Good Ole Abe and Emancipation and Reparations

Illinois State Representative Carol Ammons (103rd District) traced the legal authorizations of the transatlantic slave trade, Lincoln's political career and limits, the Homestead Act, the Emancipation Proclamation, Freedmen's labor colonies, and Andrew Johnson's reversal of land grants. She argued for reparatory justice and self-determination, described Illinois legislation on ancestral DNA tracing developed with a U of I anthropologist, and cited HR40 and Illinois HR292, which she said Colombia adopted. A Q&A followed with audience critiques of Lincoln and of U.S. sovereignty. Friday Forum / Conversation Cafe.