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Date: 4/4/2023
NORTHAMPTON — A timeline is officially set for how the city plans to take the next steps regarding the study of racialized harms throughout Northampton’s past and present.
In mid-February, the Northampton City Council approved a resolution to create a joint mayoral City Council commission to investigate racialized harms perpetrated against Black residents and workers over the course of Northampton’s history.
Introduced by Councilors Garrick Perry, Jamila Gore and Marissa Elkins, the resolution asks that the commission consider what initiatives could be funded and implemented by the city to support redress and fair treatment for Black people who live, work and learn in this community and examine ways to restore and grow and nourish Black community and culture in Northampton for future generations. The document also asks that at least 50% of the commission feature Black participants.
As part of the next steps, the resolution stated that the mayor and sponsors needed to relay a charge and composition of the commission, as well as an approximate timeline for its work, by the end of March.
During the council meeting on March 30, the sponsors addressed these steps by laying out a tentative timeline for how and when this committee will be formed.
According to Elkins, the sponsors used the formulation of the city’s Police Review Commission as a guide for how they wanted to address the composition of this committee that studies racialized harms.
“The first thing we wanted to balance was the idea of a manageable group size so we’ll be able to maintain a quorum and maintain its group composition throughout the whole process,” Elkins said. “For that reason, we wanted something a little bit smaller number than some of the other bodies…we also want to make sure that this body can meet the mandate that has been specified of being able to [have] 50% Black members.”
Elkins also said that sponsors concluded that a mix of city servants, such as someone from the Human Rights and Youth Commissions, and community activists who are either interested in this or who have continually vouched for this.
The sponsors also hope to have someone from one of Northampton’s historic organizations join the commission to provide expertise on city history.
The city is currently in the process of soliciting applications, and according to Elkins, the hope is to have a group “formed and named” by the beginning of May. The first meeting of the commission is expected to be conducted at the end of May, and a final report with findings by October 2024.
This council approved the resolution to form this commission in February after a Northampton Reparations Committee arose in 2021 to study and figure out ways to address the systemic harms found throughout Northampton’s history.
A petition was eventually developed by this committee calling on the mayor and City Council to establish a reparations commission that will eventually make recommendations for reparative actions in Northampton as a response to issues apparent in housing, employment, policing, schools, healthcare and transportation.
With the formation of a commission by May, the hope is Northampton is one step closer to that goal.
“We really wanted to give this committee a leg up by appointing folks from different boards and committees in the community…so that they would have the resources available,” Perry said, of the commission. “We don’t want this to be a performative act. We see that this commission could really give us a new perspective and help some much-needed change in our community.”
The council is asking anyone interested in joining to reach out to councilors in any way they can. The mayor and sponsors are now in the process of creating a flyer that provides steps for how someone may apply.