California reparations task force takes deeper look into eligibility

S1: Community input from the Reparations Task Force meetings in San Diego.

S2: Community input and engagement is more critical than ever.

S1: I'm Jade Hindman. This is KPBS Midday edition. Is logging in Southern California , the answer to managing forest fires.

S3: Environmentalists don't like these logging efforts , especially in these upper elevation sky islands. They say they do more harm than good.

S1: Four year olds can now enroll in San Diego Unified's tech program , but the rollout has been bumpy. Plus , a documentary about child care featured in the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. That's ahead on Mid-day Edition. California's task force to study and develop reparations proposals for African-Americans continued its work in San Diego over the weekend. The nine member board heard public testimony and discussed questions around eligibility and the categories of harm affecting African-Americans. The task force will deliver its recommendations to the state legislature later this year. Joining me now to talk about the progress the group is making is task Force chair Camilla Moore. And , Camilla , welcome back to Midday Edition.

S2: Hi , David. Thanks for having me.

S1: All right.

S2:

S1: And let's take a step back quantifying the horror that many African-American people in this country have suffered and continue to suffer. It's an enormous task , but you have collectively identified five categories of harm. Can you talk about that and explain what those are ? Yes.

S2: So the nine member task force hired last year , 2022 five people to serve on our economic consultant team , three of which are economist Dr. William Darity , Dr. William Spriggs and Dr. Kasia Campbell. Dr. Thomas Kramer is a public policy professor. He's also on your team. And Kristen Mullin , who is at the part of William Dirty. They both co-wrote the book From Zero to Equality Reparations for Black Americans in the 21st Century. And , you know , that dream team of economists and experts has helped us to identify write five state sanctioned atrocities , five areas where there is data to support a claim for the state of California being responsible for these atrocities and therefore compensation would be owed. And so those five harms include , you know , overpolicing and mass incarceration , health harms , devaluation of black businesses , unjust property takings and housing discrimination and housing news. And at our December hearing in Oakland , we had a conversation around the who would be eligible for these five harms all descendants of slaves , all everyone in the community of eligibility. Or would you have to , you know , show proof of direct harm within these five harms ? And so , you know , at our hearing in January in San Diego , the discussion evolved from December , whereas in December the task force was leaning towards you had to show direct proof of these five harms in January. Again , nothing is finalized , but the conversation evolved where no task force members are are thinking that and this was mainly proposed by me and member Joven Scott Lewis , who served on this advisory committee with the economists. The the argument is that you shouldn't have to necessarily show direct proof of these harms , because when we talk about these five harms , you know , they're very ego spirit in nature. And so , for instance , you know , for mass incarceration or overpolicing , you know , black Americans who descend from slaves , the argument is that you didn't you don't necessarily have to , you know , show proof of , for instance , being arrested or being mass incarcerated. You know , you lived in an environment in which mass incarceration and overpolicing was allowed to thrive , and therefore you should be owed because of that environment.

S1: Eligibility is something a lot of people weighed in on during public comment.

S2: And so those who will be eligible for reparations in the form of cash payments and other forms of reparations under international law will be descendants of those who have ancestors who were free or enslaved prior to 1900. And so , you know , even though that that that determination was made last year. No , they're you know , members of the public have continued to speak on eligibility , in particular during the public comment phase. Some people are asking for us to revisit the decision to widen it for all black folks in California. And but the majority of folks that I heard over public comment were thanking the task force for the vote , the codification of lineage based reparations rather than race based reparations.

S1: And so is that something that you all will be revisiting at all or.

S2: And I don't anticipate us revisiting that. But , you know , anything can happen , But I don't anticipate that happening.

S1: Did you hear anything during the meetings here in San Diego that added a different perspective to what you've already heard throughout California ? Or was it more confirmation.

