We Want the Whole Menu with Dreisen Heath cover art

We Want the Whole Menu with Dreisen Heath

We Want the Whole Menu with Dreisen Heath

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Dreisen Heath doesn't do sequencing. She doesn't want the appetizer. She doesn't want to wait for the main course. She wants the whole menu—reparations legislation, economic justice, striking the punishment clause from the 13th Amendment, restored benefits for Black veterans, and protected Black history and cultural institutions. All of it. All at once.

In this episode, Dr. David Johns sits down with Dreisen Heath—reparations researcher, movement strategist, and founder and executive director of the Why We Can't Wait Reparations Network—in the wake of Equity Week in Washington, D.C. Together, they unpack what it meant to convene the Congressional Black Caucus, stand on the House Triangle alongside Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Rep. Summer Lee, Rep. Al Green, and dozens of partner organizations, and then walk through the reparative justice display at the Library of Congress—all ahead of Juneteenth and America's 250th anniversary.

Dr. Heath breaks down what the infrastructure of repair actually means in practice—and exactly how the current administration is gutting it. She connects the dismantling of DEI offices and the DOJ Civil Rights Division to the accumulation of unpaid debt to Black Americans, and makes the case for why this moment demands more urgency, not less.

This is Freedom Summer. The babies are watching. The question is whether we'll show up.

Legislation Referenced
  • H.R.40 — Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans, currently led by Rep. Ayanna Pressley
  • S.40 — Senate companion bill, currently carried by Sen. Cory Booker
  • The HEAR Act (H.R.40's Senate counterpart in earlier sessions)
  • 13th Amendment punishment clause — legislation to strike the exception allowing forced labor as criminal punishment
  • Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act (passed 2022; first introduced 1900)

Organizations and Coalitions
  • Why We Can't Wait Reparations Network — whywecantwaitreparations.org
  • NBJC — National Black Justice Collective — nbjc.org
  • United By Equity — unitedbyequity.org
  • N'COBRA — National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America
  • Black Veterans Project
  • Black Voters Matter Fund
  • Children's Defense Fund
  • National Action Network

People Referenced
  • Rep. Ayanna Pressley — lead sponsor, H.R.40
  • Sen. Cory Booker — lead sponsor, S.40
  • Rep. Summer Lee — co-sponsor; carrying forward legislation co-authored with then-Rep. Cori Bush
  • Rep. Al Green — reparations advocate
  • Rep. Barbara Lee (now Mayor, Oakland) — longtime H.R.40 champion
  • Rep. Cori Bush — co-author of 2023 federal reparations legislation with Dreisen Heath
  • Rep. Jamaal Bowman — reparations advocate
  • Rep. John Conyers (now deceased) — original H.R.40 champion; first introduced 1989
  • Tiffany Crutcher — Tulsa racial justice leader; Legacy Festival collaborator
  • Dr. Marcus Anthony Hunter — author, Radical Reparations; referenced in closing

Events
  • Equity Week 2026, Washington D.C. — Congressional meeting (Tuesday), House Triangle press conference (Thursday), reparative justice display at the Library of Congress, Equity Ball
  • Legacy Festival, Tulsa — organized in memory of the Tulsa Race Massacre
  • Freedom Summer 2026 — the organizing frame for this episode and season
  • America 250 — the U.S. 250th anniversary, named as a 'fake celebration' framing the urgency of this moment

Historical Context
  • Tulsa Race Massacre (1921) — destruction of Black Wall Street; Tulsa litigation referenced as a model
  • Rosewood Massacre — looted homes before burning
  • H.R.40 first introduced: 1989 (36+ year delay as of this episode)
  • First-ever committee vote on H.R.40: 2021
  • Treasury Judgment Fund — permanent taxpayer fund; discussed as a future vehicle for reparative repair
  • Holocaust victims reparations — U.S. government assistance for U.S.-based Holocaust survivors to reclaim looted art and artifacts; cited as evidence the federal government already has infrastructure for repair


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