Date: 5/24/2022
AMHERST – The Amherst Town Council unanimously voted to refer the request of the African Heritage Reparation Assembly (AHRA) to earmark cannabis tax revenue for reparations to the Finance Committee during its five-hour meeting on May 16. The council heard public comments for nearly an hour with topics varying but overall focusing on support for the earmarking of cannabis funds.
After lengthy discussions earlier in the meeting pushed the agenda back, District 1 Councilor and AHRA Co-Chair Michelle Miller was asked if she would consider postponing their presentation as other items were required to be completed by the state.
“The members of the African Heritage Reparations Assembly have been here since 6:30 [p.m.]. We were told our presentation would be at 7 [p.m.], I understand that that isn’t always the case but it’s now 9:30 [p.m.],” Miller said. “I think we have a lot of momentum with the public comments that we received, and I would like us to have the time to make our presentation tonight.”
Amherst resident Mattea Kramer helped Reparations for Amherst prepare and submit a partial historical timeline of slavery and structural racism in Amherst in December 2020 and a report on anti-Black racism and Black-white disparities in Amherst in March 2021. She is a professional researcher and writer and was one of the first residents to speak during public comment.
“Amherst has been designated by the commonwealth’s Cannabis Control Commission as a community disproportionately affected by the criminalization of cannabis. This designation is unfortunately consistent with Reparations for Amherst’s research findings,” Kramer said. “A decade of policing statistics in town indicate that Black drivers speed less and are involved in fewer car accidents here, but are stopped, searched and arrested disproportionately relative to whites. Additionally, the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District’s own data over the past 30 years show that Black students are disproportionately disciplined relative to their white peers. Please, let us heed the recommendations of the AHRA and permanently dedicate cannabis tax revenue for reparatory justice so that Amherst may achieve the council’s stated commitment to end the structural racism that as of today remains deeply rooted in our town.”
Miller’s memo to the council detailing AHRA’s requests was highlighted by all of cannabis tax revenue being dedicated to the Municipal Reparations Plan in development, annual transfers in the future of 20 percent of the town’s certified free cash to the designated reparations stabilization fund, and $6 million across three rounds of ARPA funds to go toward housing for reparative home ownership assistance and the development and building of affordable homeownership units on the town’s land.
She told the council that her initial introduction was scrapped after seeing news on the Buffalo, NY, shooting. She said she immediately called co-founder of AHRA Matthew Andrews and reminisced on their conversation.
“The purpose of terrorism is to use fear to accomplish a social or political goal. That’s what this was; it’s a lynching,” Andrews said to Miller. “It’s not a state-sanctioned lynching, but this was a terrorist act with the intention of using fear to accomplish a political goal … People are trying to stand up for their own personal dignity in the face of ongoing and persistent terrorism. The terrorism that happened during slavery, during the time of lynchings, during mass incarceration, and during big events like these is the same terrorism. And there’s the people – Black Americans who don’t get a break. They’re always being terrorized in small ways and big ways.”
Miller followed the story by asking her colleagues to use their power as legislators and leaders that have committed to engaging in a path of remedy for residents of African heritage to establish a clear and consistent revenue stream for real change in Amherst. She asked them to broadcast to the world that they will not let another day go by without doing just that before turning it over to other AHRA members in attendance Dr. Amilcar Shabazz, Hala Lord and Alexis Reed.
“May all of our thoughts and prayers be transformed into actions and change,” Lord said. “Although we have not had a mass shooting in Amherst, Black bodies have been under assault since before the incorporation of this town in 1759. Amherst cannot grow into its fullest greatness without first acknowledging racialized harm perpetuated on the Black residents’ past, present and I truly fear their future without education, advocacy and an investigation into, with the commitment to reducing harm from, the policies and actions of the town that disproportionately and discriminatingly targets us. And without major, meaningful movement toward reparative justice.”
Reed added, “Contrary to what you might want to believe, Black folks are indeed much more likely to be arrested even in states that have legalized marijuana. In Hampshire County, Black folks are arrested 18 times more than white folks. Let me remind you that our national and state average is four times. We have the second-highest racial disparity for marijuana arrests in the state, only second to our neighbors Franklin County, where Black folks are 116 times more likely to be arrested. At the end of last year, 73 percent of active cannabis dispensary owners, employees, executives and volunteers in Mass. were all white, despite launching the first equity program in the nation for this industry. This means that we are currently committed to arresting Black folks first and licensing them last.”
Lord also reminded the council that after being incarcerated and released, you now have a whole new heap of difficult roadblocks to federal funding, grants, employment and more.
“And now that the face of the seller of cannabis changes, it is legitimized and people are making millions without any of the obstacles or denials that many Black folk are still navigating,” Lord said.
The council’s unanimous support wasn’t without concern. At-Large Councilor Mandi Jo Hanneke said she was concerned with establishing a set amount of money without any clear plan for how it would be used from the AHRA. District 1 Councilor Cathy Schoen said the Finance Committee had already planned on dedicating that money to fund the Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service (CRESS) program, so a review by the committee would need to include a recommendation on where to cut the requested money out of.
“In an earlier session tonight, we heard that we really need to support the CRESS program and the match between cannabis funds and CRESS is so direct because it is a group that can have an alternative response to people in mental health crises with drug needs to combat the odd twist of fate Hala so eloquently talked about where we have money from a substance that used to send people to prison,” Schoen said. “I think we really need to take a hard look before we take money out of a budget that is supporting a program that is just getting started. We really have great hopes for it on the restorative and social justice end, we’ve made a real commitment making this program work and it needs direct funding support. These are tough choices, but we have limited resources.”
Unhappy with that logic, Shabazz said the council would do well to remember a statement it passed a while back in support of reparations. He said that reparations as they have been charged as a town committee to look into is specifically concerning people of African heritage. He admitted that they are still having ongoing discussions about the eligibility and where the funds would be applied specifically.
“CRESS program, Office of Equity and Inclusion, this is for everybody. This is for everybody,” Shabazz said. “This involves old people, young people, queer people, straight people and cis-gendered people. This involves black, white, yellow, every other color in the rainbow, this is about everybody. The CRESS program is for everyone. Reparations is something specifically trying to look at how African heritage people have been affected by the anti-Black racism of this town. I think we’d do well to be very clear if we are still on board with reparations, that we’re talking about something for a specific community around specific harms.”
The Finance Committee will now work on figuring out how to add the request into the fiscal year 2023 budget while keeping it balanced before returning to the council.