window.__IS_SSR__=true
window.__INITIAL_STATE__={
"attachmentsReducer": {
"audio_0": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_0",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background0.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_1": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_1",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background1.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_2": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_2",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background2.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_3": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_3",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background3.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_4": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_4",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background4.jpg"
}
}
},
"placeholder": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "placeholder",
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 533,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-768x512.jpg",
"width": 768,
"height": 512,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 533,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"small": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"xlarge": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1280,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 32,
"height": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 50,
"height": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 64,
"height": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 96,
"height": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 128,
"height": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
}
}
},
"news_11987039": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11987039",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11987039",
"found": true
},
"title": "200529-GeorgeFloyd-BethLaBergeKQED",
"publishDate": 1716250889,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 12043745,
"modified": 1749661724,
"caption": "A demonstrator outside Oakland police headquarters on May 29 2020, carries a sign with the words, \"I can't breathe\" spoken by George Floyd, the man murdered on May 25, 2020, by police in Minneapolis.",
"credit": "Beth LaBerge/KQED",
"altTag": null,
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-04-BL-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 533,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-04-BL-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-04-BL-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-04-BL-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-04-BL-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-04-BL-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-04-BL-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1280,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-04-BL.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
}
},
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11986628": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11986628",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11986628",
"found": true
},
"title": "IMG_5293_qut",
"publishDate": 1715902650,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 11986615,
"modified": 1723152450,
"caption": "Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles), author of AB 3089, during an interview on KQED's Political Breakdown on Sept. 7, 2023 in Sacramento.",
"credit": "Guy Marzorati/KQED",
"altTag": "A man in a suite sits next to a microphone.",
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/IMG_5293_qut-800x521.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 521,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/IMG_5293_qut-1020x664.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 664,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/IMG_5293_qut-160x104.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 104,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/IMG_5293_qut-1536x1000.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1000,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/IMG_5293_qut-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/IMG_5293_qut-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/IMG_5293_qut.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1250
}
},
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11986229": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11986229",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11986229",
"found": true
},
"parent": 0,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-02-BL-KQED-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-02-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 107
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-02-BL-KQED-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-02-BL-KQED.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-02-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 680
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-02-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1024
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-02-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1280
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-02-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 533
}
},
"publishDate": 1715730712,
"modified": 1715818775,
"caption": "Janine Dictor (left) stands with her mother, Johanne Dictor, as she holds a photo of her great grandparents, Vito and Elizabeth Campilongo, on 59th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Oakland — in front of where the Campilongo's house stood before they sold it to BART.",
"description": null,
"title": "240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-02-BL-KQED",
"credit": "Beth LaBerge/KQED",
"status": "inherit",
"altTag": "A younger woman and an older woman stand in front of a train track, holding a black and white photo.",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11982734": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11982734",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11982734",
"found": true
},
"title": "CMReparations01",
"publishDate": 1712877840,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 11982724,
"modified": 1750184918,
"caption": "Assemblymember Isaac Bryan speaks during a press conference led by the California Legislative Black Caucus at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Feb. 21, 2024. ",
"credit": "Fred Greaves/CalMatters",
"altTag": null,
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/CMReparations01-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 533,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/CMReparations01-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/CMReparations01-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/CMReparations01-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/CMReparations01-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/CMReparations01-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/CMReparations01-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1280,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/CMReparations01.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
}
},
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11976639": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11976639",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11976639",
"found": true
},
"title": "California Reparations",
"publishDate": 1708556757,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 11976617,
"modified": 1712086259,
"caption": "From left, state Sen. Steven Bradford, Secretary of State Shirley Weber, task force member Lisa Holder and Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer hold up a final report of the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans during a hearing in Sacramento on June 29, 2023.",
"credit": "Haven Daley/AP",
"altTag": "A group of men and women pose for a photo onstage.",
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/AP24032786348814-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 533,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/AP24032786348814-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/AP24032786348814-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/AP24032786348814-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"2048x2048": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/AP24032786348814-2048x1365.jpg",
"width": 2048,
"height": 1365,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/AP24032786348814-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/AP24032786348814-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/AP24032786348814-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1280,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/AP24032786348814-scaled-e1760735466495.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1334
}
},
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11959230": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11959230",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11959230",
"found": true
},
"parent": 0,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-05-KQED-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-05-KQED-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 107
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-05-KQED-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-05-KQED.jpg?ver=1693078375",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-05-KQED-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 680
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-05-KQED-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1024
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-05-KQED-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1280
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-05-KQED-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 533
}
},
"publishDate": 1693001340,
"modified": 1708544900,
"caption": "Brandi Griffin (center), mother of Arnold Marcel Hawkins, expresses outrage over some of the charges being dropped against her son's alleged killers at a rally in front of the AF Bray Courthouse in Martinez on Aug. 25, 2023.",
"description": null,
"title": "230825-ANTIOCH RACIAL JUSTICE HEARING-MD-05-KQED",
"credit": "Martin do Nascimento/KQED",
