By Antonio Ray Harvey California Black Media

The California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans is recommending that the State Legislature fund a governmental department dedicated to assisting reparations applicants prove their ancestry to enslaved people in the United States.

The task force’s proposal to establish a “genealogy branch” within the proposed California American Freedmen Affairs Agency (CAFAA) will be included in the task force’s final report, which is scheduled to be submitted to the Legislature by the end of June 2023. The branch would provide access to expert genealogical research to confirm reparations eligibility for an estimated 2.5 million Black Americans in California who are likely to seek restitution.

“The legislation that created the California Reparations Task Force requires the body to recommend reparations proposals that provide special consideration for descendants of slaves,” task force chairperson Kamilah V. Moore told California Black Media on April 10. “Thus, eligibility for Californians should they qualify for reparations through the proposed California American Freedmen Affairs Agency is of utmost importance. The agency will be positioned to provide perpetual special consideration to this unique and special group, through direct reparatory justice services and oversight of existing agencies.”

The task force will recommend that the CAFAA be headquartered in Sacramento and have satellite offices all around the state. California is in line to become the first state in the United States to provide Black Americans reparations, or restitution for slavery and other state-sanctioned discrimination or exclusion.

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As the determining factor for compensation, the task force narrowly decided in March 2022 that lineage, not race, will determine who will be eligible for reparations to align with Proposition 209, state law prohibiting the consideration of race in public policy decisions or determinations.

During that March 2022 meeting, the task force listened to the perspectives of 11 genealogy experts who offered insights on qualification for reparations before voting 5-4 in favor of eligibility.

One of the experts, Dr. Evelyn McDowell, an Associate Professor and Accounting Department Chair at Rider

University in New Jersey, is a member and president of the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage (SDUSMP), a society that works to preserve the memory and history of slavery.

The 10-year-old organization, McDowell said, has successfully helped its members trace their lineage through a mix of research and analysis of the U.S Census, birth and death certificates, and state laws that tracked the enslaved.

“My purpose here is to tell the [task force] that it is absolutely possible to trace one’s lineage to individuals who were enslaved in the United States,” McDowell said. “For the vast majority of African Americans, it is relatively easy.”

Dr. Hollis Gentry, a genealogy specialist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture Library, shared personal experiences of tracing her ancestry to slavery. She used the Freedmen’s Bureau Records, national archives, and records from Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).

Gentry suggested that an agency should be established to manage the eligibility process. It should be connected to state archives and offices of vital records to facilitate access to records that would assist reparations applicants.

Other genealogists who testified pointed to the lack of access to historical records and the difficulties created when enslaved families were separated after members were sold, traded, and auctioned.

Kellie Farrish, a genealogist with over 15 years of experience in Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis and lineage tracing using DNA, provided instructions for how one might want to do genealogy research to locate “enslaved ancestors using the completely free Familysearch.com website.”

Farrish, the lead genealogist for the non-profit Reparation Generation, noted three criteria for determining potential reparations applicants’ lineage: ancestors born in the Deep South states prior to 1865, ancestors living in the U.S. prior to the 1900s, and ancestors living in the Deep South states prior to the Great Migration of the 1940s.

“First, we must define what it means to be African American. For the sake of this discussion, African Americans are those involuntarily brough to the United States for the purpose of being enslaved,” Farrish told the task force. “Using genealogy to prove descendancy from this group would involve tracing one’s lineage back to either a person enslaved in this system or a time when there was little to no presence of legal voluntary immigration from African or Caribbean countries.”

In August 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 189, legislation that would facilitate processing lineage-based reparations claims using state data. SB 189 authorizes the State Controller’s Office and the Department of Human Resources to disaggregate Black employee demographic data in an effort to identify who has immigrant origins and who descends from enslaved people in the United States.

SB 189 was authored by the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California (CJEC) and Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-Pasadena). CJEC is a statewide coalition of organizations, associations and community members united for Reparations for Black U.S Slavery Descendants.

SB 189 “feels like a generational step forward for our people, for the state, and for the country,” Coalition for a Just and Equitable California (CJEC) lead organizer Chris Lodgson said after Newsom signed the bill. “We are a specific group of people, and we need and deserve to be recognized as such, for reparations and for everything else we are owed.

The task force will hold its next meeting May 6 in Oakland at Lisser Hall, which is located at 500 MacArthur Boulevard, Mills College at Northeastern University. It will begin at 9 a.m. PT.

By Tanu Henry and Antonio Ray Harvey
California Black Media

Your roundup of news stories you might have missed last week.

Assemblymember Mike Gipson Demands Sac County Remove Foster Children From Former Jail

Last week, Assemblymember Mike Gipson (D-Carson) demanded Sacramento County officials stop housing foster children in a former juvenile correction center.

The lawmaker, who authored Assembly Bill (AB) 175 that expanded and clarified the Foster Youth Bill of Rights, says what Sacramento County is doing is “unacceptable” and is in violation of state law.

