California’s reparations task force meeting is in Sacramento. Here’s how to participate

With a little over four months before their July 1 deadline, the California Reparations Task Force is hitting its stride as committee members prepare to organize and format their final report after the last pair of in-person meetings.

State task force members will be in downtown Sacramento on March 3 and 4 for in-person public meetings to discuss the harms of enslavement and how it should be repaired.

The two-day event will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day at the Byron Sher Auditorium at the California Environmental Protection Agency, 1001 I St.

During the first hour of each day, the meeting will allow the public to provide comments — allowing residents a chance to share their family heritage and how they’ve been affected by the harms of enslavement of Black people and persons of African descent and its remnants.

People who cannot attend in person can call in via a toll-free number, 844-291-5495. The code to enter the program is 3968101. It will be live-streamed on the California Department of Justice’s website and on YouTube through the Emend The Mass Media Group.

The committee will also hear from select witnesses during the hearings as it continues to address key questions regarding reparations, which include eligibility, determining the beginning and end of harms committed and potential forms of compensation.

Committee members also will discuss the final recommendations they may make to the Legislature on potential remedies such as remedial programs, new laws and education.

Prior to the state task force’s public meeting, the NAACP Greater Sacramento chapter and Chris Lodgson of Coalition for Just and Equitable California will hold a question-and-answer information session from noon to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Hyatt Regency, 1209 L St.