The Big Payback Documentary Evanston Screening

1715 Maple Avenue,Evanston IL 60201

16 January, 2023

Description

Evanston, Illinois rookie Alderwoman Robin Rue Simmons led the passage of the first tax-funded reparations bill in U.S. history for Black Americans. What follows is grief and debate as she and her community struggle with the burden to make repair and restitution for its citizens, while a national racial and social crisis engulfs the country. Meanwhile, Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee faces a 30-year battle to pass H.R. 40, a national bill to study reparations and make recommendations. Both women are met with racism and resistance, as well as help from allies and abolitionists within. Together, they pressure the government to deliver monetary justice and appropriate remedies for Black Americans harmed by centuries of chattel slavery, state-sponsored terrorism, systemic injustice, and corporate exploitation. Will the debt ever be addressed, or is it too late for a reparations movement to finally get the big payback?