The Board of Alderman Budget Committee met on February 26, 2026, to discuss updates from the City Recovery Office regarding tornado relief efforts (or lack thereof) following the EF-3 storm that ripped through the city in May 2025. Unfortunately, seven people died under the administration as a result of their failure to push the tornado siren.
City Recovery Office Chief Julian Nicks highlighted what has and has not been done 10 months later, as of this article.
Nicks harped on tree stumps and how more needs to be done to remove them. He also boasted about how the Americorps partnership with the city has made an impactful change, though such an impact is yet to be seen.
Nicks failed to acknowledge how our community was forced to self-deploy in order to save ourselves. The people came out and picked up massive debris, cleared roadways, rescued community members from crumpled homes, organized food and resource drives, and more.
The Uhuru Movement’s Black Power Blueprint was among those leading forces, setting up a drop-off and pick up site for food, toiletries, household items and baby necessities. We put up a charging station so that people could recharge their phones, and had comrades preparing free hot food streetside.
The Uhuru Movement organized teams of volunteers to go door-to-door assessing the damages and needs of the community, and initiated volunteer workdays where people went to different sites to help clear yards and driveways.
Also missing from Nick’s presentation was any information about when the African community will receive resources to rebuild what was lost.
The report did reveal how some of the funds were distributed. The United Way was contracted out for $28,500,000, which in turn administered funds to Catholic Charities, LifeWise, HOPE, Salvation Army, Better Family Life, and 314 Oasis.
The report showed that the distribution of these resources “supported resource hubs” and United Way administration fees that total more than $1 million.
The west and north sides have not seen any of these resources in a material way. The African communities are still devastated and the Uhuru Movement stepped up once again to provide political leadership and call out the city for letting the African community “rot.”
The Uhuru Movement represented the African working class at the budget meeting, our presence there organized and led by the International President of the International People Democratic Uhuru Movement (InPDUM), Emmanuel Maku. Also in attendance were members of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement (USM) and the Northside Independent Neighborhood Association (NINA).
“Cut a check,” said Ekenge Mayele, a City of St. Louis resident of Ward 11, who was present at the Board of Alderman Budget meeting.
The City of St. Louis residents, both in person and virtually, demonstrated great unity with the Uhuru Movement and our demands for reparations: and the removal of Mayor Cara Spencer.
The board mentioned a bill that passed last year for $30 million in interest of the Rams settlement money to be “allocated” for relief efforts, yet the balance left from the settlement is $280 million.
“Cut a check to the west and northside!” was heard throughout the chambers.
Members of the recovery office noted the banners, especially one that called for Mayor Cara Spencer’ s removal from office.
“We must take every bit of funds to restore North city,” said Layla Shaw of Ward 6. She further proclaimed that the efforts were “shameful, this money should not go anywhere else but the northside.”
“The devastation caused by the tornado was decades in the making. Long before the tornado hit, the City’s negative public policies of land grab, of forcible displacement, of population removal of African people and of police containment of African communities, have done more damage than a tornado,” noted the Local Executive Committee President of the International Democratic Uhuru Movement, Jason Westbrook, a lifetime city resident from the Baden community.
A sharp demand for “Reparations Now!” came from a statement delivered by Makeda Baraka, an InPDUM member: “Instead of paying reparations to the northside, the city government continues to rob our communities and destroy economic development.
Just a week ago, city officials canceled the North Side business grant program, scrapping plans for $12,500 payments to more than 150 applicants. Originally, the city put $37 million of ARPA funds into the Northside Business Grant, which was already a fraction of the overall money they had. Now they’re not even giving $12,500.”
Sealli Moyenda, President of NINA, reminded the city of the fiduciary responsibility of Spencer’s administration. “These are the facts. The City sat on $850 plus million in public funds in ARPA money, Rams settlement funds, and budget surplus. Almost none of the $498 million in ARPA funds has been directed to the Black community. $290 million from the Rams settlement remains uninvested in northside neighborhoods.
Now the city is scrambling to spend the $196 million still left in ARPA funds and would have to spend $600,000 per day before the Feds take it back. Meanwhile, our communities have not seen a single cent.”
The budget meeting ended without any measurable results, per usual. Fortunately, the Uhuru Movement brought solutions to the northside with projects such as the Reparations Investment Company, whereas anyone anywhere can invest in real estate and get 7.5 percent on the returns.
Further, we have Uhuru Foods and Pies providing delicious food in a food desert, along with the Gary Brooks Community Garden and farm on the way.
These projects also provide opportunities for people to get involved through volunteer work days, community rallies at the St. Louis Uhuru House every Sunday, and our upcoming Plenary, set for April 17-19, 2026.
The budget meeting helped to expose what we already knew: African people must take power into our own hands to change our conditions. That is exactly what we’re doing!
Join the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement, InPDUM.org
Support the programs of the Black Power Blueprint, BlackPowerBlueprint.org
All out to the Party 2026 Plenary, APSPPlenary.org
This time til’ it’s won!
