We look back at the history of efforts in Boston to explore reparations, particularly through the lens of Sen. Bill Owens, the first Black member of the Massachusetts Senate. At the end of the 1980s, Owens, inspired by activism he had seen in Detroit, introduced a bill to pay reparations to Black descendants of enslaved people. That bill is credited as being a model for national legislation introduced by Rep. John Conyers in every session of the U.S. Congress since 1989 to create a national commission on reparations.

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Credits:

Host, Producer and Writer: Saraya Wintersmith 

Senior Producer: Jerome Campbell 

Editor: Paul Singer

Editorial Assistant: Mara Mellits 

Production oversight: Lee Hill 

Mixing and Sound Design: David Goodman & Gary Mott 

Theme Song and original music: Malik Williams 

Artwork: Mamie-Hawa Bawoh & Matt Welch 

Project Manager: Meiqian He 

Consulting Producer and Head of GBH Podcasts: Devin Maverick Robins