Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌

S. F. NAACP Clarifies Statement on $5M Payouts: Reparations Should Be Cash Payments, Plus ‘Investments’

The San Francisco Branch of the NAACP is engaged in a public information blitz to clarify a press release it sent out urging the San Francisco city government to reject a proposal to pay each qualifying Black city resident a one-time lump sum reparation payment of $5 million. The Rev. Amos Brown, a member of the San Francisco reparations board, pastor of Third Baptist Church, and the president of the San Francisco NAACP, released a March 14 statement before the recommendations were presented to the supervisors rejecting the $5 million payout.

Published

3 years ago

April 3, 2023

Oakland Post

Rev. Dr. Amos Brown, center, a member of the San Francisco reparations board, pastor of Third Baptist Church, and the president of the San Francisco NAACP, said the city's efforts should focus on investments and opportunities in the form of reparations. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey. March 3, 2023.

By Antonio Ray Harvey and Manny Otiko, California Black Media

Note: This article has been updated and republished for clarity. A view about the inability of the City of San Francisco to afford paying reparations payments to its Black residents who qualify was expressed by several San Francisco Board of Supervisors members. That perspective was accurately captured in the story. However, that point of view was attributed to one member, Dean E. Preston, in a direct quote that did not reflect his words verbatim.

The Rev. Amos Brown, a member of the San Francisco reparations board, pastor of Third Baptist Church, and the president of the San Francisco NAACP, released a March 14 statement before the recommendations were presented to the supervisors rejecting the $5 million payout.

Reparations should focus on investments and opportunities in five areas: education, employment, housing, healthcare, and a culture center for San Francisco’s Black residents, the prepared statement reads.

“We strongly believe that creating and funding programs that can improve the lives of those who have been impacted by racism and discrimination is the best path forward toward equality and justice,” Brown stated. Brown is the vice-chairperson of the California Reparation Task Force, which is proposing recommendations for two million Black residents in California.

Eric McDowell, right, the chairperson for San Francisco’s African American Reparations Advisory Committee (AARAC), said the committee presented 111 recommendations of reparations to the city’s Board of Supervisors. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey. December 2022.

The NAACP’s press release was met with immediate backlash by supporters in the movement for reparations across the country who have, for decades now, invested time, energy and money into bringing the issue to national attention.

In 2020, California became the first state to set up a task force to investigate the state’s involvement in slavery, state-sanctioned atrocities against African Americans and all other forms of discrimination and discriminatory policy that excluded Black Californians from state benefits or protections or that prevented them from gaining social or economic power.

“This is reprehensible. It is a betrayal to Black Americans,” tweeted Bishop Talbert Swan on March 17 reacting to the press release.

“As a life member of the NAACP and the longest-serving president in the history of my branch, I am ashamed by the position taken by the San Francisco branch.”

Brown has since clarified in several public appearances that he is not against the idea of a cash payout but only wants the recommendation to be a reasonable compromise — one, he says, that does not give the city’s Black residents “false hope.”

“We don’t want to get set up for another study or for them to put this up on a shelf to collect dust,” said Brown in an interview with Roland Martin. “We must have action. We believe in cash-plus — not either or.”

Eric McDowell, chairperson of the African American Reparations Advisory Committee (AARAC) — a task force set up by San Francisco city government — said that recommendations presented to the Board of Supervisors is an “appraisal” and he is “hopeful” that the city will deliver much needed compensation for the Black community.

McDowell made the statements in an interview with San Francisco’s KRON 4 News on March 24. AARAC presented recommendations on March 14 to address the harms and struggles Black Americans have endured since they began migrating west after the Civil War.

“What the city will decide to do is fully in the hands of the supervisors, mayor’s office and full leadership of the city,” McDowell said in the six-minute segment. “We’re hopeful as a committee that they will take up the charge and do what they believe both is right to do and have the capacity to do.”

