Meet the Black trailblazers making change and preserving history in San Diego

S1: It's time for Midday Edition on KPBS. For today's show , we are talking with people in our community who are making black history. I'm Jade Heinemann with conversations that keep you informed , inspired and engaged. Why ? Doctor Rodney Hood made it his mission to study medical racism and health disparities.

S2: The reason why I felt it was important is that not enough people realize the importance of it in the impact that it was having on our community.

S1: Then we'll talk with the publisher of the San Diego Voice and Viewpoint , Doctor John E Warren , plus Christina Marie green , a UCSD undergrad already taking the lead in labor organizing. That's ahead on Midday Edition. So it's no secret. Statistics show black people generally receive the worst medical care when compared to white people. Black patients often experience discrimination and implicit bias from health care providers , which leads to all kinds of disparities. But today , we want to highlight someone who's been working to change that right here in San Diego. As the first African-American to graduate from UCSD Medical School. Back in 1973 , Doctor Rodney Hood has been dedicated to improving black health outcomes and health care access for more than 40 years. He is president and founder of the Multicultural Health Foundation , where he practices internal medicine. But his work goes beyond San Diego. As former president of the National Medical Association , he's been pushing for nationwide policy to address disparities caused by racism in the American health care system , even testifying before the U.S. Congress and participating in white House health forums. Doctor hood , welcome back to the show.

S2: Thank you for inviting me.

S1:

S2: And it was the first time I started reading about discrepancies between health in different populations , especially the black population. That gave me an interest. I also was required to do a research project in medical school , and that was on the origin of the sickle cell gene. And that really made me start studying about genes and how they relate to disease. And I think the thing that in my first second year of medical school , I was exposed to a lecture in the psychiatric department to the whole first , second year class about the difference between IQ , between blacks and whites and how blacks were inferior. And that kind of incensed me that I was getting this lecture in a medical school. And so I started researching that in others. And long story short , every chance I had , I would start reading about health disparities and how it began the origin of racism in medicine. And on my own. I think I've become quite an expert in racism , in medicine , in the impact that that had on a health today. Wow.

S3: Wow.

S1: It's interesting that you say that because many of the decisions coming out of the white House right now are rooted in that same school of thought. Um , you can look no further than Elon Musk's Twitter page and see him , uh , spewing that same information about black people having inferior intelligence. And then you see that that is the basis of ending many of the D-ii programs to that it is rooted. That decision is rooted in that idea. When you look at what's happening currently.

S2: Uh , this is something that we've seen before , I must say , um , that philosophy , it's really out of , um , I'm going to call it what it is. The philosophy of white supremacy that genetically , uh , intellectually , uh , whites and more are superior. That was actually taught in Europe , in medical schools here. And then a touch of that. When I was in medical school some 40 , 50 years ago , um , I became very optimistic because , um , I worked on this subject and it was like I could see the in the light at the end of the tunnel. Things were getting better. Uh , people were beginning to listen. Um , and now the concern is that that same seed that's always been in this country is resurfacing. And I think the key is that , first of all , it's chaotic. It's traumatic. But I think we need to teach our children that this too will pass. And they must be taught about who and what they are because they're going to be hearing things. What I'm hearing today is it's difficult to tell truth from falsehood. Falsehoods are being interpreted as truth , and truth is being interpreted as falsehood or discounted. I've never lived during that period. Um , we're seeing this insecurity in white America surface again. It was amazing. I think it began with Barack Obama. There was a backlash to that. Then we had George Floyd in Die. Took off. And I think it's threatened. Quite a few people. Um , I say I'm a historian , so that helps me understand. This is not the first time this has happened in America on the Supreme Court or wherever. Um , but it's the first time during my lifetime. And so it's it's it's disheartening. But I think , as King said , or some wise person said , you got to keep your eyes on the prize. Indeed.

S1: Indeed.

S2: And much of the research and data that I talk about is based upon. It's not a policy , it's not a philosophy , it's fact. And I base it upon our history. Um , somebody once said , well , Doctor Hood , shouldn't we get away from identity politics ? I said , well , I'm talking about identity , but I'm not referring to politics. You put the politics to it. If we really wanted to talk about identity politics , it was created in a constitution where whites were deemed the only ones that could vote. White men , even women couldn't vote blacks. Native Americans couldn't. And then once when they gained the right to vote , there was this voter suppression and order that came these discrepancies that I point out , that's not political , that's historical.

S1: And can you talk about some of the discrepancies that you find , particularly with this history of medical racism ? Yeah.

S2: Evidence suggests that going way back to slavery. We talk about health disparities. That means that certain populations health isn't as good as other populations. And African American health , whether we measure infant mortality , whether we measure maternal mortality at birth , or whether we measure life expectancy , beginning of life and into life , African Americans have the worst. And it has improved certainly over the past 100 years. But even if we take away socioeconomic status for infant mortality and maternal mortality , these are black women who are having babies , The infant mortality in maternal mortality is still worse than their counterparts with same economic status. And so you have to ask why. And it goes to the I talk about a doctor. Joi de Grou wrote a book called post-traumatic Slavery Syndrome. She's a clinical psychologist and talked about how the traumas that took place during slavery created an environment where blacks never were really able to express who they really were , for fear of of being in trouble. And so they developed this dual personality as a result , developed some very , uh , terrible behaviors later on that contributed to poor outcomes. Well , today , there's now data that can actually measure some of this. So when you talk about stress. There's the concept of alo stasis , which is the body trying to maintain itself during change. However , chronic toxic stress causes the increase. What we call allostatic load in in your body reacts by producing excess stress hormones. There are now studies showing that African Americans , and especially African American women , have higher allostatic load , higher cortisol levels , A1. CS are stress hormones that cause wear and tear on the end organs , and adds to this chronic disease that we see higher in blacks than in other populations. That is important , probably for black folks to deal with , because I don't know anybody else that can that we need to develop more relaxation methods find ways to release our stress because it's killing us. But you don't do that if you don't realize it's happening.

S1: Yeah , we were just. We just had a show where we were talking about rest as resistance and the importance of that.

S2: I think it is critical. This is Black History Month. But I don't I don't think we should just learn about Negro history. I think we should learn about black history. What was the history that happened to black folks before they came here ? Uh , what would the cultures that existed before they came here ? There are many things that have been invented in this country that were invented by black folks. We don't even know where Were black folks. And there is something within the black community that is referred to as internalized racism , where , uh , through the centuries , whether we realize it or not , we have internalized the negative stereotypes to the point where we believe them subconsciously. Um , I come from a family of nine brothers and sisters , me being one of them , and I had four sisters who had little curly hair , straight hair. We used to call it good hair , bad hair. My father was a light black man. My father was a my mother was dark. So some of us were light in. And that whole colourism and the whole hair issue that black women deal with , the whole color issue that black women deal with. I remember one black patient female came to me And um , somehow or another asked me about exercise and I started talking to her about , uh , exercise and whatnot , and she said to me , well , what about swimming ? And I said , well , you know , swimming is excellent , but everybody has to choose what's appropriate for them. And she said , you know , I'm glad I came to you. I said , what do you mean ? Well , the other doctor I went to who was white , she said I should just go swimming all the time. He don't know nothing about black hair. So ? So , um , it's it's a cultural thing that people don't feel comfortable talking about , but our. Let me put it to you like this. I swim and I think swimming is excellent , but I think you have to choose what you do based upon your , your , um , uh , access to , uh , swimming pools , you know , in that type of thing.

S3:

S1: Black physicians face a number of obstacles that white doctors simply don't have to think about.

S2: So when I was a medical student , I was one of the first students on the ward. I would commonly be confused with a worker. I had several patients tell the resident they didn't want to see that in word , uh , student or or resident. Um , so so that did happen. Um , uh , today , um , I'm sure some of that exists , but it's more subtle And I think the racism is more institutionalized in the system than individualize. So we talk about personally mediated racism , meaning I don't like you because you're Hispanic , black or whatnot versus structural racism , which is the policies and procedures are are not equitable. That's structural racism. And then we still have what I call internalized racism , where I think , um , people of color , especially black folks , have , uh , not really made good decisions based upon trying to become maybe who and what they're not. I don't know if that makes sense. So , um , I think we need to have honest discussions about this. Mhm. Um , part of racism Actually was embedded in medicine. The teachers and medical doctors who were white taught racist theories that blacks were inferior. They should be treated differently. And some of that has come up into modern times. The whole issue around pain. Mhm. Um , they did surveys and many white physicians feel that blacks have a different pain tolerance. Okay. Where does that come from. Certainly that's not true. There was , uh , the father of gynecology was somebody by the name of Doctor Marion Sims , who was a white physician , graduated from the University of South Carolina , who gained his reputation by practicing a surgical technique on mostly black slaves , um , with little or no anesthesia. Until he perfected that procedure before he did it on white patients. A lot of blacks that , plus many other things have a distrust of the health system , a healthy distrust. So I don't I don't know , I , I deal with it. I think some of it can be harmful. I think when we had the pandemic and a lot of blacks weren't getting the vaccination , I think that was harmful to our community. Now I got blacks that disagree with me on that. But but I fought very hard to get as many vaccinated as possible. But I understood why. I understood what the resistance was.

S3: You know , you've.

S1: Done so much research. You're so multifaceted. You've worked to dismantle these , the systemic racism in medicine and the implicit bias.

S2: My youngest daughter grew up with me giving lectures on racism in medicine , and as she got older in high school , one time she said to me , daddy , are you a racist ? And I looked at her like , what ? What do you mean ? Well , you just talk about race all the time. Well , she now has an eclectic group of friends and the different ethnicities and races , and she's , um , uh , and I , I told her , I said , well , no , um , think of it like this. For the past 30 years , I've specialized in learning about the impact of race and racism on health. Therefore , I talk about it a lot. It's kind of like , don't condemn a cardiologist for talking about cardiology. Don't condemn a neurologist for talking about neurology. This just happened to be my area of expertise. I realized there are other things outside of that , but the reason why I felt it was important is that not enough people realize the importance of it in the impact that it was having on our community. So I , I just felt that it was my calling. It was something I was passionate about. And I didn't get a degree in history of medicine , but I've been on panels with those that have. And I think I always brought a different perspective.

S1: Before I let you go.

S2: First of all , thanks for having me. Um. Uh , I am optimistic that the time we're living in will pass. And I just wanted to give the message to those out there that have been in the field of health disparities. Racism die That there may be some concern and setbacks , but , um. Stay steadfast.

S1: I've been speaking with Doctor Rodney Hood , president and founder of the Multicultural Health Foundation and physician of internal medicine , Doctor Hood. Thank you so much for being here today. It's been a pleasure and happy Black History Month.

