By Dustin Gardiner and Alexei Koseff, SF Chronicles — California legislators approved a bill that would create a task force to study reparations for slavery for African Americans, a measure intended to eliminate disparities that linger more than 150 years after an economic and social system that kept Black people in bondage was banished. Separately, lawmakers also sent a bill to Gov. Gavin Newsom requiring corporations in the state to…
By Don Thompson, AP — California lawmakers are setting up a task force to study and make recommendations for reparations to African Americans, particularly the descendants of slaves, as the…
By Marc Parry, The Chronicle of Higher Education — As Shirley N. Weber built the Africana-studies department at San Diego State University in the 1970s, she spent lots of time defending…
By Cuneyt Dil, Associated Press — A proposal to establish a task force to study and prepare recommendations for how to give reparations to African Americans passed the California Assembly on Thursday. The bill advanced with a 56-5 vote as protests nationwide over police brutality re-energized the movement for racial justice and activists pressed for sweeping reforms. It is a top priority for California’s Legislative Black Caucus. If the bill…
By Adria Watson, CalMatters — The anger and frustration that flooded more than 20 cities in recent days will likely put pressure on the state to conduct a thorough examination of historic and continued discrimination of African Americans — even as civil unrest continues. Although racism — both institutional and cultural — is a national stain that bleeds hundreds of years deep, some suggest California should account for its share of mistreatment….
By Tanu Henry, California Black Media — On May 11, the California Assembly Judiciary Committee voted yes on a bill that would mandate the state to set up an 8-member commission to examine how California engaged in — and benefited from — the enslavement of Black men, women and children. If the bill, AB 3121, passes, it would charge the commission with coming up with proposals for redressing the “negative…
SACRAMENTO (CBM) – Assemblymember Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus, has introduced, a new bill, AB 3121. It calls for setting up a task force to study and develop reparation proposals for African Americans. “Existing law,” the language of the legislation reads, “requests the Regents of the University of California to assemble a colloquium of scholars to draft a research proposal to analyze the economic…
By Rev. Amos Brown, SF Chronicle — For the city’s black community, it is long past time for San Francisco to prove it’s “the city that knows how” — to prove it knows how to make amends for its historic injustices to that community. As we mark the celebration of the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it is time for San Francisco to establish a reparations…
White Activist and Group of Progressives Launch “Fund for Reparations Now” Will Support the National African American Reparations Commission. Los Angeles, CA — As support for reparations for the descendants of enslaved Africans in America continues to build momentum across the country, David Gardinier, a Los Angeles-based racial justice activist, has assembled a group of like-minded White progressives to launch the Fund for Reparations Now (FFRN). The objective of this…
The Brennan Center’s report authors said as the 2020 election cycle heats up, election administrators must be transparent about how they’re deciding what names to remove from the rolls. By…
On International Overdose Awareness Day, Parents Across the Nation Gather to Remember and Honor Lives Lost and Educate Communities about Solutions to the Overdose Crisis. By Moms United/A New Path…
By Ken Epstien, Post News Group — The City Council this week unanimously passed Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney’s resolution in support of HR-40, the bill in Congress to study reparations to “descendants of enslaved African Americans.” Council President Rebecca Kaplan co-authored the resolution. Rebecca Kaplan “This is an important time in our nation’s history where we need to seek to make right that which is wrong,” said McElhaney, speaking at…