Boston (AP) — Boston officials are weighing creating a commission to account for the city’s role in Black slavery and potentially provide reparations to Black residents.

The City Council’s Committee on Civil Rights is holding a hearing Tuesday to hear from a range of Black community activists, academics and other experts to consider how the city can approach the issue.

The hearing order states that the city needs to present a “common understanding of the city’s history with slavery” and explores how reparations can be provided to Black residents.

The order says reparations can take other forms than direct financial compensation. Among those are rehabilitation efforts that provide care and services for victims beyond monetary payment, and symbolic reparations such as public apologies and fact-finding efforts.

Evanston, Ill., became the first American city to pay reparations earlier this year, and San Francisco is among the biggest cities that have formed a reparations committee.

Closer to home, the western Massachusetts town of Amherst has created a designated fund for reparations work and is weighing how the money will be used.