Today, Judy helps me share the extraordinary tale of an enslaved woman who wins her freedom, the California free Black community who comes together to help her, the white authorities who --- surprisingly --- actually do the right thing when faced with injustice (the bar is on the floor, but these are some of the few white men in history who actually step over it) and how Biddy Mason went from enslavement to becoming the wealthiest woman of color in the West and who used her earnings to improve her community.

Most of the information from this incredible tale comes from an LAist article by the wonderful Hadley Meares called “The Contentious Hearing that Made Biddy Mason a Legend” link in the show notes: https://laist.com/news/la-history/biddy-mason-free-forever-the-contentious-hearing-that-made-her-a-legend-los-angeles-black-history

And also Hadley’s article for LA.curbed.com “Biddy Mason: One of LA’s First Black Real Estate Moguls: https://la.curbed.com/2017/3/1/14756308/biddy-mason-california-black-history

By the way send LAist money because they lost 3.4 million in federal funding recently so we gotta make up the difference. Head over to Support.LAist.org and become a member.

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