S2: Well , thank you and happy Black History Month to you. And thank you for all you do.

S1: Coming up , Doctor Johnny Warren on why the voice and viewpoint is so valuable to San Diego.

S4: Nobody can tell our story like us , so we continue to tell our story. And that's why this paper is the guardian of the black history of San Diego , as well as history of other places.

S1: KPBS Midday Edition is back after the break. You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition , I'm Jade Hindman. We're continuing to profile black trailblazers in San Diego about their important work and legacy in the community. Among those trailblazers is Doctor John E Warren. He is the current publisher of the San Diego Voice and Viewpoint. Founded in 1960 , it is San Diego's oldest and only African-American newspaper and continues to advocate for communities all across the region. In addition to his work as a respected journalist , Doctor Warren has a long and storied career spanning politics , education , and philanthropy. He's also received many awards for his commitment to public service and civic life. Last week , I spoke with Doctor Warren about the voice and viewpoints legacy and his perspective on journalism and black history today. I asked about when he first took over publishing the paper and the mainstream narratives about San Diego's African-American community back then. Take a listen.

S4: Well , our whole purpose with the paper was taking the paper was to make it a position of advocacy for the community. Uh , before then , the paper really hadn't done that. But my wife and I came back here from Washington , D.C. , where , um , I work for Congress for 12 years. I was very involved nationally in a number of things. And , uh , she was not only , uh , a member of the D.C. statehood convention , but executive vice president of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce , which led to her creating a black chamber here. So we saw this as an opportunity of advocacy in terms of serving the entire community , going beyond southeast. And our position was that , uh , news is , uh , neither black nor white , but it's the perspective that we bring to it. And so that's what we attempted to do to open it up to views and , uh , positions and , and advocacy in terms of issues of public policy while serving people.

S1: Um , and I'll talk a bit about how important that is. Um , you know , because often I , you know , often the black community can be erased from the conversation. In many cases , your paper sought to put those issues , the issues of the black community , um , front and center and talk about how policies impacted the community directly. So talk about the importance of of that alone.

S4: Well , you know , a paper is as is important as the people who own and run it. And so in communities , uh , like in the past here , when there were certain people of a different party that controlled the Union Tribune. Then the position of the paper reflected that this paper was just dealing with a number of small things. But having been a lawyer , having been an elected official , college professor , and and all those things involved with the civil rights issues all my life , uh , we , we saw right away things that weren't being done here. People came to us for help. And , uh , though I wanted to practice law when I came here , I ended up channeling that energy into helping people with a variety of social and personal political issues. And so in many ways , we became the answer to problems that people weren't getting answered. We knew which questions to ask and where to go. And our range of contacts extended from here not only to Sacramento , but always as well to the white House. Um , and I believe up until this administration , we've always been on the white House press list.

S3: Um , you know , you've.

S1: Been in news for many , many years. You spent a decade here at KPBS. How have you seen it change up over the years ? How you know , the , I guess , how how journalism and how news is disseminated to people.

S4: Oh , well , you know , that's a very loaded question. And some of it I won't answer for fear of hurting some people's feelings.

S1: Go ahead and step on some toes , Doctor Warren.

S3: No , I.

S4: Will at the appropriate times. But , um , let me just say this , that during the years that we've had this paper , uh , 13 newspapers in San Diego County have gone out of business as a result of changes from the Vista Press to The Times Advocate in Escondido , Oceanside breeze , uh , the Star News in Chula Vista , the daily California , um , and , uh , the Union Tribune consolidating from one from two papers to one papers. And so there's been a lot of change because the communities have changed. And then there's been a need for even more change in a number of ways. For instance , the charter for the City of San Diego had handwritten into it many years ago that the city would do all of its legal notices with the Daily Transcript or the Union Tribune. And so to make sure that happened , they wrote into the charter newspapers of daily circulation , which are left out , all of the community papers that represent the duplicity or the diversity of ethnicity that we now have in San Diego. And so we have been adjudicated as a legal publication since 1966 , which means that we do all of the notices , court death and things that anyone else does. And so a lot has has changed in terms of , uh , who people turn to. Our clientele is a very mixed one is not African American. People from all walks of life use us as an entity and an outlet for public notices. And so that's that's part of the change that the place has expanded. And , uh , the people are no longer locked in to , uh , limited choices.

S1: In that same vein , it's , uh , you know , it's the many different ways that people have access to information and how that's changed so much. You recently wrote about how it's more important than ever to pay attention to black history , and I'd love to know more about your thoughts on black history amid these continued coordinated efforts to erase it , uh , in libraries and and in classrooms.

S4: Well , let me say that it's not going to be erased no matter what they how hard some people try. Uh , the black press today is 198 years old. So we've been around a while , even though , uh , we probably have some less than 200 papers left out of a time when we had over 600. But we're here. We publish Black History every week. Every black history is being made every day. And I think people need to understand black history as much as as they think they know. For instance , when you look at Washington , D.C. , Benjamin Banneker , a black architect , laid out the city. There were black workers that put the dome on the Capitol , if you will. If you think about the stoplight that was invented by a black person , the air brakes that's on trains and trolleys was invented by a black person. Uh , when you give credit to , uh , Admiral Perry and trying to , you know , stake , uh , uh , his claim in the Arctic and the poles , it was a black man named Matthew Henson who really carried him the last , literally few steps of the way to get there. Uh , we've had two black senators during reconstruction. We have had black members of Congress and my family. Uh , my great uncle is the first black congressman out of North Carolina. And so , uh , we have achieved and succeeded. We've had over up to 100 black members of the military received the Congressional Medal of Honor. One black man received it twice. And so we have been about building and contributing in spite of the things that were put in our path as obstacles to stop us. You know , when Hitler was at his height and Jesse Owens , uh , won the Olympics. Yeah. He tore down the view , uh , that black people were inferior at a time that Hitler was using race to to make his case. And so we find that if people know where they come from , it'll give them an idea of where they can go. Um , and we we have done so much that has been , uh , they've tried to eliminate or erase it or not make it there , but it's really up to us. As Russell Birmingham said in 1827 , nobody can tell our story like us , so we continue to tell our story. That's why this paper is the guardian of the black history of San Diego , as well as history of other places. If you've seen things like Hidden Figures of those three black women who played a major role in Nassau and getting the space shuttles up , well , most of the research for that story came out of the Norfolk Journal and Guide , which is an African-American owned publication that's still existing today. And so we've been a go to source for information. And when we look , we understand that the inscription on the archives , which tells us that the past is prologue , is still very active and very meaningful.

S1: It's often said that journalists write the first draft of history. So I wonder with with your publication and of course , against the backdrop of these efforts to omit black history from textbooks in schools. Do you feel the weight of of trying to sort of make sure that not only black history , but also this the current moment in time that we're in right now is , is sort of is recorded and documented in your paper.

S4: Well , it's not a wait because that's what we do anyhow. We record we document. Okay. And so we expect what we see happening to take place. Uh , I don't worry about them trying to ban books as much as I publicize the need for people to return to knowing it was a black church that first gave us our black institutions of higher education. The black church today , as it was in one time in San Diego , has to return to its responsibility of being a place of learning. But we have enough black educators who have retired who can come in and teach , if you will. We need to have libraries As Secretary of State pointed out recently , and I agree. We could not be held back by what some people do. We spend in this country. Black people spend $2 trillion a year. That would be number 11 behind the ten GDPs of the on the world scale. And so I believe very much that instead of crying over it , we understand that the things that corporate America understands lost profits , bad publicity and a vote that's cast against their interests , and so will we harness our spending so that we do business with those who do business with us , or those who advocate and agree with us ? Then we influence the marketplace. We're not going back to singing we Shall overcome the civil rights battle we won in in the law. Now we have to fight the silver and silver rights battle , because now America no longer has the moral consciousness of the past. Now it seems to understand only money. And so if that's what it understands and I'm not talking about bitcoins , then we need to influence where the money comes from. And so we see our job as laid out is very clear. Each week we analyze and report. We comment. We are not obligated to anyone for any point of view. No one controls us. No one tells me what to print. And that's why people respect us as trusted messengers. Because our integrity is greater than social media. That you can put anything on. Mhm.

S3: Mhm.

S1: You're also involved in the community in other ways. You're a pastor. You have a black belt. I mean how do you define your legacy , a legacy and what does it mean to you.

S4: Those things represent things that I've done over the years. I mean , I've been a pastor for 21 years because my late wife and I founded a church that I continue with is non-denominational. You know , I spent 37 years in the martial arts. But , you know , I was also a fencing fanatic. I used to fence in the British embassy , uh , rotunda with the Washington Fencing Club. Uh , I was an artist. I used to , in my youth , hang out in Greenwich Village with the street painters. And I learned how to paint and so many art techniques and things before I went on to the College of Fine Arts and transfer it into liberal arts. So I've had 12 , 13 different careers. And what I do is , depending upon how I draw , upon what I've done in the past , I mean , I'm a former military officer. I did my time , I've been out the military some 50 years , and I , I know how to help people when they come to me if there's a problem , uh , that they're having , military or otherwise. And so we it's it's nothing I would retire , it's all integrated. I help where I can , and I stay in touch with people who make decisions and people who make decisions come to me for advice. I mean , I've done it. Forgotten most of what they're trying to do. This is a year in which I'll be 80 years old. So I got quite a track record of things that I've done. I've got my writings working on a couple of books. I got 25 years of editorials and commentaries. I'm waiting to publish , 8 to 10 years of sermon excerpts I'm waiting to publish , and decisions in terms of where my papers are going to go. All those kind of things keep me busy with , uh , a great staff here , uh , great managing editor , who also happens to be one of my daughters. So I'm in great shape.

S1: That was my conversation with Doctor John E Warren , publisher of the San Diego Voice and Viewpoint.

S5:

S1: Meet Christina.

S5: Marie green.

S1: When KPBS Midday Edition returns. Welcome back to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman. For many activists , college campuses are the gateway into community organizing. Christina Marie green is a senior undergraduate at UC San Diego. She's a student organizing intern with the UC labor union AFSCME 3299. She's also an advocate at the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial County's , while this month she is part of an exhibit at the campus library all about labor history and union leadership. Christina joins me now to talk about it. Christina , welcome to Midday Edition. Hello.

S5: Thank you so much for having me.

S1: You're doing your. Thing.

S3: Thing.

S1: I love to see it. All right. So tell me , how did you get involved in this labor history exhibit at the UC San Diego Library.

