My mother had asked me years before she passed away.

When she was in hospice, she said,

Saul, whatever you do, do not lose my daddy's land.

And I've made a commitment to not lose this land.

That was Saul Blair.

He's devoted years of his life to reclaiming family land purchased by his great-grandfather

in the years after slavery.

But the retired healthcare executive in Georgia has hit roadblocks as he works to hold onto the land.

And his story is putting a spotlight on air's property rights.

Over the course of the 20th century, Black Americans lost around 80% of the property they owned at the peak of ownership in the years following the Civil War because of theft and systemic injustices.

Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson.

For more about Soul's story and some of these broader issues it highlights, I'm now joined by USA Today reporter Andrea Ricci.

Thank you so much for joining me, Andrea.

Hey, Taylor. Thanks for having me.

So just starting here, I mean, would you tell us a bit about Saul Blair and his family story?

So Saul actually lives in the Phoenix area.

He is the great grandson of somebody named John Thomas Jr.

Who was born into slavery in central Georgia, 1859.

Somehow, and we don't know right now, how he managed to do it.

But in the early part of the 20th century,

John managed to buy over 300 acres of farmland in Georgia and passed it on to 11 children,

divided it equally among 11 children, and Saul's mother, Amanita, was one of John's granddaughters. So Saul is the

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