Review: Reparations and Reparatory Justice: Past Present and Future, edited by Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua, Mary Frances Berry, and V. P. Franklin
Year: 2025
Type: book-review
Abstract: those who called it home.Although Herrera briefly addresses the historical challenges associated with reliance on memory, he admits that he was more interested in understanding how the informants' assertions ultimately linked Fruitvale to "a broader social movement geography of struggle" (156) than he was in verifying their statements.Activists networked with each other across the nation and beyond because regardless of their hometowns, they connected through a common experience of racism, including experiences with law enforcement, housing discrimination, and limited access to critical services.Activists, he argued, were concerned with connecting Fruitvale to "other spaces and struggles" (163).Although Herrera mostly remains focused on the "interlinkages" between activism and space, there are parts of the book that swerve from geographic space and come closer to a more typical history of activism, nearly losing the primary thread.For example, Herrera focuses an entire chapter of the book on assessing how the Chicano movement jostled for national resources stemming from President Johnson's War on Poverty, which, while generally aimed at the "poor," became nearly synonymous with African Americans.To access the resources of this effort and avoid continued marginalization, many of the grassroots organizations that typified Fruitvale's activism gradually became institutionalized.But Fruitvale itself is barely mentioned during those passages, and readers may find it hard to connect this chapter to the community.Still, the book is a valuable contribution for public historians.
Source: The Public Historian
Author: Cheryl X. Dong
Institution: Bowling Green State University
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4407689061