S5: Yeah , it was quite a funny story , actually. Um , one of the librarians within the Committee of Equity , diversity , Inclusion reached out to me through my socials. But the way that they figured out my information was actually through one of my coworkers when we were doing a ask Me rally in front of the library itself. So we were doing a rally with the workers and trying to get a collective understanding of whether or not our workers wanted to do a strike or not. So we're doing sign ups. We were also making some noise , uh , marching throughout campus. Um , and one of the librarians was like , who's she ? Who's who's the one banging on the drum ? And , um , my coworker gave him his my information , and the rest was history. Oh.

S1: That's wonderful. Well , talk to me about the exhibit. What can people expect to learn ? Yeah.

S5: So the exhibit is a really small but really cute book exhibit that includes not only my own personal books that I like to read , that includes books like Malcolm X , and you have books like The New Jim Crow. Um , there was also other excerpts from other books that deal with black labor and black history. Uh , within the exhibit itself , we even included a lot of our labor union buttons , whether that be through FCC or other unions within the UC or just in the San Diego area. Um , and I'm pretty sure that they have like more information on , like , why the theme was chosen for this year.

S1: That's great. And I want to talk more about your journey with labor organizing. Christina.

S5: As for how I got into organizing and being a little bit more involved on my university campus , I actually was impacted Did by the student housing crisis in particular. During my junior year , I wasn't able to find housing during my spring of my sophomore year and during the summer right before my junior year , and I kept running into instances of people seeing my name. Christina Marie green is a very Eurocentric name , and I'm DMing online and on Facebook and being like , hey , I think you would be a great candidate for our apartment. And 25 to 30 apartments have I've been in contact with and reached out to and went to the final round of interviews where we meet in person and the same pattern has happened over and over again , where they learn about me , they're like , oh my gosh , you're amazing. And then when they meet me in person , they're like , oh , actually , we decided to go with another candidate. And this is a story that's not just unique to me , but so common to a lot of black students at UC San Diego. And I'm pretty sure all throughout not only San Diego County , but all throughout California in the United States , that there is a systemic issue with housing segregation that still persists. So understanding that and me almost dropping out of UCSD and going back home. I was lucky enough to find a house far in National City and I don't have a car , so I had to take public transportation to and from two hours one way , two hours back. So four hours total and realizing how difficult it was to be involved. At the time , I was doing student government. Um , I was in ironically , I was the chief of staff of our Office of Equity , diversity , inclusion in student government and informing students and informing our administration about how important and significant it is for students to have basic needs within our campus. I ended up being introduced to labor unions as well as like being involved with the labor movement in particular , and one of their new demands on their contract is housing security. So that was like right up my expertise of like being able to sympathize and understand and empathize with our workers who are also dealing with the housing crisis , having to commute hours on end , either from the border or from far east side of San Diego County , drive all the way onto campus early in the morning because their shifts start six 5 to 6 a.m. in the morning and to find parking that we have a parking issue on our campus. Unfortunately , we are essentially trying to highlight the fact that a lot of our executives are chancellors or executive administration is receiving housing loan benefits for their mansions , for their house to pay off their loans or their mortgage. However , our workers are fighting tooth and nail just to make ends meet with rent or barely making rent , or choosing to choose rent over putting food on the table for their families. And I think there's a lot more of a different stake at hand when you have just a singular student like myself , who I can miss a meal or two and continue with classes to a certain degree. But when you're talking about workers who are who are parents , who are grandparents , who are making sure that their kids are going to school , you have other expenses. You're taking care of your grandparents , for example , if you're a parent yourself , these are other issues that , um , the UC is not taking accountability. We ran them as heroes during Covid , but now our workers , such as our custodians or janitors or patient technicians , are now being undermined with the fact that they don't want to agree to a new contract with our new demands. So that is where I started getting more and more involved. And the more protesting and strike front of the labor movement.

S1: Well , in that that discrimination that you experienced is something so common for a lot of people in San Diego and across California. Um , but all of that led you to founding the Poverty Project to address the housing crisis at UCSD. Tell me about that. Yeah.

S5: So I actually started the poverty project through my role as the Associated Students campus wide senator , and I wouldn't have been able to get the funding , have the connections if it wasn't for my role in student government. I ran on the idea of like , making sure students had basic needs , specifically in housing , and the students were like , we want you in that position and role. And I'm like , okay , put me , put me there , I'll do it. And I executed the poverty Project , which also had a lot of backlash with the name , because a lot of people in particular felt uncomfortable with the name poverty , surprisingly. But myself and my team at the time , we structured an information database consisting of not only the resources and student government that can help with funding any programs and initiatives that other students have , but also county resources , whether that be other shelters around or the basic needs hub , which a lot of students don't know that exist , let alone the resources that they provide. So having a collective database we built by ourselves from the ground up , from scratch. Um , we also I also structured the $5,000 research scholarship program , which I worked with the Department of Urban Planning and Studies , and having them mentor a scholar selected to focus on the racial lens of the student housing crisis. And actually , our scholar right now has received 60 K in funding from Associated Students to pursue her project and helping undocumented as well as international students who are specifically within the range of low income and making sure that they have food security , which also is a overlapping to housing security. Um , and then lastly , we have the backpack drive , which distributes. I know it's more of a short solution or a small solution to the bigger problem , but these resource backpacks will be something that a lot of students still need , whether that be for Hygiene Hour pamphlets , letting them know about these resources in the first place physically. Um , we also had feminine hygiene products there as well , as well as like other things that dealt with like academic resources or supplies and those backpacks. And we distributed them. Last year , we distributed 120 backpacks to our UCSD undergraduate student body. Wow.

S3: Wow.

S1: Well , you're you're making a huge impact there. Congratulations on all that's that's happening.

S5: I started off quite young and experiencing my own racism within my own community. I'm black and Filipino , I'm mixed race , and the community that I grew up in grew up in Daly City , the area I don't know all y'all out there , but I represent honestly , I gotcha. But as for the community I grew up in was predominantly Filipino , and I my family was the one of the only black families in the neighborhood. So that came with a lot of stigma and also internalized racism at times and trying to find myself in that moment. Um , when I was in high school in particular , I slowly but surely started learning more about racial justice and other intersectionality that overlap that impact me and my family specifically. Um , at that time , it was the Black Lives Matter movement and also the Asian hate crimes that were happening. And I was like a sophomore , junior in high school , and I was kind of flung into like the movement itself , because I just simply can't ignore it. For example , the the Asian hate crimes that were happening in the Bay area , I was very worried some about my grandparents , they don't look like me , but they are like Filipino grandparents for my grandparents in particular , for them to go out and , um , walk , do their morning walks. I was scared that they were gonna get like , attacked or to go to the grocery store by themselves and more so on the front of me being multiracial , my I was scared for my father to pick up my mom and night shifts. She was she's a nurse , and she would often pick up night shifts , and he would go out at night to pick her up , and he would hear stories about like , oh , the police officer pulled me over. We had to , like , have a conversation. And I feel like every single time he leaves the house , I am fearful of not only him , but also my brother was also getting his license and my other younger brother too. He's thinking about wanting to drive , so these are overlapping issues that impact me personally , that I simply cannot and will not ignore. And I feel that because of my intersectional experience , I'm able to empathize with a lot of communities and understand a lot of communities.

S1: All right.

S5: Um , also , I highly recommend those who are listening to support your local labor unions , whether they're striking or on the picket lines. Don't cross the picket lines more , so just make sure that you understand that there are people too , and they have struggles just like you. And lastly , I would say that Black History Month is American history , period.

S1: Uh , I've been speaking with Christina Marie green , a senior undergraduate at UC San Diego. She's a student organizing intern with the UC labor union FCC 32.99 , and she's an advocate at the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial County's as well. Christina , thank you so much for joining us , and congratulations on all that you're doing.

S5: Thank you so much for inviting me and having me.

S1: And you have until Friday to check out UCSD Black Labor History exhibit at the Geisel Library. More information at library UCSD Edu. That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.

S1: It's time for Midday Edition on KPBS for today's arts and Culture show. We are profiling black trailblazers in San Diego , plus a retelling of an American classic. Then your weekend preview. I'm Jade Hindman with conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and engaged. His love of black art and culture helped re-establish San Diego's African American Museum of Fine Art.

S2: This is my mission in life , and so and I have lived it , and I still continue to live it , to bring art to the people.

S1: Hear more from Katie Finney. Then a retelling of Huckleberry Finn. Plus your weekend preview. That's ahead on Midday Edition. So all month we are profiling black trailblazers across our community and highlighting their contributions to San Diego life and culture. That brought us to one person. His name is J.D. Feeney. He is the executive director of the San Diego African American Museum of Fine Art and J.D. Joins me now. Welcome back to Midday Edition.

S2: Thank you for having me.

S1: So glad to have you here. So happy belated birthday. Uh , first of all , uh , you actually just got back from Ghana celebrating. Tell me about your trip and the exhibit you brought there.

S2: Well , the funny thing is , there was a there's a poster of of slave sales from January 10th , 1855 , and I kept it and I kept looking at it and I said , you know what ? I'm going to go over there because I was born in 1955 , right ? And so I want to go over there and celebrate my birthday. So I did I went over there and asked a bunch of people to come , and it was wonderful. Also while there , because I've been a few times , I went to the Chim Chim museum , which is part of the ancestor project where we installed Say Their Names exhibit , which is an AR exhibit , and we put it there. And so it's really just we're starting relationships around the world , actually. And that's just one of the things that we're doing is doing an AR exhibit at the museum. And it's really an amazing place , a place that you want to go in your lifetime to see. It's a wonderful place. So it was a great time and I'm back ready to do more stuff.

S1: Oh wow , that sounds great in AR.

S2: Yeah.

S1: Yeah. Well , so tell me about that. Yeah.

S2: Yeah. So when we first did say the names , we did it outside the Children's Museum here in San Diego right at the end of Covid , so to speak. And it was very hard to find a place that would even exhibit anything. But they let us put it in a park , the actual physical exhibit. But while there , we experimented with something called photogrammetry. And photogrammetry is a way of taking pictures like a hundred pictures of one thing and using software to create a model. Well , we did that and it came out to be this wonderful full exhibit , just like the one that was accepted at the Children's Museum. But you only can see it through your phone and augmented reality. Well , that was important because at the end of that exhibit , I got all kinds of calls to wanted to have this exhibit , especially the ones in New York. They wanted it , but it's , you know , it was 50 wooden pedestals we built. We had the photographs done in aluminum so they could be outside , and it was just too heavy to get to New York , with the cost being hundreds of thousands of dollars. So we used the AR exhibit and stuck it in Central Park. So since then we've done a lot more work with AR. In fact , we're probably one of the leaders in the world , in the arts in terms of black people in arts and using AR. In fact , we are working now with the Schomburg Institute in Harlem as part of their 100 year anniversary. So we'll be there doing that and augmented reality working with Langston Hughes and Harry Belafonte and all the famous people there that they represent. So we're doing a lot of things not only here , but around the world as well.