S2: What we heard in San Diego in terms of public comment ? I was such a great turnout. And , you know , a lot of people came from the Inland Empire , for instance , and kind of voiced some concern that the task force had yet to , you know , make it to the Inland Empire , for instance , in our tour across the state. But overall , people just continued to give public comment on what they think the final proposal should be. Now , some some members of the public came up with new ideas. Some members of the public critiqued existing proposals that were currently considering. And so , you know , that completely aligns with , for instance , international human rights law standards , because the victim group , the descendant community in this context , that's really supposed to determine and dictate what repair looks like to them. So it's really not enough for me and my esteemed colleagues to , you know , discuss , determine and debate. And we really need to be a conversation and in a community with the descendant population. And so at this point in time , in this belt and stage community input and engagement is more critical than ever and welcomed.

S1: When you all hold these public hearings. One thing I noticed is the raw emotion from trauma that so many people who step up to give comments have endured and the need for healing that trauma.

S2: You that's a good point. I don't think we've considered having , you know , mental health therapists or support at the hearings in and of itself. But I think that's great if we had the resources. But I will say that , yes , mental health is definitely a consideration. It's it's it's outlined as a full chapter in our interim report. Physical and mental harm and neglect , detailing the ways in which the United States in the state of California has contributed to many. So health trauma against this , you know , unique and special group of people. And so therefore , there are definitely some recommendations around mental health care that will be in our final report. Hmm.

S1: Hmm. You know , I want to ask this. You know , back in 1988 , the U.S.. Administered reparations to people of Japanese ancestry for the injustices and internment camps forced on them by the U.S. government during World War Two. We know the Japanese redress movement was galvanized by the civil rights movement. Education was a key part of that. And for the Japanese redress movement , educating the public and even Congress about their experiences and history here in America was an essential part of them receiving reparations.

S2: People interpreted and rightfully so interpreted it as , you know , a banning of telling African-American history and by virtue American history. And so it just fits into this , you know , now narrative that , you know , there is this this , you know , bias against African-Americans in this country since this country's inception. And , you know , I sometimes joke , right , If the task force was doing this type of work in Florida or in other states that are criminalizing , you know , this type of work , we would be criminalized. Right ? We could be arrested. We could be in jail because of the groundbreaking work that we're doing. And and it's sad to see how in certain areas in this country , you know , things seem to be regressing a bit.

S1:

S2: There's an entire chapter on education in our interim report. There will definitely be final recommendations on the areas of education for our final reparations report. And also the mandate of our task force. By virtue of the statute that created the task force , we are required to ascertain how we are going to educate California public. On our findings. So , for instance , one of our findings is that California was only a free state in Maine and that there were over 1500 black people enslaved in the state. Now , those types of facts , we are required to figure out how to educate the California public on.

S1: And you earlier , you mentioned groundbreaking work. You know , cities like San Francisco and even my hometown , St Louis , recently formed committees to study reparations.

S2: I think the state of California definitely is the only state in the nation to study of the black reparations proposals for African-Americans at this time. And I think within California , we have the both cities that are , you know , have up and running local reparations initiatives. And so now we haven't necessarily reached out to , you know , reparations efforts , efforts outside of of California. But , you know , it's never too late to do that. We still have a few more less months left in our mandate.

S1: I've been speaking with Camilla Moore. She is the chair of California's task force to study and develop reparation proposals for African-Americans. And Camilla , as always , thanks for joining us.

S2: Thanks so much. And any time.

S1: With cold weather across the country , it can be easy to forget the high fire danger that threatens the state for much of the year. But wildfire season may be far away. The winter months do provide a window of opportunity for some much needed forest management. A recent $10 million injection of federal funds to address overgrown forest across southern California has highlighted that need. But exactly how to best prepare for the threat of wildfires is still a matter of debate. Joining me now on this story is the San Diego Union-Tribune senior environmental reporter Joshua Emerson Smith. Joshua , welcome back to the show.

S3: Hey , great to be here , as always. Okay.

S1: Okay.

