October 22, 2025
Khansa Jones-Muhammad
Reparations Advocate and Educator
Chris Lodgson, Lead Organizer for Coalition for a Just and Equitable California, Sacramento August 31, 2024. Photo by Khansa Jones-Muhammad
As a resident and advocate for reparations in the State of California, I have been intimately involved in the process from its inception. In the beginning there was Maureen Simmons, a law student interning for Dr. Shirley Weber, then Assembly Woman of California’s 79th District covering San Diego. Maureen took the opportunity that she had and approached Member Weber with the idea for reparations, and that idea became what we know as Assembly Bill 3121 (2020), which created the California Task Force to study and develop reparations proposals for African Americans, “with special consideration for African Americans who are Descendants of Persons Enslaved in the United States.”
The Task Force held meetings from June 2021 and lasted for two years through June 2023. During the Task Force, I was a founding Steering Member of a Coalition for a Just and Equitable California (CJEC), an Anchor organization appointed by the Task Force for community engagement, which held over 100 community town hall meetings across the State. Two CJEC Members, Christopher Lodgson and Marcus Champion helped add language to the AB3121 bill. CJEC introduced a community engagement plan to the Task Force, which was adopted and became the foundation of the community engagement plan administered by Task Force Member, Dr. Cheryl Grills. CJEC advocated for there to be comments during virtual Task Force Hearings and to move from virtual sessions to in person sessions. As an organization CJEC and its membership was present at all Task Force hearings.
The Task Force Members appointed by Gavin Newson include, Dr. Cheryl Grills, Clinical Psychologist and Professor of Psychology & Director of Psychology Applied Research Center at Loyola Marymount University; Attorney Lisa Holder, awarded the Soros Justice Fellowship by the Open Society Foundation, Attorney Donald K. Tamaki, known for his historic pro-bono work on the Supreme Court case of Korematsu v the United States, overturning Fred Korematsu’s conviction refusing to be incarcerated during Japanese internment during WWII, and Dr. Jovan Scott Lewis, Economic Anthropologist and Geographer who researches reparations. These appointments become relevant because with the exception of Dr. Jovan Scott Lewis, all other Newsom appointees voted against lineage descendant beneficiary class during Task Force hearings. It is also worth noting that all Newsom appointees formed the Alliance for Reparations, Reconciliation and Truth (ARRT), a “multi-racial, multi-sector alliance advancing reparations in California.” ARRT has consistently stood in opposition to the grass roots advocacy for descendants of US Chattel slavery. The opposition began with their vote against a lineage slavery descendant beneficiary class. It is my belief that Dr. Jovan Scott Lewis may be the only voice of reason that descendant beneficiaries can count on based on his vote in support of a lineage beneficiary class during the Task Force Hearings.
Newsom approved CA SB437 California State University (CSU): Claim Eligibility: Genealogy and Decendancy Bill introduced by Senator Akilah Weber. It is important to note that the language from this bill originates from Gavin Newsom’s amendment language to Senator Bradford’s CA SB1403 California American Freedmen Affairs Agency Bill where he gutted the Freedmen Agency in favor of “ the Director of Finance to allocate $6,000,000 as specified for the purpose of enabling the California State University to conduct research in furtherance of the recommendations of the Task Force, thereby making an appropriation, and would authorize the California State University to partner with other universities or nonprofit institutions in furtherance of the bill’s provisions.” Bradford’s Freedmen Affairs Agency was quietly placed into the suspense file by the California Black Legislative Caucus and Member Celia Aguirre-Curry in 2024.
Newsom is on the CSU Board of Trustees and he appoints 16 of the 25 Board Members. At the July 22, 2025 CSU Board of Trustees meeting none of the attending Trustees were remotely familiar with SB 437. Even though the funding was on the agenda, only one Trustee had a question about the funds and their intended use. Advocates including myself were present and asked the Trustees to reject the funds on the basis of the fact that Task Force defined Eligibility on page 628 of it’s final report and the Task Force did recommend that the Legislature create a “method for eligible individuals to submit a claim,” which could be achieved via a public RFP at a significantly lower amount of taxpayer funds without a study that has no sunset date.
Newsom also approved CA SB518 Descendants of enslaved persons: reparations bill will establish a Bureau whose legal counsel will be paid from CSU budget, to be housed under the Governor where he will appoint a director, the Bureau will also house a Genealogy and Property Reclamation Division. Unfortunately, the Bureau may lay dormant until the CSU completes its $6 Million Dollar Study. The Task Force also asked for transparency in Governor appointments, and this bill does not offer language around transparency in selecting a director.
If you look at the Task Force Members of ARRT and the organizations that have supported Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Black Legislative Caucus, in opposition to grassroot organizers like CJEC who aligns its advocacy with the AB3121 Task Force Recommendations as it relates to Descendants, it is my fear that gatekeeping, and NGO contracts will reflect cronyism to the detriment of Descendant Boomers, Descendant Veterans, Descendant Foster Youth and Descendant Families that need reparations now.
Khansa Jones-Muhammad is the President of the National Assembly of American Slavery Descendants, Founding Steering Member of a Coalition for a Just and Equitable California, and served as Vice Chair of the Los Angeles Reparations Advisory Commission.