S1: Yeah , it sounds really immersive and making art more accessible. Um , tell me about that. And and the story behind this exhibit.

S2: The making it accessible. Everybody in the world have cell phones. I don't care where you go. They all have cell phones , and you're able to see this exhibit through your cell phone , so we it's not elitist. If I was going to put it on the Vision Pro or the meta vision thing , you wouldn't be able to have access to 1 or 2 people to have around the world right now. Let's say the names exhibit , if you recall , was a exhibit that talked about people who got killed by racism and police brutality , and the list goes on and on. But we stopped at 200. And so when you look at your phone , you're looking just as you would in an art museum , and you're seeing the faces and the stories and all that , and you can walk around it just as you would at an art museum. So it's a very interesting way of bringing art to the people , that it's not so expensive to bring it there. Yeah.

S1: Yeah. You know , Katie , you've been involved in the arts for pretty much your whole life. Tell me about how you first got into art.

S2: And that's when I started this quest to bring art to the world. Now , and it comes from , um , the Nusa Saba , the the it's a doctrine of , of black nationalism , and , um , Kwanzaa is based on it. And one of the , one of the elements of Kwanzaa is kumba , which means creativity. And when we studied that back then , when I was 17 , it says to leave the world in a better place than you inherited it. Really ? And that's that's their definition of creativity. And I've kept that as my mantra my whole career. And I have been the director of the Museum of Photographic Arts. I was managing director of the North Coast Repertory Theatre. I was when I was with Bayview Baptist Church , we we revived the museum and became an important part of San Diego's art community. So my whole career has been based on this. In 17 , just working to bring arts to the people , to leave the world better than we inherited it.

S1: And now you are the executive director of the San Diego African American Museum of Fine Art.

S2: Um , I joined the board , and that was when Shirley De Williams was the at the helm. She was the executive director , but she passed , I think , in 1999. And this my , my again , my career , my , my self is all about bringing art to the people. I decided in 2014 to revive the San Diego African American Museum of Fine Arts , and I did that with a board who I cannot say enough about , who are wonderful people who make this happen.

S1:

S2: People will go to LA to look at art because they think it's better there. And I thought , you know what ? Let me I'm going to show what we could do right here in San Diego. That was really one of the first things because it always happens. Let's go up to LA to this. Let's go up to L.A. to see this art and go work. You know , I want to bring it here for us. So that was one of my callings , if you will , to start with. So it's very important to have access to our community. This community here in San Diego , to have access to the finest art that there is in the world. And so what happened was when we revived the museum , I was working at Bayview Baptist Church. Of course , I mentioned that , but it didn't have the necessary Security elements. You know , for instance , if you have a museum , you don't have sprinklers in your museum because water will destroy the art. You have to have gas , for instance. You have to have , you know , security guards that guard the art. So in order to bring the finest art in the world , whether it be Picasso or , you know , Bearden , you have to have these protections. And so that's what we started to collaborate with all the museums in San Diego area. In fact , we've collaborated with all of them. We just finished with Kehinde Wiley at the Temkin Museum. We worked with the um San Diego Museum of Art , uh , the Contemporary Museum , the Veterans Museum. All of them have done art projects with us that have been fascinating , and we've brought people that usually don't go to those places , sometimes to them. And so we've always been welcomed back because we always sell out wherever we go , because we're we are good at what we do. This board that we have are fantastic people and we make it make it work.

S1: All right.

S2: I mean , as you know , a couple of years ago , the city of San Diego has designated the museum the San Diego Museum of Fine Art , to be the developers , if you will , of the San Diego Black Culture District , the black arts and Culture district. And we have a board there that advises the museum of great people who work with us to shape and develop this. And so we're in the beginning of this. But this is a long term project. It's actually an economic development projects that's being led by art. That's different. Normally you get that 1% of that after the things are done , you get 1% of the money spent on the building , the art. No , we are leading with art. Mhm.

S1: Mhm. Like I imagine you've seen so many exhibits and collections over the years.

S2: We do like 2 or 3 a year for the last ten years. And I think one of the ones that stuck out for me in San Diego was to call legacy in black. and legacy in black was the artist who lived in San Diego that became worldwide famous. That would mean , like Kadir Nelson , Faith Ringgold , Ernie Barnes , just to name a few. And those are all part of the the exhibit. Um , and so , um , that was a really one of the one of the ones that I remember as being one of the top ones , but we've done so many. I when we did the question bridge. Oh my God , that was an amazing. When you talk about black men just talking and and TV screens and just talking about how , how we relate to each other. There was um , oh my God , there's just so many. But I just picked that one out. But all of them have been fantastic , and the ones coming will be fantastic too.

S1: Um , and I , you know , I want to circle back to the black arts and culture district. Um , because it's been just over a year since floods destroyed so many businesses in that area. Yeah. Um , from where you sit.

S2: And in fact , you know , one of the things we have , one of the main areas is called Marie Widmann Park. And that was really devastated by by the storms. And we even have an exhibit that's waiting for us to be able to go to that park to put up. It's called Stand on Their Shoulders , which is an augmented reality exhibit of those African American people in San Diego who have made a change in the artist in art. And so that's that's ready to go. And as soon as they give us the green light to go in the park again. It has been tough. Many of the things that we had planned as part of the Black Arts and Culture district also had to be moved to other areas because we couldn't because of what happened in the area. So it's been slow , it's coming back , and we hope to have full access to the park by summer. And when that happens , please be aware of the exhibit that we're going to put there. Stand on Your Shoulders is a wonderful exhibit that we put there. And the same thing. You'll be able to see it through your phone and it'll have all your , your , your important if you will stand on your shoulder. Black people. Um , it'll be part of the exhibit. I think they're 15 that we're starting with , but it'll grow.

S1: I we can't wait to see that one and all the other things that are coming our way. Um , you know , the annual keepers of the culture event is later this month , and it celebrates prominent black leaders in the community. What's in store this year ? Who's being honored ? Yes.

S2: So. So I just mentioned , uh , stand on their shoulder. These are people who passed away. Um , now , keepers of the culture are for those people who are alive. And we try to get them while they're alive. This year , we are celebrating , um , the California secretary of state , uh , Shirley Weber. Um , the Cooper Family Foundation , if you remember them. They are the ones who started , uh , Juneteenth some 30 years ago. Yes.

S1: Yes.

S2: Uh , Rhonda nephew , who was a DJ on , um , a jazz DJ. And finally , Martha Logan , who is , um. Um. Historically , black sororities and fraternities have been at the forefront of racial strife and uplifting. So she's also being honored Martha Logan. And that's February 22nd in Balboa Park at the San Diego Cultural Center. I think it's from 5 to 8.

S1: All right. Well , uh , you know , that leads me into my next question , because I want to talk more about the power of art as a way to celebrate culture and honor history.

S2: Who I am is I. It's all I am is really trying to. This is my mission in life. And so and I have lived it and I still continue to live it , to bring art to the people. The best art , working with the finest artists around the world that are African American or part of the African American or African diaspora. It has meant everything to me. And to be able to able to bring this for a whole career to do this. And I have to say , I am proud of my darn self. Sorry , but that that I was able to maintain that at the highest level so I could reach the people here and show them what the best art is , and they have access to it from the kids in North County who get very little. Now that we're getting rid of it in schools , it becomes very important that we mean that somebody , somebody or somebody maintain this for the people because they're trying to it looks like it's trying to be swept under the rug , and I will refuse to let that happen. Yeah.

S1: Yeah. I mean , because what keeps you going and gives you hope , despite current efforts to really silence black history and and black culture.

S2: I'll tell you a story. When I went to Ghana the first time , I went to the slave dungeon castle , and there was a sign right above the male slave dungeon and it said , and I'll repeat it. It says , we are the children of those who refused to die. And some days later , that brought tears to my eyes and made me say , no , they're talking about me and us. And what we did from that captured African was we built countries around the world , Jamaica and Trinidad and Antigua and Colombia and Brazil. We built those. We weren't from there. And now they're they're great places to visit. They're wonderful places. But it all came from that same little dungeon. And so I believe that that ancestral statement brought me to a new level of understanding of of who we are and how resilient we are.

S1: Well , thank you for always spreading that word. I've been speaking with Gary Finney. He is the executive director of the San Diego African American Museum of Fine Art. Katie , thank you so much for being here.

S2: You're very welcome. Always good to see you and say hi. That little girl.

S1: You know I will.

S2: All right. Take care now. Thank you again.

S1: Coming up , David F Walker created a graphic novel version of Huckleberry Finn , but with a twist.

S3: If I want this book to really stand apart and not just be a cover song , you know , a cover version of a classic song , I'm going to need to recompose it. I'm going to need to take the , you know , the idea of of what Mark Twain started and build from that.

S1: We'll discuss how he retells what's considered a classic yet problematic story when KPBS Midday Edition returns. You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman. Mark Twain's 1885 book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a beloved American classic with a controversial legacy. So fast forward to this century , the graphic novel Big Jim and the White Boy reinterprets the story , telling it from the perspective of Jim. KPBS Arts reporter Beth Accomando sat down with author David F Walker to talk about reimagining this story. Take a listen.

S4:

S3: I remember the first time I saw a film version of it , which was in the 70s.

S5: Paul Winfield , as good old Jim.

S6: Find anything ? Nothing.

S7: Ain't nothing in there but a dead man. Ain't nothin but a house of death. Let's get out of here.

S3: But as with a lot of things , the way my brain was wired , even as a kid , if there was a whether it was a book or a comic or a film TV show , if there was a black character in it , I would be drawn to that character. And then I would start asking a lot of questions. And usually the questions were like why ? Why is , why is this happening like this ? And so with The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , most of the film versions ease back on the vernacular and the way Jim is portrayed. He's always portrayed in a sort of pseudo minstrel like way. But in the book , Mark Twain's original book , that vernacular that he uses , which at the time seemed very revolutionary and groundbreaking , was also firmly rooted in the tradition of the minstrel show. Right. And I just remember reading it and thinking , okay , come on , really like and and but I the two big questions and I've said this in other interviews that I asked was one is why is he going south. Right. If you're a runaway slave , the only thing they taught us about slavery in the Underground Railroad was you run north and you follow the North Star , right ? And then the other question that I had was , why is he so loyal to Huck ? The question just kept coming back , because at the end of the day , when we look at American literature. Jim and Uncle Tom are the two most famous black characters in American literature from that era. You know , from the 1800s. One is pre-Civil War , one is post-Civil War. And both of those characters , I think , have merit. I also think that most people don't even understand the historical significance of those characters , what they were really all about. Most people don't know about Harriet Beecher Stowe and her background. They don't know about Mark Twain and his background. They also don't know about , you know , Margaret Mitchell and her background and why she wrote Gone with the wind and the fact that she was a horrifically racist human being who would fit in very well in today's society. We'll just leave it at that.