S3: It's coming from the Inflation Reduction Act and the infrastructure bill. And different areas from Colorado , Wyoming and California. They're all getting this money to chop back forests ahead of the next big blaze. Southern California just got its allotment of $10 million , which is to be spent over the next three years. And that's quite a substantial amount of money for this type of work. So now the different forest managers at the Four National Forest in Southern California are going to have to figure out how to spend it.

S1: This funding will incentivize forest management in the region , but there seems to be differing views as to what the best approach is.

S3: One is our Sky Island. So these are conifer forests. Think pine incense , cedar fir , some oaks. And they are generally about 5000 feet in elevation. And those forests have too much have too little fire in them. A fire a century a fire suppression has left them overgrown , say scientists. And we need to get in there , thin them out , and then apply what's called prescribed fire. This is where we intentionally burn the landscape. But that's only about 10% of the national forest landscape in southern California. Much of it the lion's share is chaparral covered hillsides at lower elevations. And there we have too much fire. So we're trying to figure out , okay , what do we do in the forests ? And what do we do in the chaparral ? And it often gets confused and hard to understand for the average person.

S1: So logging is a big part of forest management. But these efforts can prove controversial for a number of reasons.

S3: They say they do more harm than good. They open up the canopy that lets in sunlight , that can nurture smaller vegetation , that can fuel fires. The opening up of the forest can allow winds to blow more strongly through them. And they say , don't do this. It causes more harm than good. Now , the forest managers in Southern California have largely avoided this issue up until now. These types of thinning efforts in forests are pretty rare. Sometimes you see the projects like in Los Padres , where they tried to do some there and they got blocked in the courts by lawsuits , by groups like the John Muir Project. Even the retailer Patagonia got behind trying to block this. And so it's something that's that is controversial and it can be hard for these land managers to do these projects which take years.

S1:

S3: Like , just don't even take your chainsaws and big machinery in there. You're doing more harm than good. You're smashing up the soil. But the researchers and the scientists up and down the state , who many of them are employed by the Forest Service , we should say. But the vast majority of the research that's been done in universities from UC Berkeley and Davis down to UC Santa Barbara , I mean , they all say if you do this right , it can help. If you go in there and you chop back the smaller diameter trees that are jamming these forests and making them more likely that flames will jump into the tree tops and you'll get one of these , what they call a stand replacing crown fire where it burns. The whole forest to the ground. Think like the Cedar Fire in 2003 in Korea , Mako Rancho State Park , where 95% of the trees were lost. They say if you go in there and they and you do these kind of thinning operations and then importantly , you follow it up with prescribed fire , which can be very challenging to do , It makes a difference. It's good. It's good for the forest. It's it makes it healthier. It limits competition for moisture in a time of drought. It makes it more likely if flames get into a forest that they won't jump into the treetops and create these massive mega blazes. But the fire will stay along the forest floor and actually have beneficial impacts like opening up resin covered cones and priming soil for the next seedlings.

S1: All right. Well , I mean , that makes sense. And I hear all of that. I hear all of the research. But I got to ask this question anyway. I mean , is there any concern that the idea of logging is a solution to forest fires ? You know , is that is there any concern that that's a narrative being pushed out by the logging industry ? Yes.

S3: And that is what the environmental groups will tell you. And they oppose these projects , not just in Southern California , but all up and down the Sierra Nevada as well. And they will say that this is largely the logging industry that's pushing this or it's some kind of jobs program , because , remember , the the people that do this work , they're not necessarily Forest Service employees. They're not government employees. They're folks who are contractors who are doing all different types of forestry work. And they get pulled in to do these jobs. And quite often the trees they cut down , they can then sell either in Southern California , it's largely for palettes or maybe a boutique furniture maker , or often it gets turned into firewood. But the thing is , it's not like a huge moneymaker right now. In fact , we have more material than we know what to do with. Quite often the wood that's being chopped down is not merchantable timber , and so it gets piled and burned often or mastic ated and spread across the landscape. One of the major impediments to doing this work is we don't know what to do with all the all the wood that we're grinding up in these forests. So the idea that this is a way for some people to get rich I think is overblown. If anything , there's a shortage in the workforce to do this kind of work.

