"In our city, at the United Nations, the overwhelming majority of the world is acknowledged the horrific inhumanity of centuries of trans-Atlantic slave trade, its brutality, its lasting impact, and the moral imperative to make reparations for this crime.
"America refused, together with just two other nations.
"It shouldn’t be surprising that a federal government dedicated to sanitizing our history and erasing the experiences of Black Americans and other marginalized populations would reject this resolution, but it is sickening. As the only Black citywide elected leader, I stood with the President of Ghana at the African Burial Ground to mourn the unfathomable tragedy of our past and carry forward real pain and a real promise for the government to atone. Hours later, the federal government broke that promise, but in the city, in the state we are holding to it with the critical work on reparations and the ongoing fight for equity today."