beach seized bruce s beach. all we knew we were going to speak out and make sure people never forgot this wrong. reporter: a wrong the county of los angeles began working to fix last year, cull mumating w with the board of supervisors unanimously voting this week. motion carries 5-0. reporter: to return the land to the bruce s great great grandchildren marking the first time in the county s history the descendants have had their family s land returned. we aren t giving property to anyone today. we are returning property. reporter: in 1912 the bruce s bought the land for more than $1,200. eventually they owned two parcels and started a business, offering a place for black people in southern california to enjoy the scenic vistas with friends and family. the bruce s establishment from day one was very successful. they started with just a pop up tent where people could change their clothes, and they were
of the generational wealth that would have been accumulated over the course of 98 years now. i feel some sense of peace. i feel joy. reporter: she started the push to return bruce s beach to its rightful owners in 2020 after the murder of george floyd. i know it was the catalyst for me, for me to illuminate what had happened to the bruces and move forward and take action and see how i can legally and legislatively get their land back for them. reporter: while the county s owning up to what happened to bruce s beach both ward and the families say that the city of manhattan beach has yet to acknowledge its role in the property s history. something they say they re going to continue to fight for. don? stephanie elam, thank you very much for that. former trump white house counsel pat cipollone told mark meadows that blood is going to be on your f-ing hands if people died on january 6th. now we re learning he might have agreed to a limited interview with the committee.
and i want to thank everyone who is here today. reporter: this less than quarter acre now worth millions. the bruce s were among the city s first black landowners, creating a resort for many barred from beaches because of segregation. the couple then becoming targets of racist attacks. in 1929, manhattan beach took the bruce s property by eminent domain, citing the urgent need for a public park. but for decades it sat empty. black lives matter protests quickly catching the attention of lawmakers. is this enough? no, this is only the first step in our fight for justice for charles and willa bruce and sth their descendants. the first demand we had was to restore the land to the family. there s the restitution of the loss of revenue for the past 97 years. reporter: tonight, the governor signing into law the land s return. this area is now a lifeguard station. i spoke to a family member who says they plan to keep it that way and lease the land to the county. david? zohreen shah,
their way back to being owned by charles and willa descendents. good to see you. including their great, great grandson anthony bruce. when you see something with your name on it, it s a little bit different. to know this is bruce property, you know, and i m a bruce, and this is from my family. we started that down there. nobody else around here did that. it was my family. reporter: they re now launching where is my land, a digital platform to help others find justice. in cases where the lands can t be returned, significant restitution needs to be paid. there needs to be a recognition that wealth was stolen. wealth was not able to be generated because of that theft. and really looking at the present conditions of the families themselves to try to understand what was stolen from them. not just at the time, but over the decades.
but a new generation of activists are lyfting their voices and the bruce s story. let s take a listen. in july of 2020 manhattan beach resident mr. ward mobilized after learning the dark past of the sunny beach side park known as bruce s peach. parcels were once owned by a black couple who brought the land to build a beach resort in 1912. it quickly became a haven for black tourists and entertainers from across the country. it also became a target of white supremacists who along with manhattan beach officials seized the land through imminent domain on the grounds that it be used for a public park. but for three decades, the lot set vacant. i don t care if it happens to black entrepreneurs, white entrepreneurs. someone having their land taken from them is wrong. and unjustly is wrong.