Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:00:08] Aisha Knowles’ family grew up in a place that doesn’t exist anymore. Russell City used to be a thriving community of predominantly Black and Latino families. But in the 1960s, families like Aisha’s were forced out to make way for urban development projects that were being built all over the bay.
Aisha Knowles: [00:00:32] My grandmother, she had faith all the time. She was not an angry woman. She believed that there would always be something greater, even if she didn’t get to see it.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:00:45] Now, after apologizing for racist policies that led to the destruction of Russell City, Alameda County and the city of Hayward want to make amends. And they’re putting their money where their mouth is.
Alameda County Supervisor Elisa Márquez: [00:01:00] So this is our commitment to say, you know, we met what we said publicly with apology and now we have to find a way to identify compensation to address that healing.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:01:14] Today, reparations for former Russell City residents.
Nisa Kahn: [00:01:28] Russell City was a 12 block unincorporated area within Alameda County. It was near the city of Hayward.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:01:35] Nisa Khan is an audience engagement reporter for KQED.
Nisa Khan: [00:01:39] It was a predominantly black and Latino community, so a lot of people who were unable to find housing and other spots in the Bay Area due to racist policies like redlining. Because it was an unincorporated area, there wasn’t any city services like sewage or plumbing. On the other hand, it was a really close, tight-knit community. They had churches and schools and clubs and businesses. One thing that people always talk about is this really vibrant culture hub for blues music and you had these legendary performers like Etta James and Ray Charles taking the stage there.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:02:24] And I know you talked with a descendant of folks who lived in Russell City and grew up there. Can you tell me a little bit about Aisha Knowles?
Nisa Khan: [00:02:33] Ayesha Knowles is somebody who’s been really, really involved in sort of the advocacy for Russell City of Residence.
Aisha Knowles: [00:02:39] As the daughter of someone who lived in Russell City, I didn’t start this fight. But, you know, I feel like as the father, it is part of my responsibility in living and, you know, in paying things forward.
Nisa Khan: [00:02:51] Her father, James Knowles, is part of the reparations committee in Alameda County, and she’s been involved in the Russell City efforts in Hayward. She grew up in Haywood, and she did a documentary about Vessel city, and has just been really involved in like telling people’s story, but also kind of introducing history to families who may not have totally known their entire background.
Aisha Knowles: [00:03:10] To me as an adult, it seems like there were efforts made to erase the history of Russell City. I think there are people who lived in Russell City who’ve always called it Hayward.
Nisa Khan: [00:03:22] Her grandfather owned a business and one thing that really struck me is that she said like her grandfather never really recovered from losing his home and his business.
Aisha Knowles: [00:03:32] My grandfather was a World War II veteran. After our family was forcibly removed from Russell City, he died at the age of 48. There are a lot of memories and harm and trauma that many families have experienced. I’m grateful that I have family members around who are still able to talk about it. But the reality is there are many former residents and descendants of Russell City who didn’t have any outlet, who didn’t talk about things and who lived very short lives.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:04:13] What eventually happened to Russell City, and why doesn’t it exist anymore?
Nisa Khan: [00:04:18] So I mentioned that there wasn’t any sewage, plumbing, things like that. And the residents repeatedly used to petition the county and the city of Hayward for assistance for any help. But they were repeatedly denied. And instead, those officials declared the community to be a blight and seized property through eminent domain. Then they made plans to redevelop it into an industrial park. And in 1963, officials kind of cleared out the community. And roughly 1,400 people were forcibly displaced.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:04:58] According to research from the city of Hayward, some homeowners in Russell City got around $2,000 after being displaced by the government, while others got as little as $250. Many residents moved to Hayward or East Oakland and still feel the impact of having their and their community taken from them. Ronnie Stewart, executive director of the West Coast Blues Society, called it cultural genocide. But residents and their family members have also kept the memory of Russell City alive, and have been fighting to get what they feel is owed to them. It seems like there was a huge impact on, and a lot of loss for a lot of the folks who used to live in Russell City.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:05:52] So I’m curious how residents and descendants have fought for recognition of this history over the years and what have they been asking for?
Nisa Khan: [00:06:03] Yeah I think a lot of it is just talking about reparations and talking about something to sort of compensate for those losses.
Aisha Knowles: [00:06:10] I’m sure that there are countless other examples from other families who had difficulty finding housing, keeping housing, finding employment. The stories are endless.
