Illinois city hands out $25K cash payments to 44 Black residents through reparations program

Evanston, Illinois. will issue $25,000 to 44 residents in reparations payments, the City’s Reparations Committee has announced.

Established in 2019 and approved by the City Council in 2021, the program issues $25,000 direct cash payments to Black residents and descendants of Black residents who lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969.

Evanston was the first city in the nation to pass a reparations plan, pledging $10 million over a decade to Black residents. 

The payments are intended to cover housing expenses...