Will California Take Reparations to the Finish Line? - YES! Magazine Solutions Journalism

Mar 7, 2024

The state of California has gone further than any other state in examining the issue of reparations for Black people and making them reality. A state-appointed worked for years to develop and produce an in-depth documenting California鈥檚 history of systemic racism and its impact on Black Californians, and making a set of recommendations to remedy it.聽

Now, the question remains: Will California finish the task it began by actually dispensing compensation? Writing about that question for YES!鈥檚 exclusive digital series, 鈥�Realizing Reparations,鈥� is Los Angeles鈥揵ased journalist Erin Aubry Kaplan, who spoke with YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about her story, 鈥�Will California Do Reparations Right?鈥�

Sonali Kolhatkar joined YES! in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of聽YES! Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent 麻豆社事件 Institute鈥檚 Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of聽Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice聽(2023) and聽Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence聽(2005). Her forthcoming book is called聽Talking About Abolition聽(Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women鈥檚 Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master鈥檚 in Astronomy from the University of Hawai鈥檌, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on 鈥淢y Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host鈥� in her 2014聽聽of the same name.