One of the biggest challenges for a local reparations effort is determining who should get repaid. Historically, the idea of reparations has been tied to the forsaken promise of 400,000 acres the U.S. government was going to give to formerly enslaved people due to the atrocities of slavery. However, the harms endured by Black people have not been confined to that period. We start the episode at Cape Coast Castle, a slave trading outpost on the coast of Ghana where enslaved people were first taken from the African continent and sold into the institution of slavery. We use this first point of harm to begin a discussion with a series of Black political thinkers about how the harms against Black people can begin to be addressed through reparations.——-Credits:Host, Producer and Writer: Saraya Wintersmith Senior Producer: Jerome Campbell Editor: Paul SingerEditorial Assistant: Mara Mellits Production oversight: Lee Hill Mixing and Sound Design: David Goodman & Gary Mott Theme Song and original music: Malik Williams Artwork: Mamie-Hawa Bawoh & Matt Welch Project Manager: Meiqian He Consulting Producer and Head of GBH Podcasts: Devin Maverick Robins

One of the biggest challenges for a local reparations effort is determining who should get repaid. Historically, the idea of reparations has been tied to the forsaken promise of 400,000 acres the U.S. government was going to give to formerly enslaved people due to the atrocities of slavery. However, the harms endured by Black people have not been confined to that period. We start the episode at Cape Coast Castle, a slave trading outpost on the coast of Ghana where enslaved people were first taken from the African continent and sold into the institution of slavery. We use this first point of harm to begin a discussion with a series of Black political thinkers about how the harms against Black people can begin to be addressed through reparations. ——- Credits: Host, Producer and Writer: Saraya Wintersmith Senior Producer: Jerome Campbell Editor: Paul Singer Editorial Assistant: Mara Mellits Production oversight: Lee Hill Mixing and Sound Design: David Goodman & Gary Mott Theme Song and original music: Malik Williams Artwork: Mamie-Hawa Bawoh & Matt Welch Project Manager: Meiqian He Consulting Producer and Head of GBH Podcasts: Devin Maverick Robins

One of the biggest challenges for a local reparations effort is determining who should get repaid. Historically, the idea of reparations has been tied to the forsaken promise of 400,000 acres the U.S. government was going to give to formerly enslaved people due to the atrocities of slavery. However, the harms endured by Black people have not been confined to that period. We start the episode at Cape Coast Castle, a slave trading outpost on the coast of Ghana where enslaved people were first taken from the African continent and sold into the institution of slavery. We use this first point of harm to begin a discussion with a series of Black political thinkers about how the harms against Black people can begin to be addressed through reparations.——-Credits:Host, Producer and Writer: Saraya Wintersmith&nbsp;Senior Producer: Jerome Campbell&nbsp;Editor: Paul SingerEditorial Assistant: Mara Mellits&nbsp;Production oversight: Lee Hill&nbsp;Mixing and Sound Design: David Goodman &amp; Gary Mott&nbsp;Theme Song and original music: Malik Williams&nbsp;Artwork: Mamie-Hawa Bawoh &amp; Matt Welch&nbsp;Project Manager: Meiqian He&nbsp;Consulting Producer and Head of GBH Podcasts: Devin Maverick Robins

EpIsode 3 - Defining the Debt

Boston - like many cities around the US - has begun to wrestle with the notion of paying reparations to Black people to make up for 400 years of enslavement and economic exclusion. But in Boston, this debate is layered in history. It was here that slavery was first legalized in the American colonies; it was here that founders of American independence are buried alongside the Black people they enslaved; and it was here that legislation was introduced in the 1980s that became the model of a national bill calling for reparations - a bill that is still on agenda in the U.S Congress. In “What Is Owed?”, a new 7-part podcast, GBH News political reporter Saraya Wintersmith seeks to understand what reparations might look like in one of the oldest cities in America, uncovering the lessons for a successful reparations framework through the stories of its architects, past and present.

———

Credits:

Host, Producer and Writer: Saraya Wintersmith

Senior Producer: Jerome Campbell

Editorial Assistant: Mara Mellits

Editor: Paul Singer

Production oversight: Lee Hill

Mixing &amp; Sound Design: David Goodman and Gary Mott

Theme Song and original music: Malik Williams

Artwork: Matt Welch and Mamie-Hawa Bawoh

Project Manager: Meiqian He

Managing Producer for GBH Podcasts: Devin Maverick Robins

News

Boston - like many cities around the US - has begun to wrestle with the notion of paying reparations to Black people to make up for 400 years of enslavement and economic exclusion. But in Boston, this debate is layered in history. It was here that slavery was first legalized in the American colonies; it was here that founders of American independence are buried alongside the Black people they enslaved; and it was here that legislation was introduced in the 1980s that became the model of a national bill calling for reparations - a bill that is still on agenda in the U.S Congress. In “What Is Owed?”, a new 7-part podcast, GBH News political reporter Saraya Wintersmith seeks to understand what reparations might look like in one of the oldest cities in America, uncovering the lessons for a successful reparations framework through the stories of its architects, past and present. ——— Credits: Host, Producer and Writer: Saraya Wintersmith Senior Producer: Jerome Campbell Editorial Assistant: Mara Mellits Editor: Paul Singer Production oversight: Lee Hill Mixing & Sound Design: David Goodman and Gary Mott Theme Song and original music: Malik Williams Artwork: Matt Welch and Mamie-Hawa Bawoh Project Manager: Meiqian He Managing Producer for GBH Podcasts: Devin Maverick Robins

Share EpIsode 3 - Defining the Debt

Sign up to save your podcasts

EpIsode 3 - Defining the Debt

EpIsode 3 - Defining the Debt

More shows like What is Owed?

This American Life

Fresh Air

Hidden Brain

The Daily

Up First from NPR

The Ezra Klein Show

Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade