New Declaration: Business Operations, Investments & Ownership Secured Under Trust

On March 22, 2025, the Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust (FRFT) formally executed and notarized the:

Declaration of Business Operations Location, Investment Requirements, & Ownership Criteria

This Declaration establishes permanent economic governance rules for all businesses created, funded, or partnered with by the Trust.

It is not a suggestion.

It is binding policy.

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Why This Declaration Was Necessary

For generations, Freedmen labor built economic systems that were later stripped, displaced, or extracted. The Trust exists to reverse that pattern.

This Declaration ensures that business development under the Trust:

• Stays rooted in historically significant Freedmen regions

• Remains majority-owned by PMA Verified Freedmen

• Prioritizes Freedmen employment and enterprise

• Prevents economic dilution or outside control

This is structured economic protection.

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Geographic Anchoring: The Former Confederate States

The Declaration requires that all Trust-created or Trust-funded businesses operate within the eleven former Confederate states:

Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

These are the regions where Freedmen historically built communities, land ownership, and enterprise despite systemic barriers.

Business headquarters, facilities, and operational hubs must be strategically placed to benefit Freedmen communities long term.

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Ownership Standards: Minimum 60% Freedmen Control

To prevent token participation or outside dominance, the Declaration requires:

• PMA Verified Freedmen ownership and control

• A minimum of 60% Freedmen ownership

• Governance oversight for any exceptions

This ensures economic empowerment is real—not symbolic.

Ownership must remain in Freedmen hands.

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Digital Economy Included

The Declaration does not ignore modern realities.

Online commerce, digital service companies, and remote business models must:

• Be headquartered in the approved Southern states

• Be registered in those states

• Maintain at least 60% workforce residency within those states

• Base infrastructure in the South whenever feasible

Digital displacement will not replace geographic displacement.

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Employment & Enterprise Prioritization

Businesses under the Trust must:

• Prioritize hiring PMA Verified Freedmen

• Contract with Freedmen-owned vendors

• Establish entrepreneurship pipelines

• Invest in workforce training and sustainability

This Declaration links business formation directly to community stabilization.

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Relocation Restrictions

Businesses created by the Trust cannot relocate outside the former Confederate states without governance review.

There is a presumption against relocation.

Economic infrastructure must remain in historically significant Freedmen regions.

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Long-Term Sovereignty Commitment

This Declaration binds future governance decisions.

It prevents:

• Ownership erosion

• Geographic drift

• Capital leakage

• Control dilution

It secures long-term economic sovereignty under Trust law.

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Executed and notarized on March 22, 2025, this Declaration represents a structural shift from reactive advocacy to controlled economic development.

This is nation-building through disciplined governance.

Freedmen economic power will remain within Freedmen communities.