Tavis Smiley, June 15, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
In 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation that called for the formation of a task force to study reparations for the state’s Black citizens. While there has been significant progress, such as the task of deciding to base any reparations on slave lineage as opposed to race, the state is still awaiting a final verdict from the task force.
Newsom appointed five individuals to serve on the Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans. The formation of this task force was made possible by the Governor’s signing of AB 3121, authored by then-Assemblymember Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), which established a nine-member task force to inform Californians about slavery and explore ways the state might provide reparations.
“California is leading the nation, in a bipartisan way, on the issue of reparations and racial justice, which is a discussion that is long overdue and deserves our utmost attention,” said Governor Newsom. “Last year, I signed into law a number of key bills focused on leveling the playing field in our society, and ensuring that everyone has a fair shot at achieving the California dream. Today’s appointment of individuals with an expansive breadth of knowledge, experiences and understanding of issues impacting the African American community is the next step in our commitment as a state to build a California for all.”
The task force also released a groundbreaking interim 500-page report last year. But the state–and the nation–are awaiting the final report on July 1.
During a recent segment of his radio talk show on KBLA, Tavis Smiley noted the significance of the task force. Smiley is theowner of the progressive talk radio station.
“I have said many times on this program that what happens in this state either casts a long shadow or a long sunbeam across the nation…I’m not sure what we will cast vis-à-vis reparations, but I do know the whole nation is watching us,” Smiley noted.
Smiley is a talk show host and author. Smiley became a radio commentator in 1991, and, starting in 1996, he hosted the talk show “BET Talk” (later renamed “BET Tonight”) on Black Entertainment Television (BET). After BET he began hosting“The Tavis Smiley Show” on National Public Radio (NPR), from 2002 to 2004. H also hosted “Tavis Smiley” on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and “The Tavis Smiley Show” on Public Radio International from 2004 until 2017. He was dropped by PBS after an investigation during the “Me Too” movement found that he was guilty of sexual misconduct and sexual harassment, which he denied. He sued PBS for wrongful termination but lost the court case. The jury found he violated the company’s moral clause. The judge ordered Smiley to pay PBS $1.5 million in damages.
During his career, however, he was once named one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People In The World,” and has interviewed a long list influencers, has penned multiple New York Times Bestselling books, and has been received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He founded KBLA in 2021.
During a March 8 radio segment, he discussed reparations with Jon Michaels, a professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. Michaels has been one of many experts who has testified in front of the task force on reparations.
According to Michaels, one of the challenges the task force faces is getting white Californians on board with the reparations movement. He noted, there are two camps of white Californians who are opposed to reparations.
“There are the ones who are principally opposed… because they don’t think there has been any discrimination,” he noted, adding that getting them to approve reparations would be “a heavy lift.”
“Then there is another group that recognized the realities of the world but…simply don’t want to allocate resources…and I think that’s the audience that has to be reached,” he continued. To reach this group, he explained, the task force will have to show how current resources can be reallocated to pay for reparations.”
Smiley pointed out the significance of the task force, saying what happens with the task force “could be the blueprint on reparations” for the rest of the country.
Tavis Smiley, owner of progressive talk radio station KBLA Los Angeles (1580), poses for a portrait on a vintage AM radio in his station’s offices, June 15, 2021, in Los Angeles. KBLA’s morning drive host Dominique DiPrima gifted Smiley with the radio in celebration of the radio station’s launch. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
