Amid attacks on DEI, a US nonprofit offers reparations, education and healing: ‘We’re looking to fill the gap’

By Melissa Hellmann, The Guardian

A Louisiana-based organization is providing a global model for reconciliation as it champions reparations for the descendants of West Africans enslaved by Jesuits

When Ashley Robinson and her mother took DNA tests 10 years ago and began meeting long lost cousins, they stumbled across a surprising family history that changed their lives. Robinson’s lineage traced back to the 272 West Africans who were enslaved by Jesuits and sold to plantation owners in the southern US in 1838. The sale of the enslaved Africans helped fund Georgetown University, the oldest Jesuit higher education institution in the US, and served as collateral to the now defunct Citizens Bank of New Orleans, whose assets were later folded into JPMorgan Chase.

Robinson dived into researching her lineage after having her first child at 21 years old, and soon enrolled in an organization called the GU272 Descendants Association, which hosts genealogical workshops and connects people whose ancestors were sold by Georgetown University. While national discussions around reparations for the descendants of enslaved Africans have largely stalled, Robinson’s uncovering of her family’s history met an unlikely resolution. During her senior year in undergraduate school, she received a scholarship funded by the successors of her family’s enslavers.

“I remember praying after I finished the [scholarship] application,” Robinson said. As a 29-year-old mother of three, Robinson considered taking a break from school due to financial constraints. “It was perfect timing, because the scholarship came about, and that’s sailing me through the end of my degree.” The $10,000 from the nonprofit Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation has helped minimize the federal student loans that Robinson needs to complete her computer science degree at University of Maryland Global Campus by the end of the year.

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Based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, The Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation is a partnership between the descendants of West Africans enslaved by Jesuits and the church’s successors, aimed to address the wrongs of the past by focusing on three pillars: education, honoring elders and addressing systemic racism. The descendants partnered with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund to issue post-secondary educational scholarships for descendants of Jesuit enslavement at institutions of their choice. Since the fall of 2024, the foundation has awarded more than $170,000 in scholarships to 25 students across 20 schools, with students being eligible to renew scholarships every year.

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