Last summer, I shared my disappointment at Governor Wes Moore’s veto of Senate Bill 587. However, on December 16, 2025, the Maryland legislature overrode Gov. Moore’s veto and set into motion one of the first statewide reparations commissions in the country. I applaud the legislature for their resilience and commitment to do what is right.
This override came exactly one week after the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission released their final report on recommendations for reparations, including acknowledgements of the harm done and payments of up to $100,000 to descendants of victims. The momentum for reparations is undeniable; we are making strides toward justice.
Reparations are necessary, and popular. The override passed with well over the two-thirds majority in both chambers. A 2024 study by the AAMC Center for Health Justice found that a majority of the Maryland population supported reparations — more than any other US state. With so many voices raised in defense of this legislation, reparations cannot be ignored.
However, we must remember that these victories are one chapter in a lengthier struggle. We know there will be continued opposition along the way. Vitriol is pervasive. The response to the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission sparked a number of racist comments on message boards and social media platforms. Unfortunately, it is no surprise that hatred rises in opposition to repair.
We ought not believe that we’re done now that the veto has been overridden. Now is not the time to sit quietly in comfort, but to raise our voices more strongly than ever. It is a time for every leader across Maryland, from local communities to the highest ranks of our government, to use their platform in support of justice and repair.
Faith leaders in particular have a special role to play in this moment.
While many African American clergy in Baltimore raised their voices in opposition to the reparations legislation last year, I am convinced that there are far more amongst our ministerial ranks who do support the righting of historical wrongs against Black people and efforts to repair harms done to those families who’ve bore the brunt of these injustices for generations.
Furthermore, I am hopeful that my clergy colleagues who came out in opposition to the reparations legislation will now honor the decision of our state legislature to override Gov. Moore’s veto and support the will of many Marylanders to continue moving this issue forward.
We now have an opportunity as faith leaders to literally practice what we preach. Reparations is about the official acknowledgement of wrongs committed against the “least of these” among us and good faith efforts to repair relationships between offenders and the aggrieved. These are themes that are common during many worship services every weekend and should be the fuel that we use to propel this public policy initiative forward.
Regardless of where we as faith leaders stood last summer in the wake of the veto, we hear the will of the people clearly today. Our platform gives us the privilege to help shape public sentiment, challenge myths and misunderstandings, and invigorate those who believe in justice. We cannot let the privilege of our platforms go to waste or be misused.
The purpose of this reparations commission, and any repair that will come out of it, is to bring our communities peace and unity. However, we cannot achieve this if we do not approach it as a unified front. We do not need to have the same political ideologies or beliefs to be united by the desire for healing and repair. It is essential to our shared goals that we acknowledge the support that reparations can provide for our friends, neighbors, and even our Ancestors.
I encourage all of my brothers and sisters in faith to join me in advocating for the advancement of reparations through the lens of faith. There are families in every corner of the state who live with the ripple effect of generational trauma and state-sanctioned injustices. If we can have a hand in delivering a chance of healing to them, I believe that we should give it our all.
Our legislature has led with courage so that our state may learn, reflect, and repair. There is no stopping the forward movement; it is now on all of us as leaders to ease the path with the resources we have. We know what justice is and have a chance right now to use our voices to obtain it not only for those on whose shoulders we stand, but for generations yet unborn as well.
Rev. Dr. Heber Brown III is an author, social entrepreneur, and founder of The Black Church Food Security Network.