Reparations advocate Chris Lodgson: Black Californians’ biggest challenge? Political power!

Chris Lodgson and members of the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California (CJEC) held a Reparations Listening Session in Sacramento, California, in August 2022. CJEC participated in many reparations activities across the state, specifically to raise awareness about how the effects of chattel slavery have reverberated for generations in California, leaving Black people at a distinct disadvantage in wealth, education and health. – Photo: Antonio Ray Harvey, CBM by Edward Henderson, California Black Media The Coalition for a Just and Equitable California (CJEC) is a statewide organization comprised of various associations, community groups and individuals united by their commitment to fight for reparations and reparative justice for the descendants of enslaved Black American men and women. CJEC was one of seven “anchor organizations” sanctioned by the California Reparations Task Force and the California Department of Justice (DOJ) to evaluate California’s role in slavery and Jim Crow discrimination. They also aided in developing resolutions to compensate African Americans in California for past and ongoing race-based injustices. California Black Media (CBM) recently interviewed Chris Lodgson, the lead organizer and advocate for the CJEC, to discuss the organization’s achievements, challenges and plans heading into the new year. Responses have been edited for...