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California Reparations Task Force Elects Leadership

The newly elected leaders represent an inter-generational team, bridging the millennial and baby boomer generations, which are known for their often-conflicting worldviews.

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Screen shot from the task force taking the oath of office (Twitter).

The California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans hosted its first public meeting June 1.

The virtual gathering marked the official launch of the first-in-the-nation initiative organized to investigate how a state engaged in and benefitted from slavery, and how it practiced or condoned racial discrimination, excluding African Americans from economic and other opportunities.

During the meeting that lasted over four hours, the nine-member task force elected Kamilah V. Moore, a Los Angeles-based activist and attorney, as its chair. The group also elected Rev. Dr. Amos Brown, pastor of Third Baptist Church in San Francisco and president of the San Francisco NAACP branch, as vice chair.

The newly elected leaders represent an inter-generational team, bridging the millennial and baby boomer generations, which are known for their often-conflicting worldviews.

Moore, who passed the California bar examination in January, intends to use her studies in domestic and international human rights to provide perspective on, “how the recommendations comport with international standards of remedy for wrongful injuries caused by the state, that includes all reparations and special members measures as understood by various international protocols laws and findings,” she said.

In her term as chairperson, Moore says she will provide expertise on, “how the state of California will offer a formal apology on behalf of the people of California for the perpetuation of gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity against Black Americans who descend from chattel slavery in the United States.”

A history buff and student of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights veteran Brown has dedicated more than six decades of his life to fighting for racial justice and equality.

“I’m concerned about our people and making sure that we stay on point in terms of delivering the sons and daughters of Africa what belongs to them,” said Brown.

The task force will be collaborating with the California Department of Justice to conduct research and provide recommendations for compensation based on the requirements of Assembly Bill 3121, the legislation that paved the way to set up the task force.

The reparations task force will work with renowned researchers and scholars to both quantify and qualify the damage slavery had on African Americans in California. The collaborators will conduct extensive research to examine the economic, educational, and social injustices suffered by descendants of enslaved Black people in the United States.

Kirsten Mullen and William A. Darity, Jr., co-authors of the book, “From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the 21st Century,” will provide general guidance for ways the state needs to implement reparations.

History professor Stacy Smith will offer expertise on the impact of slavery specific to California and how racial injustices affected the descendants of enslaved Africans.

Loyola Marymount University African Studies professor Marne Campbell will lead a research team that includes students to compile a report on various federal and state laws, regulations, policies, and practices that discriminate against African Americans.

“We must be aggressive in our efforts, be honest and direct, and figure out what we need to do in California, and be an example to the rest of the nation,” said California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, who authored the bill when she was an assembly member representing the 79th District in the San Diego area.

Weber said that the inaugural meeting is a historic moment that is 400 years overdue for African Americans.

“It’s time for folks to acknowledge the harm that’s been done, the harm that continues to be done,” said Weber.

“We are here today because the racism of slavery birthed an unjust system and a legacy of racial harm and inequality that continues today in every aspect of our lives,” she said.

“We are here today not just to seek an answer to say, ‘Was there harm?’ But your task is to determine the depth of the harm, and the ways in which we are to repair that harm,” Weber said to the task force.

Besides Brown and Moore, other task force members are state Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena); Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Gardena); Cheryl Grills, a clinical psychologist; Lisa Holder, a racial and social justice attorney; Jovan Lewis, a social scientist who focuses on racial and economic disparities; Monica Montgomery Steppe, a San Diego city councilmember; and Donald Tamaki, an attorney who worked on the landmark case that won reparations for Japanese internment camp victims.

The task force is scheduled to host a follow-up public meeting in July to finalize the scope of their study — and how they will move the reparations conversation forward in California.

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Oakland Post: Week of March 15 – 21, 2023

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 15 – 21, 2023

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The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 15 - 21, 2023

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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Richmond Promise Scholarship Application Deadline Closes March 17

Qualifying applicants can receive up to $1,500 annually for four years toward their post-secondary educational goals at a two-year or four-year college and/or while pursuing a Career Technical Education Certificate at any not-for-profit institution in the U.S. 

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Scholarships are available for high school graduates who want to go to a two-year or four-year college or a nonprofit vocational/technical school. Photo courtesy of Richmond Promise.
Scholarships are available for high school graduates who want to go to a two-year or four-year college or a nonprofit vocational/technical school. Photo courtesy of Richmond Promise.

Calling all high school seniors from Richmond and North Richmond: The Richmond Promise Scholarship Application period for the 2022-2023 school year closes on Friday, March 17.

High school seniors and GED students under the age of 24 who reside in Richmond and North Richmond and attend public, private, or charter schools in West Contra Costa County are eligible to apply for the scholarship.

