ECC Hosts First CA Reparations Task Force Community Discussion

By Amara N.

The California Reparations Task Force held a community discussion Saturday, April 29th, in the Education Cultural Complex (ECC) Theatre on Ocean View Boulevard in San Diego. This was the first community discussion on California reparations that the Task Force has held since their first meeting in June 2021, with the purpose of informing the community of what reparations mean for Black Californians as well as what the Task Force is and what they’ve been doing these past two years.

A presentation by San Diego District 4 Councilmember and Task Force Member Monica Montgomery Steppe followed the fifteen-minute welcome and introduction, centering around the Task Force Interim Report. The thirteen-chapter, 483page report’s purpose is to provide a general survey of the “harms” the state of California has committed against Black people since the institution of slavery.

Monica Montgomery Steppe and members of the Coalition for a Just & Equitable California (CJEC) Friday Jones, Chad Brown, and Marcus Champion paneled a discussion during the latter half of the two-hour meeting where members of the community were given the opportunity to pose their questions and concerns. The CJEC is one of seven anchor organizations the Reparations Task Force selected to conduct community outreach and raise awareness for California Reparations.

Despite many of the ECC Theatre seats being empty, with just over 20 San Diego residents in attendance, plenty of thought-provoking questions and comments were raised.

“We don’t really know who’s who [regarding opposition during the upcoming election season] for the Black community,” 20-year resident Jacqueline Clark passionately stated. “The oldest generation that should have received reparations [is] dying off. Dying off… And you got people telling us we don’t deserve [reparations].”

“Look at all these empty seats. The