A group dedicated to addressing the racial wealth gap in Lansing is distributing money from its reparations fund for the first time.
The Justice League of Greater Lansing has collected more than $400,000 from churches and individuals since 2021 with plans to redistribute that money.
Now, ten local high school graduates are each receiving a $5,000 college scholarship.
Willye Bryan is the founder of the Justice League. She says the milestone shows that reparations are possible.
"We aren't giving $5,000 scholarships to every child of color in America, but we've made a start. We have affected this community. "
Dozens of high schoolers applied for the scholarships by writing essays about how they had been impacted racial wealth inequities. Prince Solace, the Justice League’s President, says reading those essays was eye-opening.
"For us to be able to create this platform in which the students could verbally express their understanding of where they are in life about the racial wealth gap and intergenerational wealth was very, very powerful. "
Among the group of recipients, there are three students attending Michigan State University, one attending Lansing Community College and two attending Howard University in Washington, D.C.
The Justice League is presenting the scholarships to the students during an event Saturday afternoon at the Lansing Church of God in Christ.
The organization also plans to give out reparations in the future to help Black residents with housing and business ventures.
