Decatur, GA — The Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights celebrates a historic milestone as the Decatur City Commission unanimously passed a groundbreaking reparations resolution on Monday, May 5, 2025. This pivotal action establishes the Decatur Reparations Task Force, a community-led initiative aimed at addressing the enduring harms inflicted upon Black residents through systemic racism and discrimination.

Additionally, the City issued the following public apology, “To Black residents—past and present—and their descendants for the City’s role in enacting and upholding systems of racial injustice that caused deep and lasting harm to the African American community.”

The apology, adopted as part of the City’s newly passed reparations resolution, acknowledges that for over two centuries, Black residents in Decatur were subjected to systemic oppression including enslavement, convict leasing, discriminatory housing policies, school segregation, economic exclusion, and forced displacement. The City profited from and perpetuated policies rooted in white supremacy, resulting in the destruction of Black-owned homes, businesses, and neighborhoods—most notably the historic Beacon Hill community.

Additionally, the reparations task force will comprise 11 members, including historians, legal experts, youth representatives, and community leaders, who will develop comprehensive recommendations over the next three years to redress past harms and promote equity.

The Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights Reparations Committee is led by Co-Chairs Mama Nobantu Ankoanda, a lifelong reparations activist, and Civil Rights Attorney and Human Rights Organizer Mawuli Davis. They are joined by Beacon Hill Black Alliance Co-Chairs Fonta High and Phil Cuffey. Attorney Davis, who also serves as President-Elect of the National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL) and is a lifetime member of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N’COBRA), authored the resolution with the support of the committee and three distinguished reparations experts: Dr. Akinyele Umoja, historian and professor in the Department of Africana Studies at Georgia State University; Professor Emerita Natsu Saito of Georgia State University College of Law; and Jumoke Ifetayo, a longtime reparations organizer and Senior Advisor to First Repair.

Commissioner Lesa Mayer has worked closely with the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights, playing a key role in facilitating access to City of Decatur archives. Her support enabled the research necessary to produce a resolution with this level of historical detail and specificity, documenting the harms and injuries Black residents have historically suffered as a result of public policy decisions made by the City.

This achievement is the culmination of years of dedicated advocacy and research by the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights, in collaboration with community members, scholars, and students.

As part of its ongoing commitment to truth, justice, and historical redress, the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights organized a series of community gatherings and listening sessions at Lilly Hill Baptist Church. These sessions were held to hear directly from historic residents of the Beacon Hill community—now elders—who lived through segregation, displacement, and the transformation of their neighborhoods. These gatherings created sacred spaces for shared memory, healing, and truth-telling, all deeply rooted in Black resilience and lived experience.

This powerful community work was supported by the development of the Decatur People’s History, a retelling of the city’s past through the voices and perspectives of those historically marginalized and oppressed in Decatur. This public education initiative was launched to provide critical historical context to the City of Decatur’s 200th birthday commemoration. It was coordinated by the Decolonize Decatur Committee of the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights. Oral history interviews and archival documentation were guided by Mayor Emerita Elizabeth Wilson, while extensive historical research was contributed by local historian and creator of DecaturHistory.com, Laurel Wilson.

“As the truth of Black oppression and resilience is being stripped from museums and our federal government’s records, resolutions like ours are more critical than ever to preserving that truth. Providing redress to those who have sustained documented harm is a common practice in this country. Bringing forward this resolution on behalf of those who have been harmed by our beloved city was an easy decision and the right thing to do.”

– City of Decatur Commissioner Lesa Mayer

“By taking the simple yet powerful step of acknowledging its own history, the Decatur City Commission has affirmed that truth matters. Its groundbreaking resolution gives us hope for a future in which the basic human rights of all peoples are respected.”

-Professor Emeritus Natsu Saito, Georgia State University College of Law

“The City of Decatur (Georgia) apologizing for historic harms against people of African descent and its approving the formation of a Reparation Task Force is meaningful and historic. Led by the grassroots effort of the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights, this resolution and decision assists moving towards redressing past injustices and is in step with over 100 municipalities and some states towards a true recognition of our history and achieving dignity and empowerment for Black communities. It also challenges the erasure of the historic Black community of Beacon Hill. Free the land!”

– Dr. Akinyele Umoja, professor in the Department of Africana Studies at Georgia State University

“The city of Decatur’s vote to pass the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights’ reparations resolution is a first step towards redress and opportunity to repair the harms done by the government, as led by the community. Local reparations remains a vehicle for building power for the national movement that has been long overdue in coming to fruition in the U.S. for people of Afrikan descent. ”

– Fonta High, Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights

“The Decatur Reparations resolution is an important step in the truth telling and redress journey for those Beacon Hill legacy residents who suffered oppression often after paying their taxes. It should be a gateway for healing for our city.”

-Phil Cuffey, Beacon Black Alliance for Human Rights Co-Chair

“The work on this resolution is a collective act of remembrance and resistance. It is our acknowledgment that our ancestors—those who were enslaved, those who endured discrimination, oppression, and subjugation through the Jim Crow era—are not only not forgotten, but their stories and their humanity are being centered. This is, indeed, Malinda’s resolution—Malinda, the African woman who was put up for sale on the steps of the DeKalb County Courthouse in 1826. Our work moving forward is the continued reclamation of Malinda’s humanity, and the humanity of all our ancestors.”

– Attorney Mawuli Davis, Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights Reparations Committee Co-Chair

“I have been an advocate and organizer for reparations for all of my adult life. As an elder in this movement, I am deeply grateful to witness this step toward reparative justice being realized. I remain committed to continuing the work—telling our people’s story and seeking redress for the profound injuries we have endured.”

– Mama Nobantu Ankoanda, Beacon Black Alliance for Human Rights Reparations Committee Co-Chair