KNOXVILLE TN — The African American Equity Restoration Task Force has a new leader. Denzel Grant, District Six councilman, will assume leadership of the AAERTF on July 1.
The task force was created to study, review and identify strategic solutions to improve areas of disparity and disenfranchisement in the Black community. The task force is also designed to work with existing agencies in the community and develop policy and programs that will establish opportunities for building generational wealth in the Black community.
The task force was established in 2020 by the City Council in acknowledgment of past actions that completely destroyed the Black communities during urban removal.
The City Council passed a resolution tasking the AAERTF with securing $100 million over a 10-year period to be put back into the communities decimated by projects in the 1950s and 1960s that destroyed over 2,000 Black homes and businesses and pushed residents into public housing.
Grant emphasized that, to succeed, the task force would need the entire community to be involved, including the elders, youth, business owners, faith leaders and residents. Councilman Grant said, “The people of Knoxville have always been the power.” He promised the focus would be on repairing past damages and creating opportunity. “Change is coming…because I believe my community is going to rise to build it.”
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