S1: What do people in the logging industry have to say ? I mean , it did. This does still seem like quite the opportunity for them.

S3: I mean , the people in the logging industry , they own their own private timberlands. So they like the big moneymakers , like the top dogs. You're talking like Sierra Pacific Industries or Collins Pine. These people , they own their own massive forests that they already log logging in national forests on government land is something that was significantly more prevalent in the eighties and nineties before a lot of the environmental protections came into place. Think of think of like the Spotted owl and different things like that. Nowadays , there's not a lot of logging that happens in national forests. And so that's why some people say they're overgrown. Not only have we kept the wild fire out , but we've also reduced the the logging that happens in these areas. And so it's not like there's a big push from the logging industry to open up the floodgates in the in the national forests. If anything there. The logging industry is as much concerned about the fire danger as homeowners are because often these big mega blazes come off of the national forests and into the private timberlands.

S1: I've been speaking with Joshua Emmerson Smith , senior environment reporter for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Joshua , thanks.

S3: Happy to be here , as always.

S1: You're listening to KPBS midday edition. I'm Jade Hindman. All four year olds in California will be guaranteed a free spot in transitional kindergarten by 2025. The San Diego Unified School District is offering the grade to every four year old this year , ahead of the schedule set by Governor Gavin Newsom. But there have been some bumps in the rollout. San Diego News Now podcast host Debi Cruz spoke with KPBS investigative reporter Claire TRAGESER about the rollout.

S2: The teachers union in San Diego recently had a rally. It was kind of a listening session with Superintendent Dr. Lamont Jackson. And there they said that they really need more training , more resources , and the schools actually need to set a curriculum for transitional kindergarten that is different from kindergarten. And I recently sat down with Shaina Hazan , who is one of the new members of the San Diego Unified School Board , and she has a background in early childhood education. So I was really eager to hear what she thought about how the transitional kindergarten rollout is going. And one thing that she said repeatedly is like like we were saying , there isn't a road map , meaning there has been no guidance from the state on what the curriculum should be for tech. So San Diego is working on its own , but they're not done yet. So you're saying they're still working on a curriculum for this grade ? But we have hundreds of kids in tech right now. Right ? Exactly right. All of this is being worked out as kids are going through the grade and this is their one shot at it. It's not like they'll do tech again next year when things are better sorted out. And Shanna Hasan acknowledges that. So I'm a mom and I know it's like everything we want. We wanted yesterday because time is of the essence when we're talking about our children and we're talking about students. Right. Every day matters. Every week matters. And saying , oh , well , next year. Well , next year isn't good enough for kids who are in that in that grade and in that class this year. And so I know that we are all going as fast as we can. And one other thing that's important to note. Hasan actually has a four year old daughter who is eligible for tech this year , but she didn't send her to a tech program at her public school. She kept her in her current preschool. Oh , wow. That's sort of telling. Did you ask her why ? Yes. Yes , I did. And she said , first of all , that she and her daughter just loved that preschool. And she said , you know , so if it's not broke , don't fix it. Right. But then she also said this. I did not know with confidence that putting her into a tech classroom in the district would provide that same environment and experience. And I think some of my concerns were , are we ready ? Do we have the facilities ? Do we have staff who are equipped ? A lot of the things that we've already talked to , I didn't have confidence in that as a parent , and I didn't want my child to be a guinea pig. And that's why I'm really committed to making sure that every single child has a good experience. And what I have heard from families is it was a little bumpy. But everybody all the feedback I have received is that kids are doing well , that things are falling into place. It shouldn't have to be bumpy. So , you know , first of all , it was striking to me that she said she didn't want her daughter to be a guinea pig. But then she said , which is what I've heard from parents as well , is that in the end , the tech teachers are working really hard and the overall experience has been positive despite all of these kind of bumps. And in the end , I asked Sheena Hasan if your daughter did go to tech this year. How do you think it would have gone ? And she said she thought it actually would have been fine. There are great things happening in our tech classrooms. We have wonderful educators who care deeply about our kids. We have not just one , but two wonderful educators in these classrooms. And we have a whole system that is committed to supporting the needs of these kids and getting it right. Claire TRAGESER , thank you so much for joining us and for following this issue. Yeah , thank you.

