Reparations Daily (ish) Vol. 55
California's Reparations Task Force Marches On
Happy Wednesday! No Hot Takes section today, but lots of interesting reparations-related news. I’m going to try and start doing something new when there’s no Hot Takes section and instead do a Quote of the Day! So head to the bottom of today’s newsletter to see what I chose for today; it’s eerie how something that was written almost 100 years ago has extreme relevance today.
Here are some of my recommendations of pieces I think you should check out:
Yesterday was the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Months later, the U.S. would begin the process of Japanese-American internment. This Politico piece discusses another internment system that they argue not many people know about, which “confined some 2,200 Latin Americans of Japanese descent, kidnapping individuals from countries such as Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia.”
California’s Reparations Task Force has been meeting this week to discuss reparations in the context of various issues. This KQED piece gives a great rundown of this week’s activities.
The California Reparations Task Force is continuing its public comment period today. Follow Kamilah Moore, a Chairperson on the Task Force, for updates.
As this Yahoo Money! piece points out. Reparations have been given as recently as 2015. According to the outlet, Chicago became the first city to pull together a reparations package for victims of police brutality. One of the recipients of these reparations, who was tortured and brutalized into confessing to crimes he didn’t commit, wrote an insightful piece on how the $100,000 he received was not enough. Amounting to “little more than words on paper.”
I was excited to read this Washington Post article titled ‘Racism in our curriculums isn’t limited to history. It’s in math, too,’ but it turns out it was just a clickbaity, overly wonky piece, but give it a read anyway because you’ll probably learn something you didn’t know.
As noted in this New York Times piece, the Robert E. Lee monument, at the center of the 2017 Unite the Right rally, will be given to a local Black heritage center that plans to melt it down and turn it into a new piece of public art. I love that for them.
With radical love,
Trevor
National News
Forbes: Meet The Founders Of ‘Where Is My Land’ A Movement To Reclaim Stolen Black Land And Wealth
Washington Post: Racism in our curriculums isn’t limited to history. It’s in math, too.
The New Yorker: The 1619 Project and the Demands of Public History
New York Times: Charlottesville’s Statue of Robert E. Lee Will Be Melted Down
Phys.org: What does justice look like for those exonerated after decades? A case for Black reparations
Politico: America’s Forgotten Internment
Fortune: A new lawsuit sheds light on racist real estate appraisals
Impact Alpha: Shifting power, redefining risk, and advancing justice: A model for investors to advance racial equity
Huff Post: Marjorie Taylor Greene: Jan. 6 Defendants Are Being Taught Critical Race Theory In Jail
Fox News: Chris Christie says Republicans should focus on crime, education and more ahead of 2022 midterms
GPB News: Biden pledged to forgive $10,000 in student loan debt. Here's what he's done so far
Mic: PRESSURE IS MOUNTING ON BIDEN TO CANCEL STUDENT LOANS
Impact Alpha: Rethink, Redress, Liberate: Reflections on two dozen conversations about being a good ancestor
Regional News
Chicago Tribune: 'I was beaten with a flashlight': Reparations for Chicago police torture victims fall short
New York Times: California’s Reparations Task Force Meets Again
LA Times: Before Pearl Harbor, L.A. was home to thriving Japanese communities. Here’s what they were like
The City: New Yorkers Will Get to Vote on Plans to Advance Racial Equity in the City
KQED: How to Participate in California's Reparations Task Force Meetings
Wehoville: Council O.K.s $100,000 study, first step in push to give reparations to WeHo’s Black community
Atlanta Black Star: ‘All Hope Was Lost’: A Sustainable Black Georgia Community Seized, Destroyed to Make Way for UGA Dorms, Now Descendants Are Demanding Reparations
Chicago Sun Times: Illinois’ weed tax windfall tops $560 million. Here’s where the money goes.
Because of Them We Can: ALABAMA’S FIRST BLACK POET LAUREATE HONORED BY GOVERNOR
The Root: A New 'Critical Race Theory' Law Goes Into Effect In Texas
Huff Post: Hundreds Of Black Women In Georgia Will Get $850 Per Month In Guaranteed Income
USA Today: Contentious Nathan Bedford Forrest statue that stood along Tennessee highway taken down
Sacramento Bee: Equal opportunity extremism: How women seized the moment in California’s far-right radical politics
The State: Charleston slave badge named among the world’s top archaeological discoveries of 2021
International News
Independent: Barbados to build slavery museum after cutting ties with British monarchy
Quote of the Day
“If, on the other hand, we are going to use history for our pleasure and amusement, for inflating our national ego, and giving us a false but pleasurable sense of accomplishment, then we must give up the idea of history as a science or as an art using the results of science, and admit frankly that we are using a version of historic fact in order to influence and educate the new generation along the way we wish.”- W.E.B Du BoisI didn’t mention it in the last edition, but I made an intentional decision to limit the use of “critical race theory” as much as possible because that’s not the issue at hand here. It is an anti-history campaign, and using their language, only furthers their narrative, so please, call it what it is. Here’s a Charles Blow tweet that summarizes it perfectly.