The recommendations, McDowell said, are only in “draft” form at this stage. They cover economic empowerment, education, generational wealth building and public policies for the benefit of Black San Franciscans. McDowell referred to the recommendation as an estimation of value.

“Our task (AARAC) was to do the appraisal and it’s the city’s task to determine, based upon recommendations, what they decide to adopt,” McDowell said.

“Once again, that conversation is yet to come: the determination of how it will get financed and made possible,” McDowell continued, talking about reparations payments to San Franciscans who are Black American descendants of enslaved people.

The 14-person reparations committee advises the Board of Supervisors, Mayor London Breed, the Human Rights Commission and the public on the development of a San Francisco Reparations Plan. The plan features ways that San Francisco’s policies have harmed Black lives.

Giving qualifying Black residents individual payments of $5 million, the elimination of personal debt and tax liabilities of African American households and securing annual incomes at a minimum $97,000 for 250 years are part of the package the committee is proposing.

San Francisco’s Black population is 6% of the city’s total number of residents and they make up 38% of the city’s homeless population.

The AARAC has documented decades of policies and laws that systematically affected Black Americans in San Francisco, limiting their access to productive employment property, education and the ability to build generational wealth.

A decision by the Board of Supervisors on the amount of compensation owed to Black residents or the form it will take is not expected until June. Meanwhile, the city is mulling over the fact that providing financial compensation will push it deeper into the red, a point that has been made by some city officials that many who oppose reparations for Black Americans have latched onto and referenced in their arguments.

“I wish we had this kind of money in San Francisco’s general fund, but if we want to maintain the services that exist today, we do not,” said Supervisor Hillary Ronen in a San Francisco Chronicle interview.

San Francisco is currently facing a deficit of more than $720 million over the next 24 months. Supervisor Dean Preston told the San Francisco Chronicle that reparations are warranted but not financially feasible for the city.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

Black, Latinx Californians Face Highest Exposure to Oil and Gas Wells

Don't Miss

Small Richmond Tree Crew Tackles Mighty Feat Amid Storms

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌

$96 Million Allocated So Far to Black-Owned Firms as High-Speed Rail Project Expands Jobs, Boost Local Economies

Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles), a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) and Chair of the Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement, says the rail project “is exactly the kind of investment” California needs.

Published

3 months ago

September 14, 2025

Oakland Post

San Joaquin River Viaduct, completed in February 2021, is a 4,700-foot structure in north Fresno spanning the San Joaquin River and Union Pacific tracks along SR 99. Featuring arches as Fresno’s northern gateway and a pergola that carries high-speed trains over the rail line, it stretches from the river to near Herndon Avenue.

By Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌, California‌ ‌Black‌ ‌Media‌

As of May 31, the most recent data from the California High-Speed Rail Authority shows that 47 African American-owned firms are participating in the project as Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs).

A total of 936 Certified Small businesses are working on the high-speed rail program statewide, representatives of the high-speed rail project say.

The number of Black-owned DBE firms (5.2%) accounts for $96 million of the $1.136 billion allocated to minority firms thus far.

Smallwood-Cuevas, speaking in Aug. 25 at the State Capitol Swing Space Annex — along with a coalition of Democratic state legislators and union leaders — provided an update on the California High-Speed Rail project and its efforts to employ people from the Black community and businesses.

“It builds a cleaner, more connected California while creating thousands of union jobs,” said Smallwood-Cuevas. “And we must ensure workforce equity, with pathways that open doors for workers who too often have been left out of good-paying careers.”

The remaining DBE minority-owned firms received the following amounts:

Asian Subcontinent: 24 firms received approximately $65 million
Asian-Pacific Islander: 52 firms received approximately $86 million
Native American: 6 firms received approximately $39 million
Hispanic/Latino: an unspecified number of DBE businesses received approximately $848 million

There are currently 328 certified DBEs participating in the project, according to the California High Speed Authority. The multi-billion-dollar project is billed to be committed to small, disabled, disadvantaged, and diverse businesses playing a major role in building the statewide high-speed rail project.

