A new project created by the Bush Foundation is set to hand over a staggering $50 million to slave descendants located in Minnesota and the Dakotas over a period of eight years. The purpose of the donation is to try and stimulate the development of Black wealth, which they say will aid in the reversal of alleged systemic injustices and have a positive impact on local communities in those states.
The StarTribune revealed that the Bush Foundation is joining hands with Nexus Community Partners and the St. Paul organization, say that the new effort, known as the Open Road Fund is the first of its kind in the state of Minnesota and is also one of the first large-scale initiatives nationwide that seeks to link grants to the descendants of slaves.
Nexus will start accepting applications for the grant on June 19, which, for those who might not know, is Juneteenth, a national holiday set aside for the remembrance of slavery ending in the U.S.
“When we have access to an abundance of resources, we can cultivate healing, safety, care and liberation on our own terms,” Nexus CEO Repa Mekha said of the program.
Grants up to $50,000 will be awarded to some 800 individuals who are descendants of slaves by the time 2031 rolls around. Around half of the grants to be issued are expected to be given out in Minnesota, which has a significantly larger black population than the Dakotas.
For those that think is some kind of soft version of reparations, both the Bush Foundation, along with Nexus, say that is not at all the case, due to the fact the program is not extensive enough. However, many leaders in the community lumped the effort into other projects that are attempting to address the generational effects of slavery in a way that is meaningful to descendants.
One example of this comes from Georgetown University, located in our nation’s capital. The school gives out scholarships to current descendants of the 272 slaves that the institution itself sold back in 1838. The university has also been considered spending $400,000 a year on school, health, and other efforts to try to atone for its act.
California has now created a task force that is demanding both apologies and reparations for those who are descendants of slavery who suffered from the theft of land other types of injustices. If such a program were to be approved, taxpayers in the land of fruits and nuts would be paying billions to fund it.
Other cities and agencies are also looking into the programs, however, the Open Road Fund would be presenting grants first and foremost to the Midwest, according to information from Matthew Ramadan, who currently serves as the president of the New Africa Community Development Corp.
At the moment, the separate grants are far too small to lead to large-scale economic developments in the state of Minnesota, Ramadan said he’s hopeful.
“The hope is that these funds will actually reach down into the communities as intended,” he commented.
According to the StarTribune, the grants are being viewed as one way to help tackle what they refer to as “longstanding injustices” that have come from slavery, Jim Crow laws, and other problems like police brutality and housing issues.
Nexus is hoping individuals who apply for the grant will utilize the cash from the program to purchase homes or to start a business, buy a life insurance police, or something else that would lead to economic healing, Danielle Mkali, the senior director for the organiztion, went on to say during an interview on Monday.
The Open Road Fund allows a group of five individual applicants to pool their grant money together in order to buy one piece of property. Nexus is also pushing for single parents, those who previously served jail time, the elderly, folks with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ community to fill out applications for a grant.
“Through this $50 million Open Road Fund, Nexus has a chance to provide a return on the investment Black folks have long made to this country and create Black wealth,” Mekha continued in the interview. “To us, Black wealth-building is about creating spaces and opportunities that help all Black people to thrive.”
Applications for the program are to be turned in by July 28.
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