Dr. Cheryl Grills, a clinical psychologist, and professor at Loyola Marymount University, has emerged as a key figure in California’s reparations movement. She directed the university’s Psychology Applied Research Center and served on California’s Reparations Taskforce from 2021 to 2023, following her appointment by Governor Gavin Newsom. Additionally, she is a commissioner on the National African American Reparations Commission (NAARC) and co-founded the Alliance for Reparations, Reconciliation & Truth (ARRT).
Dr. Grills explained that ARRT was created to oversee the implementation of recommendations made by the task force and ensure alignment with both the task force’s intent and international standards. She emphasized the importance of educating the public about reparations to facilitate informed discussions. “The point of ARRT is really very basic and straightforward. One, to shepherd the ongoing work of implementing the recommendations that we proposed, and to make sure that what is recommended aligns with the intent and spirit of those recommendations and that all of that aligns with the UN standards; and then to educate the public about reparations,” she said.
A major focus of ARRT is addressing a lack of understanding about the history of racism, structural inequities, and the task force’s charge to examine harms caused by enslavement and its aftermath. Dr. Grills observed, “You have a lot of people who don’t know the history; who don’t understand racism, structural or otherwise; who don’t recognize the lingering harms from enslavement and post-enslavement racism; and who don’t understand what the charge of the task force was, which was to look at enslavement and post-enslavement harm.”
California, often perceived as progressive, has a complicated racial history that contrasts with this perception. Dr. Grills noted that the state-enforced slavery-era policies and had significant KKK influence in its governance. “We were, in some instances, worse than other states in terms of how we would enforce the rules of other states. If you were of African ancestry and came to California [and] your owner lost track of you or came of your own accord, California bent over backward to ensure that you were re-enslaved in the state you came from,” she explained.