"status": "inherit",
"altTag": "A person speaks emphatically while surrounded by a crowd in an outdoor setting.",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11952793": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11952793",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11952793",
"found": true
},
"title": "California Reparations Task Force meets to hear public input on reparations at the California Science Center in Los Angeles on Sept. 22, 2022.",
"publishDate": 1686590644,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 12046328,
"modified": 1751065072,
"caption": "Long-time Los Angeles resident Walter Foster, 80, holds up a sign as the Reparations Task Force listens to public input at the California Science Center in Los Angeles on Sept. 22, 2022.",
"credit": "Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images",
"altTag": "A man wearing a face mask holds a sign that reads \"World Leaders! Reparations for Slavery Now!\" in a crowd of people.",
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230612-Reparations-Getty-1243475910-KQED-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 533,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230612-Reparations-Getty-1243475910-KQED-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230612-Reparations-Getty-1243475910-KQED-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230612-Reparations-Getty-1243475910-KQED-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230612-Reparations-Getty-1243475910-KQED-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230612-Reparations-Getty-1243475910-KQED-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230612-Reparations-Getty-1243475910-KQED.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1280
}
},
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11974448": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11974448",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11974448",
"found": true
},
"parent": 11974445,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations01-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations01-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 107
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations01-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations01.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations01-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 680
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations01-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1024
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations01-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1280
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations01-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 533
}
},
"publishDate": 1706809467,
"modified": 1706815709,
"caption": "California State Sen. Steven Bradford (right) and Assemblymember Reginald Jones-Sawyer (left) during a Reparations Task Force Meeting at San Diego State on Jan. 28, 2023.",
"description": null,
"title": "CMReparations01",
"credit": "Ariana Drehsler/CalMatters",
"status": "inherit",
"altTag": "Two Black men in suits sit at a table with microphones, speaking to a room.",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11964882": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11964882",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11964882",
"found": true
},
"parent": 0,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/005_Sharon_230929_076-KQED-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/005_Sharon_230929_076-KQED-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 107
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/005_Sharon_230929_076-KQED-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/005_Sharon_230929_076-KQED.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1334
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/005_Sharon_230929_076-KQED-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 680
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/005_Sharon_230929_076-KQED-1536x1025.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1025
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/005_Sharon_230929_076-KQED-1920x1281.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1281
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/005_Sharon_230929_076-KQED-800x534.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 534
}
},
"publishDate": 1697647374,
"modified": 1698781596,
"caption": "Sharon Fennix at her home in Antioch on Sept. 29, 2023. While incarcerated in 2006, a doctor performed a procedure on Fennix called an endometrial ablation. The doctor did not inform Fennix that the procedure would damage her uterine lining, making pregnancy unlikely. ",
"description": null,
"title": "005_Sharon_230929_076-KQED",
"credit": "Courtesy of Florence Middleton",
"status": "inherit",
"altTag": "A person in a pink blouse sits outdoors.",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11965719": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11965719",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11965719",
"found": true
},
"parent": 0,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/IMG_0468-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/IMG_0468-160x103.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 103
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/IMG_0468-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/IMG_0468.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1240
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/IMG_0468-1020x659.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 659
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/IMG_0468-1536x992.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 992
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/IMG_0468-800x517.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 517
}
},
"publishDate": 1698358651,
"modified": 1698360929,
"caption": "The clock is ticking for those forcibly sterilized in California prisons to apply for reparations. An estimated 20,000 incarcerated people endured non-consensual sterilizations from 1909 to 1979, with an additional 100 in the early 2000s. While $4.5 million awaits survivors, applications remain scarce. The closing date is Dec. 31.",
"description": null,
"title": "IMG_0468",
"credit": "Anna Vignet/KQED",
"status": "inherit",
"altTag": "A graphic illustration of a clock ticking while someone's hand is seen holding a carnation.",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11960807": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11960807",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11960807",
"found": true
},
"parent": 0,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-019-BL-KQED-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-019-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 107
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-019-BL-KQED-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-019-BL-KQED.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-019-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 680
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-019-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1024
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-019-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1280
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-019-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 533
}
},
"publishDate": 1694540028,
"modified": 1694644463,
"caption": "Mattie Scott, a resident and board president of Freedom West Housing Corporation, stands in the housing cooperative in the Fillmore District on Sept. 11, 2023.",
"description": null,
"title": "230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-019-BL-KQED",
"credit": "Beth LaBerge/KQED",
"status": "inherit",
"altTag": "An older African American woman stands in front of a residential building, looking at the camera.",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
}
},
"audioPlayerReducer": {
"postId": "stream_live",
"isPaused": true,
"isPlaying": false,
"pfsActive": false,
"pledgeModalIsOpen": true,
"playerDrawerIsOpen": false,
"liveAudioPlayStartedAt": 0,
"liveAudioPlayContext": ""
},
"authorsReducer": {
"byline_news_11982724": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_news_11982724",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_news_11982724",
"name": "\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/wendy-fry/\">Wendy Fry\u003c/a>",
"isLoading": false
},
"byline_news_11974445": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_news_11974445",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_news_11974445",
"name": "\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/wendy-fry/\">Wendy Fry\u003c/a>\u003cbr>",
"isLoading": false
},
"byline_news_11965926": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_news_11965926",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_news_11965926",
"name": "\u003ca href=\"https://caylamihalovich.com/\">Cayla Mihalovich\u003c/a>",
"isLoading": false
},
"gmarzorati": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "227",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "227",
"found": true
},
"name": "Guy Marzorati",
"firstName": "Guy",
"lastName": "Marzorati",
"slug": "gmarzorati",
"email": "gmarzorati@KQED.org",
"display_author_email": true,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "Correspondent",
"bio": "Guy Marzorati is a correspondent on KQED's California Politics and Government Desk, based in San Jose. A graduate of Santa Clara University, Guy joined KQED in 2013. He reports on state and local politics and produces KQED's digital voter guide.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e7038b8dbfd55b104369b76b1cd0b9de?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": "guymarzorati",
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "science",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "forum",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "elections",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "liveblog",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Guy Marzorati | KQED",
"description": "Correspondent",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e7038b8dbfd55b104369b76b1cd0b9de?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e7038b8dbfd55b104369b76b1cd0b9de?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/gmarzorati"