S4: So to answer some of your questions of why you've reimagined this Mark Twain book , and so describe a little bit about the approach you take to that source material and how you wanted to kind of reimagine it for your graphic novel. Yeah.

S3: Yeah. You know , the first thing I did was I sat down and I reread the book , I highlighted all the passages with Jim , and then from there , I immediately was like , okay , I had a choice. One was , do I retell the book ? Sort of scene by scene. With that the scenes of Jim is in. I made the decision really early on to not do that. And the reason why was Mark Twain , there's two things he didn't deal with in the book. One is he didn't really deal with the subject of slavery in a larger context , and then he didn't deal with the Civil War. The novel was written pretty much after the failure of reconstruction , and I want to be careful not to condemn him for how he wrote it , why he wrote it , whatever. But there's a lot of interesting stuff that was left on the table. And I was like , if I want this book to really stand apart and not just be a cover song , you know , a cover version of a classic song , I'm going to need to recompose it. I'm going to need to take the , you know , the idea of of what Mark Twain started and build from that. And so then that led to like , okay , I need to understand Missouri. I need to understand what slavery was like in Missouri. I need to understand the world that Mark Twain came from , did a ton of research and just started discovering all these things. And I was like , this would really fit in well with an adventure , you know , an adventure story and , and sort of the goal with , with Jim and the story itself was , I want to take the idea of , of the American folk hero , be that folk hero , uh , someone based in reality , Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone and all those guys were the fictional folk heroes , the Johnny Appleseed and the Paul Bunyan's. And I wanted to , like , create the only African American folk hero there is that people remember , it's not the only one , but the only one that people remember is John Henry , the steel driving man. Right. And I was like , okay , let's let's think about how would we turn Jim into a folk hero. And then it was like , but once he's a folk hero , how do we unpack who he is behind the scenes ? Right. And this is , you know , sort of how the the brain of David Walker operates , which is not a , a fun place to be in. Sometimes it can be kind of scary. But , you know , we at the end it gets the job done.

S4: Now the book starts with a number of pages that feel lifted from the original book. So you have like three pages of this and then you interrupt that. So kind of talk about your decision to do it that way , because it does. Like when you start looking at it the way the images are , the language that's used does strike you , you know , as however you want to put it dated , problematic , whatever. So discuss why you wanted to do it that way and what what impact you hoped it had.

S3: You know , I so I'm a fan of Little Big Man , the book and the film and the idea of Both a semi unreliable narrator , but also that person that you meet who has all these crazy stories to tell and you're like , did this ? Is this person telling the truth ? Or is this like just a load of garbage ? But I was like , well , what if Jim lived to be a really old man ? You know , he's that old man who's always upset. That's like , this is my story. And they stole my story from me. And then I thought of The Muppet Show of all things , and I thought of Statler and Waldorf , and I thought of how there's nothing funnier than it doesn't even have to be two old people. It can just be two people telling the same story , but disagreeing on the details. And I was like , okay , let's have Huck be alive to let's have have these two really old men. And if the reader doesn't know if they're being honest or not , that's fine.

S4: So talk a little bit more about the structure , because in addition to your characters kind of interrupting a narrative , you also jump back and forth in time to have characters from the 30s and then the 80s , and I think the 2000 all kind of adding layers to your story.

S3: And I just was thinking about all the different ways information can be transmitted and how one generation can affect all the generations that come after. Even though we don't talk about it , Marcus Kwami Anderson , my artist , is an amazing collaborator , and I would talk to him and I would say , how do you feel about it ? Like , he hadn't started drawing it certain things yet and I was always looking for how do I make this more compelling ? What is it that I always wish I had from a story that I'm not putting into this story ? These these are the sort of questions I was asking. And then at one point , I hit this moment where I was like , there's no good female characters in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. And it's like , how do I work a good female character in , you know ? So then I created the created the college professor , but she was she was kind of dry and lifeless , and I was like , she doesn't work. I know , but but I need her. How do I make her more compelling , more interesting ? Oh , wait a minute. What if she is the descendant of Jim ? And suddenly then the story new layers begin to develop.

S4: Now you've mentioned the artist Marcus Kwame Anderson a couple times because this is for radio. Yeah. Describe his visual style. Describe kind of how he brings these characters to life through his illustration.

S3: He has a style that I think is often used in a sort of negative way. People would say it's cartoony , right ? The stuff he does isn't super photorealistic , but one of the things he's able to do is convey emotion with a minimal amount of lines. And that's what comics are supposed to be. Right. The great Alex Toth always talked about use the least amount of lines possible and then use less than that. And Marcus and I talked a lot about artists like Alex Toth , Will Eisner , folks like that who who really define this medium that him and I love so much. What we want to convey in this story is both emotion and clarity of action. And Marcus and I are always talking about how do we make it easier for the reader to look at a page , to look at a panel , know what to read first , know where the eye is supposed to move. And in that regard , he's as classically trained in artists as they can be. And you forget that it's cartoonish , right ? You forget that it looks almost like animation cells , and that Jim's eyes are just a line and a , you know , semi-circle , right eye. You can't even really see the pupils or anything. But it's like , that doesn't matter , because the way his brow line is , the way his eyebrows are speak emotion. And that understanding of how to create complexity through something that seems to look simple is not an easy task , but Marcus knows how to do it.

S4: You mentioned research earlier , and there's a lot of real history in the book and real historical characters.

S3: But there was a lot of it was just about Missouri and Kansas specifically. And what a lot of people don't know historically is that what would become the American Civil War , when the southern states seceded from the nation ? The precursor to that was what was known as the border wars in Missouri and Kansas going back into the 1850s. And I knew a little bit about that , but I really did like a deep dive into the research of that particular era and what was going on , what slavery was like in the state of Missouri. And then what was going on in some of the surrounding states. So while Illinois was technically a free state , it was a state where a lot of unscrupulous business people would , quote unquote , rent enslaved individuals to work as slaves in Illinois. Right. And there was a thing that now is known as the Reverse Underground Railroad. So the Underground Railroad was what the enslaved used to to escape to freedom. The reverse was these people that were running around kidnapping free blacks , kidnapping or capturing those who'd run away and then selling them back into slavery. And so there was a lot of little things like that that , that I stumbled across. I think the biggest thing and it's in the book. There was a town in Illinois called , uh , New Philadelphia. And when I'd read about that in my research , the existence of New Philadelphia and the man who founded it as a guy named free , Frank McWhirter. He had already died by the time The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was set. Right. But I had to have him in the book. I had to have the town in the book. I was like , it was one of those things. Like , how come more people don't know about him ? They don't know about this town. And so there was always , always these little things that I would stumble across. I feel like if you're if you're doing research , whether it's for a fictional book or a nonfiction work , if you're not finding stuff you didn't know , and if you're not surprised and sort of looking around going , how come I didn't know this ? How come more people don't know this ? Then you're doing something really , really wrong.

S4: So the Black Panther graphic novel you did was very much based , in fact , in history and with Huck Finn. You're a big Jim. You're kind of taking a more fictional approach but weaving history into it. And both of these were graphic novels. So what is it about the graphic novel or the comic book form that attracts you and that makes you feel like this is the way I want to tell these stories and mix all these elements in.

S3: Oh , you would have to ask me the hard question , right ? I loved comics as a kid. Right. I was that kid. I'm not exaggerating. I literally learned how to read with comics. I've always loved the juxtaposition of visuals , imagery , and text. And there's something about what Will Eisner called sequential art. Sequential storytelling. There's a way to take all these things that I love visual elements , written word , sequential storytelling , history , mixing history with fiction , all these things that I just love. And just going , okay , here's a medium that allows me to do this in a way that , you know , film can allow me to do it in some ways , but there's so many more hoops to film , it's so much more expensive to do and prose. While I love writing prose. It feels almost like a lost art form to me. Or maybe I should say. Reading straight prose feels like it's becoming an increasingly lost art form. Like people want something else. And so now it's about trying to find that balance between all of that.

S1: That was KPBS arts reporter Beth Accomando , speaking with author David F Walker about his graphic novel Big Jim and the White Boy. You can listen to the full interview at KPBS. Coming up , your weekend preview , plus the latest from playwright Keiko Green.

S8: I really got to talk to the people there , and they were just so delighted that anybody was telling the story about their town outside of Ishinomaki.

S1: The story of an artist returning home to Japan after devastation when KPBS Midday Edition returns. You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition , I'm Jade Hindman. Playwright Keiko Green is not based in San Diego , but she's likely familiar to local audiences. Known for her plays exotic , Deadly or The MSG Play and Sharon , she also graced the stage in the theater's production of The Little Fellow All Tonight. Her new play , Empty Ride , will have its world premiere at the Old Globe. The play is set in Ishinomaki , a small town in Japan hit hard by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. We follow Kisa , who returns home to care for her ailing father and take over his taxi route.

S8: My abortion. She passed away last year. She was 99 years old. Lived a really long life. But she lived in Sendai. Which is right ? Right. By Ishinomaki. And so , when the tsunami hit , my brother and I were both. We happened to be living in Brooklyn , and we met at this diner. And I just remember , you know , having a cup of coffee and refresh , refresh , refresh , hitting that button , trying to learn any information about how she might be doing. And , you know , when I went later , I was really impressed by how quickly they had rebuilt. There was still like , oh yeah , you can physically rebuild , but there's like a heart that's a little bit missing. And so when my my grandma was kind of on her deathbed last year , I made a trip back to Japan. And this was after we had done the reading at the Old Globe. But I was able to go to Ishinomaki specifically with my mom , and I was kind of torn about whether writing a play about this , this area actually felt like exploitation , or whether I was bringing light to something that people had forgotten about or not even known about. And I really got to talk to the people there , and they were just so delighted that anybody was telling the story about their town outside of Ishinomaki.

S9: I mean , it blew my mind to revisit the just like the facts of it when I was reading about your play. Tens of thousands of people. It seems really devastating. One of the things that struck me about this play is Kaisa , the main character. She had left home to pursue art in Paris. So what do we need to know about Kisa ? Yes.

S8: So when I watch or , you know , theater or TV or films about Japanese people , I usually don't recognize the Japan that I know in those pieces of media. I always find them to be so just , quote , honorable. And , um , the people that I know are just a little bit more , I don't know , darker and funnier and and sillier and and so Kaisa has a real darkness to her. And I think that she. Yes , she missed it. She missed the tsunami. She wasn't there. There's an immense amount of survivor's guilt. And also she thinks that , you know , she's not defined by this hometown of hers. And so she comes home to , you know , she her dad's ill , and she goes home to take up her dad's taxi.