S1: That was Claire TRAGESER speaking with Debbie Cruz. Surfboards , model trains , aviation , and lots of fine art. Those are just some of the things to see and learn about during the month of February at a big discount. KPBS reporter John Carroll has more on Museum Month 2023.

S4: I met up with San Diego Museum Council executive director Bob Lehmann on a cool , sunny day in Balboa Park. Here's how he describes Museum Month. A lot of fun. That's what it's about. Of course , it's also about learning , seeing and experiencing new things or old things and new ways. The museums are really doing well after the pandemic. We have a lot of new exhibits and there's so many more museums participating. 15 more than last year for a total of 60 , all participating museums and cultural institutions across the county are offering half off admission for the next 28 days. Go to any library , pick up your museum pass. You can see a list of all the museums right there , Whatever part of the county you want to visit , there's so much to do. If you want to take in several museums in a day , Balboa Park is your place. There are 17 museums and cultural institutions there , but that leaves dozens more scattered across the county. Among the new participants is a place downtown , across the street from the Santa Fe depot. It's a museum like no other.

S5: My name is Jacobo Anderson , and I'm the director of the Brain Observatory.

S4: The museum is the brainchild of Jacobo A.C. For most of his career , he was a professor in residence at UC San Diego and the president and CEO for the Institute for Brain and Society. He says the idea of this combination brain research , lab and art gallery is to bring brain and society closer together.

S5: I felt like I was in the university setting , working behind closed doors , and I personally felt there was a lot of beauty and mystique in the work that we were doing because we work with real brains.

S4: The observatory just opened and NASA says it's still a work in progress , but several brains are already here. Brains donated by people whose life stories are well known to NASA.

S5: Donated by patients. Donated by people who had maybe a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Parkinson's. My specialty is brain imaging.

S4: NASA says most imaging work is an attempt to understand the characteristics of disease , how it manifests , how it progresses. But that work is typically done by researchers who don't have any idea about the details of a brain donor's life. NASA says putting those images together with a person's life story can lead to a clearer picture of the disease and perhaps one day to a cure.

S5: There is neuro art , so-called neuro art , which is making art out of brain images. And then there is the imagining. So from going from imaging to imagining , that's what artists do using introspection , using imagination. And I think that there is untapped potential in asking artists to team up with scientists to discover how their brain works. And it's very possible that if you don't make artists feel like intruders in your lab , they could actually contribute to with within sight.

S4: In the near future , NASA says you'll be able to watch researchers doing work on brains while at the same time seeing art informed by their work. Active elbow a park. And Bob Layman pointed out a new feature of this year's Museum month beginning on February six. You can either go online and download your pass , good for up to four people , or you can scan a QR code on the paper passes available at more than 80 libraries throughout the county. Then get ready for whatever museum experience you choose. What I encourage people to do is make a day of it. So if you're going to go someplace , are going to go up to Oceanside or go up to the San Diego Botanical Garden in Encinitas or plan to go to lunch , why you're going to do it or have a dinner. From brains to boats , trains to planes. You can find it all in museums and cultural institutions across San Diego County and all at a 50% discount. During Museum Month 2023. John Carroll , KPBS News.

