how does a country heal the wounds of centuries-old pain? from slavery to generations of stolen wealth. black americans across this country grappling with the questions of restitution that goes beyond an apology. now the launch of a historic abc news series, "soul of a nation." we share the stories of the black community front and center. and tonight the push for reparations. in evanston, illinois, we're on the ground in the first ariresi onl legislative responseeconci in the black community is reparations. >> hoping to reclaim wealth denied by racist policies. >> will you apply for reparations? >> i will. >> why? >> because it's owed.

♪ one day when the glory comes. john legend helping bring americans together by giving glory to the healing power of music. how a year of struggle and personal loss in his family inspired the star to never break. >> we lost a baby. it was the most traumatic experience my wife and i have had to go through together. >> "nightline" will be right back. when heartburn takes you by surprise. fight back fast, with new tums naturals. free from artificial flavors and dyes. what happens to your body language when your underarms are cared for? ♪ ♪ it shows! our new dove advanced care formula is effective... and kind to skin, leaving underarms cared for and you... more confident and carefree. we made usaa insurance for members like martin. an air force veteran made of doing what's right,

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♪ early in my childhood, i was invited to have a play date. my white friends never had a play date at my home. so i went to megan's house. the streets are wider. the homes were bigger and brighter already it was obvious that it was the barrier of race that kept from us that because the segregation was race based. >> reporter: even here, evanston, illinois, a proudly liberal suburb of chicago. the barrier and burden of race have long weighed heavy, like a winter storm. evanston's alderman for the fifth ward, robin ruth simmons, was born and raised in the historically black neighborhood she represents. >> this community was red line historically. that has come along with damages that continue today. resources were stripped away from the black community along with wealth as well.

>> reporter: the city's plan to change that? reparations. an idea long debated, proposed over 150 years ago. first, 40 acres of land. later, a mule. for formerly enslaved people to share the american dream, built on their backs, for free. >> we built this nation! >> reporter: a promise long broken until now. >> this is a historic vote -- >> reporter: evanston is set to become the first u.s. city to pay out reparations. a total of $10 million starting with increments of up to $25,000 per person for housing. >> i didn't start my elected career even discussing reparations. >> what changed? >> i was looking at data. i was looking at what we had done. and reparations was the only answer. >> the only answer? >> the only answer. >> the only answer? >> the only. any more of the same was going

to only, at best, help us sustain the oppressed state and the disparity that we have. >> only? that's a big word, the only? >> the only legislative response for us to reconcile the damages in the black community is reparations. >> why housing? >> housing specifically and home ownership is a path to begin to build wealth. when you have stable housing, you have an opportunity just to breathe and think about what's next. it provides a sense of place in a community where we're largely renters now, and we should be owning. >> we anticipate litigation, with the premise that you cannot use tax money that's from the public to benefit a particular group of people. but throughout history, taxes were used to benefit a certain group of people, while others were excluded from that. >> reporter: dino robinson is the founder of sure front, an

archive dead dated to chronicling and celebrating black life in evanston, a richness long undervalued. his documentation going back to the late 1800s, invaluable in measuring the cost of racism and the need for reparations. >> black community members were moving throughout evanston and forming pockets in the city of evanson. the white community started p pack packicing, what do we do about this? >> the response, redlining, a federally sanctioned project, assigning market value to neighborhoods, a grading system. a to d. >> the "d" areas were relegated to the black community. the area "d" was always in red. >> reporter: this deliberately pushed evanston's black families into an area that became the fifth ward, segregating them from white families, sought-after property, and ultimately, wealth. >> things in evanston -- banks

would not loan to black families, real estate agencies would not show you anything other than the fifth ward. >> that map is the map of our c black community. >> reporter: today white residents in evanston have nearly doubled the value in home income of black residents. this racial wealth gap is prevalent nationally. black americans possessing less than 15% of the wealth that white americans have. >> i am 98 years old. >> we moved to evanston in 1959. >> this is the lot. >> reporter: black residents who lived throug red lining and their descendents are eligible for reparations. that includes vin gain senior and his son junior. vin grew up in 1920s dixon, kentucky, part of the old south, the business end of an era's most violent weapon against

african-americans, jim crow. he landed in evanston. jim crow wore a smile, but still inflicted home on black home buyers. >> the contractor, he said find a lot anywhere in evanston, and i'll build whatever you want. well, when he said that, he meant in the black neighborhoods. and we still have these same types of problems. >> uncle vin as realist, he calls it like he sees it. >> reporter: younger members of vn senior's family, his grand nephew jared and his children, nick ask maya, know a more progressive era. >> growing up in evanston for me was definitely good despite the racism that i faced. >> will you apply for the reparations? >> i will. >> and why? >> because it's owed. >> quote-unquote wealthy african-americans are not the equivalent of quote-unquote wealthy white americans in this country. >> national reparations policy economic imperative.