“As a Central Valley native, I know firsthand how transformative high-speed rail will be for our communities,” stated Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City) a member of the CLBC and Chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee.

“Stable and sustained funding is essential to delivering this project and fulfilling the promise made to voters.”

The news conference was hosted by Senate Transportation Chair, Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose), who was promoting Senate Bill (SB) 545. He and the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) urged the Legislature to commit to a steady, annual investment from a cap-and-trade program to fund the high-speed rail project.

Dr. Melanie Okoro, the Principal and Chief Executive Officer of Eco-Alpha, attended the briefing. Eco-Alpha is a Sacramento-headquartered small, women-owned, minority-certified firm.

The company, not classified as a DBE, earned its status as a certified small business and a certified women-minority small business through the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the Department of General Services (DGS). The certification allowed Eco-Alpha to be featured by CHSRA as a small business working on the project.

The Black-owned firm provides engineering and environmental services to the California High-Speed Rail project, primarily focused on facilities operation and Maintenance.

Okoro said laborers are not the only workers benefiting from the project. Professionals of color in engineering, with specialized knowledge and problem-solving skills to design, build, and maintain a wide array of structures, systems, and products, are looking forward to these “great opportunities.”

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Sacramento: Lawmakers Hear From Health Advocates on “State of Black Maternal Health”

Participants highlighted several past and current bills going through the state Legislature that focus on improving maternal health equity. The proposals address systemic inequities to improve the healthcare experiences of Black women during pregnancy, labor, and postpartum.

Published

3 months ago

September 10, 2025

Oakland Post

CBHN Executive Director Rhonda Smith convened a panel of experts—including health policy advocates, public health directors, researchers, and birth workers—for the organization’s legislative briefing on the state of Black maternal health. Sacramento, CA, Aug. 27, 2025. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey.

By Antonio Ray Harvey, California Black Media

Adjoa Jones is a Los Angeles-based health and community leader who has dedicated her career to advocating for equitable birth outcomes for Black mothers and infants.

Participating in a legislative briefing hosted by the California Black Health Network (CBHN) on Aug. 27, Jones shared stories that shed light on the disproportionately high rate of pregnancy-related complications and deaths among Black women.

Two Black women in Southern California, Jones says, suddenly passed away after giving birth. From Jones’s perspective, those maternal mortalities could have been prevented.

“I come to you speaking from the voices of our community. From the stories of two unforgettable mothers, but it really speaks to the most preventable tragedies,” said, Jones, who is the Director of African American Infant and Maternal Mortality Prevention Initiative at the L.A. County Department.

“It’s not just impacting California, but our nation far and wide,” Jones added during the event titled “The State of Black Maternal Health” and held at the California State Museum in Sacramento.

Panelists included Sandra Poole, Health Policy advocate for the Western Center on Law and Poverty, and Brittany Chambers, Associate Professor for the Department of Human Ecology at the University of California at Davis.

Other panelists were Palav Babaria, Deputy Director for the California Department of Health Care Services, and Zea Malawa, Director of Expecting Justice.

Rhonda Smith, the Executive Director of CBHN, served as the host and moderator of the briefing.

“There are amazing and incredible women who are doing amazing work here in the state,” Smith said of the panelists who discussed potential policy solutions and accountability.

During Jones’ presentation, she shared the tragic stories of two women. One was April Valentine, who died on Jan. 10, 2023, after giving birth at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood.

According to reports, Valentine died from a blood clot, a pulmonary embolism, that formed in her leg and circulated to her lung. A well-known complication during pregnancy. Valentine’s family members said her condition was preventable, and they filed a wrongful-death claim.

The second woman, 32-year-old Briget Cromer, died in 2023 at California Hospital Medical Center, hours after giving birth to her fifth child. Her family believes her death was due to medical negligence.