Nisa Khan: [00:06:22] Aisha knows is that one thing she mentions is like sustainable like solutions something to prevent this from happening again.
Aisha Knowles: [00:06:29] I have, like, a deep interest in ensuring that the pain that families have experienced is interrupted. You know, it cannot continue.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:06:50] Coming up, how Russell City residents finally won reparations. Stay with us. We’re talking now, Nisa, because reparations are, in fact, coming to former Russell City residents. How did this come about, and why is this happening now?
Nisa Khan: [00:07:14] So in 2020, there was the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. And cities across the country, including in the Bay Area, began taking steps to revisit their history and acknowledge their, like, racist histories. Payward was one of those places. In 2021, they issued a public apology to former residents of Russell City. And then the following year, they launched what they called a Russell City Reparative Justice Project, which presented recommendations to the city council. This year, the created something which is called the Redress Fund, which has over $1 million that are planning on giving out payments to former Russell City residents.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:08:00] I know you spoke with Alameda County Supervisor Elisa Marquez about this specific detail of why it was important to offer money to some of these residents. What did she tell you about that?
Nisa Kahn: [00:08:16] For her it was kind of just commitment to be like we meant what we said.
Alameda County Supervisor Elisa Márquez: [00:08:19] It’s really important that we expedite this so that way we could provide not just words but a tangible option to the community that suffered so much trauma and pain.
Nisa Khan: [00:08:29] She also acknowledges that it’s by no means meant to cover what was lost
Alameda County Supervisor Elisa Márquez: [00:08:33] This is just one small token to tell them, we’re here with you, we support you, and we wanna do everything we possibly can to expand that healing that they’ve been going through.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:08:47] So how much money are we talking about here, and where is it coming from exactly?
Nisa Khan: [00:08:52] So the redress fund was announced in early July and it originally had $900,000. Now it has a little over like $1 million. Some of that money came from the city of Hayward itself, but a lot of other being pledged by Alameda County Board of Supervisors.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:09:10] The City of Hayward is also contributing $250,000 for the role that it played in demolishing Russell City back in the 60s. Supporters are hoping that philanthropists and other public agencies might also get involved, especially once word of the Redress Fund gets around even more.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:09:37] Who is eligible for this money and how is this going to be distributed? Because I imagine we’re talking about the 1960s when these folks were displaced, perhaps many of them have spread out, ended up in different places, passed away maybe even. I mean, how are they gonna figure out who’s gonna get this money?
Nisa Khan: [00:09:57] Right now, I think the supervisors and the county and city are focusing on people who lived in Russell City and were displaced. I think a lot of it is dependent on money raised and how much they raised and maybe they can expand the eligibility. But a lot of that will be answered on September 2nd when they kind of said they’ll have a lot the details that they’re nailing out with like eligibility, how much money is being given, things like that. The supervisor told me that they’re planning on partnering with a foundation locally that will be doing the redistributing, so some of all these details are still being kind of nailed down. The idea is that when they announce the fund, they’re still planning on more people reaching out and being like, maybe they haven’t heard about the Russell City initiatives and they might be hearing now that that’s in the news. So they’re kind of telling people that if you think that you may be eligible of reaching out to the City of Hayward’s Office of City Attorney.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:10:44] Well, I want to go back to Aisha Knowles here, Nisa, who was a descendant of former Russell City residents. I mean, how is she feeling about this fun now that it’s been announced?
Nisa Khan: [00:10:57] I talked to her a couple of days after it was announced in July and it was like this understandable mixture of like happiness, but also like a little bit of reservations.
Aisha Knowles: [00:11:06] When I heard the news and received the the update there was a little part of me that felt like the ancestors were you know were smiling. I think when I’m looking at the bigger picture while this is a start there are a lot of other agencies who have a hand in contributing or have the ability to also contribute to the fund to increase the amount.
Nisa Khan: [00:11:29] She’s just been pushing this so hard and talking to so many families. A lot of people’s like trauma and their experiences and also her own family history
Aisha Knowles: [00:11:37] Those former residents who are still living, including my father, many are getting older and their health conditions are changing. We work to continue to do the work because we believe that an outcome that repairs the harm is is is possible.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:12:06] And I imagine this is bittersweet in a way for her too, because as I understand it, her grandfather passed away just 10 years after leaving Russell City, right? So he wasn’t alive to see this sort of recognition.