>> reporter: house resolution 40 is the latest national step toward reparations. supporters have included tan that hassy coates and actor danny glover. >> hr-40 was an opportunity to have a commission to study reparations, but also the further context in which we look at slavery and the impact that it had on us. >> it seems to me your journey with reparations is america's journey with reparations. you are the grandson of sharecroppers, people who are a generation away from slavery. >> yeah. >> i wonder if you'd ever thought about, how might danny glover's life have been different if your grandparents, the sharecroppers, had been given the reparations promised them, had they been given 40 acres and a mule? how might your life have been different? >> i never thought about that. you know what i'm saying? i know they did what they could. they made it work with -- it's

extraordinary belief in the possibility of this country. >> so you think evanston can be an example for the nation? >> i think it can. evanston, illinois, did something no other city has done. if we're able to use that as a platform, maybe other cities might adopt the whole idea of this. >> reporter: and other cities could take up evanston's sweetly ironic funding solution, a 3% tax on newly legal marijuana sales. >> it's the most appropriate use for that sales tax. and in our city, 70% of the marijuana arrests were in the black community. and we are 16% of the community. all studies show that blacks and whites consume cannabis at the same rit. >> reporter: there's been debate whether those taxes can sustain the fund long-term. even those who proudly support reparations wonder aloud, is $25,000 too little, too late? >> it's a drop in the bucket.

you have denied me all my 98 years. hopefully, before i die, i'll see the world change. >> uncle vin, he's 98. we can understand his skepticism. where does your kept sim come from? >> i would say it's less skepticism and more education. people acting like they're ready for change, and behind closed doors other things are happening, right? we see that all the time in politics. >>what does it say, my 25 has to feel like that? >> you don't learn about these issues in school? >> we aren't taught history outside, slaves came from africa. part of reparations, it can't just be money, you have to teach us what we need to know. >> one could argue it's potentially more symbolic than substantive. >> i disagree that it's symbolic at all. i understand $25,000 is life-saving for some families. >> relative to the injury, it's not nearly enough, and i get that. >> this notion of reparations in

evanston isn't meant to be a drop in the bucket, but the beginning of a stream that becomes a river, that becomes an ocean. >> absolutely. there is a lifetime of work ahead for us to get to justice. >> for all of your work in this space what worries you still? >> not enough resource. not quick enough. i do believe that we're committed as a city, and i can't wait to celebrate the family that receives their first reparation benefit. i cannot wait for that day. >> the work continues and is in good hands. coming up next, how john legend found glory in a year full of struggle in america. ♪ one day when the glory comes ♪ ♪ it will be ours it will be ours ♪ kim is now demonstrating her congestion. save it slimeball. i've upgraded to mucinex. we still have 12 hours to australia. mucinex lasts 12 hours, so i'm good. now move!

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or call during business hours. ♪ a pandemic and racial reckoning are challenging the soul of this nation. now to john legend about transforming the healing power of music into medicine for us all. here's abc's adrienne bankert. >> when we talk about reckoning -- we can't do the reckoning without doing a real assessment of what american history has been. america promised all these ideals, but black people were like, hey, what about us? you told us it was about equality. you told us that all men and women were created equal. you told us we had equal protection under the law. but you didn't fulfill that promise. and we are evidence of that. black people have been saying that for centuries. ♪ we shall overcome ♪

