Takedown of “The Reparations Project” – A Necessary Defense of Freedmen Identity and Legal Standing
- Freedmen Nation
- Jul 21
- 2 min read
July 2025 — The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust has successfully enforced a takedown of The Reparations Project website after issuing formal cease and desist and fund transfer demands to its operators, the Quarterman & Keller Foundation. This enforcement is part of our ongoing mandate to protect the cultural governance, fiduciary authority, and legal identity of Verified Freedmen.
The now-disabled website, www.reparationsproject.org, had presented itself as a reparative initiative but failed to meet the fundamental requirement of honoring status-based verification. Its operations made no distinction between the general Black population and those with protected legal classification as Freedmen—descendants of U.S. chattel slavery who have been verified under our Trust’s process.
Violations Included:
Use of the term “reparations” without status-based verification;
Public confusion over the legitimacy of their fund distributions;
Misrepresentation of eligibility criteria using state-level references without legal standing;
Lack of cultural governance oversight from any authorized Freedmen fiduciary body.
Our Legal Actions:
On March 24, 2025, the Trust formally issued:
A Cease and Desist Letter outlining misuse of protected reparations terminology;
A Formal Demand Letter calling for the transfer of any reparations-labeled funds;
A Cover Letter clarifying our jurisdiction and right to enforce under cultural and legal declarations.
These actions were backed by our Declaration of Naming Rights, our Trademark License, and a FOIA acknowledgment from the U.S. Treasury confirming the Trust’s standing.
Following the delivery of these notices, the Reparations Project website was taken offline—confirming the strength of our enforcement strategy.
Why This Matters
Reparations is not a trending grant category.
It is a legal claim—and a culturally protected framework—that belongs to a specific, historically defined class of people. The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust was established to defend that claim and ensure that reparative justice is not diluted, misrepresented, or hijacked by third-party actors operating outside of verification protocols.
This takedown sends a clear message:
Unauthorized use of our frameworks, language, or identity will not go unchallenged. Whether websites, non-profits, or advocacy campaigns, if you invoke the name of reparations—you must do so within the boundaries of Freedmen legal status, or you will be held accountable.
Moving Forward
We are open to good-faith partnerships with those who genuinely seek to support reparative justice—but it must be aligned with our protected status-based governance.
Otherwise, we will continue to defend our authority through legal, administrative, and cultural enforcement.
To support our legal advocacy and help fund future enforcement actions:
This takedown marks another win for the American Freedmen Legal Fund and the Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust—demonstrating that cultural protections are not theoretical. They are enforceable, and they are active.
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