East New York - Brooklyn, NY – Yesterday Assemblywoman Nikki Lucas voted yes on the first reparations-based bill to be passed by the New York State Assembly. The bill allows for the creation of the New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies, to study the lingering, negative effects of slavery on descendants of those who were enslaved in America.

Assemblywoman Lucas made it clear on the Assembly floor that she was originally disappointed in the way the bill was written because it does not include the study of reparations based on lineage. However, after she pointed that fact out in an impassioned speech, Chairwoman Michaelle C. Solages said on record that the study will in fact include lineage-based reparations.

If the study of lineage-based reparations were to be left out, then it would open the door to all people of African descent to participate in reparations, which would be too broad and would allow for the continued suffrage of those whom reparations was meant to repair.

Assemblywoman Lucas used the example of someone like Elon Musk, who has African ancestry. Lucas stated she wants to make sure “the Elon Musk’s of the world don’t circumvent the system (for their own gain) as we have seen happen in other instances.”

Lucas added, “I feel strongly about ensuring that those people who were actually enslaved in America were repaired. But I am happy that the sponsor of this bill has recognized today on record that lineage based has to be a focus of this study.”

Link to the Video of Assemblywoman Lucas’s speech on the floor of the NY State Assembly