“In 1912, Charles and Willa Bruce created the West Coast's first beach resort owned by and meant for Black Americans. Under their leadership, Bruce’s Beach became a lively and flourishing resort. But their success was unjustly stolen. When harassment, hostility and violence by the Ku Klux Klan weren’t enough to coerce them to leave, the City seized the land,” said Senator Steven Bradford. “The property that the Bruce’s purchased for $1,225 is now worth $75 million. We stand here today to introduce a bill that will correct this gross injustice and allow the land to be returned to the Bruce family. It is my hope that this legislation will not be the last in a series of actions by the state to address centuries of atrocious actions against Black Americans. I commend Supervisor Hahn for her continued dedication to this issue. She exemplifies a true profile in courage. I look forward to working with all the LA County Supervisors to finally right this wrong.”
“We stand here today to introduce a bill that will correct this gross injustice and allow the land to be returned to the Bruce family,” Bradford said Friday. “It is my hope that this legislation will not be the last in a series of actions by the state to address centuries of atrocious actions against Black Americans.”
“It’s not often we can correct these atrocities in America,” said state Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, who is part of the effort. “But this is an easy fix.
“This shows there’s (the possibility),” he added in a Thursday interview, “for reparations and true redemption” in America.
A press conference has been scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday morning at Bruce’s Beach Park in Manhattan Beach by Los Angeles County District 4 Supervisor Janice Hahn,
State Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) and State Senator Steven Bradford (D-Gardena).
The purpose of the press conference is the “Announcement of SB 796 regarding Bruce’s Beach, the LA County beachfront property once owned by Willa and Charles Bruce,” according to a press release from Bradford, who is chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus.
MANHATTAN BEACH (CNS) - County Supervisor Janice Hahn on Friday will announce initial steps to return a scenic parcel of Manhattan Beach land to the ancestors of a couple who were subjected to years of harassment for operating a Black beach resort that was ultimately condemned and seized by city.
In its Issue Brief, the Commission responds to questions posed by Senator Scott Wilk, Senator Melissa Hurtado, Senator Anna Caballero, and Senator Steven Bradford regarding essential workers, landlords, and homeowners in California. The Commission finds that:
A pandemic-era backlash against California's yawning wealth gap is taking aim at incentives for rooftop solar panels.
March 31, 2021
SACRAMENTO — A pandemic-era backlash against California's yawning wealth gap is taking aim at the state's pioneering climate policies. The latest target: incentives for rooftop solar panels.
The generous rewards paid to those who can afford to install them on their roofs amount to subsidies for the rich, utilities and other critics of the program argue.
For months, Manhattan Beach has wrestled with an uncomfortable truth: The city once seized a Black family’s oceanfront resort and ran an entire community of Black beachgoers out of town.
A task force was formed. An apology drafted. But residents of this very white town have pushed back on the notion that they must atone for injustices committed almost a century ago.
A memorial service held at the Roosevelt Memorial Park Cemetery in Gardena Friday evening, March 5, honored residents across Los Angeles County and beyond who have died from coronavirus-related causes.
The service was streamed online to prevent a large gathering.
Assemblyman Mike Gipson — whose 64th District includes parts of Carson, Compton, Gardena, Torrance, West Long Beach, Harbor Gateway, Lynwood and Wilmington — called on local leaders and others in his district to help collect the names of residents who have died from the virus.
