FRFT Issues Binding Declaration Over HBCUs: No More Free Use of Freedmen Identity

The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust (FRFT) has issued a binding legal declaration asserting full licensing authority over all use of Freedmen identity, history, and cultural legacy within the operations and branding of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). This declaration establishes that Verified Freedmen, as a legally recognized status class, are no longer to be symbolically referenced or commercially exploited without proper oversight and permission.

Many HBCUs were established through laws that explicitly referenced Freedmen—such as the Morrill Act of 1890—which mandated educational institutions for those emancipated from U.S. chattel slavery. Today, these same institutions often invoke the language of slavery, Reconstruction, and reparative justice while disregarding the legal and cultural authority of the Freedmen class. The Trust is taking firm action to end that practice.

This Declaration Includes:

• Full licensing control over the use of Freedmen-related language and narratives in HBCU scholarships, reparations programs, DEI materials, grant writing, and institutional branding.

• Legal enforcement through the American Freedmen Legal Fund and Freedmen Donor Advocacy Work Group against unlicensed usage.

• License Demand Notices will be issued to any HBCU or institutional partner that fails to formally recognize the Trust’s authority or continues to use slavery-era narratives without authorization.

The FRFT Declaration is backed by law. The Freedmen class is not a race or ethnicity—it is a status-based legal category recognized under the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the Freedmen’s Bureau Acts, and the 14th Amendment. The Trust, operating under Trust Law, governs that class and holds sole authority to regulate how its identity is used.

This moment marks a new chapter. The history of our people is not public domain—it is protected. Institutions using our identity for public gain must now pay for that privilege or stop entirely.

Read the full declaration here: FRFT HBCU Licensing Declaration