Far-left congresswoman revives ousted 'Squad' Dem's reparations push for Black Americans: 'We are awake'

A member of the House of Representatives' progressive Squad is reviving act aimed at giving reparations payments to Black Americans for slavery Rep Summer Lee D-Pa reintroduced a resolution Thursday that if passed could give federal dollars to the descendants of enslaved people brought from Africa to the United States Former Rep Cori Bush D-Mo who lost her primary to a more moderate Democrat introduced the reparations bill in the last Congress Bush's bill unveiled in May called for trillion to be put toward reparations payments for descendants of slavery in the United States but it did not go anywhere We say to the rest of America If you are truly committed to justice as you try to say you are you cannot look away You cannot turn your back on the demand for reparations because until there is repair there will be no justice And where there is no justice we will continue to fight We re not going anywhere We are awake We are organized and we will win Reparations now Bush mentioned alongside progressive Democrat Reps Ayanna Pressley D-Mass and Rashida Tlaib D-Mich at Lee's announcement HOUSE DEMOCRAT TO INTRODUCE REPARATIONS PUSH DECLARES 'MORAL OBLIGATION' TO SEND TRILLIONS TO BLACK AMERICANSPressley reintroduced a reparations bill during Black History Month this year with Sen Cory Booker D-N J rejecting the unprecedented onslaught against diversity equity and inclusion DEI initiatives from the Trump Administration HOUSE DEMS REINTRODUCE REPARATIONS RULE 'WE REFUSE TO BE SILENT' Trump s policies are nothing but anti-Blackness on steroids Pressley commented Thursday before adding This America wants to make America Jim Crow again and then several Reparations are a necessary step towards true equity in our country and a more just future There is an opportunity for Congress to confront our nation s racist history of slavery and White supremacy We must provide the descendants of enslaved Black families with the reparations they were promised Tlaib added It's an effort mounted by progressive Democrats every year but one that has little chance of passing That's especially true for the th Congress which is controlled by Republicans while President Donald Trump is also in the White House One longtime GOP lawmaker House Science Committee Chair Brian Babin R-Texas even introduced measure earlier this year to pull federal funding from state and local jurisdictions that enacted reparations policies We know there will be pushback Lee noted Thursday adding Reparations are a proposal to level the playing field but the only way we could ever have a level playing field is by remedying the harms that have been done by the system But Lee signaled on Wednesday that the long odds would not deter her When we think about the debt that is owed through our country the Trump administration and the Republican Party talks a lot about paying our debts This is one of them Lee explained Fox News The Pennsylvania progressive argued that the U S establishment crafted policies that intentionally disadvantaged Black Americans They were not theoretical but they were harms from administration policies and practices and laws There were real laws that were on the book that caused systemic disadvantages They created systemic advantages for other people So you can never have equal footing until you remedy that Lee explained