In 2022, California Assembly Bill 3121 established the Reparations Task Force to study and develop reparation proposals for African Americans, with a special consideration for African Americans who are descendants of persons enslaved in the United States. Genealogists say that it will be a labor-intensive-though not impossible-process for African Americans to find evidence of their ancestry and connections to slavery.
In this program, genealogist and documentarian Nicka Smith leads a discussion with other experts about African American genealogy research in California, shares ways that descendants of both free people and the formerly enslaved can trace their ancestors, and discusses how the use of DNA is helping repair families torn apart by slavery. Also joining the discussion is Jonathan Burgess who shares his genealogical research and the untold history of his African American, Gold Rush pioneer ancestors who were dispossessed of their land in Coloma, California by eminent domain. Chris Lodgson from the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California (CJEC) also joins the discussion to talk about his organization’s work with the California Reparations Task Force and current efforts to make reparations to the descendants of enslaved people in California.
More about the speakers:
Jonathan Burgess is an activist and advocate for the African American/Black American community. He is the author of the children’s book Burgess Gold Rush Descendants and founder of the California African American Gold Rush Association, a nonprofit organization.
Chris Lodgson is a lead organizer with the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California (CJEC), a grassroots, California-based organizations working for reparations and reparative justice for descendants of US chattel slavery living in California.
Nicka Smith is a host, consultant, and documentarian with more than twenty years of experience as a genealogist. She has extensively researched the enslaved and their communities
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Founded in 1871, the California Historical Society (CHS) has been collecting, sharing, and honoring the extraordinarily diverse stories from throughout the state for over 150 years. Our mission is to inspire and empower people to make California’s past a meaningful part of their contemporary lives.
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