S9:

S8: You know , they have their white gloves , their taxis are immaculate and , um , they're covered with lace. And so. But I do think that cases from the small fishing town. Um , and she is , you know , she just thinks that there's more to the world. I think there's actually two characters in the play and one that's mentioned who are just feeling like they are being stifled. And there's more in the world. And , you know , Japan still does suffer in terms of misogyny and in terms of opportunity for women. And I think they're actually a really exciting place right now where they can kind of decide which direction they're going to go in. And for Kaisa , there was something that the world was beckoning to her. And so and so she left. And she learns that other characters kind of did the same thing and felt the same thing. But with that , she loses a part of herself. And and a huge part of this untethered international identity is is something that I'm really interested in. Um , you know , I'm. I'm half Japanese. I grew up in Georgia. I went to a Japanese school , you know , when I was in Georgia. So I it's I've always felt kind of stuck between two worlds where all of the kids I knew were Japanese , but I was living in this , you know , normal suburban block of houses. And my mom , she. She's a Japanese woman who , you know , left Japan and she , she is here in the US and she's been here for decades. And she feels so American to me and her in terms of her personality and I and I wonder sometimes about whether she has adopted that because she moved here or whether she kind of had to leave because she was a little bit too much. And so I think that the play is really exploring these people that feel like they're a little bit too much.

S9: I love that. So the play's title borrows from this Japanese word Q10 , and that's used , I understand , for when a taxi meter is running , but nobody's writing for whatever reason. Um. Can you talk about that and how that manifests in a supernatural way ? Yes.

S8: Absolutely. Yeah. Q10 literally means empty ride. And it's not like a famous word or anything. It was it was a it's really just vocabulary in the , in the taxi jargon , um , which I think is really great. And one interesting thing that I had had found with just by doing research was that 100% of the taxi drivers in Ishinomaki had reported that they had had a ghost passenger. Wow. At some point. And there's even like a Unsolved Mysteries episode about this. So it's it's it's , you know , they've interviewed all these people and it's kind of a bit of a that they talk about it pretty matter of factly. I think for a long time no one spoke of it at all , which I think is actually also very Japanese. But once people started sharing , they were like , oh , yes. And so every single taxi driver in the town has , has said that they've , they've had like a spirit passenger. And there's also , I think when they when they speak about it , something that I find just so incredibly culturally specific and beautiful , which is this responsibility to try to take these people to their homes that were washed away or gone. That that is just like an image and a want that is so tragic and beautiful and a huge part of our play.

S9:

S8: It was part of the festival last year. Based on that , they picked it up for the season and they gave us another workshop in the fall. And so that means that it's been slightly insular , which also means that it's just keeps changing. Um , so we have been incorporating new pages every day. We will have a new page , I'm sure on opening , um , it just kind of never stop. We've been saying that up until 4 p.m. on opening. We will be using that time. But in terms of where it's going , you know , the first draft of this play , it was 72 pages long. It had no ending and it was a mess. And there are characters that don't even exist now that were main characters then. It's changed a lot. I think it's , you know , every playwright has a different process for me. I , I just like to put everything out there , do a horrible draft and just see what sticks. So this one has been on its own little journey because it's also thematically a little different from some of my other work. It's a little it's a little more intimate. It's a little slower. It's a it's a little bit more of a slow. It's a slow burn. Um , and so yeah , I'm also feeling very vulnerable about the play , so I'm very excited.

S1: That was Keiko Green , playwright of Empty Ride , speaking with KPBS arts reporter Julia Dixon Dickson Evans , who joins me now. Julia , it's been a minute. Yes.

S9: Yes. Hi , Jane. Thanks for having me.

S1: Always glad to have you in studio. Good to be back. Okay , so how can we see Greens new play ? Right.

S9: So it opens at the globe tonight. And they'll have shows every Tuesday through Sunday through March 2nd. And yeah , I have read the script and it's really a wonderful play. There's just so much humor and so much heart in her writing. It's a great story. And one fun fact with this play is that each actor takes on multiple roles. Keiko is telling me that one actor in particular has like 11 costume changes through the whole thing. I love little things like that in theater.

S1: Wow , that's that's talent right there. All right. Well , let's talk about what else is going on in the arts this weekend. We're actually staying with theater for this one. Moxie theater is starting their own new playwrights series. Tell us about that. Yeah.

S9: Yeah. So this is called the Moise New Works Festival , and it's in line with Moxie's mission. It's going to focus on works by women and non-binary playwrights. And , you know , many of the big theatres like the Old Globe , they have a new work series. So it's really great to see a theater like moxie start their own as well. And the selected playwrights in this one , they take part in this intensive workshop period. And then it culminates this weekend with a two day event. They'll do staged readings , and for this one , they're doing like two double headers. The first reading , which is noon on Saturday , is a block of four short plays. So that's good for the attention span. And then there's going to be three full length plays. So Saturday afternoon and then two more on Sunday. Everything is free to attend. And if you stick around between the readings they're going to serve you a light lunch. So that's nice. Very nice. And this is at Moxi Theater in Rolando. And it seems like every year a theatre puts on a full production of a play that had been developed during one of these new works , festivals. So you never know , you might get to witness a playwright taking notes on an early reading , and then in a year or two , you can see it with a full cast.

S1: All right , the San Diego Ballet , they're revisiting their production of Carnival of the animals with a with a twist , though it involves jazz trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos. Yeah.

S9: Yeah. So Carnival of the animals is this ballet that's traditionally set to music by Sun Songs , and it's a work that San Diego Ballet does often. But yeah , this year they've tapped Gilbert Castellanos , local jazz musician and all around local music icon , and he's composed a brand new jazz score to liven it up. And alongside that , they're also going to be performing a tango and ballet piece. It's set to music by the Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla. It's called tangata and it's this really nice piece. It's originally written for a bandoneon , a type of concertina or accordion that's often used in South American music. And this is Saturday at the Conrad Performing Arts Center in La Jolla. There's two shows at 2:00 matinee and then the 7 p.m. evening show.

S1: All right. Well , finally , in visual art , there's a new painting on view in Oceanside that's about aliens. Okay. Right.

S9: Right. This is Robert Xavier Burton's the alien painting. It's a work that he painted on site live during his 2023 exhibit at Oceanside Museum of Art , and somebody bought it. And before it goes to a private collection , the museum is going to unveil it and put it on view in like a pop up exhibition for just over a week. And this painting is inspired by his his childhood toys and action figures , and you'll recognize familiar aliens and space lore details. But he also includes these sort of like home textile flourishes. They kind of make me think of the borders that you see on rugs or curtains or wallpaper , and the whole thing is super intricate and really captivating. Like you can stare at it for a while and see so many details. There's going to be a reception on Friday from 5 to 7 , and then it'll be on view through the 23rd at OMA.

S1: You know , I'm kind of excited about that one. Aliens will eat you on their. Will we see.

S9: E.T. ? Yeah. I'm wondering if we can say that , like copyright reasons , but ET is right there. It's E.T.. Yes.

S1: Okay , I like it. You can find more arts events or sign up for Julia's weekly newsletter at KPBS. I've been speaking with KPBS arts reporter Julia Dixon Evans. Julia. Thanks.

S9: Thank you. Jade. This is fun.

S1: Thanks for joining us today. If you missed anything , you can download KPBS Midday Edition on all podcast apps. Don't forget to watch Evening Edition tonight at five for in-depth reporting on San Diego issues. The roundtable is here tomorrow at noon. Before we go , though , I'd like to thank our Midday Edition team producers Ashley Rush , Giuliana Domingo and Andrew Bracken , senior producer Brooke Ruth , supervising audio producer Quinn Owen , art segment contributors Julia Dixon Evans and Beth Accomando. And our technical producer Brandon Truitt for the Midday Edition theme music. You hear Each and every day is from San Diego's own surefire soul ensemble. I'm Jade Hindman. We'll chat again Monday. Have a great weekend , everyone.

S1: It's time for Midday Edition on KPBS. All month we've been talking with people who are shaping our community and making black history. Today , we are going to hear from the publisher of the San Diego Voice and Viewpoint , Doctor John E Warren. I'm Jade Heinemann with conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and engaged. We're continuing to profile black trailblazers in San Diego about their important work and legacy in the community. Among those trailblazers is Doctor John E Warren. He is the current publisher of the San Diego Voice and Viewpoint. Founded in 1960 , it is San Diego's oldest and only African-American newspaper and continues to advocate for communities all across the region. In addition to his work as a respected journalist , Doctor Warren has a long and storied career spanning politics , education , and philanthropy. He's also received many awards for his commitment to public service and civic life. Last week , I spoke with Doctor Warren about the voice and viewpoints legacy and his perspective on journalism and black history today. I asked about when he first took over publishing the paper and the mainstream narratives about San Diego's African-American community back then. Take a listen.

S2: Well , our whole purpose with the paper was taking the paper was to make it a position of advocacy for the community. Uh , before then , the paper really hadn't done that. But my wife and I came back here from Washington , D.C. , where , um , I work for Congress for 12 years. I was very involved nationally in a number of things. And , uh , she was not only , uh , a member of the D.C. statehood convention , but executive vice president of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce , which led to her creating the black chamber here. So we saw this as an opportunity of Advocacy in terms of serving the entire community. Going beyond southeast and opposition was that , uh , news is , uh , neither black nor white , but it's the perspective that we bring to it. And so that's what we attempted to do to open it up to views and , uh , positions and , and advocacy in terms of issues of public policy while serving people.

S1: Um , and talk a bit about how important that is , you know , because often I , you know , often the black community can be erased from the conversation. In many cases , your paper sought to put those issues , the issues of the black community , um , front and center and talk about how policies impacted the community directly. So talk about the importance of of that alone.

S2: Well , you know , a paper is as is important as the people who own and run it. And so in communities , uh , like in the past here , when there were certain people of a different party that controlled the Union Tribune , then the position of the paper reflected that. This paper was just dealing with a number of small things. But having been a lawyer , having been an elected official , college professor , and , and all those things involved with the civil rights issues all my life , uh , we , we saw right of way things that weren't being done here. People came to us for help. And , uh , though I wanted to practice law when I came here , I ended up channeling that energy into helping people with a variety of social and personal political issues. And so in many ways , we became the answer , uh , to problems that people weren't getting answered. We knew which questions to ask and where to go. And our range of contacts extended from here not only to Sacramento , but always as well to the white House. Um , and I believe up until this administration , we've always been on the white House press list. Mhm.

