Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌

Reparations Task Force to Recommend “Genealogy Branch” to Prove Eligibility

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.

Published

1 year ago

May 9, 2023

Oakland Post

Rev. Tony Pierce CEO of Oakland’s Black Wall Street Project addresses the California Reparations Task Force in Sacramento, Calif., on March 29, 2023. The task force will ask lawmakers to institute a genealogy branch to certify individuals' ancestral claims for reparations. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey.

By Antonio Ray Harvey California Black Media

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.

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.

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Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌

Gov. Newsom Touts California Economic Success

In a 20-minute interview on Oct. 10, Gov. Gavin Newsom said California’s economy is in great shape due to achievements in certain areas. The Governor was speaking at the 2024 California Economic Summit event hosted by California Forward in Sacramento. It was attended by more than 100 leaders from industry, community, and the private, public, and nonprofit sectors.

Published

2 weeks ago

October 21, 2024

Oakland Post

Gov. Gavin Newsom. File photo.

By Antonio Ray Harvey

In a 20-minute interview on Oct. 10, Gov. Gavin Newsom said California’s economy is in great shape due to achievements in certain areas.

The Governor was speaking at the 2024 California Economic Summit event hosted by California Forward in Sacramento. It was attended by more than 100 leaders from industry, community, and the private, public, and nonprofit sectors.

“It is an exciting and dynamic time,” said Newsom. “Thirty-two of the top 50 AI companies are all here in California. We dominate in tourism – record breaking tourism last year.”

“It isn’t by accident that California is an economic powerhouse,” Newsom continued. “Whether it be around education, infrastructure, or immigration, we’re following a formula for success.”

In Newsom’s overview of the state’s economy, he didn’t include why two companies decided to leave for the state of Texas. SpaceX and Chevron announced their departures over the summer.

Billionaire Elon Musk is moving the headquarters of his companies X and SpaceX from San Francisco to Texas. After 140 years of doing business in California, Chevron is heading to the southwestern state as well.

Chevron employs 2,000 workers in San Ramon. It operates crude oil fields, technical facilities, two refineries, and services more than 1,800 retail stations in California.

“There will be minimal immediate relocation impacts to other employees currently based in San Ramon. The company expects all corporate functions to migrate to Houston over the next five years. Positions in support of the company’s California operations will remain in San Ramon,” Chevron shared in an Aug. 2 press release.

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Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌

Asm. Mike Gipson: Calif. Ports Need Dedicated Funding From State Budget

Assemblymember Mike A. Gipson (D-Carson), a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) and chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Ports and Goods Movement, said the state must provide seaports permanent funding for them to run optimally and remain competitive. “We have yet to see dedicated, ongoing, consistent money allocated to our ports from our state budget,” said Gipson during a news conference held at the State Capitol.

Published

2 weeks ago

October 21, 2024

Oakland Post

Assemblymember Mike A. Gipson

By Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌, ‌California‌ ‌Black‌ ‌Media

“We have yet to see dedicated, ongoing, consistent money allocated to our ports from our state budget,” said Gipson during a news conference held at the State Capitol.

In August, Gipson released an interim report that features California ports’ crucial role in the state and national economy.

The 52-page  “Chair’s Interim Report” includes an observation of the most critical issues facing the goods movement sector and lays out a blueprint to keep the state’s 11 ports competitive in a complicated and constantly shifting environment.

Gipson stressed that foremost among priorities is the need for the state to continue investing in docking places for cargo ships.

“We are still happy to make sure these ports are not left behind and not neglected,” Gipson said at the news conference. “We still see today that our ports are fighting to have allocations from our federal partners and federal dollars. This report elevates that we need our fair share,” he added.

Over the past year, the Select Committee on Ports and Goods Movement toured the state’s 11 public ports and hosted numerous hearings on the state of the ports. Gipson was first appointed chair by former Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood). When Assemblymember Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) replaced Rendon as speaker, he asked Gipson to continue as Chair.

“The final tour stop for the Select Committee was the port of San Diego last spring. The tour highlighted the port’s efforts in green and sustainable operations,” Gipson told California Black Media (CBM). The tour gave select committee members a breakdown of all of the possibilities the port has to create for economic vitality and growth.

“It’s important that California policymakers support efficient, modern, and sustainable maritime operations while we reduce emissions to improve environmental and public health in our communities,” stated Frank Urtasun, chairman of the Port of San Diego Board of Port Commissioners.

In May, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) announced a $112 million federal investment in that the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach (San Pedro Ports) will receive more than $112 million through a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers program for critical construction upgrades, operations and maintenance activities.

“The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach move 40 percent of the nation’s container imports, transporting the goods that power our economy,” said Padilla.

The report outlines the importance of ports up and down the state, Gipson said. They all serve a function whether they are located on the coast or inland.

Gipson says he learned that the Port of Oakland uploads and discharges more than 99% of the containerized goods moving through Northern California. Oakland’s cargo capacity was the ninth busiest container port in the country based on the 2023 calendar year.

The inland ports cities of West Sacramento and Stockton have “unique” harbor facilities that relieve congestions and facilitate distribution to inland destinations in the Sacramento and Central Valley regions, Gipson told CBM at the State Capitol.

“Each and every port in California plays a vital role and contributes to our supply chain. Not one port in California is more important than the next,” Gipson said. “Each and every port is essential to moving forward and essential to making sure California is the 5th largest economy in the world.”

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Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌

NAACP Denounces L.A. City Councilmember Kevin de León; Cites Racist Rhetoric

Two years after racist comments in a leaked recording of Los Angeles City Council members emerged, members of Los Angeles branches of the National Advancement Association of Color People (NAACP) on Oct. 7 gave councilmember Kevin de León’s a “failing” grade for his performance in office. The announcement was made on the south lawn of the Los Angeles City Hall by leaders of the NAACP branches of Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley, Watts, Beverly Hills-Hollywood, Santa Monica-Venice, and San Pedro-Wilmington.

Published

2 weeks ago

October 21, 2024

Oakland Post

Kevin de León. Courtesy of Kevin de León (Facebook).

By Antonio Ray Harvey, California Black Media

The announcement was made on the south lawn of the Los Angeles City Hall by leaders of the NAACP branches of Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley, Watts, Beverly Hills-Hollywood, Santa Monica-Venice, and San Pedro-Wilmington.

De León was on a conference call with other council members who made racial comments about Indigenous people and one of their colleague’s son, who is Black.

The leaked audio led to Council President Nury Martinez’s resignation on Oct. 12, 2022, former Councilmember Gil Cedillo’s ouster, and Ron Herrera stepping away on Oct. 11, 2022, as president of a powerful Southern California labor organization.

The branches and CA/HI State Conference of the NAACP President Rick Callender first asked all persons involved to resign from their positions in October 2022. The civil rights leader expressed concern that that the disparaging remarks coming from top city officials could impact hiring and other decisions of the City Council.

“We will not sit idly by and allow our elected representatives to engage in these kinds of disgusting and racist behaviors,” stated Latricia Mitchell, President of the Los Angeles Branch of the NAACP.