A Massachusetts Senate candidate supports giving reparations for slavery.
Juwan Skeens, a Democrat from Dorchester, is running for state Senate in the First Suffolk District, primarying incumbent State Senator Nick Collins (D-South Boston).
Skeens is a commissioner on the Boston People’s Reparations Commission, according to the organization’s web site. It’s a private organization with several dozen commissioners that advocates for reparations for the descendants of African-American slaves in Boston.
Here is a description of the organization from its web site:
We are committed to a reparations strategy in Boston that emphasizes civic power, pedagogy (civic literacy) and the purposeful development of existing and future leadership. A robust reparations outcome in Boston is our ultimate goal. Our actions over the next three years and beyond will include: continuous community meetings, organizing based on praxis (practice), collective action and civic reorganization that support the capabilities of volunteers and community residents, especially within Boston’s Black communities. Social and traditional media utilizations also become means toward our effectiveness.
Seventy community volunteer commissioners lead this project.
THE ROLE OF EACH COMMISSIONER IS TO BRING MORE PEOPLE INTO THE PROCESS. EACH COMMISSIONER IS BEING ASKED TO ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE IN DEFINING OUR MOVEMENT AND SUPPORTING THE MOVEMENT.
Though the description says the organization has 70 commissioners, the web site only lists 40, including Skeens.
The Boston People’s Reparation Commission called for the city of Boston to provide $15 billion in reparations to its black residents earlier this year.
“The $15 billion would be split three ways, according to the commission’s proposal: $5 billion in direct cash payments to Black Boston residents, a $5 billion investment in new financial institutions, and $5 billion to address the racial education gap and for anti-crime measures,” NBC 10 Boston explained.
Boston has 138,870 black residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, meaning that $5 billion in direct reparations payments would exceed $36,000 per person.
For comparison, Boston’s fiscal year 2025 budget is $4.6 billion — less than one-third of that $15 billion figure.
Skeens spoke in support of reparations at a Boston People’s Reparations Commission event in what the city government now calls Nubian Square (formerly Dudley Square) in Dorchester on May 18, 2024. However, no audio or video recording of his speech appears to be available online.
In a Facebook post promoting the event on May 8, however, Skeens called reparations a “crucial topic.”
Good afternoon, neighbors! I am thrilled to announce that as a candidate for Massachusetts Senate, I will be testifying at the Boston Reparations Community Hearing on May 18th at 10am. The hearing will take place at the Bruce C. Bolling Building, located at 2300 Washington Street in Nubian Square. I cordially invite you all to join me for this important event.
Let’s come together and make our voices heard as we discuss the crucial topic of reparations. Your presence and support are invaluable in shaping a more just and equitable future for our community.
Please mark your calendars and join me at the Boston Reparations Community Hearing on May 18th at 10am. Together, we can make a difference!
The First Suffolk District, which Skeens is running to represent, includes some of Boston, primarily South Boston, but also parts of Dorchester, the South End, Chinatown, Bay Village, Back Bay, and Roxbury, according to Collins’s Facebook page. The district includes Ward 1 Precinct 15; Ward 3 Precincts 7, 8, 13A, 14, 15, 16; Ward 4 Precincts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; Ward 5 Precincts 1, 13, 14; Ward 6, Ward 7; Ward 8 Precincts 1, 2, 6, 6A; Ward 9 Precincts 1, 2; Ward 13 Precincts 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10; and Wards 15 through 17.
Skeens could not be reached for comment on Thursday or Friday; nor could Collins.
New to NewBostonPost? Conservative media is hard to find in Massachusetts. But you’ve found it. Now dip your toe in the water for two bucks — $2 for two months. And join the real revolution.
