California Reparations Task Force For African Americans: A Community Discussion

California Reparations Task Force for African Americans

The San Diego African American Genealogy Research Group and San Diego Public Library present a community discussion of the California Reparations Task Force, established on September 30, 2020 by the California Legislature. Appointed Task Force member and San Diego City Council President pro Tem Monica Montgomery Steppe and SDAAGRG member Jerry B. Moss, Sr. will lead a discussion of the Task Force’s objective, its ongoing work, and the 500-pages interim report it issued in June. The program will be moderated by San Diego State University Africana Studies Department Chair and Associate Professor Adisa Alkebulan.

Space is limited. Please scroll down to register.

This event will be livestreamed simultaneously on: 

YouTube: https://youtu.be/9hnlmx3DkKQ

Facebook: https://fb.me/e/5TWmAFoRk 

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83221531878

About the Task Force

The California Reparations Task Force’s charge is to study and develop reparation proposals for African Americans “with a special consideration for African Americans who are descendants of persons enslaved in the United States.” There are nine members appointed to the Task Force including San Diego’s own Council President pro Tem and 4th District Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe.

On June 1, 2022, the Task Force issued its interim report to the California Legislature, surveying “the ongoing and compounding harms experienced by African Americans as a result of slavery and its lingering effects on American society today.” The final report will be released before July 1, 2023.

Secretary of State of California Dr. Shirley Weber, then representing California’s 79th State Assembly District in San Diego, was the leading force behind the creation of the Task Force. California is the first state to create a body to study reparations for African Americans for over 400 years of enslavement, terror, and oppression.

Community Partners

Council President pro Tem Montgomery Steppe represents the Fourth Council District in the City of San Diego. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Spelman College and a Juris Doctor from California Western School of Law. With a combination of knowledge and passion, Council President pro Tem Montgomery Steppe is dedicated to improving and uplifting the city of San Diego as a whole and the people in the Fourth Council District. Council President pro Tem Montgomery Steppe strongly advocates for equitable practices in government, including better economic opportunities for people of color and better relationships between community members and police officers.

San Diego African American Genealogy Research Group is an association of individuals who live in the San Diego, California area. Most members have roots all over the United States and our research is the same. We serve to educate people on the proper research procedures, techniques, and locations both on and off-line. All nationalities are welcome, and we find it beneficial to work closely with other genealogical organizations.

Professor Alkebulan teaches in the Africana Studies Dept at SDSU. His areas of research include Pan-African linguistics, African and African American history. He has done research in Africa and Europe on language and colonialism. He is a major contributor to the Encyclopedia of Black Studies and the Encyclopedia of African Religions. His work appears in several disciplinary journals as well as in anthologies on rhetoric and Malcolm X. Dr. Alkebulan is an active scholar currently engaged in several research projects for publication and presents his research at conferences throughout the country.

Reparations Resources

The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates

A Day of Reckoning: Dreams of Reparations  in Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination  by Robin D.G. Kelley

My Face Is Black Is True: Callie House and the Struggle for Ex-Slave Reparations  by Mary Frances Berry

National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America

The National African American Reparations Commission

Who's 'Black Enough' For Reparations?  Episode of Code Switch, a podcast from National Public Radio

Coming to Central Library

Parking is underneath the Central Library, FREE with 2-hour validation. The library is one block from the Park & Market stop on the Trolley Blue and Orange lines.  Bus routes 12, 901, and 929 stop right in front of the library at the 11th Avenue and K Street stop.