LOS ANGELES — At a food and shoe giveaway in Baldwin Hills, Rodney Carter was one of the first ones in line.

“I need some food help,” Carter said.  

What You Need To Know

  • The Food and Shoe Giveaway took place on the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre

  • California’s Task Force to study reparations for African Americans also met for the first time on the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre

  • Hurting and Hungry Charities, SCLC-SC Poor People’s Campaign and the Consolidated Board of Realtist hosted the giveaway

  • The task force will take about a year to study the subject, eventually sending a written report with recommendations to the legislature

Carter and his friend Roy Wilson are homeless; sleeping bags are visible in the back of their car. For Carter, it all started years ago when his health took a turn for the worst.

“I can’t work now. I’m on SSI because I had cancer back in 2011 and it kind of messed my body up, and my body is always hurting now,” Carter said.

He’s been homeless on and off for about eight years.

Inequities in housing are among the topics the event on the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre is trying to call attention to. The event was hosted by Hurting and Hungry Charities, SCLC-SC Poor People’s Campaign and the Consolidated Board of Realtist.

Anna ‘Queen’ Tutt is the first VP of Consolidated Board of Realtist.

“We fight for increasing the numbers of Black homeownership,” Tutt said.

Tutt said Black homeownership rates are at their lowest level since the 1960s. It stems from centuries of racism and barriers, including the destruction of Black homes and businesses during the Tulsa Massacre. But she is committed to looking forward.

“We have an initiative of two million Black homeowners in five years, and we are going to make it come to fruition,” Tutt said.

Progress is something that event co-host Pastor William Smart Jr. said needs to be achieved.

“Out from the ashes, we can raise up!” Smart said.  

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He’s hoping California’s Task Force to study reparations for African Americans, whose first meeting also happened to be Tuesday, will address those long-standing inequities.

“That’s a nice gesture, but it needs to be developed into a consistent program,” Smart said.

The task force will take about a year to study the subject and consider everything from access to capital to education and even housing. Eventually, it will send a written report with recommendations to the legislature.

For Carter, it could be a game-changer.

“If I can get a house, that way I wouldn’t be homeless no more. That way, I would have my own place,” he said.

He said he would be able to see his grandkids more and maybe pass on to them some of the wealth that has been unreachable for so many in his community.