},
"scottshafer": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "255",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "255",
"found": true
},
"name": "Scott Shafer",
"firstName": "Scott",
"lastName": "Shafer",
"slug": "scottshafer",
"email": "sshafer@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "KQED Contributor",
"bio": "Scott Shafer is a senior editor with the KQED Politics and Government desk. He is co-host of Political Breakdown, the award-winning radio show and podcast with a personal take on the world of politics. Scott came to KQED in 1998 to host the statewide\u003cem> California Report\u003c/em>. Prior to that he had extended stints in politics and government\u003cem>.\u003c/em> He uses that inside experience at KQED in his, reporting, hosting and analysis for the politics desk. Scott collaborated \u003cem>Political Breakdown a\u003c/em>nd on \u003cem>The Political Mind of Jerry Brown, \u003c/em>an eight-part series about the life and extraordinary political career of the former governor. For fun, he plays water polo with the San Francisco Tsunami.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a62ebae45b79d7aed1a39a0e3bf68104?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": "scottshafer",
"bluesky": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "stateofhealth",
"roles": [
"author"
]
},
{
"site": "science",
"roles": [
"author"
]
},
{
"site": "forum",
"roles": [
"subscriber"
]
},
{
"site": "liveblog",
"roles": [
"author"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Scott Shafer | KQED",
"description": "KQED Contributor",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a62ebae45b79d7aed1a39a0e3bf68104?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a62ebae45b79d7aed1a39a0e3bf68104?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/scottshafer"
},
"blaberge": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "11667",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "11667",
"found": true
},
"name": "Beth LaBerge",
"firstName": "Beth",
"lastName": "LaBerge",
"slug": "blaberge",
"email": "blaberge@KQED.org",
"display_author_email": true,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "Photographer, News",
"bio": "Beth LaBerge is a visual journalist for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news\">KQED News\u003c/a>.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ce49ecd7a1306685637b45a1f6f5dedfc4ae9481966eb596fea5160466dd6319?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": null,
"bluesky": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": "https://www.instagram.com/bethlaberge/",
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "arts",
"roles": [
"editor",
"manage_categories"
]
},
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"editor",
"edit_plugins",
"manage_categories"
]
},
{
"site": "science",
"roles": [
"editor",
"contributor",
"author",
"manage_categories"
]
},
{
"site": "perspectives",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "liveblog",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Beth LaBerge | KQED",
"description": "Photographer, News",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ce49ecd7a1306685637b45a1f6f5dedfc4ae9481966eb596fea5160466dd6319?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ce49ecd7a1306685637b45a1f6f5dedfc4ae9481966eb596fea5160466dd6319?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/blaberge"
},
"otaylor": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "11770",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "11770",
"found": true
},
"name": "Otis R. Taylor Jr.",
"firstName": "Otis R.",
"lastName": "Taylor Jr.",
"slug": "otaylor",
"email": "otaylor@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "KQED Editor",
"bio": null,
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/fe73e14d4842ac8e1c03d57def2530f57f1c5b0ca7d4a987ccc5bd90956cb7c6?s=600&d=mm&r=g",
"twitter": "otisrtaylorjr",
"bluesky": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "arts",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"subscriber"
]
},
{
"site": "science",
"roles": [
"subscriber"
]
},
{
"site": "liveblog",
"roles": [
"subscriber"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Otis R. Taylor Jr. | KQED",
"description": "KQED Editor",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/fe73e14d4842ac8e1c03d57def2530f57f1c5b0ca7d4a987ccc5bd90956cb7c6?s=600&d=mm&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/fe73e14d4842ac8e1c03d57def2530f57f1c5b0ca7d4a987ccc5bd90956cb7c6?s=600&d=mm&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/otaylor"
},
"afinney": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "11772",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "11772",
"found": true
},
"name": "Annelise Finney",
"firstName": "Annelise",
"lastName": "Finney",
"slug": "afinney",
"email": "afinney@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": true,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "Reporter",
"bio": "Annelise reports on reparations in California and East Bay politics. She co-produced the Sunday Music Drop, a limited-term radio series featuring Bay Area musicians that aired between Sept 2022 and Oct 2024. She joined KQED in 2021 as a general assignment reporter and is an alumna of KALW's Audio Academy. She was born and raised in the East Bay. She is currently away from KQED completing a year-long reporting project in Berlin, Germany as a Alexander Von Humboldt German Chancellor Fellow.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/5fded66cae47704cdfc5021cde0f3aa4?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "liveblog",
"roles": [
"author"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Annelise Finney | KQED",
"description": "Reporter",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/5fded66cae47704cdfc5021cde0f3aa4?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/5fded66cae47704cdfc5021cde0f3aa4?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/afinney"
},
"adahlstromeckman": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "11785",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "11785",
"found": true
},
"name": "Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman",
"firstName": "Azul",
"lastName": "Dahlstrom-Eckman",
"slug": "adahlstromeckman",
"email": "adahlstrom-eckman@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": true,
"staff_mastheads": [],
"title": "Reporter",
"bio": "Azul is a reporter for KQED focusing on transportation and features. He joined KQED in 2021 as an alumna of KALW's Audio Academy radio journalism training program.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/9cb750298435add7815a777f55bf1f46845c1386bb8452555c60a7b820b5aba3?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": "@zuliemann",
"bluesky": "@azul415.bsky.social",
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "arts",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "science",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "liveblog",
"roles": [
"author"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman | KQED",
"description": "Reporter",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/9cb750298435add7815a777f55bf1f46845c1386bb8452555c60a7b820b5aba3?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/9cb750298435add7815a777f55bf1f46845c1386bb8452555c60a7b820b5aba3?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/adahlstromeckman"
},
"sjohnson": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "11840",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "11840",
"found": true
},
"name": "Sydney Johnson",
"firstName": "Sydney",
"lastName": "Johnson",
"slug": "sjohnson",
"email": "sjohnson@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "KQED Reporter",
"bio": "Sydney Johnson is a general assignment reporter at KQED. She previously reported on public health and city government at the San Francisco Examiner, and before that, she covered statewide education policy for EdSource. Her reporting has won multiple local, state and national awards. Sydney is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and lives in San Francisco.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/97855f2719b72ad6190b7c535fe642c8?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": "sydneyfjohnson",
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Sydney Johnson | KQED",
"description": "KQED Reporter",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/97855f2719b72ad6190b7c535fe642c8?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/97855f2719b72ad6190b7c535fe642c8?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/sjohnson"
}
},
"pagesReducer": {
"news_tag_california-reparations": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_30652",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "30652",
"score": 9.553477
},
"featImg": null,
"name": "california-reparations",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "california-reparations Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 30669,
"slug": "california-reparations",
"isLoading": false,
"title": "california-reparations",
"pageMeta": {
"site": "news",
"WpPageTemplate": "page-topic-editorial",
"currentPage": 4
},
"blocks": [
{
"blockName": "kqed/post-list",
"attrs": {
"layout": "cardArticle2",
"query": "posts/news?tag=california-reparations",
"seeMore": false,
"paginated": true,
"page": 4
}
},
{
"blockName": "kqed/ad"
}
]
}
},
"pfsSessionReducer": {},
"postsReducer": {
"stream_live": {
"type": "live",
"id": "stream_live",
"audioUrl": "https://streams.kqed.org/kqedradio",
"title": "Live Stream",
"excerpt": "Live Stream information currently unavailable.",
"link": "/radio",
"featImg": "",
"label": {
"name": "KQED Live",
"link": "/"
}
},
"stream_kqedNewscast": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "stream_kqedNewscast",
"audioUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/RDnews/newscast.mp3?_=1",
"title": "KQED Newscast",
"featImg": "",
"label": {
"name": "88.5 FM",
"link": "/"
}
},
"news_11987911": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11987911",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11987911",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1716980446000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "how-george-floyds-murder-ignited-solidarity-in-the-streets-and-californias-reparations-movement",
"title": "How George Floyd's Murder Ignited Solidarity in the Streets and California's Reparations Movement",
