SAN FRANCISCO — Payments of $5 million to every eligible Black adult, the elimination of personal debt and tax burdens, guaranteed annual incomes of at least $97,000 for 250 years and homes in San Francisco for just $1 a family. These were some of the more than 100 recommendations made by a city-appointed reparations committee […]
Japanese Americans won redress, fight for Black reparations
SAN FRANCISCO — When Miya Iwataki and other Japanese Americans fought in the 1980s for the U.S. government to apologize to the families it imprisoned during World War II, Black politicians and civil rights leaders were integral to the movement. Thirty-five years after they won that apology — and survivors of prison camps received $20,000 […]
After groundbreaking slave reparations report, what next?
Reparations experts and advocates largely welcomed a move by California to publicly document its role in perpetuating discrimination against African Americans but wondered if the slew of recommendations in its report released June 1 will result in measurable change. Justin Hansford, a longtime reparations advocate and law professor at Howard University, called the report an […]
Bay Area Day of Remembrance calls for solidarity for reparations movements
The annual Bay Area Day of Remembrance once again focused on the ongoing fights for reparations against the United States government. The Feb. 19 evening program, entitled “No One is Free Until We are All Free, 80 Years after E.O. 9066,” focused on the ongoing campaign for reparations in the United States and attracted 278 […]
Los Angeles Day of Remembrance stresses collective action for justice
LOS ANGELES — The annual Los Angeles Day of Remembrance, commemorating the Feb. 19, 1942 signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, which authorized the forcible removal of all persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast into American concentration camps during World War II, was held on the Japanese American National […]
‘Reparations’ explores struggle to atone for slavery
In Jon Osaki’s film, “Reparations,” Blacks and Asian Americans address the four-century struggle to atone for slavery in the U.S., and discuss the critical role that solidarity between communities plays in addressing systemic racism in America. Osaki, an award-winning filmmaker and director of “Alternative Facts: The Lies of Executive Order 9066,” spoke to the Nichi […]
S.F.: African American leaders say ownership of Fillmore Heritage Center should be part of reparations plan
Leaders with San Francisco’s African American community, along with actor and San Francisco native Danny Glover, on Nov. 12 called on the city to donate the building that houses the Fillmore Center to a local nonprofit as part of the city’s reparation plan. According to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People San […]
Calif. task force launches study of slave reparations
SAN FRANCISCO — A first-in-the-nation task force in California to study and recommend reparations for African Americans held its inaugural meeting June 1, launching a two-year process to address the harms of slavery and systemic racism despite the federal government’s inaction. The nine members of the task force, appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative […]
Exploring the Black American path toward redress
“In the immediate aftermath of the Civil War there was a set of promises made to the formerly enslaved, including the promise of land and that Black folks would have an opportunity to educate their children under their own discretion and control,†American economist William Darity Jr. shared with the Nichi Bei Weekly. “To the […]
Reflections on Day of Remembrance: Supporting the SF ‘comfort women’ memorial & delving into our own history of sexual violence against women in times of war
Last year, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution to create a “comfort women†memorial. The resolution garnered broad support from both within the Japanese American community as well as veterans, women’s and labor rights groups, students, educators, and scholars. However, there was also opposition from some members of the Japanese and […]