In 2023, New York became just the second state in the nation—after California—to establish a reparations commission to study the ongoing impact of slavery and propose redress. Since early 2024, the nine-member New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies (CCRR) has conducted public hearings and educational sessions across the state.
On June 11, 2025, the commission held a hearing at the Schomburg Center in Harlem. It began with an educational session outlining the history of slavery, segregation, and systemic economic exclusion in New York. But beneath this academic framing, tensions quickly surfaced.
Harlem lived up to its legacy: the hearing was met with unmistakable passion. Many Black Americans stood firm on lineage-based restitution, insisting that reparations be limited to descendants of U.S. chattel slavery. Several immigrant groups—primarily from African and Caribbean backgrounds—used the hearing to advocate for their own inclusion in any reparations package, seeking redress for harms experienced in the U.S. and abroad. Their testimony often shifted the focus away from lineage-based reparations, and at times dominated the floor, leading to firm pushback from Black American attendees. Many speakers emphasized that the commission was established to address the specific, state and federal-sanctioned harm inflicted on the descendants of U.S. chattel slavery—not to negotiate a broader pan-African settlement.
Dr. Greg Carr of Howard University, who advocated for reparations for all people of African descent, was met with strong opposition. His remarks exposed a divide that has become increasingly central to the process: Black Americans at the hearing reiterated that reparations are not a symbolic gesture of unity, but a demand for restorative justice rooted in the specific harms inflicted on U.S. descendants of slavery. They argued that other groups should pursue redress through their own political systems and historical frameworks.
The commission itself is mired in controversy, with growing concerns from both political figures and community advocates about its ideological direction and internal leadership. At the center of the debate are commissioners Ron Daniels and Lurie Daniel Favors, who are widely viewed as advancing a pan-Africanist reparations framework—a model critics argue dilutes the distinct legal and historical claim of Black Americans descended from U.S. chattel slavery. Dr. Daniels is the founder of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century, which convenes the National African American Reparations Commission (NAARC)—a body that explicitly calls for reparations for “all people of African descent” and follows a ten-point plan modeled after the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) approach. Daniels’ long-standing ties to NAARC and global Black advocacy have fueled fears that New York’s commission may veer away from its lineage-based legislative mandate. Favors, a media commentator and attorney who has appeared alongside Daniels in public forums promoting broader reparative frameworks, has drawn similar pushback from Black American grassroots organizers who see the commission drifting away from its intended purpose.
Amid mounting controversy, Commission Chair Dr. Seanelle Hawkins has stressed the need for a thoughtful process. “We want to make sure that we present to the governor … a quality report, and that’s going to take time … we work with our historians, we look at our policy analysts … we believe … it’s going to take us about 18 months,” she said.
A centralized online portal for public comment was initially launched via the state’s website—but as of July 2025, it appears to have been quietly closed. Public testimony is now accepted only via email or at scheduled hearings.
The commission’s next hearings are:
- July 31, 2025 — Public hearing at Brooklyn Heights Library, 286 Cadman Plaza W, Brooklyn, NY; 4:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
- August 1, 2025 — Commission business meeting at Brooklyn Heights Library (Multipurpose Room) and Onondaga Community College, Syracuse (Coulter Library Room C116); 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. Only the first 20 minutes are open to the public.
Meanwhile, ADOSAF NY continues to advocate for heritage-based reparations, maintaining that redress must be lineage-specific and centered on Black Americans directly descended from U.S. slavery.
The commission’s final report is expected in 2026, potentially including recommendations such as direct cash payments, educational investments, housing restitution, tax credits, and other remedies.
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