Racial Injustices, Reparations? 3 Online Events, Manhattan Beach

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — The City of Manhattan Beach isn't the only "Manhattan Beach" with a story of racial injustice in its past. Hanna Park, Florida, is another community wrestling with what happened to Florida's first beach resort for Blacks, when, nearly a century ago, the community was called Manhattan Beach.

Historian Brittany Cohill of Jacksonville University will revisit Manhattan Beach through oral histories, archived records and rare photos on Thursday, Feb. 25 in an online event with a suggested $5 donation if you are not a member of Beaches Museum.

The registration page reads, "The memory of Florida’s first African American beach resort in the segregated South is eroding with time. With no visible site evidence remaining of a once-vibrant coastal retreat, 'Recovering Manhattan Beach' uses archival sources, oral histories, and a handful of the only known existing photographs to piece together its timeline (1900-1940s). Learn how Gilded-Age expansion led to the creation of Manhattan Beach (located at present-day Hanna Park in Jacksonville), the role Manhattan Beach played in Jacksonville’s African American community in the early 20th century, and the factors that contributed to its demise.

Register at beachesmuseum.org or call (904) 241-5657.

"Property and Power: Redressing Racial Injustices in Los Angeles County and Beyond."

Closer to home and sure to include conversation about our Manhattan Beach's Bruce's Beach story of racial injustice, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, whose district includes Manhattan Beach, will participate with UCLA Law professor Dr. Sherod Thaxton in "Property and Power: Redressing Racial Injustices in Los Angeles County and Beyond." This free online event is set for Monday, Feb. 22 beginning at 12:15 p.m.

Reads the text on its registration page, "Last summer’s racial reckoning gave new urgency to longstanding conversations about reparations and pathways to creating a more equitable society. Join Dean Jennifer L. Mnookin for this special conversation with Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn and Professor Sherod Thaxton as we discuss the case for reparations, their legal feasibility, and some of the initiatives currently underway to repair historical injustices in the Los Angeles community and across the country."

"Bruce's Beach Rediscovered: A Presentation for Black History Month"

The City of Manhattan Beach Bruce's Beach Task Force, co-chaired by two City Council members, will present a forum on "Bruce's Beach Rediscovered: A Presentation for Black History Month" on Thursday, Feb. 25 from 6:30-8 p.m. The free online event will be on Zoom and open to the public. Zoom details have yet to be announced.

Task force member Dr. Anthony Lee, a retired UCLA professor, will introduce the subject, followed by task force researchers who will unfold the history of racial exclusion that took place with respect to Manhattan Beach's Bruce’s Beach in the 1920s, and bring the conversation into the present. The history of Bruce's Beach has been a little-known and much misunderstood episode in the city's history, according to the city website page about the event, but has recently become the focus of new attention. Now a park between Highland Avenue and The Strand, Bruce’s Beach was once the site of a thriving resort for black beachgoers. How this was all lost, and the memory forgotten, will be the subject of this educational forum sponsored by Manhattan Beach's new Bruce's Beach Task Force. Zoom details will be provided before the event.