Uncounted Millions: Let's Get Free
45m
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Into America
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The movement for reparations is gaining traction across the country, as cities and states debate what is owed to the descendants of the formerly enslaved. This question – what is owed? – has plagued America since the Civil War. But what Into America discovered is that through a strange legal loophole, a small number of Black people may have managed to get paid. In this series, “Uncounted Millions: The Power of Reparations,” Pulitzer- and Emmy-winning host Trymaine Lee follows the story of Gabriel Coakley, perhaps one of the only Black men in America to receive something akin to reparations. We look at the mark it left on his family for generations and ask: if more Black families had been given a lump sum of money 150 years ago, how might the inequities facing Black America look different today? And how might knowing this story change our current conversation on reparations in America?
Episode 1 begins in Brooklyn with Coakley’s descendants. With them, we travel back to before the Civil War to learn about Gabriel Coakley’s fight for freedom and, eventually, restitution.In addition to Coakley descendants John, Adele, and Richard Flateau, Trymaine is joined by: authorDr. Chris Myers Asch, archivistsDr. Lopez Matthews and Ishamel Childs, and professorDr. Kellie Carter Jackson.
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Uncounted Millions BONUS: The GU272
In “Uncounted Millions: The Power of Reparations,” host Trymaine Lee used the story of Gabriel Coakley and his family to explore past and future conversations around reparations. That conversation has come to include educational institutions, many of which were built and sustained through enslavement, like the one mere blocks from Coakley’s home in Washington, DC: Georgetown University. On this special bonus episode, sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Into America dives into racial reconciliation and the GU272. Trymaine speaks with descendants of the 272 enslaved people sold to save the university, and the Jesuit leader trying to work towards repair. What can these conversations teach us about what, if anything, can be done to heal the past?
If you want more of Into America & you’re close to New York, check out a live event at the 92nd Street Y on May 29. We’ll continue the conversation on reparations with special guests Nikole Hannah-Jones and Michael Harriot. For more information, go to 92NY.org/events.
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Uncounted Millions: Reparations Now
Can reparations be a reality for all Black Americans? In New York, the state Gabriel Coakley’s descendants now call home, the governor has signed a bill creating a task force to consider reparations for formerly enslaved people. It’s the third state to do so. But beyond local considerations, does this debate have real momentum at a national level? In the final episode of “Uncounted Millions: The Power of Reparations,” we take a look at public opinion polling on reparations, along with the dollars and cents of making this a reality across the country. And we return to Gabriel Coakley’s descendants to understand how the family plans to keep alive the legacy of service and Black liberation he started a century and a half ago.
As we round out our series, Trymaine is joined by: the Coakley-Flateau family, Duke University professor Dr. William Darity, New York Senator Zellnor Myrie, Amherst political science professor Tatishe Nteta, and archivist Dr. Lopez Matthews.
Uncounted Millions: The Cost of Healing
As the Coakley and Flateau families change and grow through time, so too does the conversation on reparations for Black Americans. In this episode of “Uncounted Millions: The Power of Reparations,” both families move west to California, ultimately converging. Soon after, the Japanese Redress movement begins to shape the modern push for reparations in Black America.
In part 4, Trymaine is joined by: attorney Don Tamaki, activist Emily Akpan and California Congresswoman Barbara Lee.
Uncounted Millions: Things Fall Apart
Gabriel Coakley was an exception. But what about the rule? In episode 3 of “Uncounted Millions: The Power of Reparations,” we’ll travel with Coakley’s descendants as they attempt to learn about the other side of their family, the Flateaus. Most Black families were met with nothing but their freedom after the Civil War and, in some cases, barely even that. Like most, the Flateau family didn’t enter this new era with any sort of government payment for past wrongs. So how did they build a life for themselves? Trymaine joins the family for a trip to Louisiana to unearth some of this history. Along the way, they also get to the bottom of a big family secret.
This episode, Trymaine is joined by: Adele and Desmond Flateau, historian Dr. Sharlene Sinegal-DeCuir, and a series of Louisiana archivists he meets along the way.