College student, 22, thanks God for being chosen to join Boston reparations ... trends now A college student and activist has announced she can't wait to 'break our chains' after being chosen to join Boston's slavery reparations task force. Carrie Mays, 22, is one of the youngest people in the committee - and she thanked God for the opportunity, adding that she was 'blessed' to be a part of the 'revolutionary opportunity to make transformational changes.' The University of Massachusetts student will join a body of 10 people - including two high school boys - to make recommendations to the Mayor on whether the ancestors of black slaves in Boston should receive monetary reparations. After she was chosen for the position, Mays wrote online: 'I feel beyond blessed, honored and grateful to be appointed by the Mayor to serve on Boston’s FIRST REPARATIONS TASK FORCE. 'I am so thankful that God has placed me to do this work and for this revolutionary opportunity to make transformational changes. For breaking national news, for breaking the status quo and breaking our chains.' The college student organizes discussions about racism at her school, and has spoken about the issue at national conferences. She has now thanked god for the opportunity to 'break our chains' and join the task force in Boston Mays has said she thought the Black Lives Matter movement should be about more than just policing - and she announced that the 'marathon continues' now that she is joining the task force The activist added: 'This is not the end but rather a continuation of a protracted struggle where Love inevitably wins and the ark of the universe bends towards justice. 'None of this would be possible without the resilience of our community. The good trouble makers, activists and elders who came before me. My friends and partners in the fight for social justice and most of all my ancestors. 'To everyone and all of the people here to support. I see you. I value you and I love you. Thank you. The marathon continues.' The group of 10 will make recommendations in June 2024 'for truth, reconciliation and reparations addressing the city of Boston's involvement with the African slave trade.' High school juniors Damani Williams and Denilson Fanfan are the youngest members of the committee. Mays has already gained local attention in her own right for her efforts to rally people to a Black Lives Matter protest in Boston following the death of George Floyd in June 2020. She said the message resonated with her because her family was once stopped by police at gunpoint, causing her personal trauma. Mays now organizes discussions about racism at her school, and has spoken about the issue at national conferences. Her social media profiles are also filled with messages supporting Black Lives Matter and spewing her identity politics, with a pinned post on her Facebook profile demanding the 'white-washed school curriculum teach black history beyond slavery.' The task force will also include high schoolers Damani Williams, left, and Denilson Fanfan, right Mays has said her family was once stopped at gunpoint by police, causing her personal trauma The reparations proposal in Boston has already sparked debate about whether monetary reparations should be paid exclusively to black Americans descended from slaves or whether it should include black immigrants who may have still suffered impacts of so-called systemic racism. Boston's reparations task force will be chaired by attorney Joseph Fester Jr, a former president of the NAACP Boston branch and a current member of the city's Black Men and Boys Commission. That commission was established in 2021 to help advise the mayor and city council on 'issues pertaining to black men and boys,' according to the city's website. It will also comprise business owners and academics, including L'Merchie Frazier, a public historian, visual activist and the executive director of creative and strategic partnerships for SPOKE Arts. The 10 members of Boston's reparations task force Chair Joseph D. Feaster, Jr., Esq. Denilson Fanfan — junior at Jeremiah E. Burke High School L’Merchie Frazier — Public historian, visual activist, and Executive Director of Creative and Strategic Partnerships for SPOKE Arts George “Chip” Greenidge, Jr. — Founder and Director of Greatest MINDS Dr. Kerri Greenidge — Assistant Professor of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora at Tufts University Dr. David Harris, Past Managing Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice Dorothea Jones — Longtime civic organizer and member of the Roxbury Strategic Master Plan Oversight Committee Carrie Mays — UMass Boston student and youth leader with Teen Empowerment Na’tisha Mills — Program Manager for Embrace Boston Damani Williams — junior at Jeremiah E. Burke High School Advertisement In announcing the members of the reparations panel on Tuesday, Mayor Michelle Wu said the ten task force members will guide the city's response to the effects of slavery in the city. 'For 400 years, the brutal practice of enslavement and recent policies like redlining, the busing crisis and exclusion from city contracting have denied black Americans pathways to build generational wealth, secure stable housing and live freely. 'Our administration remains committed to tackling long-standing racial inequities, and this task force is the next step in our commitment as a city to advance racial justice and build a Boston for everyone,' she concluded. Fester added in a statement: 'I am honored to be asked by Mayor Wu to chair this Reparation Task Force and serve with such distinguished people. 'We are looking forward to determining recommendations for how we reckon with Boston’s past while charting a path forward for black people whose ancestors labored without compensation and who were promised the 40 acres and a mule they never received.' Activists in the city have been calling for reparations for years, beginning in the 1980s. Supporters of reparations have cited the city's history of segregated housing as well as a political economy after Emancipation that reduced opportunities for black Bostonians. The result, they said, is a wide wealth gap between white and black families that remains today. The task force will now examine reparation models and study racial disparities. It will also collect data on 'historic harms' to black Bostonians and hold hearings to gather testimony from black residents about the problems they have faced. By 2024, the panel will make recommendations for reparations as well as ways to eliminate policies and laws they say continue to cause harm to black Bostonians. It will also recommend how the city will issue a formal apology to the 'people of Boston for the perpetration of gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity on African slaves and their descendants.' The task force will be housed within the City of Boston’s Equity & Inclusion Cabinet and will soon issue a request for proposal for a research partner to assist with its mission. All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility