We Support the California Reparations Task Force

June 16, 2023

Chair Kamilah Moore
California Reparations Task Force

Dear Chair Moore and California Reparations Task Force Members,

The Children’s Partnership (TCP) proudly endorses the work of the California Reparations Task Force.

The work of the Task Force is directly related to advancing child health equity by  addressing the lasting impacts slavery and racism have had on the well-being of California Black families and their children. 

At TCP, we advocate for California’s children from historically marginalized communities, including the 728,000 children who identify as Black, and work to ensure they have the resources and opportunities they need to grow up healthy and thrive. Inequities confronting California’s Black communities are rooted in our country and state’s racism and its inextricable downstream effects on housing, transportation, economic opportunity, education, food, air quality, health care and beyond.  

Racism and the legacy of slavery continue to create negative health outcomes for Black children and their families in California, including the infant mortality rate being twice as high in Black families compared to other families, Black women being six times more likely to die of pregnancy-related causes compared to white women, and Black children disproportionately experiencing poverty at nearly double the rate of the state average (27% vs. 16%). 

Together with local and statewide partners, through advocacy work supporting child and maternal health, we work to address racism and its impacts on child development, beginning in the womb; center community knowledge and power, and improve the conditions in which children live, learn, develop, and play. Achieving health equity requires that we collectively dismantle the racism that exists within our systems and demand bold policy changes that put the well-being of Black children and families first – bold policy changes like reparations. 

The Task Force’s interim report seeks to address historic and systemic racism head on and will transform health outcomes for Black families in California. The Children’s Partnership is proud to support this work and be part of a growing number of organizations committed to bold, generous solutions centering California’s Black children and families that support the process of atonement in pursuit of equity and healing. We can remedy racist harms of the past and present that impact our children’s futures through persistent, community-focused work. We look forward to working with the Task Force, our Black-led community partners and the Legislature to advance reparations. 

In solidarity,

Mayra E. Alvarez
President
The Children’s Partnership