"publishDate": 1716980446,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "How George Floyd’s Murder Ignited Solidarity in the Streets and California’s Reparations Movement | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 34369,
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>Four years ago, I was sitting on a bench in downtown Oakland when sign-carrying people began gathering at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza near Oakland City Hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To some, the plaza, symbolically renamed for Oscar Grant during the 2011 Occupy Oakland demonstrations, is a place of resistance. Grant, a Black man who was fatally shot by a BART police officer on the Fruitvale Station platform on Jan. 1, 2009, wasn’t the first Black person brutalized by police officers in a video that played on an inescapable loop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That ignominious distinction belongs to Rodney King, whose vicious beating by baton-swinging Los Angeles police officers was captured by a camcorder and became a nightly presence on the news. Grant was the first of the social media era.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987038\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11987038\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-03-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-03-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-03-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-03-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-03-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-03-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-03-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Demonstrators march on Broadway in Oakland on May 29, 2020, during a protest over the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On May 29, 2020, the people came to protest the death of George Floyd, a Black man murdered by police in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. The agonizing final minutes of his life, recorded by a bystander and shared on social media, sparked nationwide uprisings not seen in America since 1967 when outrage over racial injustices boiled over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though the social unrest was more than a half-century apart, the catalyst was the same: police brutality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Bay Area, the protests began peacefully.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987069\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11987069 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/009_KQED_Oakland_BriannaNoble_05292020.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/009_KQED_Oakland_BriannaNoble_05292020.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/009_KQED_Oakland_BriannaNoble_05292020-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/009_KQED_Oakland_BriannaNoble_05292020-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/009_KQED_Oakland_BriannaNoble_05292020-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/009_KQED_Oakland_BriannaNoble_05292020-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brianna Noble rides her horse, Dapper Dan, alongside demonstrators on Broadway in Oakland on May 29, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In Oakland four years ago, the energy was palpable. And that was before \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11822227/oaklands-protest-rider-on-why-she-took-to-horseback-for-george-floyd\">Brianna Noble showed up in style on a horse\u003c/a>. My colleague, Beth LaBerge, took one of the photos of Noble that went viral as Noble led the march down Broadway. Anchored by LaBerge’s photos, this commentary documents the Oakland protests and examines what resulted from the weeks of racial uprisings that swept the Bay Area, California and America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Highways were shut down as peaceful protesters voiced their frustrations. People shouted, “Hands up, don’t shoot,” and “I can’t breathe” as they marched. They demanded a portion of city budgets reserved for policing be instead earmarked for community programs to address systemic issues such as poor schools, income inequality and the lack of opportunities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most people wore masks because the pandemic was raging. But get this: the crowds were a representation of America, as Black, white, Latino and Asian people marched shoulder-to-shoulder for racial justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The response by police — pepper spray, rubber bullets and baton swipes — caused frustration to erupt into vandalism and theft. Storefront windows were broken, and buildings and cars were set on fire. This was the racial reckoning America needed, I thought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987040\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11987040\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-30-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-30-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-30-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-30-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-30-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-30-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-30-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Police fire tear gas to disperse demonstrators on Broadway near the Oakland police headquarters on May 29, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987041\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11987041\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-13-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-13-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-13-BL-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-13-BL-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-13-BL-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-13-BL-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-13-BL-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Demonstrators break the windows of a Walgreens in downtown Oakland on May 29, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987042\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1990px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11987042\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-21-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1990\" height=\"1326\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-21-BL.jpg 1990w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-21-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-21-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-21-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-21-BL-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-21-BL-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1990px) 100vw, 1990px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: A fire burns during protests in downtown Oakland on May 29, 2020. Right: Police clash with protesters in downtown Oakland during a protest over the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Instead of reserving ire for looters, I urge you to question the system that’s historically refused to acknowledge human rights violations until property is damaged,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/otisrtaylorjr/article/Angry-about-looters-Redirect-rage-toward-15323248.php\">I wrote in a column\u003c/a> for the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>, my employer then. “Sadly, the brutalization of Black and brown people doesn’t get the same attention as looting does. But when cities burn, elected officials listen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One elected official did more than listen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The social upheaval from four years ago provided the legislative support for Assembly Bill 3121, which created a task force to study and develop reparation proposals for African Americans. It was introduced by then-Assemblymember Shirley Weber in February 2020. The bill was enacted on Sept. 30, 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just knew that we had had enough conversation in the nation about reparations at the federal level that it wasn’t going to happen immediately,” Weber, who was appointed secretary of state in December 2020, told me in 2022. “I didn’t ask permission from anybody. I didn’t coordinate and collaborate. I informed the Black Caucus what I was doing. I didn’t even ask their permission.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11948198/examining-reparations-and-the-historical-harms-of-slavery-and-racism-in-california\">The California Reparations Task Force\u003c/a>, the first statewide body to study reparations, wasn’t a performative gesture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know the damage has been done,” Weber said. “So I didn’t want to spend my years talking about whether there was or not damage. We needed to talk about how much was done and what we need to do to rectify it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weber continued: “I knew I could get it through California. And I knew once I got it on the governor’s desk, we could get the necessary people to basically support it. And he would, too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987942\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11987942\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/010_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/010_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/010_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/010_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022_qut-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/010_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/010_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022_qut-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Members of the California Reparations Task Force listen to public comment during their first in-person meeting on April 14, 2022, at the Third Baptist Church in San Francisco’s Fillmore District. