Rev. Dr. Robert Turner, pastor of Empowerment Temple AME Church and a Commissioner with the National African American Reparations Commission (NAARC), has completed the 46th walk of his ongoing "40 Miles for 40 Acres" campaign — a 40-mile journey from the Peter Mott House, a documented Underground Railroad site in Lawnside, New Jersey, to the State Capitol in Trenton.

The walk, completed on July 14, 2026, drew attention to an active petition that calls on the New Jersey Legislature to pass two specific bills: A1665, establishing a New Jersey Reparations Task Force, and A5253, the Truth, Reconciliation, and Repair Act of New Jersey.

The event reflects Rev. Turner's sustained commitment to reparations advocacy — not as an abstract political conversation, but as a concrete legislative push with specific bills, specific deadlines, and a growing coalition of support.

**The Walk and Its Significance**

The choice of starting point — the Peter Mott House in Lawnside — was deliberate and symbolic. Lawnside is one of the few municipalities in the northern United States that was incorporated by African Americans before and after the Civil War. The Peter Mott House, a documented stop on the Underground Railroad, connects the current reparations conversation directly to the physical history of Black freedom and resistance in New Jersey.

The evening before the walk, Rev. Turner held a community conversation at the Burlington Quaker Meeting House — a site where Quakers have gathered for over 300 years, and one of the earliest religious communities in the United States to take a formal stand against slavery.

**Why New Jersey**

New Jersey holds a specific and often underexamined place in the history of American slavery. It was the last northern state to abolish slavery, and its legacy of racial inequality is measurable and documented. The petition Rev. Turner is championing cites several key disparities: a $662,500 racial wealth gap between white and Black and Latino families, a homeownership gap of 76.6% white versus 41.3% Black, and the nation's worst Black-white incarceration disparity, with Black residents incarcerated at 12.5 times the rate of white residents.

Reparations task force legislation has been introduced and failed in New Jersey five times — in 2005, 2019, 2022, 2024, and now as A1665. More than fifteen municipalities, including Newark, Orange, and Essex County, have already passed local resolutions in support.

"Acknowledgment without accountability is incomplete," said Rev. Turner. "The path to genuine repair runs through Trenton."

The petition will continue collecting signatures before being formally delivered to legislators. To learn more or add your name, contact Rev. Dr. Robert Turner at RobertTurner15@Hotmail.com or follow @Revdrrobertturner on Instagram.

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