Our Work
The Case for Repair
Since the Revolutionary War, Black Americans have served in our nation's military with honor and valor, only to face the indignity of unequal access to the wealth-generating veterans' benefits promised to those who fight our nation's wars.
Our government's history of failing Black veterans and their families spans generations. Through the widespread denial of Civil War pensions, the pervasive obstruction of World War II-era home loans and education benefits, and systemic disparities in disability pay spanning Vietnam through the post-9/11 conflicts, the cumulative impact of racial exclusion has reached crisis levels.
$100B
DENIED
Disparities in veterans' benefits have cost Black veterans and their families an estimated $100 Billion since WWII.
32X
WEALTH GAP
White veterans hold 32 times more wealth than Black veterans—a gap of $164,000.
33%
HOMELESS
Black veterans account for 1/3 of our nation's homeless veteran population.
Generations later, these exclusions have cost Black communities billions of dollars and continue to fuel the disproportionate rates of Black veteran homelessness, unemployment, and incarceration we're seeing today.
This denial is by design. We have the evidence to prove it.
Starting in 2020, BVP has been collecting the stories of Black veterans, government data, and historical records documenting America's legacy of mistreatment of Black veterans and their families, alongside a host of racially discriminatory policies and practices spanning decades.
This research equips educators, policymakers, artists, and the public with the facts, stories, and legal grounding needed to chart the path towards recompensation and repair.
As our nation's democracy reaches its tipping point, the fight for equity and the movement for repair are more urgent than ever.
In January 2025, the federal government instituted executive orders dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and revoking critical institutional infrastructure and protections meant to ebb racial discrimination.
Despite the federal government's role in designing and exacerbating racial inequality through policy and practices, there has been little accountability to redress the harm done. Now, the very systems built to measure and address racism in American life are being dismantled, threatening the promise of our multiracial democracy.
Black Veterans Project was built for this moment.
How Repair Happens
An approach to repair must be multi-pronged, including:
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Returning earned benefits to Black veterans and their families, including pensions, disability pay, housing, education, and survivor benefits.
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Codifying federal reform and protections to foster greater accountability and prevent future harm.
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Maintaining a historical record that is preserved and accessible to scholars, policymakers, and the general public.
Our Theory of Change
Our Theory of Change centers on our priorities across three core pillars:
Impact Litigation
Builds the case for repair through data and law, turning fragmented evidence into a shared record that compels accountability.
If we build the case for repair through data and law, we turn fragmented evidence into a shared record that quantifies harm and restores accountability across the institutional, legal, and administrative systems that shape public trust.
Learn more →Narrative Hub
Carries the evidence and stories into public understanding, shifting the nation's consciousness to imagine and envision repair as achievable.
If we carry the stories of the veterans shaped by generations of benefit denial into public memory, art, and education, we shift the nation's imagination so that repair becomes thinkable and actionable across policy and culture.
Learn more →Mobilization
Organizes communities as stewards of repair, rebuilding collective power into coordinated action.
If we mobilize Black veteran communities as stewards of repair, we rebuild collective power into coordinated action that grows leadership, drives policy, and redirects resources.
Learn more →Impact Litigation
Through coordinated impact litigation with a national network of legal partners, we are working to secure reparative justice and an equitable future for Black service members, veterans, and military families.
Since 2020, BVP has worked to hold the Department of Veteran Affairs federally liable for its discriminatory treatment of Black veterans, helping build the legal foundation for Monk v. United States – a landmark lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs alleging systemic racial discrimination in the administration of veterans' benefits that seeks accountability for decades of unequal access to education, housing, and disability benefits.
The outcomes of Monk v. United States could set a precedent for Black veterans impacted by decades of racially-biased policies and practices dating back to World War II. Learn More About Monk v. United States →
Want to remain updated about our legal work?
Become a member →Narrative Hub
BVP is working to raise a national consciousness in support of repair—ensuring that reparative justice is not only imaginable, but achievable.
Through our Narrative Hub, BVP collaborates with veteran-advocates, scholars, journalists, artists, communities, and cultural institutions to collect and preserve Black veterans' stories.
By championing the voices and lived experiences of Black veterans through art, education, and media, BVP is building a public body of evidence that will shape how future generations understand the history and legacy of Black military service in America.
Are you a content creator, journalist, artist, scholar, or archivist?
Contribute to our Substack →Mobilization
Today, there are three million Black veterans in the United States, with an estimated 15 million Americans hailing from Black military families. BVP functions as a hub to mobilize Black service members, veterans, their families, and allies. By channeling our collective power as stewards of repair, we are building a national network of change-makers to drive advocacy that drives policy and resources to achieve repair, foster equity, and sustain democracy.
The strength of this work is further multiplied through collaboration with organizations at the intersection of civil rights, racial justice, disability justice, and veterans advocacy.
Veterans who share their stories join our membership corps, which can be activated to support future advocacy campaigns.