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987941\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11987941\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/014_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForceSac_03032023-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/014_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForceSac_03032023-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/014_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForceSac_03032023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/014_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForceSac_03032023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/014_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForceSac_03032023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/014_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForceSac_03032023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/014_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForceSac_03032023-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/014_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForceSac_03032023-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People line up to speak during public comment during a California Reparations Task Force meeting in Sacramento on March 3, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last June, the task force released a \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/ab3121/report\">1,000-page report\u003c/a> on how the state government had supported slavery and dozens of discriminatory laws. The report included more than 100 recommendations to right the wrongs instituted in the past and continue today. In January, the California Legislative Black Caucus introduced \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11976617/state-lawmakers-propose-14-bills-to-provide-reparations-for-black-californians\">14 reparations bills\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, the state Assembly passed a bill \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11986615/state-assembly-passes-bill-apologizing-for-californias-role-in-supporting-slavery\">apologizing for California’s role in supporting slavery\u003c/a>. We need more than an apology, but I’ll save the argument for another column.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At KQED, my colleagues, including Guy Marzorati, Annelise Finney, Lakshmi Sarah, Manjula Varghese, LaBerge and others, have been chronicling the reparations movement. With our \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11981271/track-the-success-of-californias-14-reparations-bills-for-black-residents\">reparations tracker\u003c/a>, we’re keeping tabs on the bills as they move through the Assembly and the Senate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2021, the state passed historic legislation that provided financial reparations to people who were forcibly or involuntarily sterilized while incarcerated in state prisons after 1979 or at state-run hospitals, homes and institutions during the eugenics era between 1909 and 1979. While the legislation had nothing to do with the reparations task force, it does offer a window into how reparations might be widely provided.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s why we’re investigating how the state is rolling out reparations for people who were \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11965926/survivors-of-californias-forced-sterilization-denied-reparations\">forcibly sterilized\u003c/a>. Among the applicants who volunteered their demographic information, the majority self-identified as Black or African American. Of the almost 600 people who applied, roughly \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11965926/survivors-of-californias-forced-sterilization-denied-reparations\">70% were denied reparations\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In February, a Contra Costa County superior court judge \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11975584/californias-groundbreaking-racial-justice-act-cuts-its-teeth-in-contra-costa\">threw out sentence enhancements in a criminal case\u003c/a> where Antioch police officers sent racist text messages about four men accused of murder. It was the second time the judge ruled that anti-Black bias had shaped elements of the case, which Antioch officers investigated. The defendants used the Racial Justice Act, a state law enacted in 2020 that was designed to eliminate racial bias by empowering defendants to challenge racism in the justice system. Strengthening the act was part of the state reparations task force’s recommendations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It seems like Floyd’s death indeed sparked a national reckoning on racism — until we look at the backlash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987054\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11987054\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/032_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/032_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/032_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/032_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/032_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/032_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adrianna Mitchell speaks into a megaphone while marching with friends Akilah Walker and Kadeem Ali Harris during a Juneteenth rally in Oakland on June 19, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987055\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11987055\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200619-GeorgeFloyd-02-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200619-GeorgeFloyd-02-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200619-GeorgeFloyd-02-BL-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200619-GeorgeFloyd-02-BL-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200619-GeorgeFloyd-02-BL-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200619-GeorgeFloyd-02-BL-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200619-GeorgeFloyd-02-BL-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Political activist, scholar and author Angela Davis speaks at a Juneteenth demonstration near the Port of Oakland on June 19, 2020. Right: Paul Williams’ five children, ages 4 to 13, sit on the hood of a car during a Juneteenth rally in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Critical Race Theory, an academic concept that posits race as a social concept embedded in legal systems and policies, has been villainized. So has DEI, the programs and strategies that promote diversity, equity and inclusion. In some states, the teaching of Black history has come under fire. In so-called progressive cities like Oakland, tough-on-crime rhetoric has handcuffed political races and spread fear even as \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/eastbay/article/oakland-crime-rate-down-19429327.php\">crime is declining\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sarah Jackson, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication who studies how media, journalism and technology are used by and represent marginalized people, told me that a propagandistic success of people clinging desperately to white supremacy was labeling people who want to talk about race as racist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is the responsibility of folks that are committed to those ideals to be having hard conversations about issues that affect everyone dearly,” she told me in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Jackson pointed out to me, the issues that affect Black Americans are often the same that affect others, including white people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want good schools. We want good jobs. Everybody wants that stuff,” she said. “But some of those things are unique, like police brutality, like reparations, like some of these other issues that many media institutions and many members of the public just aren’t used to having to talk about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Four years after Floyd’s death, I’m still waiting for America to have a lasting, open discussion about race that goes beyond apologies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987043\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11987043\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200603-GeorgeFloyd-01-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200603-GeorgeFloyd-01-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200603-GeorgeFloyd-01-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200603-GeorgeFloyd-01-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200603-GeorgeFloyd-01-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200603-GeorgeFloyd-01-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200603-GeorgeFloyd-01-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ashley Williams and Dujuanna Archable stand during a protest against police violence at 14th and Broadway in Oakland on June 3, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987050\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11987050\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/029_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/029_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/029_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/029_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/029_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/029_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/029_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/029_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Demonstrators mark Juneteenth with a march from the Port of Oakland to Downtown Oakland on June 19, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Editor’s note: Because of an editing error, an earlier version misstated when AB 3121 was introduced to the state Assembly. It was before the death of George Floyd. The subsequent uprising spurred the passage of the legislation. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "Through personal essay and striking photography, KQED’s Otis R. Taylor Jr. and Beth LaBerge reflect on the Bay Area and nationwide protests that led to the creation of California’s reparations task force following George Floyd's murder in May 2020.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1725920228,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 33,
"wordCount": 1695
},
"headData": {
"title": "How George Floyd's Murder Ignited Solidarity in the Streets and California's Reparations Movement | KQED",
