Be The Power
The Civic Power Movement
Constitutional Framework for Completing Reconstruction
By way of the 13th Amendment in 1865, our enslaved American ancestors were freed from private bondage Nationally. Congress passed the Freedmen's Acts of 1865 and 1866 on behalf of these, our Freedmen ancestors. As their direct descendants, we demand recognition by the federal government—through the Office of Management and Budget in its Federal Statistical Directive No. 15—as American Freedmen, establishing a legal status category grounded in constitutional and historical precedent.
We demand establishment of a Federal Office of Freedmen Affairs within the Department of the Interior, with coordinating authority across federal agencies and state-level branches in jurisdictions where American Freedmen populations require dedicated services and oversight. This office will operate with enforcement powers similar to the Office of Tribal Affairs, overseeing implementation of Freedmen-specific policies across education, housing, healthcare, economic development, and civil rights protection.
We demand the immediate and complete De-Confederatization of the United States of America. No child in Germany is forced to attend schools named after Adolf Hitler or drive down a road named in honor of the Nazi regime or its officers. By the same token, no American child should be made to attend public schools named in honor of Confederate war criminals, and no patriotic American soldier should serve in the United States military on bases named in honor of traitorous insurgent anti-federalists. This principle extends to all government-sponsored honors of the Confederate insurrection, consistent with federal principles of union loyalty, equal protection, and national security.
We demand federal legislation modeled after Title VII of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, which created Soul City, North Carolina—but specifically designed for American Freedmen community development in the Southern states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware.
This Reconstructive Freedmen Agenda will provide:
This program reverses the economic disinvestment and government-sanctioned terrorism that forced our ancestors to flee during the Great Migration, creating economically sovereign Freedmen communities with federal support that was promised but never delivered during Reconstruction.
We demand a complete federal analysis on immigration and the effects it has had on American Freedmen historically and today, examining: labor market competition and wage suppression in sectors traditionally employing Freedmen; displacement in federally funded programs and social services; dilution of civil rights remedies and affirmative action programs intended for descendants of American slavery; and political impact on Freedmen communities and representation.
We demand a comprehensive wealth restoration program specifically for American Freedmen families to close the racial wealth gap created by slavery, Jim Crow, redlining, and systemic discrimination.
Direct Cash Payments: Implement direct cash payments to eligible American Freedmen adults as a core component of the Wealth Restoration Program to provide immediate capital for homeownership, business formation, and intergenerational wealth-building.
This program will include:
As per the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, we demand full, unimpeded access to the Democratic process via voting unhindered at the local and federal levels. This includes: restoration of full enforcement provisions of the Voting Rights Act; federal prosecution of voter suppression targeting Freedmen communities; protection against vote dilution through gerrymandering; automatic voter registration; and elimination of barriers designed to suppress Freedmen political participation.
We demand expanded federal authority to protect American Freedmen from discriminatory policing through:
We demand economic inclusion in the country that our ancestors built, with ownership as the core focus: federal and state contracts proportionate to our population with strict enforcement mechanisms; access to capital through Freedmen-specific lending programs and development banks; targeted business development support and technical assistance; priority consideration in federal land sales and surplus property disposition; and accountability measures ensuring compliance with economic inclusion mandates.
Doctors have been to Black women what police have been to Black men. American Freedmen have endured the burdens of discriminatory practices in healthcare, and we demand federal policy addressing discrimination in healthcare as the urgent national crisis it is: targeted intervention to eliminate maternal mortality disparities; mandatory implicit bias training for all healthcare providers receiving federal funding; federal prosecution of medical discrimination as civil rights violations; accountability systems tracking and penalizing discriminatory treatment; and increased funding for healthcare infrastructure in majority-Freedmen communities.
We demand proper educational standards for teaching true American history, including the full scope of slavery, Reconstruction, and ongoing resistance to Freedmen equality. We demand federal investment in Freedmen Community Schools and educational institutions, providing excellence in education befitting the descendants of those responsible for the Nation's wealth. This includes: accurate curriculum standards mandated for all public schools receiving federal funding; dedicated funding for private Freedmen schools and cultural institutions; support for Freedmen-centered pedagogy and educational research; and resources for teaching constitutional history grounded in the Reconstruction Amendments.
We demand establishment of a Presidential Commission to comprehensively examine the Reconstruction Amendments and Freedmen-era legislation, identify where implementation failed, and propose updated policies to complete the work of Reconstruction. This commission will: review the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments and their enforcement mechanisms; analyze policies drafted and ratified during Reconstruction; recommend reestablishment and modernization of successful Reconstruction programs; propose new frameworks to close the generational wealth gap; and develop actionable legislation to fulfill the broken promises of Reconstruction for today's American Freedmen.