In Radical Reparations, Marcus Anthony Hunter discusses reparations in seven areas: political, intellectual, legal, economic, spatial, social, and spiritual. Among other things, reparations must involve ensuring representation, seeking restorative justice, repairing the social fabric, reclaiming cultural heritage, and expanding opportunities. Hunter emphasizes that we cannot reduce the idea of reparations to a simple monetary calculation.

I was drawn to this book because of a respect for Dr. Hunter's work. Formerly a high school English teacher, Hunter realized his knowledge gap about the Black experience and began pursuing his self-education. He has a wealth of knowledge from which we can benefit. The book has a beautiful cover and a compelling narrative, but it differs from what I expected. I found it to be disjointed. It includes several lengthy parables that are hard to tie into the discussion. It would have been more helpful to deal with specific reasons for reparations directly.

Despite my disappointment with this book, it is worth your time, even if you choose to skim through the middle part and concentrate on the last chapter. I greatly respect Dr. Hunter's work and look forward to following his future projects.

Thank you, Amistad and NetGalley, for providing an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. #RadicalReparations #NetGalley

The question of reparations for slavery has been a hot-button issue for years, with increasing calls for reparations in the past few years. But what ARE reparations? And what would true reparations look like? Hunter explores this topic in his new book, and he shows that because slavery was a global enterprise, it created an enormous loss of humanity and still affects the human condition today in multiple ways. Therefore, he explains, different kinds of reparations -- to repair the wounds created by the legacy of slavery -- are necessary: political, intellectual, legal, economic, social, spatial, and spiritual. Reparations aren't simply about money, they demand restorative justice, repair to the social contract, representation, the recovery of traditions, and the broadening of opportunity, as well as much more. As Hunter states, you cannot put a price on a human soul, and so seeing reparations simply as giving money will not change the systemic racism that undergirds our institutions still today.

The book, though, feels like two books within one. While the first chapter explains reparations, the next three are lengthy "parables" that features three particular stories of Black people and communities that offer examples of how reparations might look and of what still stands in the way of those reparations being lasting and meaningful. After that, the author returns to the discussion of reparations and expresses hope for the future, but it doesn't fully blend the three parables back into the discussion, which made the book feel a little disjointed. Still, it's a good introduction to the topic of reparations for those who genuinely want to understand what can be done. 3 stars.

Thank you, Amistad and NetGalley, for providing an eARC of this book. Opinions expressed here are solely my own.