Qualifying applicants can receive up to $1,500 annually for four years toward their post-secondary educational goals at a two-year or four-year college and/or while pursuing a Career Technical Education Certificate at any not-for-profit institution in the U.S. 

Students can also petition for an additional two years of extra funding. Throughout the process, the program provides supportive services to participating scholars from high school through college graduation, including support with identifying and applying for financial aid.

Richmond Promise launched in 2016 with a $35 million, 10-year investment by Chevron Richmond. The funds are part of a $90 million community benefits agreement between the City of Richmond and Chevron connected to the $1 billion Refinery Modernization Project.

To apply for the Richmond Promise Scholarship, go to https://richmondpromise.tfaforms.net/81. Need some help? Reach out to Richmond Promise at scholarships@richmondpromise.org. Learn more about the organization https://richmondpromise.org/

Kathy Chouteau contributed to this report

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Bay Area Native Dr. Terri Jett Honored by Indiana’s Butler University

Terri Jett arrived at Butler University in 1999 to begin her teaching career as an assistant professor of Political Science and Peace and Conflict Studies after earning her Ph.D. in Public Policy and Public Administration from Auburn University. Originally from California, Jett was unfamiliar with the Hoosier state, but was drawn to the energy of the faculty and students she met at Butler and the opportunity she saw for connecting her teaching and research with the broader Indianapolis community.

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Dr. Terri Jett poses with Butler Blue, the mascot of Butler University. Photo courtesy of Butler University Stories.
Dr. Terri Jett poses with Butler Blue, the mascot of Butler University. Photo courtesy of Butler University Stories.

By Jennifer Gunnels
Butler University Stories

Bay Area native Terri Jett was received a Distinguished Faculty Award at Indiana’s Butler University.

Terri Jett arrived at Butler University in 1999 to begin her teaching career as an assistant professor of Political Science and Peace and Conflict Studies after earning her Ph.D. in Public Policy and Public Administration from Auburn University.

Originally from California, Jett was unfamiliar with the Hoosier state, but was drawn to the energy of the faculty and students she met at Butler and the opportunity she saw for connecting her teaching and research with the broader Indianapolis community.

More than 20 years later, Jett has excelled at the work she set out to do. Last year, she was named a 2021-22 Distinguished Faculty Award recipient for her profound contributions to Butler University over the course of her career.

In many ways, Jett has been a trailblazer at Butler, including becoming the first Black female to earn tenure, and in 2020 becoming the first Black female to be promoted to full professor. Along with her teaching responsibilities as a member of the faculty, Jett has taken on numerous additional roles over the years including faculty director of the Hub for Black Affairs and Community Engagement (the Hub), member of the Steering Committee of the Race, Gender, Sexuality Studies Program (RGSS), faculty senator, and Faculty Fellow at the Desmond Tutu Peace Lab Think Tank. She also served as Department Chair from 2007-2014, a role she has currently resumed as interim while the current Chair is on sabbatical.

Jett has developed almost two dozen courses — core, departmental, honors, and even taught in our Washington D.C. Semester Program — and is always eager to seize on opportunities to take her students beyond the borders of campus. She has led students on numerous occasions to Selma, Alabama with the Honors course Voting Rights in Black and White: The Case of the Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March. She says walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge is always a moving and eye-opening experience for her students that brings the Civil Rights Movement to life in new ways.

Of the many courses she has taught, Jett says one of her favorites to teach is the Politics of Alice Walker, which she teaches nearly every summer. Prior to the pandemic, Jett also offered the course several times at the Indiana Women’s Prison and was able to bring some of her Butler students to visit her class in prison.

Jett is committed to doing good things in the world herself and is known in the Indianapolis community for her service and activism. She currently serves on the board of Indiana Humanities and is appointed by Mayor Joe Hogsett to the Indianapolis Land Improvement Bond Bank Board. She also moderates a series on local PBS station WFYI called Simple Civics, which provides short civics lessons and was nominated for a Great Lakes Region Emmy in 2020 and again in 2021.

Jett says her community activism is inspired in part by a desire to demonstrate how to be an engaged citizen for her students as well as a desire to connect her teaching and research to issues happening within the community.

“And I do it because it’s fulfilling,” she said.

Though Jett has various roles within and outside of Butler, she finds satisfaction in discovering ways to integrate her teaching, research, and service. For instance, her research focuses on agriculture and food justice, and last year she leveraged her area of academic expertise and her role as Faculty Director of the Hub to partner with Indy Women in Food in hosting the organization’s first conference on Butler’s campus focused on food insecurity in the city.

“I’m thrilled when I’m able to do that,” Jett said. “All of the hats that I wear are sort of constantly engaged at the same time, and I like that I get to work like that. I’m not running from one thing to the next, I feel like my work is layered with multiple connection points.”

This article is part of a series honoring the 2021-22 recipients of the Butler University Distinguished Faculty Award. Printed with permission.

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