Greater Lansing Reparations Scholarship program opens for applications

Justice League of Greater Lansing Michigan is accepting applications for its Reparations Scholarship Program. The $50,000 in scholarships is the first distribution of the Justice League’s Reparations Fund created to address the racial wealth gap in Greater Lansing.

Ten high school seniors will each receive a $5,000 scholarship to an accredited college, university or vocational school. Eligible applicants are descendants of enslaved African Americans who reside in Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties.

The application deadline is Monday, April 15, 2024.

Recipients will be selected based on their 500-word essay that examines the racial wealth gap or generational wealth in America and how either has affected their family. Academic grades will count for 25% of total score.

“The Reparations Scholarship Program is a cornerstone of our efforts to mend the historical injustices stemming from slavery and its lasting impact,” said Prince Solace, president, Justice League of Greater Lansing Michigan. “Educational empowerment for enslaved African Americans fosters a future where racial justice and faith converge to support academic achievement. And offering financial assistance is essential for enabling access to that higher education.”

The Justice League defines descendants of enslaved Africans as individuals who are the third generation to have been born in the U.S. — the applicant, a parent and a grandparent.

Solace noted that most Black adults in the U.S. are descendants of enslaved African Americans — well over 80% per U.S. Census Bureau 2020 — and learn of their history through family stories, in part because it is nearly impossible to trace African American ancestry. Enslaved African Americans were not recorded by name prior to 1870. Slave schedules were used in 1850 and 1860 as population counts separate from federal censuses. Enslaved persons were recorded as property on these schedules by numbers, not names.

“The ‘three generation’ definition helps students quickly determine eligibility,” Solace said. “Their families have definitely felt the detriments of systemic and structural racism that are the aftermath of the sin of slavery. This has prevented Black families from building generational wealth and hits to the core of our mission.”

The Justice League’s endowed Reparations Fund is over $400,000. It was built primarily by reparations payments from churches during 2023. The churches have taken a proactive approach to social justice and have acknowledged they have benefited from collective misbelief in white supremacy and other results of slavery.

More information about the scholarship is at www.justiceleagueglm.org/apply where entries can be uploaded, and an application can be downloaded for email or USPS mail entry. A flyer is also available for download.

About Justice League of Greater Lansing Michigan

The 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization was founded in 2021 to repair the breach in Greater Lansing caused by the nation’s historical damage of slavery. Reparations are in the spirit of repentance for the sin of slavery, its aftermath of gross human rights violations — including genocide, violence, land theft, incarceration and police violence — and complicity in the misbelief of white supremacy.

The solution is a faith-based model of reparations. The Justice League builds relationships and facilitates reparations between houses of worship, collaborative partners and individuals to close the racial wealth gap that exists between Black and white residents. This specifically means increasing wealth equity for descendants of enslaved African Americans. Financial reparations will support home ownership, education and entrepreneurship. More information is at www.JusticeLeagueGLM.org.

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