Freedmen News

The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust has completed the required project paperwork for a proposed Physical Freedmen Historical Marker in Louisville, Kentucky honoring a respected Civil Rights leader who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This marker is part of FRFT’s broader historical preservation work to document, preserve, and publicly recognize the contributions of Freedmen leaders, communities, churches, families, and institutions across the country. The Louisville ma

The American Freedmen Legal Fund and the Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust have formally escalated concerns regarding Houston Restaurant Weeks and the continued exclusion of Soul Food as a standalone cuisine category. This issue began with a customer complaint identifying that Houston Restaurant Weeks listed numerous cuisine categories while failing to recognize Soul Food as its own category. After review, outreach, follow-up emails, contact form submissions, sponsor accountabi

The American Freedmen Legal Fund has now released our Compliance and Safety Accountability Report regarding the Frisco ISD track meet incident involving Karmelo Anthony and Austin Metcalf. This report was not written to relitigate the criminal case. It was written to address a separate public concern: whether Frisco ISD had proper event control, safety procedures, supervision, emergency planning, and accountability measures in place during a school-sponsored athletic event wh

In every community, people want to know who they are supporting. For Verified Freedmen, that question goes beyond products and services—it is about supporting businesses owned by descendants of American slaves who have completed the Freedmen Nation verification process and are actively investing back into our population. The Freedmen Eco Locator was created to help make that possible. The Freedmen Eco Locator serves as a centralized directory where Verified Freedmen-owned bus

The American Freedmen Legal Fund and the Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust have submitted a nine-page Compliance and Safety Accountability Report to Frisco ISD regarding the track meet incident involving Karmelo Anthony and Austin Metcalf. This report is not about excusing violence. This report is not about ignoring the loss of life. This report is about accountability for the adults, institutions, and event systems that were responsible for controlling a school-sponsored athle

Freedmen Nation, the Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust, and the American Freedmen Legal Fund have completed a listing-specific review of Juneteenth-related Eventbrite events that appear to raise historical preservation concerns. This review was not about claiming ownership over the word “Juneteenth.” It was not about stopping ordinary community celebrations, family events, educational programs, vendors, music, or public gatherings. The concern is specific: Juneteenth is being u

The American Freedmen Legal Fund and the Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust are issuing this community advisory after reviewing a public discussion alleging that certain beauty supply industry networks may be blocking Freedmen-owned beauty supply stores, owned by descendants of American Slaves, from using wholesale distributors. This advisory is not a final legal finding. It is an educational notice to help Freedmen business owners, Freedmen consumers, and community advocates un

Freedmen Nation’s verification work is growing, and one of the most important developments inside the Historical, Genealogy & Verification Department is the role of Genealogy Trainees. These trainees are helping Pending Members move from uncertainty to documented status verification by assisting with family trees, reviewing records, identifying missing bridges, and helping organize the proof needed for final review. Verification is not just about having a family story. It req

The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust recently opened communication with Clarendon County regarding the Clarendon County Archives building in Manning, South Carolina, also known historically as the Hannah Levi Memorial Library / Manning Library. After speaking with County Administrator Walt Ackerman, it is clear that there has been significant public misunderstanding about the County’s intentions regarding the Archives facility and its contents. Based on the discussion, the Cou

The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust has reached another important institutional milestone with the development of the Office of Educational Peer Review. This moment represents more than the creation of a new internal structure. It reflects the continued growth of the Trust as an institution capable of building systems, organizing expertise, and preparing formal review processes that can support educational, historical, and institutional accountability. For too long, materials

The American Freedmen Legal Fund and the Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust have completed a comprehensive report regarding Lansing School District’s handling of the Sakir Everett disciplinary matter. The report is based on Lansing School District’s own FOIA responses, Board records, disciplinary templates, internal consultation records, Student and Family Handbook, and final incident-record denial. Readers can review the full FRFT/AFLF report here: https://drive.google.com/fil

The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust, American Freedmen Legal Fund, and Freedmen Nation are issuing this public advisory regarding Juneteenth-related listings appearing on Eventbrite. Eventbrite is now communicating directly with Freedmen Nation, the Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust, and the American Freedmen Legal Fund concerning our formal notice, certified letter, and compliance report regarding Juneteenth activities on its platform. Our concern is not ordinary community cel

The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust and the American Freedmen Legal Fund are moving forward with a formal request to Scholarships.com asking that Verified Freedmen / American Freedmen be added as a recognized scholarship category. This request is not an attack on private scholarships. It is not an attack on students. It is not an attack on any community receiving educational support. This is about lawful consistency, status-based recognition, and the continued erasure of Amer

There is a difference between being called a descendant and understanding yourself as a successor. A descendant is often described as someone who comes after. It can sound like the story ended with the ancestors, and those who came later are only reminders of what once existed. But that is not the full truth of who we are. We are not simply people who came after them. Once verified, we are the Successors of Freedmen who will take over where our ancestors left off. Our Freedme

Freedmen Nation has reached a historic institutional marker. Freedmen Nation now represents the largest known Status-Verified Freedmen population in the country operating under one private trust-governed framework. This includes approved Status-Verified Freedmen, protected children under 18, and pending members who have completed Step #1 but have not yet submitted the required documentation for verification review. This is not a social media label, a loose identity claim, or

The American Freedmen Legal Fund, operating in alignment with the Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust, has prepared an expanded public report documenting completed outcomes, active advocacy work, enforcement actions, institutional responses, and public corrections secured through structured advocacy. This report is not a list of promises. It is a record of work already performed, work currently underway, and institutional capacity being built to protect Verified Freedmen, documen

The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust and the American Freedmen Legal Fund are opening a documentation file concerning the NAACP’s “Out of Bounds” campaign and its potential impact on Verified Freedmen families, student-athletes, recruits, alumni, donors, and supporters. According to the NAACP’s own campaign page, “Out of Bounds” calls for Black athletes, families, alumni, and fans to withhold athletic and financial support from public universities in Southern states tied to vo

Memorial Day is now recognized across the United States as a national day of remembrance for those who died while serving in the military. Many people mark the day with flags, cemetery visits, public ceremonies, and family gatherings. But before Memorial Day became a federal holiday, it began as a sacred act of remembrance after the Civil War. One of the earliest and most powerful origins of Memorial Day comes from Charleston, South Carolina, where newly freed slaves gathered

The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust has taken another major step in its national preservation work by returning a structured review list to Fort Bend County, Texas, identifying Freedmen cemeteries that may need historical protection, documentation, restoration support, and marker review. This effort began through the Thompson Chapel Cemetery preservation project in Sugar Land, Texas. After FRFT initiated communication regarding Thompson Chapel, Fort Bend County historical rep

The American Freedmen Legal Fund is continuing its public transparency effort connected to Freedom Acres Ranch and the situation involving C.W. Mallory, an Unverified Freedmen landowner. Because Mr. Mallory is currently unverified, our work is limited in scope. However, one area where we can act immediately is through record retrieval, documentation, review, and public transparency. That is why this effort matters. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed that there