Black Californians Paved the Way for the State’s Most Progressive Ideals

But their contributions are not taught in history books

In news that will likely not surprise you, a lot of Black history has been suppressed in an attempt to erase the contributions made by Black folk in America — like the wealth accumulated by Black Californians during the Gold Rush era — as well as to ignore many atrocities (read up on the Red Summer).

“The history of California is filled with Blackness. Melanin is woven into the state’s…