Becoming 鈥淩eparationists鈥�

Feb 28, 2024

Social movements often consist of activists who have adopted a particular identity to help them articulate their personal connection to a cause. Can the same happen for the movement for reparations?

In a story for the new YES! digital series 鈥�Realizing Reparations,鈥� Trevor Smith explores that question: 鈥淐an reparationist be a distinct identity, akin to feminist or abolitionist, a label worn with pride by progressive individuals showcasing their belief in reparative compensation for Black people?鈥澛�

Smith is co-founder and executive director of Narrative Power at the and former director of narrative change at , where he created and launched the . He spoke with YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about his new story, 鈥�The (Identity) Politics of Reparations.鈥�

Sonali Kolhatkar joined YES! in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of聽YES! Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent 麻豆社事件 Institute鈥檚 Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of聽Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice聽(2023) and聽Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence聽(2005). Her forthcoming book is called聽Talking About Abolition聽(Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women鈥檚 Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master鈥檚 in Astronomy from the University of Hawai鈥檌, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on 鈥淢y Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host鈥� in her 2014聽聽of the same name.