S3: Mhm.

S1: You know , you've been in news for many , many years. You spent a decade here at KPBS. How have you seen it change ? Um , over the years how you know , the , I guess how , how journalism and how news is disseminated to people.

S2: Oh , well , you know , that's a very loaded question. Some of it I won't answer for fear of hurting some people's feelings.

S1: Go ahead and step on some toes , Doctor Warren.

S2: No , I will at the appropriate times. But , um , let me just say this. That during the years that we've had this paper , uh , 13 newspapers in San Diego County have gone out of business as a result of changes from the Vista Press to The Times Advocate in Escondido , Oceanside breeze , uh , the Star News in Chula Vista , the daily California , um , and the Union Tribune Beyond consolidating from one from two papers to one papers. And so there's been a lot of change because the communities have changed. And then there's been a need for even more change in a number of ways. For instance , the charter for the city of San Diego had handwritten into it many years ago that the city would do all of its legal notices with the Daily Transcript or the Union Tribune. And so to make sure that happen , they wrote into the charter newspapers of daily circulation , which , uh , left out all of the community papers that represent the duplicity or the diversity of ethnicity that we now have in San Diego. And so we have been adjudicated as a legal publication since 1966 , which means that we do all of the notices , court death and things that anyone else does. And so a lot has , has changed in terms of , uh , who people turn to. Our clientele is a very mixed one. It's not African American. People from all walks of life use us as an entity and an outlet for our public notices. And so that's that's part of the change that the place has expanded. And , uh , the people are no longer locked in to , uh , limited choices.

S1: In that same vein , it's , uh , you know , it's the many different ways that people have access to information and how that's changed so much. You recently wrote about how it's more important than ever to pay attention to black history , and I'd love to know more about your thoughts on black history amid these continued coordinated efforts to erase it , uh , in libraries and and in classrooms.

S2: Well , let me say that it's not going to be erased no matter what they how hard some people try. Uh , the black press today is 198 years old. So we've been around a while , even though , we probably have some less than 200 papers left out of a time when we had over 600. But we're here. We publish Black History every week. Every black history is being made every day. And I think people need to understand black history as much as as they think they know. For instance , when you look at Washington DC , a Benjamin Banneker , a black architect , laid out the city. There were black workers that put the dome on the Capitol , if you will. If you are , think about the stoplight that was invented by a black person. The air brakes that's on trains and trolleys was invented by a black person. Uh , when you give credit to , uh , Admiral Perry and trying to , you know , stake his claim in the Arctic and the poles , it was a black man named Matthew Henson who really carried him the last , literally few steps of the way to get there. Uh , we've had two black senators during reconstruction. We have black members of Congress and my family. Uh , my great uncle is the first black congressman out of North Carolina. And so , uh , we have achieved and succeeded , we've had over up to 100 black members of the military received the Congressional Medal of Honor. One black man received it twice. And so we have been about building and contributing in spite of the things that were put in our path as obstacles to stop us. You know , when Hitler was at his height and Jesse Owens , uh , won the Olympics. Yeah. He tore down the view , uh , that black people were inferior at a time that Hitler was using race to to make his case. And so we find that if people know where they come from , it'll give them an idea of where they can go. Um , and we we have done so much that has been , uh , they've tried to eliminate or erase it or not making it there , but it's really up to us. As Russell Birmingham said in 1827. Nobody can tell our story like us , so we continue to tell our story. That's why this paper is the guardian of the black history of San Diego , as well as history of other places. If you've seen things like Hidden figures of those three black women who played a major role in Nassau and getting the space shuttles up , well , most of the research for that story came out of the Norfolk Journal and Guide , which is an African-American owned publication that's still existing today. And so we've been a go to source for information. And when we look , we understand that the inscription on the archives , which tells us that the past is prologue , is still very active and very meaningful.

S1: It's often said that journalists write the first draft of history. So I wonder with with your publication and of course , against the backdrop of these efforts to omit black history from textbooks in schools. Do you feel the weight of of trying to sort of make sure that not only black history , but also this the current moment in time that we're in right now is , is sort of is recorded and documented in your paper.

S2: Well , it's not a wait because that's what we do anyhow. We record we document it. Okay. And so we expect what we see happening to take place. Uh , I don't worry about them trying to ban books as much as I publicize the need for people to return to knowing it was a black church that first gave us our black institutions of higher education. The black church today , as it was in one time in San Diego , has to return to its responsibility of being a place of learning. But we have enough black educators who have retired who can come in and teach , if you will. We need to have libraries , as Secretary of State pointed out recently , and I agree , we cannot be held back by what some people do. We spend in this country. Black people spend $2 trillion a year. That would be number 11 behind the ten GDPs of the on the world scale. And so I believe very much that instead of crying over it , we understand that the three things that corporate America understands lost profits , bad publicity , and a vote does cast against their interests. And so when we harness our spending so that we do business with those who do business with us , or those who advocate and agree with us , then we influence the marketplace. We're not going back to singing we Shall overcome the civil rights battle we won in in the law. Now we have to fight the silver and silver rights battle , because now America no longer has the moral consciousness of the past. Now it seems to understand only money. And so if that's what it understands. And I'm not talking about bitcoins. Then we need to influence where the money comes from. And so we see our job as laid out is very clear. Each week we analyze , we report , we comment. We are not obligated to anyone for any point of view. No one controls us. No one tells me what to print. And that's why people respect us as trusted messengers. Because our integrity is greater than social media , that you can put anything on. Hmhmm.

S3: Hmhmm.

S1: You're also involved in the community in other ways. You're a pastor , you have a black belt.

S2: I mean , I've been a pastor for 21 years because my late wife and I have founded a church that I continue with is non-denominational. You know , I spent 30 some years in the martial arts , but , you know , I was also a fencing fanatic. I used to fence in the British Embassy. Uh , rotunda with the Washington Fencing Club. Uh , I was an artist. I used to , in my youth , hang out in Greenwich Village with the street painters. And I learned how to paint and so many art techniques and things before I went on to the College of Fine Arts and transfer it into liberal arts. So I've had 12 , 13 different careers. And what I do is , depending upon how I draw , upon what I've done in the past , I mean , I'm a former military officer. I did my time , I've been out the military some 50 years , and I , I know how to help people when they come to me if there's a problem , uh , that they're having , military or otherwise. And so we it's it's nothing. I would retire , it's all integrated. I help where I can , and I stay in touch with people who make decisions and people who make decisions come to me for advice. I mean , I've done it , forgotten most of what they're trying to do. This is a year in which I'll be 80 years old , so I got quite a track record of things that I've done. I've got my writings working on a couple of books. I got 25 years of editorials and commentaries. I'm waiting to publish , 8 to 10 years of sermon excerpts I'm waiting to publish , and decisions in terms of where my papers are going to go. All those kind of things keep me busy with , uh , a great staff here , uh , great managing editor , who also happens to be one of my daughters. So I'm in great shape.

S1: That was my conversation with Doctor John E Warren , publisher of the San Diego Voice and Viewpoint. That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.

S1: Welcome in San Diego. I'm Jade Hindman. For today's show , we're talking about the latest developments in Imperial Valley's lithium industry. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. Making sense of the present means knowing the past. It means honoring the legacy of black history and celebrating the culture. Yvette Porter Moore is a historian who studies genealogy and DNA research here in San Diego. She runs Route Digger Genealogy Research Services , where for the past 20 years she's been doing the work of piecing together San Diego's black history one photo , one artifact , and one DNA test at a time. She joins me now to talk about it. Yvette , welcome to Midday Edition. Yes.

S2: Yes. Thank you for having me , I appreciate that.

S1: Well , I'm glad you're here. So I want to talk about this project that you're working on , the Missing Pieces project.

S2: And so the premise of this project is that we want to know more about the black community. We want to know the things that they have accomplished and what they have contributed to San Diego. Every little piece connects to a whole. And so the program that we're working on is that I had the opportunity of interviewing 30 individuals in the community that have contributed and in different areas , in different fields. And so right now I'm in the process of editing the transcripts. But but within that , we're also , um , requesting and asking people to bring in photos and , and artifacts that represent who they are. You know , it's just learning more about the individuals. And then when you're interviewing them , they tell you more about the community that they lived in , the schools they attended , and , um , important people in their lives.

S1: You've done a lot of research into San Diego's black history.

S2: She was trained as a teacher in Kentucky , but when she came to San Diego , she was not allowed to teach. Um , there were no black teachers in San Diego , and , um , and there was discriminatory practices. And so that did not allow black women or men to teach at the , um , San Diego City schools. And so she was one of those people that regardless of that happening , she was one of those people that advocated for others. She was the founder of the Women's Civic League in San Diego , which right now is not currently active. Um , but she was one of the people that fought for African American teachers to be hired by the school district. And the first one that she hired or was able to get hired was Lorraine Van Lowe and another , um , individual that she also helped with. Um , getting them um , hired was Jasper Davis , who wanted to be a police officer because there was also discriminatory practices of black men , um , being hired at the , um , you know , as police officers. Yeah.

S1: Yeah. Well , you know , that's some , uh , excellent nuggets there and , uh , a glimpse into San Diego's past and history. Um , you know , but by and large , a lot of those stories are not taught. Uh , they're not they're not told in schools. They're not , uh , written in history books. There's an active campaign right now happening on the federal level to remove black history from curriculum.

S2: I believe it's die programming. And , um , the fact that they want to remove , um , all histories , you know , um , not just black history from a celebrating. And they want to , um , keep us from , you know , learning about our histories in our schools. And I think that that's unfortunate because it's not just about one type of person. It's about all of us. And we need to , you know , learn to appreciate one another. And so I think it's a sad day when we are not going to be able to research our history and to share it.

S1: This is KPBS Midday Edition. We're back after the break. Welcome back to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman with historian Yvette Porter Moore , who is telling the story of San Diego's black history through DNA and genealogy research. Here's more of our conversation. You know , one example of community members fighting for an accurate understanding of history and just an honest telling of history is the story of Alton Collier. His death in San Diego Bay in the 1940s was originally declared a suicide , but last year , the Alabama based Equal Justice Initiative declared his death a racial terror lynching. You've been calling for accountability. Tell me why Alton story resonates with you. Yes.

S2: Yes. For number one is because Alton Collier was San Diego. He was Coronado , um , you know , resident. And the very fact that we believe that racism and racial terror and things like that could have only happened in the South. No. I mean , let's get real here. It's like it happened. And it still happens today in , in in California , in San Diego , a place that was coined as Mississippi of the West. We need to remember and not forget that racial terror happened , and for it to be hidden and swept under the rug as a suicide. I think that that is not justice. It's not justice. It's not. Yeah. And it is just very , very , very sad. And it just makes me wonder how many more of these types of things happen. And they're just covered and swept under the rug. Right.

