Manhattan Beach, CA– This morning, less than two years after she announced her intention to return Bruce’s Beach to the Bruce family, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn celebrated the official transfer of the property to the great grandsons of Willa and Charles Bruce. Hahn joined Supervisor Holly Mitchell, Senator Steven Bradford, members of the Bruce family including Anthony Bruce and Derrick Bruce, and local activist Kavon Ward for a ceremony at Bruce’s Beach to mark the occasion.
Supervisor Hahn has released the following statement:
“When I met with our County lawyers last year and said I wanted to return this property to the Bruce family, they told me nothing like it had ever been done before. No government in this country had returned land that was taken from a Black family unjustly. They said the work ahead of us would be unprecedented. Now, we are sending a message to every government in this nation confronted with this same challenge: this work is no longer unprecedented. We have set the precedent and it is the pursuit of justice.
Today I am thinking of Willa Bruce, who never gave up on getting this land back for her family. I am thinking of her children and grandchildren, who were denied the generational wealth and opportunity that should have been theirs. I am thinking of her great grandsons, Derrick and Marcus Bruce, who today become the owners of some of the most beautiful beachfront property in the world. And I am thinking of the generations of Bruces to come – whose lives will be forever changed because of the wrong we are setting right today.
We can’t change the past. And we will never be able to make up for the injustice that was done to Willa and Charles Bruce nearly a century ago. But this is a start. ”
Learn more about Bruce’s Beach: https://ceo.lacounty.gov/ardi/bruces-beach/