“This is heartbreaking. It’s heartbreaking,” said Gipson, who explained that sex traffickers have access to the facility.

“We can find shelters for dogs, and people take those animals and roll out the red carpet,” Gipson told KCRA TV in Sacramento. “Are you telling me we can’t find placement for children in this county?”

Sacramento County officials say the decision to place 15 “high needs” foster children aged 13 to 17 years old at the Warren E. Thornton Juvenile facility is a temporary measure while the county seeks a legal and permanent solution.

Gipson Also Pushes Two Tax Bills

Last week, at a rally at the State Capitol, Gipson also discussed AB 1498, legislation he authored that would establish an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) minimum of $300. According to the California Budget and Policy Center, 78% of people who qualify for EITC are people of color.

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Gipson also expressed his support for another EITC-related legislation, AB 1128, at the rally. AB 1128 would “remove the requirement that a qualifying child has to be younger than 6 years of age as of the last day of the taxable year.”

California Elected Officials Among Black Leaders Mourning Harry Belafonte

Black actors, musicians, businesspeople, politicians and more wrote heartfelt tributes and messages of condolences last week after news broke that Harry Belafonte had passed.

Belafonte, singer, actor, activist, philanthropist, civil rights leader and first Black person to win an Emmy Award, died of congestive heart failure April 25 at his home in New York City.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA-43) paid tribute to her friend on Twitter.

“Another superstar has just passed. My dear friend, Harry Belafonte, was an extraordinarily talented singer and performer,” she tweeted. “More than that, he was a civil rights activist who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King and worked with President Nelson Mandela to end Apartheid in South Africa. We will all miss his wisdom, his advice, and his huge giving spirit.”

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12) also honored Belafonte’s life and work in a tweet.

“Sad to hear of the passing of my friend Harry Belafonte,” Lee wrote. “The world has lost not only a great musician and actor, but a civil rights activist and warrior for justice whose voice helped change America for the better. Thank you for your work, your courage, and your service.”

Democrats Shoot Down GOP-Backed Fentanyl Bills

Democrats on the Assembly Public Safety Committee last week voted down several bills aimed at addressing California’s Fentanyl crisis.

The measures would have strengthened penalties for Fentanyl dealers who possess large quantities of the drug — or kill or injure people they sell the drug to.

“Californians will continue to die, victims of drug dealers profiting off poisoning our communities,” Assembly Republican leader James Gallagher said in a statement. “These bills were not criminalizing addiction, returning to the ‘war on drugs,’ or any other lie told by the pro-fentanyl lobbyists. They were reasonable, bipartisan proposals to save lives.”

Assemblymembers Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles), who chairs the Public Safety Committee and Mia Bonta (D-Alameda) pointed to “harm reduction programs,” which experts say are more effective tools to fight the Fentanyl crisis than the punitive measures being proposed by lawmakers.

Jones-Sawyer says more arrests do not solve the problem in the long-term.

“As soon as you arrest somebody, unfortunately they may get replaced by somebody else and then there are even more drugs on the street,” he said. “Unfortunately, it’s a lucrative business. We’ve got to get to what the Governor is doing, for example, getting to the supply side. Which is stopping the drugs from getting across the border.”

Bonta pointed to the major criminal justice reform efforts the state is undertaking, as well as a $61 billion investment in harm reduction programs, including distribution of test strips and drug overdose medication.

Biden Highlights Importance of the Black Press at White House Correspondents’ Dinner

At the 2023 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, President Joe Biden spoke about the importance of the Black press and the tragic death of Emmett Till, an event that helped galvanize the civil rights movement in the 1950s.

Biden told the room full of journalists that during Black History Month this year he hosted the screening of the film “Till.”

On Aug. 28, 1955, while visiting family in Money, Mississippi, Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American teen from Chicago, was lynched for allegedly flirting with a white woman a few days earlier.

The story of Till and his mother Mamie Till-Mobly is a “story of a family’s promise and loss” and the country’s “reckoning with hate, violence, and the abuse of power,” Biden said.

“It’s a story that was seared into our memory and our conscience — the nation’s conscience — when Mrs. Till insisted that an open casket for her murdered and maimed 14-year-old son be the means by which he was transported,” Biden said.  “She said, ‘Let the people see what I’ve seen.’”

Biden also commended Black publications for their reporting on the lynching and its aftermath, Till’s funeral, and the ensuing trial that freed the perpetrators.

“The reason the world saw what she saw was because of another hero in this story: the Black press,” Biden said “That’s a fact.  JET Magazine, the Chicago Defender, and other Black radio and newspapers were unflinching and brave in making sure America saw what she saw. “And I mean it.”

Two Black Women Among New Appointees to Emerge California Board

Two Black women are among four new appointees to the board of Emerge California, an Oakland-based body that describes itself as “the state’s premier organization that recruits and trains Democratic women to run for office.”

