Reparations panel votes to focus on housing, farmland
Other Committee · Meeting of September 1, 2026
Northampton's Reparations Study Commission votes 7-0 to make housing and farmland the focus of its final report. With only three meetings left before its City Council mandate lapses, commissioners Jasmine Goodspeed, Felicia Longquist, Marsha Morris, Bill Newman, Garrick Perry and colleagues identified as Sudan and Montgomery Tamaclo backed the motion; Commissioner Mangum was not recorded voting. Morris said the commission's draft report calls for the city to dedicate 2.5 percent of free cash annually to reparations, alongside a proposed 10 percent home-purchase down payment program for Black residents.
UMass Amherst's Dr. Shabazz announced a Public Sector Endowment Grant funding research into Evanston, Asheville and San Francisco reparations models. Newman cited the historic case of Bathsheba Hall, an enslaved woman whose Northampton land was seized once the city recognized its value, calling it precedent "for demanding that kind of return."
In the full story:
- Who Was There
- Organizations And Documents Referenced
- The complete report — 2,273 words
Source: the Other Committee meeting of September 1, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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