From the archives of the Lakeland Community Heritage Project and the testimony of Lakelanders, members of a historic African American town in Maryland adjacent to Washington, DC, five recurring themes emerge. These themes describe the strength and vitality of Lakeland before “urban renewal.” Social psychiatrist Mindy Fullilove, M.D., observed that these “Five Pillars” represent all of the necessary components for a healthy urban habitat.

Blair Bowie is a voting rights attorney at the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) who is determined to restore voting rights for incarcerated Americans. Bowie works with Restore Your Vote, a program striving to abolish the last remaining Jim Crow law: the disenfranchisement of people with felony convictions.

The release of Restorative Justice for Lakeland: A Report of Historical Harms, Contemporary Impacts, and Policies for Redress marks a milestone in a long and ongoing struggle. It also marks something more: an affirmation of presence, memory, and power. It is now impossible to erase Lakeland from its history—or from its future.

In the wake of Governor Moore’s veto of statewide reparations commission legislation—and his affirmation of the urgency of addressing structural racial harm through tangible action—we offer these proposals as opportunities for meaningful action now.

I was deeply honored to attend the fourth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (PFPAD) in New York City, from April 14-17, 2025. For weeks leading up to this convening, there had been online side events. Many of these events focused on the intersection of health and healing and addressing the violence against Black women and girls around the world… These preparatory programs updated participants like me with the latest knowledge about conditions impacting people of African descent globally… This was my first Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, and I was approaching it with my “beginner’s mind,” the student with everything to learn.

Today was a long but good day. I had the honor of giving testimony before the Maryland Senate Committee on Education, Energy, and Environment on MD SB469 – the Harriet Tubman Community Investment Act (Maryland Reparations Study for Black Descendants of Enslaved Individuals). We were required to submit our testimony in advance, and I thought I was being slick by submitting mine as “written testimony” instead of “oral and written testimony'“; My plan was to have my testimony on the record and then sit back and watch the activities unfold.

Reparations and Peacebuilding: two words that seem unrelated. Many think Reparations only relates to things that happened “back then.” And that peacebuilding only relates to things happening “over there.” But both are a significant part of building healthy and just societies. And if we bring them together, we can see they are deeply interrelated. Peacebuilding offers a few frames to help us further explore the work of Reparations.