I was absolutely struck by Thomas’ use of reparations as a framework for thinking through the social conditions that she witnesses. I had to read the paragraph that introduced it a few times, as I initially struggled to conceive of how reparations could be operationalized as a way to think through anything. It led me to think through Tuck’s and Yang’s “Decolonization is Not a Metaphor”… if we use reparations as a theoretical tool, do we risk undermining the legitimacy of the real need for wealth redistribution? However, Thomas’ further explanation on page 6 brought the framework of reparations to connect with ideas of citizenship and sovereignty. The notion of a transnational, international movement towards reparations is striking, but that isn’t quite where Thomas took us. I appreciate the sentiment that the reparations framework would help us think through the centrality of slavery across the Americas, but I still hesitate in thinking about our adoption of calls for action into an abstracted way of thinking about contemporary social forces… interested to hear how y’all grappled with this.