Professor LaKisha Tawanda David of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the Reparations Committee will provide Evanston residents who are interested in tracing their family ancestry with free genetic testing kits as a part of a program that's supported by an Illinois House bill. Illinois HR0453 states the initiative "provides African American descendants of enslaved individuals the opportunity to trace their roots back to their ancestral homelands, to reconnect with their ancestral heritage, and to promote their well-being."

Details are available at: https://evanstonroundtable.com/2025/07/11/university-illinois-genealogy-testing-program/ .