S1: You're listening to KPBS Midday edition. I'm Jade Hindman. The Human Rights Watch Film Festival arrives in San Diego this Thursday for a week of screenings on topics around environmental justice , overcoming abuse and women's rights. The festival opens Thursday evening with a showing of the film Clarissa's Battle. It documents the tireless efforts of Clarissa Dao third as she works for increasing access to child care and early education for her East Bay community and beyond. Here's a clip from the film's trailer.

S2: It is time for a change. I'm tired of being tired. Of being tired of being tired. I am sick of being tired. No matter where your zip code is , no matter what school you sign up to. Every single child deserves to have the same quality education.

S1: I'm joined now by Clarissa Douthat , as well as the film's director , Tamara Perkins. Welcome to you both.

S2: Thank you. It's great to be here. Thank you.

S1: So , Clarissa , I'll start with you. Access to child care is a personal issue for you. Can you tell us about your own experience and how that moved you to become an advocate for better access to child care and early education ? Absolutely.

S2: My son was four months old and I needed to go back to work and I had no idea how to get help paying for it. But while looking for a job and then securing a part time job as we were trying to get stable housing and , you know , access nutritious food , I learned the actual cost of care and had a really difficult time finding programs that would help me pay for that. So I had no idea how I was going to pay $950 a month , which was what it was going to cost for my infant son to be cared for while I worked. And , you know , I living costs at that time were about $500 a month. So childcare alone was going to cost me twice as much. You know , I was working for $15 an hour , 15 hours a week , and it was a really impossible situation that made me incredibly angry. And I didn't know why there wasn't more outrage.

S1: So , Tamara , tell us more about why you wanted to tell this story and why Clarissa was such an important part of it for you.

S2: In some ways , you know , it's the same as what we were talking about the film. I was laid off at almost , almost nine months pregnant. I had made a plan to be a single mom by choice. I thought I was all set and then suddenly was thrown off this cliff. And when I was laid off and I was I was finally introduced to social services and figured out just getting through the birth , I realized that there was no way I could afford child care and actually look for a job while I was still just trying to heal and make it as a as a new a brand new mom on my own. So , yeah , I mean , I think that the big thing is that , you know , I , I found out about the childcare crisis by being in the temp care crisis myself and in meeting Clarissa. And I was just I felt so blown away by this this whole challenge and seeing what she was able to do as a single mom. I wanted to somehow be part of that in the way that I felt like I could contribute and maybe help make sure that more moms weren't in this situation or at least make sure that people were talking about it was to work together to tell this story.

S1: And Clarissa , you see this this crisis and this lack of childcare really as an example of public policy failures. Tell me about that.

S2: I definitely see this as a lack of prioritization for families , especially especially women of color , both on the accessibility of child care , families who are low income or even middle earning and can afford 3 to $6000 a month in care. And also the child care workers who are incredibly underpaid , whose labor is important to our economy and to our community , to the public health of our communities. And so we're in a situation where we have an underpaid workforce that our economy is reliant on , and then families who are really struggling , especially in places like the East Bay and California , and I'm sure many other communities where the cost of living has just shot up , where rents have shot up. And so our public policy has not. And really our investment , you know , our city , county and state budgets have not reflected the material needs of the community and what it costs to actually have , you know , thriving neighborhoods and healthy children. The other thing I just want to say is that for a long time and we addressed this a bit in the in the film , early care and education has been the landscape , the public policy landscape has been very white and very academic. It has not taken into consideration the experiences , the solutions and vision of black and brown women who are at the forefront of caregiving and childcare accessibility issues.

S1: Mm hmm. And with all of that , then you all created this film. To really document organizing efforts to push for legislative change in Alameda County. And , Tamara , tell me how you were able to tell that story through the lens.

