New Declaration Expands AFLF Authority While Reaffirming Verified Freedmen Standards

Freedmen Nation
Sep 24
2 min read

The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust (FRFT) has issued a new Declaration of Legal Advocacy Authority Outside the Verified Freedmen Framework. This important step both reaffirms the central role of Verified Freedmen within the Trust and formally empowers the American Freedmen Legal Fund (AFLF) to act in matters where the protection of Freedmen identity and rights cannot wait for the verification process to be completed.

Why This Declaration Was Necessary

The Trust was established to serve Verified Freedmen — those whose status is documented through the Freedmen Nation verification system, directly linking them to U.S. chattel slavery. Verification remains the foundation of membership, benefits, and fiduciary duty under FRFT.

However, in recent months it has become clear that harm against unverified Freedmen often creates ripple effects that directly impact Verified Freedmen. Cultural misclassification, misuse of Freedmen names and symbols, and civil rights violations do not pause until verification is completed. The community needed a clear rule that balanced urgent legal advocacy with the strict protections of trust law.

What the Declaration Authorizes

This Declaration formalizes AFLF’s role in three key areas:

Verified Freedmen Protection
- All specific work for Freedmen beneficiaries — including reparations enforcement, trust entitlements, and legal claims under the Trust — requires Verified status. This rule remains unchanged and non-negotiable.
Unverified Freedmen in Process
- AFLF may provide limited legal defense for those actively seeking verification, where urgent harm or discrimination exists. This authority prevents injustice during the waiting period without replacing verification.
Broader Advocacy and Enforcement
- AFLF may act in community-wide legal and cultural matters, such as:
  - DMCA and Lanham Act enforcement
  - FOIA filings
  - Cease-and-desist letters
  - Cultural governance and naming-rights protection

These broader actions strengthen the Trust’s position by stopping cultural dilution, fraud, or identity exploitation at its source.

What Stays Constant

This Declaration does not weaken the Trust’s Verified-only foundation. Instead, it creates two clear lanes:

Verification Lane: All specific work for Freedmen beneficiaries is tied to the verification process.
Advocacy Lane: AFLF may act more broadly in defense of Freedmen culture, identity, and legal standing — even where individuals are not yet verified.

In this way, the Trust fulfills its fiduciary duties to Verified Freedmen while still responding to urgent and systemic harms that affect the entire community.

Read the Full Declaration

The official text of the Declaration is available here:

🔗 Declaration of Legal Advocacy Authority Outside the Verified Freedmen Framework

Strengthening the Fiduciary Shield

This balanced approach ensures that:

Verified Freedmen remain the exclusive class of beneficiaries under FRFT.
Unverified Freedmen facing immediate harm do not fall through the cracks.
AFLF can stop threats — whether cultural, legal, or institutional — before they spread into the Verified Freedmen framework.

Moving Forward

This Declaration represents both continuity and expansion. It continues the Trust’s Verified Freedmen mandate while expanding AFLF’s ability to defend Freedmen rights more broadly.

By formalizing this authority, FRFT ensures that: