed by centuries of chattel slavery, state-sponsored terrorism, systemic injustice, and corporate exploitation. Will the debt ever be addressed, or is it too late for a reparations movement to finally get the big payback?

Screening followed by a panel conversation with activists and elected officials. This program is brought to you in partnership with the EDCJCC’s Center for Social Responsibility