"description": "Through personal essay and striking photography, KQED’s Otis R. Taylor Jr. and Beth LaBerge reflect on the Bay Area and nationwide protests that led to the creation of California’s reparations task force following George Floyd's murder in May 2020.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "How George Floyd's Murder Ignited Solidarity in the Streets and California's Reparations Movement",
"datePublished": "2024-05-29T04:00:46-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-09T15:17:08-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"sticky": false,
"nprStoryId": "kqed-11987911",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11987911/how-george-floyds-murder-ignited-solidarity-in-the-streets-and-californias-reparations-movement",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Four years ago, I was sitting on a bench in downtown Oakland when sign-carrying people began gathering at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza near Oakland City Hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To some, the plaza, symbolically renamed for Oscar Grant during the 2011 Occupy Oakland demonstrations, is a place of resistance. Grant, a Black man who was fatally shot by a BART police officer on the Fruitvale Station platform on Jan. 1, 2009, wasn’t the first Black person brutalized by police officers in a video that played on an inescapable loop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That ignominious distinction belongs to Rodney King, whose vicious beating by baton-swinging Los Angeles police officers was captured by a camcorder and became a nightly presence on the news. Grant was the first of the social media era.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987038\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11987038\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-03-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-03-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-03-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-03-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-03-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-03-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-03-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Demonstrators march on Broadway in Oakland on May 29, 2020, during a protest over the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On May 29, 2020, the people came to protest the death of George Floyd, a Black man murdered by police in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. The agonizing final minutes of his life, recorded by a bystander and shared on social media, sparked nationwide uprisings not seen in America since 1967 when outrage over racial injustices boiled over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though the social unrest was more than a half-century apart, the catalyst was the same: police brutality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Bay Area, the protests began peacefully.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987069\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11987069 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/009_KQED_Oakland_BriannaNoble_05292020.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/009_KQED_Oakland_BriannaNoble_05292020.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/009_KQED_Oakland_BriannaNoble_05292020-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/009_KQED_Oakland_BriannaNoble_05292020-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/009_KQED_Oakland_BriannaNoble_05292020-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/009_KQED_Oakland_BriannaNoble_05292020-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brianna Noble rides her horse, Dapper Dan, alongside demonstrators on Broadway in Oakland on May 29, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In Oakland four years ago, the energy was palpable. And that was before \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11822227/oaklands-protest-rider-on-why-she-took-to-horseback-for-george-floyd\">Brianna Noble showed up in style on a horse\u003c/a>. My colleague, Beth LaBerge, took one of the photos of Noble that went viral as Noble led the march down Broadway. Anchored by LaBerge’s photos, this commentary documents the Oakland protests and examines what resulted from the weeks of racial uprisings that swept the Bay Area, California and America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Highways were shut down as peaceful protesters voiced their frustrations. People shouted, “Hands up, don’t shoot,” and “I can’t breathe” as they marched. They demanded a portion of city budgets reserved for policing be instead earmarked for community programs to address systemic issues such as poor schools, income inequality and the lack of opportunities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most people wore masks because the pandemic was raging. But get this: the crowds were a representation of America, as Black, white, Latino and Asian people marched shoulder-to-shoulder for racial justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The response by police — pepper spray, rubber bullets and baton swipes — caused frustration to erupt into vandalism and theft. Storefront windows were broken, and buildings and cars were set on fire. This was the racial reckoning America needed, I thought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987040\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11987040\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-30-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-30-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-30-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-30-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-30-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-30-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-30-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Police fire tear gas to disperse demonstrators on Broadway near the Oakland police headquarters on May 29, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987041\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11987041\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-13-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-13-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-13-BL-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-13-BL-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-13-BL-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-13-BL-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-13-BL-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Demonstrators break the windows of a Walgreens in downtown Oakland on May 29, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987042\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1990px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11987042\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-21-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1990\" height=\"1326\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-21-BL.jpg 1990w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-21-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-21-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-21-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-21-BL-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200529-GeorgeFloyd-21-BL-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1990px) 100vw, 1990px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: A fire burns during protests in downtown Oakland on May 29, 2020. Right: Police clash with protesters in downtown Oakland during a protest over the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Instead of reserving ire for looters, I urge you to question the system that’s historically refused to acknowledge human rights violations until property is damaged,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/otisrtaylorjr/article/Angry-about-looters-Redirect-rage-toward-15323248.php\">I wrote in a column\u003c/a> for the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>, my employer then. “Sadly, the brutalization of Black and brown people doesn’t get the same attention as looting does. But when cities burn, elected officials listen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One elected official did more than listen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The social upheaval from four years ago provided the legislative support for Assembly Bill 3121, which created a task force to study and develop reparation proposals for African Americans. It was introduced by then-Assemblymember Shirley Weber in February 2020. The bill was enacted on Sept. 30, 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just knew that we had had enough conversation in the nation about reparations at the federal level that it wasn’t going to happen immediately,” Weber, who was appointed secretary of state in December 2020, told me in 2022. “I didn’t ask permission from anybody. I didn’t coordinate and collaborate. I informed the Black Caucus what I was doing. I didn’t even ask their permission.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11948198/examining-reparations-and-the-historical-harms-of-slavery-and-racism-in-california\">The California Reparations Task Force\u003c/a>, the first statewide body to study reparations, wasn’t a performative gesture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know the damage has been done,” Weber said. “So I didn’t want to spend my years talking about whether there was or not damage. We needed to talk about how much was done and what we need to do to rectify it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weber continued: “I knew I could get it through California. And I knew once I got it on the governor’s desk, we could get the necessary people to basically support it. And he would, too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987942\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11987942\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/010_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/010_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/010_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/010_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022_qut-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/010_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/010_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04132022_qut-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Members of the California Reparations Task Force listen to public comment during their first in-person meeting on April 14, 2022, at the Third Baptist Church in San Francisco’s Fillmore District. