.png)
Roads to Reparations
6:30 pm on Thursday, October 15, 2026
Cosponsored with the CU Ubuntu Project
Free and open to the public!
New Covenant Fellowship
124 W. White Street, Champaign
Free parking in lot at Randolph and White Streets
Please join us for an evening of reparations awareness and much more!
The evening's distinguished speakers and participants will include N’nanba (Robin Rue Simmons), founder and executive director of FirstRepair, who will share perspectives on the national and local movement for reparations, and State Representative Carol Ammons. Our president Dr. Jeff Trask will provide an update on transformative developments taking place in Champaign County. The evening's moderator will be Shannon McFarland, MC, and the DREAAM Praise Dancers and musician Noah Brown will provide entertainment. Following the program, Dr. Sundiata Cha-Jua will facilitate a community Q&A session, inviting attendees to engage directly with speakers and ask questions. Please see below for more info!
Dr. LaKisha David and others with The African Kinship Reunion will also be on site, offering free genetic testing information toward helping interested African Americans with to reconnecting with their African heritage and possible family members. If you’d like to test, please visit takir.org and pre-register (which speeds things along). Nothing in the mouth for 30 minutes before testing!
Questions for us? cureparations@gmail.com
Our Distinguished Guests
N'nanba (Robin Rue Simmons) is Founder and Executive Director of FirstRepair, a nonprofit that inspires and informs local reparations toward full and comprehensive repair. As 5th Ward Alderwoman in Evanston, Illinois, she led, in collaboration with others, passage of the nation's first tax-funded municipal reparations legislation for Black residents. Evanston has since committed $20 million to reparations and dispersed more than $7 million. Born and raised in the same 5th Ward she went on to represent, N'nanba chairs Evanston's Reparations Committee, serves as a commissioner of the National African-American Reparations Commission, and as a 2023 Pritzker Fellow at the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics. Her name, given to her by the Balanta people of Guinea-Bissau, where she holds citizenship, translates to "We welcome you back. We are your family and we love you."
State Representative Carol Ammons serves the People of the 103rd district in the Illinois House of Representatives. First elected in 2014, she is currently serving her sixth term. Her many efforts include work toward Illinois becoming the first state to eliminate cash bail, the legalization of marijuana, and effective countering of the historic harms of racism. She also led the effort to create the DNA Pilot Project, HR453, that provides African Americans residing in Illinois with free DNA testing, as lineage and family history information were stolen from residents as a result of enslavement. President Joe Biden named Ammons a recipient of the President’s Volunteer Service Award for her lifetime of work. She has also received a Color of Change Thurgood Marshall Award for Public Service for Fair Education, the Elizabeth Taylor Aids Foundation Legislative Leadership Award, and the National Shining Star Award from the National Organization of Black-Elected Legislative Women. In 2023, Representative Ammons was crowned by King Tamakloe of the Anlo Kingdom of Ghana as the first African American Queen Mother of the Volta region, and received her ancestral African name of Aguadze.
Dr. Jeffrey Trask, founder and president of our group (CURC), is also the Midwest Regional Lead of FirstRepair, a nationally recognized reparations organization founded by N'Nanba (Robin Rue Simmons) in Evanston, Illinois. Among many other reparations-forward activities, Dr. Trask has been appointed by Governor Pritzker to the African Descent-Citizens Reparations Commission (ADCRC), a state-based reparations commission assigned to investigate harms done to African Americans in Illinois and make reparations-related recommendations towards addressing those harms.
Shannon McFarland is a publicist, investor, and cultural strategist based in Urbana-Champaign. She leverages media and technology to amplify stories across STEM/STEAM, youth development, and culture, helping nonprofits, entrepreneurs, and public agencies grow through visibility and narrative impact. A graduate of Clark Atlanta University and former collegiate athlete, Shannon holds a master’s degree from Florida International University and has experience from ESPN College GameDay, FIU Women’s Basketball, and the Miami Heat. She now advances community-driven programs that merge culture, technology, and opportunity with Illinois Soul, First String, and Street College throughout Champaign County. Shannon was selected as the 2025 Central Illinois Business Forty Under 40 Woman of the Year.
Dr. Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua is an Associate Professor Emeritus (UIUC) of African American History. His many publications include the recent coedited volume Reparations and Reparatory Justice: Past, Present and Future. Dr. Cha-Jua has been a member of the executive board of the St. Louis-based Organization for Black Struggle (OBS), a member of the National Council of the Black Radical Congress (BRC) and served on the National Council of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM). He is currently a member of the Ubuntu Project CU and is a member of its Leadership Team.
Dr. LaKisha David returned to the University of Illinois in 2023 as an assistant professor of anthropology, after earning her PhD here in 2021. In 2025, in partnership with Illinois legislators, particularly Representative Carol Ammons, she obtained state funding for the Illinois Family Roots Pilot Program to provide free DNA testing and genetic genealogy services to African-descended Illinoisians. The Family Roots Pilot Program aims to address the historical legacy of family separation caused by slavery in the United States.
Noah Brown has produced five independent albums of his own (which have received a lot of buzz in the gospel music arena), written two best-selling books, written and produced stage play productions, hosted Spoken Word and Poetry Events, and held musical workshops as well as Gospel Sing-Alongs and Retro Concerts. Noah has also appeared on the Gospel Show "Bobby Jones Presents” and opened for many gospel artists, including Kierra Sheard, Smokie Norful, Vickie Winans, and Dorinda Clark-Cole. He is the head musician at two churches and is embarking on reviving his stage plays through Drama Ministry.
DREAAM offers programs and events geared to empower, enable, and uplift youth in the Champaign County area. By creating a safe space for these youth to thrive at a young age, DREAAM empowers them to achieve greatness.