Erika D. Smith: Bruce's Beach was a win for reparations. Why it matters that Black people lost it
LOS ANGELES — Kavon Ward vividly remembers the sunny day in September of 2021 when she won. When Black people won.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom had traveled to the overwhelmingly white city of Manhattan Beach to sign legislation that would return two lots of prime real estate to the family of a Black couple who lost it in a racist act of government seizure almost a century ago.
Ward, whose grassroots reparations movement had led to the legislation, put a fist in the air.
"Power to the people!" she shouted. "Power to my people!"
"This can be catalytic," the governor told the throng of politicians, reporters and curious residents who had gathered on the lots, known as Bruce's Beach and owned by Los Angeles County. "What we're doing here today can be done and replicated anywhere."
Ward didn't know then what we all know now. That just six months after receiving the deed to the property, the descendants of Willa back to Los Angeles County for $20 million.