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987941\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11987941\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/014_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForceSac_03032023-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/014_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForceSac_03032023-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/014_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForceSac_03032023-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/014_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForceSac_03032023-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/014_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForceSac_03032023-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/014_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForceSac_03032023-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/014_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForceSac_03032023-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/014_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForceSac_03032023-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People line up to speak during public comment during a California Reparations Task Force meeting in Sacramento on March 3, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last June, the task force released a \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/ab3121/report\">1,000-page report\u003c/a> on how the state government had supported slavery and dozens of discriminatory laws. The report included more than 100 recommendations to right the wrongs instituted in the past and continue today. In January, the California Legislative Black Caucus introduced \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11976617/state-lawmakers-propose-14-bills-to-provide-reparations-for-black-californians\">14 reparations bills\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, the state Assembly passed a bill \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11986615/state-assembly-passes-bill-apologizing-for-californias-role-in-supporting-slavery\">apologizing for California’s role in supporting slavery\u003c/a>. We need more than an apology, but I’ll save the argument for another column.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At KQED, my colleagues, including Guy Marzorati, Annelise Finney, Lakshmi Sarah, Manjula Varghese, LaBerge and others, have been chronicling the reparations movement. With our \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11981271/track-the-success-of-californias-14-reparations-bills-for-black-residents\">reparations tracker\u003c/a>, we’re keeping tabs on the bills as they move through the Assembly and the Senate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2021, the state passed historic legislation that provided financial reparations to people who were forcibly or involuntarily sterilized while incarcerated in state prisons after 1979 or at state-run hospitals, homes and institutions during the eugenics era between 1909 and 1979. While the legislation had nothing to do with the reparations task force, it does offer a window into how reparations might be widely provided.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s why we’re investigating how the state is rolling out reparations for people who were \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11965926/survivors-of-californias-forced-sterilization-denied-reparations\">forcibly sterilized\u003c/a>. Among the applicants who volunteered their demographic information, the majority self-identified as Black or African American. Of the almost 600 people who applied, roughly \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11965926/survivors-of-californias-forced-sterilization-denied-reparations\">70% were denied reparations\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In February, a Contra Costa County superior court judge \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11975584/californias-groundbreaking-racial-justice-act-cuts-its-teeth-in-contra-costa\">threw out sentence enhancements in a criminal case\u003c/a> where Antioch police officers sent racist text messages about four men accused of murder. It was the second time the judge ruled that anti-Black bias had shaped elements of the case, which Antioch officers investigated. The defendants used the Racial Justice Act, a state law enacted in 2020 that was designed to eliminate racial bias by empowering defendants to challenge racism in the justice system. Strengthening the act was part of the state reparations task force’s recommendations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It seems like Floyd’s death indeed sparked a national reckoning on racism — until we look at the backlash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987054\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11987054\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/032_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/032_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/032_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/032_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/032_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/032_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adrianna Mitchell speaks into a megaphone while marching with friends Akilah Walker and Kadeem Ali Harris during a Juneteenth rally in Oakland on June 19, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987055\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11987055\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200619-GeorgeFloyd-02-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200619-GeorgeFloyd-02-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200619-GeorgeFloyd-02-BL-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200619-GeorgeFloyd-02-BL-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200619-GeorgeFloyd-02-BL-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200619-GeorgeFloyd-02-BL-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200619-GeorgeFloyd-02-BL-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Political activist, scholar and author Angela Davis speaks at a Juneteenth demonstration near the Port of Oakland on June 19, 2020. Right: Paul Williams’ five children, ages 4 to 13, sit on the hood of a car during a Juneteenth rally in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Critical Race Theory, an academic concept that posits race as a social concept embedded in legal systems and policies, has been villainized. So has DEI, the programs and strategies that promote diversity, equity and inclusion. In some states, the teaching of Black history has come under fire. In so-called progressive cities like Oakland, tough-on-crime rhetoric has handcuffed political races and spread fear even as \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/eastbay/article/oakland-crime-rate-down-19429327.php\">crime is declining\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sarah Jackson, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication who studies how media, journalism and technology are used by and represent marginalized people, told me that a propagandistic success of people clinging desperately to white supremacy was labeling people who want to talk about race as racist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is the responsibility of folks that are committed to those ideals to be having hard conversations about issues that affect everyone dearly,” she told me in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Jackson pointed out to me, the issues that affect Black Americans are often the same that affect others, including white people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want good schools. We want good jobs. Everybody wants that stuff,” she said. “But some of those things are unique, like police brutality, like reparations, like some of these other issues that many media institutions and many members of the public just aren’t used to having to talk about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Four years after Floyd’s death, I’m still waiting for America to have a lasting, open discussion about race that goes beyond apologies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987043\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11987043\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200603-GeorgeFloyd-01-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200603-GeorgeFloyd-01-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200603-GeorgeFloyd-01-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200603-GeorgeFloyd-01-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200603-GeorgeFloyd-01-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200603-GeorgeFloyd-01-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/200603-GeorgeFloyd-01-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ashley Williams and Dujuanna Archable stand during a protest against police violence at 14th and Broadway in Oakland on June 3, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11987050\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11987050\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/029_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/029_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/029_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/029_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/029_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/029_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/029_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/029_KQED_Oakland_Juneteenth_06192020-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Demonstrators mark Juneteenth with a march from the Port of Oakland to Downtown Oakland on June 19, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Editor’s note: Because of an editing error, an earlier version misstated when AB 3121 was introduced to the state Assembly. It was before the death of George Floyd. The subsequent uprising spurred the passage of the legislation. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11987911/how-george-floyds-murder-ignited-solidarity-in-the-streets-and-californias-reparations-movement",