S1: Right. And you think about how frequent those things probably happened. And then you you put that with the resiliency of the black community , especially when you're digging into history.

S2: and and how we've prevailed despite what society had placed on us , you know , dealing with , um , you know , black laws and Jim Crow and all the things that kept us from being who we are. Mhm.

S1: Mhm. You know , Yvette , I imagine there are some really beautiful stories that come out of the work you do , and then some really dark ones too.

S2: I want to know who that person is and what they did and how they accomplish. Who were their families ? You know who ? You know. Who were they ? Um , I can give you an example. I used to be a blogger , and I. I found a death certificate , and it was a woman who. It said that she was murdered. And so I wrote about her , and I posted her death certificate. I think she died in the 1940s or 50s. And I thought it was a beautiful tribute to her and her life. And , um , maybe a year or two later , um , her , one of her family members , um , text me , wrote me and was , um , very grateful and thankful that I had presented her case. You know , had written about her that she's not forgotten , that she is remembered , that she was a person and that she had a family. And so for me , that was that was heavy and that was emotional. And the emotional scarring was more so for the family , you know. The , you know , the weight was more on them because they they knew these people personally. You know , I think that the writing I think the writing of it is healing. Right.

S1: Right. Sounds like you really want to humanize these stories and put their put their names out there. That's great.

S2: You know , we want a good life for ourselves and for our families and the people that we know. And that it's important that we remember and that we tell our stories. Because my story may be something that you need to hear to help you to you to become a better person and to , um , you know , learn how to deal with maybe , um , adversity in your life , you know , because it's important that we know who we are and where we're going.

S1: I've been speaking with Yvette Porter Moore. She runs Route Digger Genealogy research Services , specializing in black ancestry and birth family research. She's also a public historian working on the Missing Pieces project. It will debut on February 26th at the San Diego History Center. Event. Thank you so much for joining us.

S2: Yes , thank you for having me.

S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.

S1: It's time for Midday Edition on KPBS. On this episode , we are talking with people in our community who are making black history. Today we feature Christina Marie green , a UCSD undergrad already taking the lead in labor organizing. I'm Jade Heinemann with conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and engaged. For many activists , college campuses are the gateway into community organizing. Christina Marie green is a senior undergraduate at UC San Diego. She's a student organizing intern with the UC labor union AFS , May 32nd 99. She's also an advocate at the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial County's , while this month she is part of an exhibit at the campus library all about labor history and union leadership. Christina joins me now to talk about it. Christina , welcome to Midday Edition. Hello.

S2: Thank you so much for having me.

S1: You're doing your. Thing.

S2: Thing.

S1: I love to see it.

S2: Um , one of the librarians within the Committee of Equity , diversity , inclusion reached out to me through my socials. But the way that they figured out my information was actually through one of my coworkers when we were doing a AFSCME rally in front of the library itself. So we were doing a rally with the workers and trying to get a collective understanding of whether or not our workers wanted to do a strike or not. So we're doing sign ups. We were also making some noise , uh , marching throughout campus. Um , and one of the librarians was like , who's she ? Who's who's the one banging on the drum ? And , um , my coworker gave him his my information , and the rest was history. Oh.

S1: Oh. That's wonderful. Well , talk to me about the exhibit. What can people expect to learn ? Yeah.

S2: So the exhibit is a really small but really cute book exhibit that includes not only my own personal books that I like to read , that includes books like Malcolm X , and you have books like , um , The New Jim Crow. Um , there is also other excerpts from other books that deal with black labor and black history. Within the exhibit itself , we even included a lot of our labor union buttons , whether that be through AFSCME or other unions within the UC or just in the San Diego area. Um , and I'm pretty sure that they have like more information on like , why the theme was chosen for this year.

S1: That's great. And I want to talk more about your journey with labor organizing. Kristina.

S2: As for how I got into organizing and being a little bit more involved on my university campus. I actually was impacted by the student housing crisis in particular during my junior year. I wasn't able to find housing during my spring of my sophomore year and during the summer right before my junior year , and I kept running into instances of people seeing my name. Christina Marie green is a very Eurocentric name , and then DMing online and on Facebook and being like , hey , I think you would be a great candidate for our apartment. And 25 to 30 apartments have I've been in contact with and reached out to and went to the final round of interviews where we meet in person and the same pattern has happened over and over again , where they learn about me , they're like , oh my gosh , you're amazing. And then when they meet me in person , they're like , oh , actually , we decided to go with another candidate. And this is a story that's not just unique to me , but so common to a lot of black students at UC San Diego , and I'm pretty sure all throughout not only San Diego County , but all throughout California in the United States , that there is a systemic issue with housing segregation that still persists. So understanding that and me almost dropping out of UCSD and going back home , I was lucky enough to find a house far in National City and I don't have a car , so I had to take public transportation to and from two hours one way , two hours back. So four hours total and realizing how difficult it was to be involved. At the time , I was doing student government. Um , I was in ironically , I was the chief of staff of our Office of Equity , diversity , inclusion in student government and informing students and informing our administration about how important and significant it is for students to have basic needs within our campus. I ended up being introduced to labor unions as well as like , being involved with the labour movement in particular , and one of their new demands on their contract is housing security. So that was like right up my expertise of like being able to sympathize and understand and empathize with our workers who are also dealing with the housing crisis , having to commute hours on end , either from the border or from far east side of San Diego County , drive all the way onto campus early in the morning because their shifts start six 5 to 6 a.m. in the morning and to find parking , we have a parking issue on our campus. Unfortunately , we are essentially trying to highlight the fact that a lot of our executives are chancellors or executive administration is receiving housing loan benefits for their mansions , for their house to pay off their loans or their mortgage. However , our workers are fighting tooth and nail just to make ends meet with rent or barely making rent , or choosing to choose rent over putting food on the table for their families. And I think there's a lot more of a different stake at hand when you have just a singular student like myself , who I can miss a meal or two and continue with classes to a certain degree. But when you're talking about workers who are who are parents , who are grandparents , who are making sure that their kids are going to school , you have other expenses. You're taking care of your grandparents , for example , if you're a parent yourself , these are other issues that , um , the UC is not taking accountability. We ran them as heroes during Covid , but now our workers , such as our custodians or janitors or patient technicians , are now being undermined with the fact that they don't want to agree to a new contract with our new demands. So that is where I started getting more and more involved. And the more protesting and strike front of the labor movement.

S1: Well , in that that discrimination that you experienced is something so common for a lot of people in San Diego and across California. Um , but all of that led you to founding the Poverty Project to address the housing crisis at UCSD. Tell me about that. Yeah.

S2: So I actually started the poverty project through my role as the Associated Students campus wide senator , and I wouldn't have been able to get the funding , have the connections if it wasn't for my role in student government. Um , I ran on the idea of , like , making sure students had basic needs specifically in housing , and the students were like , we want you in that position and role. And I'm like , okay , put me , put me there , I'll do it. And I executed the poverty Project , which also had a lot of backlash with the name , because a lot of people in particular felt uncomfortable with the name poverty , surprisingly. But myself and my team at the time , we structured an information database consisting of not only the resources and student government that can help with funding any programs or initiatives that other students have , but also county resources , whether that be other shelters around or the basic needs hub , which a lot of students don't know that exists , let alone the resources that they provide. So having a collective database we built by ourselves from the ground up , from scratch. Um , we also I also structured the $5,000 research scholarship program , which I worked with the Department of Urban Planning and Studies , and having them mentor a scholar selected to focus on the racial lens of the student housing crisis. And actually , our scholar right now has received 60 K in funding from Associated Students to pursue her project and helping undocumented as well as international students who are specifically within the range of low income and making sure that they have food security , which also is a overlapping to housing security. Um , and then lastly we have the backpack drive , which distributes. I know it's more of a short solution or a small solution to the bigger problem , but these resource backpacks will be something that a lot of students still need , whether that be for Hygiene hour pamphlets , letting them know about these resources in the first place physically. Um , we also had feminine hygiene products there as well , as well as like other things that dealt with like academic resources or supplies and those backpacks. And we distributed them. Last year , we distributed 120 backpacks to our UCSD undergraduate student body. Wow.

S1: Wow. Well , you're making a huge impact there. Congratulations on all that's that's happening.

S2: I started off quite young and experiencing my own racism within my own community. I'm black and Filipino. I'm mixed race , and the community that I grew up in grew up in Daly City , the area. I don't know of all y'all out there , but I represent honestly , I gotcha. But as for the community I grew up in was predominantly Filipino , and I my family was the one of the only black families in the neighborhood. So that came with a lot of stigma and also internalized racism at times and trying to find myself in that moment , um , when I was in high school in particular , I slowly but surely started learning more about racial justice and other intersectionality that overlap that impact me and my family specifically. Um , at that time , it was the Black Lives Matter movement and also the Asian hate crimes that were happening. And I was like a sophomore junior in high school , and I was kind of flung into like the movement itself , because I just simply can't ignore it. For example , the the Asian hate crimes that were happening in the Bay area , I was very worried some about my grandparents. They don't look like me , but they are like Filipino grandparents for my grandparents in particular , for them to go out and , um , walk , do their morning walks. I was scared that they were gonna get like , attacked or to go to the grocery store by themselves and more so on the front of me being multiracial , my I was scared for my father to pick up my mom and night shifts. She was she's a nurse , and she would often pick up night shifts , and he would go out at night to pick her up , and he would hear stories about like , oh , the police officer pulled me over. We had to , like , have a conversation. And I feel like every single time he leaves the house , I am fearful of not only him , but also my brother was also getting his license and my other younger brother too. He's thinking about wanting to drive. So these are overlapping issues that impact me personally , that I simply cannot and will not ignore. And I feel that because of my intersectional experience , I'm able to empathize with a lot of communities and understand a lot of communities.

S1: All right.

S2: Um , also , I highly recommend those who are listening to support your local labor unions , whether they're striking or on the picket lines. Don't cross the picket lines more , so just make sure that you understand that there are people too , and they have struggles just like you. And lastly , I would say that Black History Month is American history , period.

S1: Uh , I've been speaking with Christina Marie green , a senior undergraduate at UC San Diego. She's a student organizing intern with the UC Labor Union FC 3299 , and she's an advocate at the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial County's as well. Cristina , thank you so much for joining us , and congratulations on all that you're doing.

S2: Thank you so much for inviting me and having me.

S1: And you have until Friday to check out UCSD Black Labor History exhibit at the Geisel Library. More information at library dot UCSD Edu. That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.