CHARLOTTE Some 43 years ago, Janice Black of Charlotte underwent a procedure that would prevent her from ever becoming a mother.

She's one of more than 7,000 people who either through force or coercion were sterilized as part of North Carolina Eugenics Board Program between 1929 and 1974.

They didn't really tell me what they really were doing, you know what I'm saying. All they really were saying was that they were taking me to the hospital, said Black, now 62.

Black was 18 in 1971 when she was deemed mentally retarded by the state. She then unknowingly signed a form allowing doctors to sterilize her. She's one of less than 200 estimated survivors of the eugenics program.

In 2013, state lawmakers passed legislation to compensate victims of the eugenics program. Victims and their families can file claims to receive their portion of $10 million set aside for them, but so far only about 400 have been filed.

The NC Civil Rights Commission will be in Charlotte in June to spread the word about that repayment. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg chapter of the NAACP is trying to help.

"When you do something to somebody, it's just inevitable that you should want to compensate them and give them something to show that you want to apologize, some form of reparation for hurting them, Rev. Kojo Nantambu of the NAACP said.

Janice Black said she's already filed to collect her repayment, but that any settlement money she gets won't begin to repair the damage done to her and other victims of eugenics.

Lawyers from the NC Civil Rights Commission will be at the Little Rock AME Zion Church at 401 N. Caldwell Street June 5 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. to assist victims with filing their claims.

The rest is here:

Organizations Seek to Raise Awareness of Eugenics Reparations