Her family’s legal team filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHH) alleging systemic racial bias in care.

According to the California Department of Public Health, Black women are more likely than their counterparts to die during pregnancy. They represent 5% pregnancies in the state but account for 21% of pregnancy-related deaths.

“We’re doing all that we can to ensure that pregnancy is uplifted (and) pregnancy is a place that’s where folks can enjoy the journey, Jones said.

Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson (D-San Diego), an obstetrician-gynecologist, was the keynote speaker.

“Here in California, we tragically lose another mother due to pregnancy-related complications every five days,” Weber Pierson said. “Here and nationally, Black mothers are three to four times likely to be one of those mothers lost. That’s coming from 40% of maternal deaths.”

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌

Air Quality Board Rejects Two Rules Written to Ban Gas Water Heaters and Furnaces

The proposal would have affected 17 million residents in Southern California, requiring businesses, homeowners, and renters to convert to electric units. “We’ve gone through six months, and we’ve made a decision today,” said SCAQMD board member Carlos Rodriguez. “It’s time to move forward with what’s next on our policy agenda.”

Published

6 months ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Shutterstock.

By Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌
California‌ ‌Black‌ ‌Media‌

Two proposed rules to eliminate the usage of gas water heaters and furnaces by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) in Southern California were rejected by the Governing Board on June 6.

Energy policy analysts say the board’s decision has broader implications for the state.

With a 7-5 vote, the board decided not to amend Rules 1111 and 1121 at the meeting held in Diamond Bar in L.A. County.

The proposal would have affected 17 million residents in Southern California, requiring businesses, homeowners, and renters to convert to electric units.

“We’ve gone through six months, and we’ve made a decision today,” said SCAQMD board member Carlos Rodriguez. “It’s time to move forward with what’s next on our policy agenda.”

The AQMD governing board is a 13-member body responsible for setting air quality policies and regulations within the South Coast Air Basin, which covers areas in four counties: Riverside County, Orange County, San Bernardino County and parts of Los Angeles County.

The board is made up of representatives from various elected offices within the region, along with members who are appointed by the Governor, Speaker of the Assembly, and Senate Rules Committee.

Holly J. Mitchell, who serves as a County Supervisor for the Second District of Los Angeles County, is a SCAQMD board member. She supported the amendments, but respected the board’s final decision, stating it was a “compromise.”

“In my policymaking experience, if you can come up with amended language that everyone finds some fault with, you’ve probably threaded the needle as best as you can,” Mitchell said before the vote. “What I am not okay with is serving on AQMD is making no decision. Why be here? We have a responsibility to do all that we can to get us on a path to cleaner air.”

The rules proposed by AQMD, Rule 1111 and Rule 1121, aim to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from natural gas-fired furnaces and water heaters.

Rule 1111 and Rule 1121 were designed to control air pollution, particularly emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx).

Two days before the Governing Board’s vote, gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa asked SCAQMD to reject the two rules.

Villaraigosa expressed his concerns during a Zoom call with the Cost of Living Council, a Southern California organization that also opposes the rules. Villaraigosa said the regulations are difficult to understand.

“Let me be clear, I’ve been a big supporter of AQMD over the decades. I have been a believer and a fighter on the issue of climate change my entire life,” Villaraigosa said. “But there is no question that what is going on now just doesn’t make sense. We are engaging in regulations that are put on the backs of working families, small businesses, and the middle class, and we don’t have the grid for all this.”

Rules 1111 and 1121 would also establish manufacturer requirements for the sale of space and water heating units that meet low-NOx and zero-NOx emission standards that change over time, according to SCAQMD.

The requirements also include a mitigation fee for NOx-emitting units, with an option to pay a higher mitigation fee if manufacturers sell more low-NOx water heating and space units.

Proponents of the proposed rules say the fees are designed to incentivize actions that reduce emissions.