S2: As Clarissa talks about often. I mean , there's so much of it that is meetings and hearings and a lot of things that maybe would seem boring from the outside , but I think are so important and I think are showing like how much time and effort goes into these these campaigns. I mean , we felt like we needed to show some of this on the ground organizing work and like just what it really takes. And then also , it was really important to me to really so Clarissa's journey , because she's a parent , she's executive director , running an organization , she's helping build a movement. And then a big thing that came up in the film is that the fact that we don't want to exploit children and families , we heard for a long time from folks that , you know , we want to see the children. Where are the children ? You know , this was something that that Clarissa and I talked about. And Sarah , our producer editor , we all kind of brainstormed to figure out how are we going to show this this side of the story that's so important and bring some of that that intimacy and understanding to the film. And the way we were able to do that was by using both diary cams and then paired that with animation. And it was it was a process. It took us about a year to find the right blend of the voiceover and animation. But really , it's one thing that we're all very proud of is that that intimacy comes through , and we've heard that from our family. For a parent , voices , leaders and other community leaders where we've shown the film that it honors the families and the children without that exploitive lens. My.

S1: My. And so the lockdowns also sort of were another piece to all this during the the peak of the coronavirus pandemic that happened. And it really challenged families when it came to child care and education.

S2: We I'm really grateful that the film was able to document this moment in history. Right. You know , we were at the tail end of a campaign and I won't give away film happens , but we were at this incredibly impactful and dynamic moment. I mean , just an incredible amount of energy because we had been working for almost a decade towards this goal of. You know , realizing expanded access to child care , health care and wages. And then the world shuts down. I think one of the most powerful things and demonstrations of real good organizing and community organizing and one of the most important ways that people can , I think , understand how powerful organizing can be , meaning , you know , developing relationships and leadership within the community and building relationships with each other to build power towards a goal of social change is that those relationships , if we are intentional about them , if we really seek to deepen them and to connect with each other through issues , those relationships carry us through things that cause collective trauma like a pandemic. And we got more focused and more activated actually during the pandemic and really learned the strength of collectively of the strength of our , you know , of what we're what we've been building.

S1: So this film , it's going to be shown this Thursday at the Museum of Photographic Arts , 6 p.m. here in San Diego. Tell us about the screening and what else you have planned.

S2: So , yes , we're really excited to open the Human Rights Watch Film Festival here in San Diego on Thursday. The reception at six and the film screening is at seven and we're going to have free childcare available with RSVP. We also have Spanish subtitles in the film Spanish interpretation for the panel , and I believe there's free tickets available and and you can email film ticket at h r w dot org. General public tickets are $10. We'll be joined by local early childhood education leaders from San Diego. And Clarissa and I will be there on the panel as well. You know , and this is really at the beginning of our National Impact campaign , we've been doing festivals and community screenings across the country , and we plan to continue having these screenings and bringing people together. We really see this film one , I think it's a beautiful story and Clarissa is incredible. She's compelling on screen as she is in person. So I'm very excited about the film , just as a beautiful piece of art , but it's also an organizing tool. And so this is one of the things that we want to be doing with the film as we move across the country and support both local efforts , regional efforts , and then moving into federal efforts.

S1: And I couldn't help noticing something huge. Clarissa , And that is that you all will be providing free child care for this screening. That's not something that's often offered for events like film screenings. I'm curious if you're surprised that child care is not offered more commonly in our society today.

S2: We absolutely need more inclusive spaces for families. It's really difficult to even be in other social justice movement spaces with our kids. And so as a value parent , voices across the board , you know , we always make sure that we have interpretation , that we have food for folks , that we are providing child care so that everyone can participate. And also it's just another way for our communities to get to know each other , for parents to build relationships with each other and break down that isolation. So we want to make sure everybody can come out. And having child care is definitely a way to open up more space and be more community friendly.

S1: I have been speaking with the director of the film Clarissa's Battle , Tamara Perkins , along with its title character Clarissa Third. Thank you both for joining us today.

S2: Thank you. Thank you for having us. Thank you.

S1: Clarissa , is battle will be showing at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park this Thursday , February 2nd at 6 p.m.. You can find more information at KPBS dot org.