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Where Is My Land ANNOUNCES STOLEN BLACK LAND BEING SOLD BY THE COUNTY OF RICHMOND IN RESPONSE TO FAMILY’S PLEA TO BE COMPENSATED
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2022 –Where Is My Land (WIML) continues to spearhead the national movement to restore property and secure restitution for Black families whose land was unjustly stolen in the United States. Kavon Ward, WIML’s CEO, demands a call to action to stop the sale of the land taken from Beverly Moore. Kavon Ward said “California is leading the nation in its initiative to repair passed harms inflicted upon Black Americans around land restoration. Since California knows better, the City of Richmond needs to do better.”
Beverly Moore grew up with her family in a home they rented on Richmond at 502 Enterprise Avenue, Richmond, CA. When presented with the opportunity to purchase the home in 1980, Ms. Moore happily did so. Ms. Moore was elated to become a first-time homeowner. “It was a privilege to buy our home for my mom; it was something she was unable to do,” Moore said recently. Ms. Moore remembers her mom tending to their fig and pear trees with water from their well. Her mother grew collard greens that she traded with neighbors for fresh-caught fish.
Unfortunately, her pride and joy of home ownership were short-lived when in 1993 the city of Richmond seized the home through eminent domain to make way for a drainage system. Ms. Moore’s home was the only home on the block demolished. Also, her home was a 4,000 sq foot building, but she was compensated for only about 2,000 sq ft.
Since the lot which once occupied the home of Ms. Moore is owned by the City of Richmond, the City of Richmond can rectify this miscarriage of justice. The City of Richmond has the opportunity to return the property to Ms. Moore and/or restore the financial injustice she experienced by losing the land and the family home. Instead, the City of Richmond has decided to put the property up for sale at an extremely discounted value in what seems to be an attempt to absolve its responsibility for the wrongful taking and demolishment of Ms. Moore’s home. Ms. Moore is seeking legal counsel to stop any sale. A home located directly across the street from the now vacant lot where Ms. Moore’s home once stood is valued at between $750,000 and $900,000.
Kamala Miller, the Lead Researcher, for WIML who is a licensed attorney in Washington D.C., said “cases like the Moore’s — involving land seized for public use and which remains unused — have better shots at transfers than cases where private parties seize land.” Now is the time to bring restitution and land justice to Beverly Moore!
Beverly Moore recalls the pain and long-term impact of her home being taken “It changed the whole dynamic of everybody’s life. We never had that place to come back to, to land, without that support.”
