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On September 24, 2021, Director john a. powell presented testimony on reparations and political participation to the state of California’s Task Force to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for African-Americans (his presentation begins at 1:04:16). Within the contextual framing of The Voting Rights Act, gerrymandering, and other relevant pieces of legislation, the issues that African Americans face when engaging in political participation (e.g. polls, voting, jurying, etc.) are still seen to this day. Professor powell highlights the national context, as well as the California context specifically. At the end, other areas of civic engagement are discussed, and recommendations for how to increase African American participation in politics.