The Reparations Collective

WHAT IS THE REPARATIONS COLLECTIVE?

We began as a group of white anti-racists who acknowledge how much we benefit from white privilege.  Later, new people joined us and we were comprised of both settlers of European descent and also members of other cultural groups.

In recognition of the collective harms of the past and how they continue today, our goal was to agitate for reparations education, policy change, and legislation. We also invited people to join us in making regular, individual reparations payments.

The Collective believed that reparations for Black and Indigenous folks is vital for justice. 

We were based in western Massachusetts, USA, mostly Franklin County and welcomed participation from beyond this geographic region.

We found reparative justice work a joyful opportunity to collectively address centuries of racialized harm and take steps toward healing and repair for the benefit of all.

(Logo artist: Keven van Zoen)

OUR HISTORY

The Reparations Collective began as a committee of Racial Justice Rising in 2020, planning programming and educational opportunities centered on reparations. 

In 2021, we established accountability partnerships with reparations leaders and offered reparations workshops to the community. 

In 2022, in addition to reparations workshops, the Reparations Collective distributed $7000 to reparations-oriented organizations in our region.

In 2023, the Collective distributed another $7000 to local organizations, held and/or supported two workshops on reparations, agitated for reparations legislation and spread the good word in the region via tabling at events and the radio.  

In 2024, we expanded our accountability partner relationships to include Indigenous leaders. The reparations payments of $8,750 were divided between the Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuc band based in Fiskdale, MA and the Black-led Crossing the Waters Institute for Cultural Exchange based in Amherst, MA. We continued to table, agitate for reparations legislation and co-sponsored a Film Series on Reparations hosted by the Grassroots Reparations Campaign.

In early 2025, we felt honored that both groups, the Chaubunagungamaug band of Nipmuck Indians and Crossing The Waters Institute for Cultural Exchange agreed to continue this partnership.

As of April 29, 2025, the Chaubunagungamaug band of Nipmuck  and the Reparations Collective mutually agreed to change how we were working together.  As of August 1, 2025, we are no longer collecting reparations funds on their behalf. While we maintain our deep commitment to reparations for both Indigenous and Black communities, we encourage reparations contributions to be sent directly to the Nipmuck here: https://www.nipmuck.org/.

In late 2025, due to insufficient people-power to continue the administration of our reparative efforts, the Collective made the difficult decision to stop collecting funds for the Collective Reparations Fund (CRF).   We are proud of our organizing efforts in the last 5 years with educating, supporting legislation and funneling funds to various Black-led and Indigenous organizations.  

Now in early 2026, based on feedback from our former accountability partners, we are pausing to determine if we can continue functioning in a small way, perhaps sending out occasional e-newsletters about reparative justice events and legislation to support.