by Reagan Jackson
Join Natasha Marin and Reagan Jackson for a moderated discussion of the Reparations.me project Thursday, September 22 at 7:00pm, Northwest African American Museum
It’s been three months since local artist and activist Natasha Marin launched her Reparations project . What began as an invitation to a facebook page has grown into a website and a movement that has raised $10,000 through its troll fund and sparked a viral conversation.
“There is something you can do,” is the tagline for the project. In the wake of yet another tragedy, the back to back murders of Alton Sterling and Philando Castille, Marin noting the grief and helplessness flooding her social media posed the question: what can we do personally to combat systemic oppression?
Marin combined the concept of the gift economy with a request that white people leverage their privilege in material ways to support people of color. She named it Reparations, not in homage to the idea of the US government parceling out wealth to atone for slavery as many people assumed, but because the true meaning of the word is to repair, to make whole.
Marin held up a mirror to her community of facebook friends, asked them to look within themselves and identify the places in need of healing and also asked what they would be willing to give in service of the healing of others. These are a few of the questions we will be discussing Thursday September 22nd.
Whether you agree or disagree with the project or simply want to learn more, this will be a forum to grapple with issues of privilege, systemic oppression, violence, interpersonal relationships, and how we can move forward as a community.
For more about the project check out Reagan Jackson’s article: http://www.seattleglobalist.com/2016/07/20/reparations-reimagined-online-giving-systemic-racism-natasha-marin/54085