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.
