Freedmen News

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

The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust, the American Freedmen Legal Fund (AFLF), and FreedmenNation.org were built around a different model than most public-facing institutions. We are not a nonprofit charity. We are not a traditional law firm. We are not a political organization. We are an institutional framework focused on status protection, historical preservation, legal advocacy support, beneficiary assistance, and long-term infrastructure for Verified Freedmen families and

The NAACP’s “Out of Bounds” campaign is calling on college athletes, recruits, fans, alumni, and families connected to Freedmen communities to withhold athletic and financial support from public universities in Southern states accused of weakening political representation. The message is direct: if these institutions benefit from Freedmen athletic labor, they should not remain silent while Freedmen political power is weakened. But there is a serious problem with how this burd

# Help AFLF Release the Public Report The American Freedmen Legal Fund has completed a comprehensive evidence report regarding Dalton Levi Eatherly, publicly known as “ChudTheBuilder,” and submitted it for official review connected to the Montgomery County case record. This report documents weeks of public safety concerns, escalation evidence, platform activity, court records, public confrontation footage, and the steps AFLF took before and after the courthouse shooting. The

The NAACP’s “Out of Bounds” campaign calls on Black athletes, families, fans, alumni, and consumers to withhold athletic and financial support from public universities in Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and Georgia. But the problem is not simply that the NAACP is calling for economic pressure. The problem is that the campaign once again uses broad racial language while avoiding the specific historical debt owed to Descendants of Ame

The preservation of Freedmen history cannot depend on government institutions alone. Across the country, Freedmen cemeteries, churches, schools, communities, landmarks, and historic sites continue to face neglect, erasure, redevelopment pressure, and loss of historical recognition. That is why the Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust and Freedmen Nation are now opening sponsorship opportunities for businesses and entrepreneurs to support the expansion of the Freedmen Digital Histo

The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust, Freedmen Nation, and the American Freedmen Legal Fund are constantly fundraising because the scope of the work we do is not small, inexpensive, or politically easy. Many people only see the public statements, blogs, emails, and enforcement campaigns. What they often do not see are the behind-the-scenes costs tied to: Institutional outreach Government engagement Public affairs work Verification systems Historical documentation review Geneal

The American Freedmen Legal Fund (AFLF) has now received official confirmation from Montgomery County officials that previously submitted evidence concerning Dalton Levi Eatherly, publicly known online as “ChudTheBuilder,” has been forwarded into General Sessions Criminal and attached to the case history. This development follows weeks of evidence preservation efforts conducted by AFLF involving: • Public confrontation footage • Pepper spray deployment incidents • Weapon-re

The Freedmennation.org and the Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust (FRFT) are formally opening institutional support for Vendor Verification connected to local, state, and federal government “Descendants of American Slaves” initiatives through the Trust’s established Freedmen Status Verification framework. This expansion represents a major step toward helping agencies, municipalities, institutions, and approved vendors establish a documented verification pathway tied to historica

Freedmen Nation Genealogy Trainees Enter Institutional Verification Phase The Freedmen Nation Genealogy Department is continuing to expand its institutional genealogy infrastructure as Genealogy Trainees officially move into the next phase of the Genealogy Certification Program: real-world participation and pending member verification support. This stage represents an important transition from classroom and workbook instruction into active genealogy operations. Trainees are n

Across the country, especially in former Confederate states, redistricting strategies are changing rapidly. Courts are placing tighter limits on race-based districting. Legislatures are becoming more aggressive in how maps are drawn. Historical communities are increasingly being divided, absorbed, or redefined under broader racial categories that do not always preserve the actual continuity of the people living there. The old framework is changing. That means our strategy mus

Across the United States, the population connected to Freedmen Nation is growing rapidly as more families begin reconnecting with their records, family history, heir property, and historical position in the United States before 1865. What started as a small effort focused on documentation and historical recovery has now developed into a fast-growing institutional structure focused on verification, historical protection, education, legal advocacy, and asset preservation. The g

For generations, many Freedmen families across the Southern United States have held land through what is commonly known as “heir property.” These are lands passed down informally through family inheritance without formal probate, clear title transfers, or updated deed structures. While this land often carries substantial economic, agricultural, residential, and historical value, much of it is never officially counted when measuring wealth in the Freedmen population. This crea

For years, the public has been conditioned to believe that federal student loan debt is untouchable unless a borrower qualifies under a narrow list of heavily advertised government programs. What is rarely discussed, however, is the existence of lawful administrative processes within the federal student loan servicing system that can trigger account corrections, overpayment reviews, discharge evaluations, servicing adjustments, and refund determinations. Freedmen Nation has n

The internet has created a false sense of anonymity. Many people believe they can create fake accounts on platforms like X, target others with racial slurs like the N-word, threaten people, harass families, or encourage violence without consequences. That is not always true. In many situations, anonymous online harassment can become the basis for a civil lawsuit, and courts can authorize subpoenas to identify the real person behind the account. Anonymous Accounts Are Not Auto

The American Freedmen Legal Fund (AFLF) is formally reviewing programs, scholarships, grants, contracts, and public benefit systems that exclude or disadvantage Freedmen while distributing opportunities through broad racial, ethnic, or nationality-based classifications. The AFLF position is that many modern programs claiming to address “historical inequities” or “racial justice” have failed to specifically include or identify the descendants of American slavery who were the d

There is a common belief that if someone uses the N-word, “nothing can be done” because of free speech. That is incomplete. While the First Amendment limits government punishment of speech, it does not prevent individuals from pursuing civil action when that speech becomes harassment, intimidation, or discrimination. The key is understanding when words move from protected expression into actionable conduct. When Speech Becomes a Legal Issue Courts don’t evaluate words in isol

There is a growing misunderstanding about what “free speech” actually protects in the United States. Too often, people believe it gives them the right to say anything they want to anyone, anywhere, without consequence. That is not how the law works. The First Amendment protects individuals from government punishment for speech. It does not give people a license to harass, threaten, intimidate, or target others without consequences—especially in public spaces, workplaces, scho

Where Are the Lawyers? Why We Built a System That Doesn’t Wait for Them One of the most common questions we hear is simple: “Where are the lawyers when we need them?” It’s a fair question. But it also exposes a deeper issue that too many people ignore. The legal system is not equally accessible. Attorneys are expensive. Most people cannot afford retainers. And many lawyers are selective about the cases they take—often looking for financial upside, low risk, or clear preceden

The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust (FRFT) and the American Freedmen Legal Fund (AFLF) are issuing a public safety notice regarding a growing pattern of provocation-based content being created in public spaces. We are specifically aware of an individual operating online under the name “Chud the Builder,” whose content reflects a repeated pattern of provoking confrontations, using inflammatory language, and escalating situations in order to capture reactions on video and monet