>> reporter: there have been generations singing about it, songs like "weust as long. john legend is no exception. ♪ one day when the glory comes ♪ >> reporter: using anthems like "glory" that he cowrote for the film "selma" to connect art and activism. for him, it's about storytelling. from his hit single "ordinary people" to the intimate ball lat "all of me." ♪ cause all of me loves all of you ♪ >> reporter: he aims to connect with his audiene and connect them to each other. >> i love art because art helps us envision a new world. it helps us become closer to each other. helps us see each other's humanity. it's been a tough year for so many people. i think it's been a mental health challenge, it's been a physical health challenge, it's been an economic challenge, and

it's been felt even more in the black community than it has been in many other communities. >> no justice, no peace! >> with george floyd's death and so many other things that happened, was your heart breaking? what were you thinking? >> at first i was just mad and grieving. i hate this repeated story that is so much a part of black americans' experience. i want it to stop. so we contributed to bail funds. then i tried to be a part of a conversation in the country where we talked about what we do to do better. we spent far too much on law enforcement, on jails on prisons. and black people have been bearing the brunt of that. >> when you were growing up, were you thinking all the time like, i'm going to make the world a better place, i'm going to change things? >> i did. >> you did? >> i did think this. i wrote an essay about it when i was 15. i said, i'm going to be a successful musician, i'm going

to use that success and fame and acclaim to make my community better. and it was informed by the artist that i loved. stevie wonder, marvin gaye, nina simone, aretha frankly. it was informed by the activists i've been reading about since i was a kid. they were my superheroes, and i wanted to live a life that was impactful like they did. >> reporter: the message of impact can be found in his film company, get lifted, and the stories he and producing partner mike jackson have shared. their diverse content highlights the creative and creators that are unapologetically black. >> we want to elevate certain craters that may have been overlooked. >> i never met no man that meant nobody no good. >> reporter: their documentary "giving voice" follows students from across the country, like chicago native mia sarfo, as they compete in the august wilson monologue competition. >> i don't trust another.

>> theater can really transform. i mean really. i felt like people were seeing me for the first time. >> it was just a remarkable opportunity for them and for us to be able to produce this film, tell their story. it was a magical opportunity. i also got to write a song for it, a song called "never break," a song about human resilience and the power of love to get us through all the challenges that we face in our lives. so i wrote this song in 2019. and then everybody knows what 2020 brought. it brought so many challenges to the world, then it brought challenges to my own family. we lost a baby. it was the most traumatic experience my wife and i have had to go through together. that was a time when that song "never break" really meant the most to me. because we've never been tested like that. she never had been tested like that. and we had to be there for each other, our love had to be there there for each other, for us to survive that challenge.

i think we've come out even stronger than ever. >> do you know how brave you are for sharing that? >> chrissy's the brave one. she's the one that felt like she had to tell this story. she wanted to share this experience with other people, because she knew other women have been through this same thing, and she wanted to let them know she was there for them, she understood their pain. and the outpouring of love and, oh, i've been through this too, and empathy that we got from people has been staggering, honestly. i'm always a little more private than she is. by nature. but her instinct was right, to tell this story, because it helped a lot of other families who have gone through it to know that they're not alone and they're seen. but it also helped us. it's not a community that you want to be a part of. but once you know that that community exists and you become a part of it, through your own experience, your own tragedy, it's helpful to know other people are out there. >> what motivates you to be resilient? >> i feel so fortunate.

i get to do what i love to do every single day. i get to write songs for a living. i have fun when i go to work. it's not easy to write a song, but i truly get joy from it. i also keep going because i feel like i have an opportunity to bring more love and more beauty and more joy into this world. and given that opportunity, given the platform that i have, i don't want to waste it. >> our thanks to adrienne. now a programming note. the second episode of the abc news series "soul of the nation" airs next tuesday evening, 10/9 central, only on abc. up next, a dose of hope from dolly parton and a very important message. >> it goes -- ♪ vaccine vaccine vaccine vaccine i'm begging of you please don't hesitate ♪ ♪ pepto bismol coats and soothes your stomach for fast relief

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finally tonight, america's sweetheart meets america's weapon against covid-19. ♪ vaccine vaccine vaccine

vaccine ♪ ♪ i'm begging of you please don't hesitate ♪ >> country legend dolly parton warming up before she receives a dose of her own medicine. >> think you got it? >> i got it. >> okay. >> a covid-19 vaccine that the star helped to fund, dolly donating $1 million to the cause. leave it to dolly to inspire and lead the way. that's "nightline" for this evening. catch our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here, same time tomorrow night. thanks for the company, america. good night.