Distance Update, 21 January 2021

Total Reparations Walk 2021 distance is 27.54 kilometers

The Story of Reparations Walk

Just as the world was learning about the murder of George Floyd, I was restarting a journey for my health. Having been taking extended walks for the same six weeks that the world had been rising up against systemic racism and white supremacy, I realized something powerful: I can use my white body to raise awareness for the abuse and dismissal of Black bodies and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour) experiences. I started walking just for me, but now I'm walking for so much more.

For the second half of 2020, I asked white people to pledge reparations in connection with my exercise walks. While true reparations can only be made by significant change in our society, government, and institutions, the awareness that will lead to those changes must happen individually through sustained commitment to the work of listening, learning, and remaining in discomfort. The truth is that the wealth, infrastructure, and reputation of the United States have been built, in significant part, through the extraction of land, resources, and literal life from generations of people who did not consent and were not compensated for what was taken from them. Repentance and reparations are required if any sense of equality is to be constructed someday.

Having gained the pledges of 18 individuals and families, Reparations Walk paid reparations of over $3,400 in 2020. Recipients included the National Convocation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the African Descent Lutheran Association of the ELCA, and Black Lives Matter.

REPARATIONS WALK 2021

In 2021, we're hoping to grow the project, both in pledges and moving participants. Pledgers last year rightly pointed out that Indigenous people also deserve reparations, so we've expanded the reach while simultaneously giving up agency over the dollars we are paying. There are no choices to be made for recipients in 2021. Reparations will be divided equally among four organizations: National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA), Coming to the Table (CTTT), Native American Rights Fund (NARF), and NDN Collective. 

Paying Reparations

A Google Form is available to pledge to pay reparations based on this walking campaign. You can click the link or enter the address directly into your browser: tinyurl.com/reparationswalk2021. When you are pledging, you are able to pledge a dollar amount per kilometer walked between July 6 and December 31. The suggested amount is $0.20 per kilometer. Alternatively, you can pledge to pay reparations in a fixed amount.

The fiscal agent for this campaign is the Order of Lutheran Franciscans. The details of collecting your pledge will be shared after the end of the year. Once the distance tally is complete, those who have pledged will be contacted with their final pledge amount and how to submit it to the OLF, who will then forward all collected reparations to the designated recipients.

If you have any questions, please reach out through the contacts available on our contact page.