Lawmakers and advocates are regrouping to determine how they will move forward in the effort to ensure reparative justice for Black Californians after Gov. Gavin Newsom this week signed — and vetoed — a slate of reparations measures.
Among the key bills signed into law was one to create the Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery, which will create a structure for reparations. San Diego Democratic Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson authored the legislation, which establishes the bureau under California’s Civil Rights Department and will include a division of genealogy, education and outreach, and legal affairs.
Newsom also approved Senate Bill 437, which allocates up to $6 million for the California State University system to research methods for verifying descendants of people enslaved in the U.S. who wish to access benefits…