Robin Rue Simmons (born March 12, 1976) is an American former politician and national leader for local

reparations Reparation(s) may refer to: Christianity * Reparation (theology), the theological concept of corrective response to God and the associated prayers for repairing the damages of sin * Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for re ...

for

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

. Rue Simmons was born and raised in the largely segregated 5th Ward of

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

. From 2017 to 2021, Rue Simmons served as the alderman of the 5th Ward. As alderman, she led the passage of the United States' first government-funded reparations legislation. The local reparations initiative is being funded by the first $10 million of adult-use cannabis sales tax revenue collected by the City of Evanston. The first stage of the reparations program is focused on homeownership. After leaving office, Rue Simmons now serves as the chair of the City of Evanston's Reparations Committee. Rue Simmons is Founder and Executive Director of the not-for-profit FirstRepair, which "informs local reparations, nationally." She also is a commissioner of the National African-American Reparations Commission, a lifetime member of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America, a board member of Connections for the Homeless, and previously served as a board member of the

National League of Cities The National League of Cities (NLC) is an American advocacy organization that represents the country's 19,495 cities, towns, and villages along with 49 state municipal leagues. Created in 1924, it has evolved into a membership organization provi ...

' National Black Caucus of Local Elected Leaders.

References

1976 births Living people African-American politicians Reparations American reparationists 21st-century Illinois politicians 21st-century African-American politicians African-American people in Illinois politics Minority rights activists American social justice activists {{Illinois-politician-stub