By Antonio Ray Harvey
Contributing Writer
SACRAMENTO — A coalition of community leaders and reparations advocates are demanding that the California Legislature, Attorney General Rob Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom act decisively on reparations bills that have stalled in the Legislature when the Legislature gets back to business next week.
They wanted state leaders to pass the bills during a special legislative session the governor called for last month to secure up to $25 million for California “to defend against unconstitutional or unlawful federal government actions” expected during the incoming Trump administration, but that didn’t happen.
The advocates are also urging that the push for reparations for Californians who are descendants of enslaved Black people in the United States continues this coming year.
“California has a proud history of leading difficult change in America from environmental policies to safety standards to same-sex marriages and the like,” said Tullus Miller, a Bay Area financial services executive.
“Our state is at the forefront of social and economic reforms. We always set standards.”
Miller spoke last month on the grounds of the State Capitol with the California Native American Monument as the backdrop. He insisted that the state should not take its mind off reparative justice while it defends itself from other concerns.
Los Angeles-based attorney and reparations advocate Cheryce Cryer also spoke at the event.
“I’m here today, to bring attention to the needs of Black Americans and the need for our legal and social protections as the special legislative session convenes,” Cryer said.
In addition to Miller and Cryer, other speakers at the event were Booker Cook, ethnics studies professor at Cal State Sacramento; and Khansa “Friday” Jones Muhammad, vice president of the Los Angeles Reparations Advisory Commission.
The leaders outlined a list of demands, including re-introducing two reparations bills that were not brought to the Assembly floor for a vote at the end of the last legislative session in August.
Those included a distribution of the final California Reparations Task Force Report to schools and libraries, and the establishment of a defense fund to support implementation and legal defense of the reparations report and associated bills.
“The Freedmen’s Bureau (bill) needs to be re-established,” Cook said. “The work is done. The history is there, and the proof is there. There should be no more arguments and no more debates. Why would you build a house and not let anyone live there?”
Authored by former Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Inglewood, Senate Bills 1403 and 1330 stalled in the Assembly in September, triggering backlash from reparations supporters across the country.
Leadership of the California Legislative Black Caucus said they agreed not to support bringing forth Bradford’s bills due to procedural and funding concerns. However, the caucus was able to secure $12 million in next year’s budget to continue work on reparations legislation.
SB 1403 proposes the establishment of the California American Freedmen Affairs Agency to recommend a course of action for compensating Black Californians who are descendants of enslaved people.
SB 1331 would have created the Fund for Reparations and Reparative Justice in the State Treasury to fund policies approved by the Legislature and governor. Advocates of the bills believed that the two bills were essential to moving the reparations discussion forward for the first time since the end of slavery.
“California has been leading the nation in reparations discussions,” Jones-Muhammad said. “The advocates in this space have spent five years doing the impossible and working with the Legislature to bring foundational reparations policies through the Senate and Assembly Appropriations.”
Chris Lodgson, lead organizer and advocate for the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California, a statewide organization comprised of various groups united by their commitment to reparations, called the passage and enactment of actual reparations legislation his group’s number one goal for 2025.
“That includes bills and policies that we didn’t get this year and other things that we want,” he said in a separate interview.
Lodgson said members of the Legislative Black Caucus didn’t work together on the reparations legislation.
“I know that this year we had Black legislators working against other Black legislators and that hurt the effort,” he said.
He also was critical of some of the so-called reparations bill that did clear the Legislature.
“An apology is not reparations,” Lodgsdon said. “Bringing back affirmative action is not reparations. Letting people wear their hair the way they want to at work is definitely not reparations. To me, that was a clear sign of political weakness.”
The Congressional Legislative Black Caucus starts the 2025 legislative session with new leadership. State Sen. Akilah Weber, D-La Mesa, serves as the chairperson, while Assemblyman Isaac Bryan, D-Culver City, is the vice chair.
On Sept. 26, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a series of reparations bills by the caucus addressing the legacy of racial discrimination in the state and prioritizing a number of issues important to Black Californians.
The caucus released a statement earlier explaining its reasoning for not moving forward with the two stalled bills and outlining its intentions for the future.
“We remain committed to our long-term goals and recognize that this is a multi-year effort,” the caucus said. “We will not be distracted from our mission. We will stay focused on the work at hand, united in our purpose, and dedicated to the cause of reparations and equity for all. The CLBC will continue to lead with integrity and purpose, ensuring that our legislative efforts are impactful and meaningful for the communities we serve.”
Antonio Ray Harvey is a reporter for California Black Media.