Brittni Chicuata and Alana D. Matthews are the two new Black women members of the 9-member board. The organization had a 70%-win rate out of the 125 candidates it supported in last November’s general election.

“I’m excited to welcome these powerful and accomplished women leaders to the Board of Directors to help lead Emerge California forward and build on our success in 2023 and beyond,” said Board Chair Rhodesia Ransom. “Since our founding more than twenty years ago, Emerge California has trained over 850 Democratic women to run for office, and we’re just getting started. These four women have valuable expertise and skills that will help us grow our movement to even greater heights.”

The other two new board members are Stacey Owens and Marina A. Torres.

Chicuata is Director of Economic Rights at the San Francisco Human Rights Commission.

Matthews, an Emerge alumna, is an Assistant District Attorney and Policy Director for the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office. She is also an Adjunct Professor at McGeorge School of Law where she founded the Racial Equity and Justice Summer Practicum program.

Antonio Ray Harvey,
California Black Media

The California Black Chamber of Commerce (CBCC) is joining hands with state government to help narrow the Golden State’s Digital Divide for nearly two million houses without access to broadband.

In partnership with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the California Department of Technology (CDT), the CBCC will help push the state’s Middle-Mile Broadband Initiative – a $3.25 billion effort to enhance internet connectivity –under the “Broadband Technology Small Business Initiative.”

The initiative was created to provide a durable, open-access network that would bring high-speed broadband service to unserved and underserved communities, regardless of technology used, on equal economic and service terms.

“We are the lead agency working with Caltrans,” said Jay King, the President and CEO of CBCC. “We’re front of the line making sure small businesses are included, matchmaking is taking place, and that we meet the goal and the deadline of making sure that every Californian has access to digital connections.”

The initiative connects CBCC’s statewide membership of 5, 500-plus small African American business firms and non-Black entities to the benefits of broadband technology, according to King.

The state also allows small businesses to bid as contractors for projects related to strengthening broadband connections to improve access to education, health services and employment opportunities throughout the state.

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According to the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), in 2020, 10% of California residents reported not having a desktop, laptop, or other computing device at home.

In addition to a lack of functional units for computation, access was especially limited among low-income (23%), less-educated (16%), Black (15%), and Latino (15%) households, PPIC presented in its June 2022 fact sheet.

So far, California has invested $6 billion through the legislation that created the Middle Mile Broadband Initiative, Senate Bill (SB) 156. The legislation, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in 2021, expands broadband infrastructure, addresses affordability, and promotes digital literacy.  California will receive approximately $100 million more to enhance its broadband infrastructure through the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Middle-mile refers to the fiber optic infrastructure that makes internet connections possible by transmitting large amounts of data over long distances at high speeds through high-capacity cables. The complete design features a proposed system of 10,000 miles of infrastructure, covering the entire state.

Although federal dollars are involved in the project, King stated that state projects are “race neutral” to stay in compliance with California’s Prop 209 law that prohibits “preferential treatment” based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin.

“We know the importance (of closing the gap) not just in the Black community but in all marginalized communities,” King said. “The digital divide will only continue to hurt our country and state if we don’t ensure that everybody has full access to the digital world.”

CBCC’s Director of Small Business Willard “Will” McClure said that the design and construction of the middle-mile network is monitored by the Middle-Mile Advisory Committee (MMAC). The MMAC monitors the development and construction.

According to McClure, the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF), an organization providing leadership in expanding broadband access statewide, offers “five strategies” to close the digital divide. These include Civic Leader Engagement, Venture Philanthropy Grantmaking, Public Policy Initiatives, Public Awareness and Education, and Strategic Partnerships.

CETF’s network of more than 100 grantees have delivered digital literacy training to more than 800,000 residents and has assisted in providing internet connections to more than 250,000 low-income households in rural and remote areas, urban disadvantaged neighborhoods, and people with disabilities.

McClure said that the Middle-Mile project will be completely implemented by December 2026 but the work to close the gap really starts after the last fiber optic is installed. All participants must be “logged on with confidence,” he said.

“Once the access is available the problem is not over,” McClure said. “There’s confidence that comes with getting people to understand how to use it. Grandma doesn’t know how to download ZOOM.”

Last month, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel joined Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass to announce the campaign to increase enrollment in the Affordable Connectivity Program in Los Angeles at the Pio Pico-Koreatown Branch Library.

Qualifying households are eligible for a discount of up to $30 a month for internet service and discounts on devices through the Affordable Connectivity Program. The households can also get a one-time discount of up to $100 to buy a laptop, desktop computer or tablet from qualifying providers.

“For many households, the cost of groceries, gas and rent can eat up the monthly budget, putting internet access out of reach,” Rosenworcel said. “We want to do more to get out the word about this powerful program and reach families that may not know about this benefit.”