Reparations Bills Stall in Legislature

by Antonio Ray Harvey California Black Media Scores of advocates from across California protested at the State Capitol Saturday after the Legislature failed to bring two critical reparations bills to the floor for a full vote on Aug. 31, the final day of the legislative session. Chanting “What do we want? Reparations! When do we want it? Now!,” the advocates expressed their outrage and disappointment that Senate Bill (SB) 1403 and Senate Bill (SB) 1331 — both authored by Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood) — had stalled. Despite advancing smoothly through much of the legislative process this year, the session concluded without a vote on both bills, leaving the future of reparations in California hanging in the balance. “This is becoming a political disaster. It’s our own people holding this up,” said Chris Lodgson, a reparations advocate from the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California (CJEC), blaming members of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC). Tiffany Quarles, a reparations activist and supporter of Bradford’s bills, drove from Los Angeles to Sacramento to watch what she thought would be the passage of a historic vote. “I am not disdained, and I am not discouraged. I came here to fight for Black...