"authors": [
"11770",
"11667"
],
"series": [
"news_34369"
],
"categories": [
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_30345",
"news_30652",
"news_27626",
"news_28031",
"news_28248",
"news_2672",
"news_22050",
"news_2923"
],
"featImg": "news_11987039",
"label": "news_34369"
},
"news_11986615": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11986615",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11986615",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1715904211000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "state-assembly-passes-bill-apologizing-for-californias-role-in-supporting-slavery",
"title": "State Assembly Passes Bill Apologizing for California's Role in Supporting Slavery",
"publishDate": 1715904211,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "State Assembly Passes Bill Apologizing for California’s Role in Supporting Slavery | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 34369,
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>California’s state Assembly voted Thursday to offer a formal apology for the state’s role in supporting chattel slavery, marking a key milestone in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/reparations\">first-in-the-nation effort to provide state-level reparations\u003c/a> to Black Californians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea for an apology was born from the state’s Reparations Task Force, which studied the harms committed by the state government against Black residents and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11981271/track-the-success-of-californias-14-reparations-bills-for-black-residents\">published dozens of policy recommendations for the Legislature\u003c/a>. The apology bill, Assembly Bill 3089, requires an acknowledgment of the actions of members of the state’s government in advancing slavery and decades of discriminatory policies — and requires a plaque memorializing the apology to be installed at the state Capitol.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We cannot possibly move forward without acknowledging our role in evil behavior,” said Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles), the bill’s author.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Assembly approved the bill 62–0, with a dozen of the chamber’s 17 Republican members not voting. After the final vote, members broke out in applause and walked over to congratulate Jones-Sawyer, who served on the Reparations Task Force and is in his final term in the Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even though our state entered the union as a free state, every branch of government has had a hand in perpetrating the oppression of Black folks,” Jones-Sawyer said. “This bill is an opportunity to confront those tough truths in a meaningful way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before the vote, legislators recounted \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11942302/californias-legislature-has-roots-in-slavery-are-lawmakers-ready-to-confront-that\">the role state lawmakers played in advancing chattel slavery during the state’s early days\u003c/a>. In 1852, the state Assembly passed California’s fugitive slave law, which allowed enslavers to recapture formerly enslaved people they had brought to California before the state’s entrance into the union — and forcibly remove them to slaveholding states in the South.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A leading supporter of the fugitive slave bill in the state Senate, Sen. James Estill, owned fourteen slaves on his Solano County farm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in 1854, the state Legislature approved a non-binding resolution supporting the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the explosive federal law allowing the expansion of slavery nationwide into U.S. territories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is undeniable that our systems of government have been complicit in the oppression of African-Americans,” Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) said. “Our courts, our schools, even this Legislature. California’s history is tarnished by the subjugation of Black people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11981271,news_11982724,news_11975584\"]AB 3089 now heads to the state Senate. The bill is one of more than a dozen \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11976617/state-lawmakers-propose-14-bills-to-provide-reparations-for-black-californians\">included in a reparations package of bills supported by the California Legislative Black Caucus\u003c/a>. Earlier this year, the state Assembly approved a resolution acknowledging many of the harms inflicted by state leaders against Black residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other bills in the reparations package are focused on repairing that harm, including proposals to compensate Black residents for land taken by eminent domain and another requiring state licensing boards to prioritize Black applicants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those bills and a handful of others cleared a key hurdle on Thursday, winning the backing of the Legislature’s powerful appropriations committees. But two other reparations-related proposals were quietly shelved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Senate Bill 1007 and Senate Bill 1013 would take a first step toward providing homeowner assistance and property tax relief, respectively, to the descendants of slaves. Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) wrote both bills, but the Black Caucus designated neither as a priority bill for its members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "Lawmakers backed an effort to confront 'tough truths' about votes dating back to the Legislature's 19th-century support of the expansion of slavery.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1725920234,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 15,
"wordCount": 588
},
"headData": {
"title": "State Assembly Passes Bill Apologizing for California's Role in Supporting Slavery | KQED",
"description": "Lawmakers backed an effort to confront 'tough truths' about votes dating back to the Legislature's 19th-century support of the expansion of slavery.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "State Assembly Passes Bill Apologizing for California's Role in Supporting Slavery",
"datePublished": "2024-05-16T17:03:31-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-09T15:17:14-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"sticky": false,
"nprStoryId": "kqed-11986615",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11986615/state-assembly-passes-bill-apologizing-for-californias-role-in-supporting-slavery",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California’s state Assembly voted Thursday to offer a formal apology for the state’s role in supporting chattel slavery, marking a key milestone in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/reparations\">first-in-the-nation effort to provide state-level reparations\u003c/a> to Black Californians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea for an apology was born from the state’s Reparations Task Force, which studied the harms committed by the state government against Black residents and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11981271/track-the-success-of-californias-14-reparations-bills-for-black-residents\">published dozens of policy recommendations for the Legislature\u003c/a>. The apology bill, Assembly Bill 3089, requires an acknowledgment of the actions of members of the state’s government in advancing slavery and decades of discriminatory policies — and requires a plaque memorializing the apology to be installed at the state Capitol.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We cannot possibly move forward without acknowledging our role in evil behavior,” said Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles), the bill’s author.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Assembly approved the bill 62–0, with a dozen of the chamber’s 17 Republican members not voting. After the final vote, members broke out in applause and walked over to congratulate Jones-Sawyer, who served on the Reparations Task Force and is in his final term in the Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even though our state entered the union as a free state, every branch of government has had a hand in perpetrating the oppression of Black folks,” Jones-Sawyer said. “This bill is an opportunity to confront those tough truths in a meaningful way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before the vote, legislators recounted \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11942302/californias-legislature-has-roots-in-slavery-are-lawmakers-ready-to-confront-that\">the role state lawmakers played in advancing chattel slavery during the state’s early days\u003c/a>. In 1852, the state Assembly passed California’s fugitive slave law, which allowed enslavers to recapture formerly enslaved people they had brought to California before the state’s entrance into the union — and forcibly remove them to slaveholding states in the South.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A leading supporter of the fugitive slave bill in the state Senate, Sen. James Estill, owned fourteen slaves on his Solano County farm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in 1854, the state Legislature approved a non-binding resolution supporting the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the explosive federal law allowing the expansion of slavery nationwide into U.S. territories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is undeniable that our systems of government have been complicit in the oppression of African-Americans,” Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) said. “Our courts, our schools, even this Legislature. California’s history is tarnished by the subjugation of Black people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "Related Stories ",
"postid": "news_11981271,news_11982724,news_11975584"
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>AB 3089 now heads to the state Senate. The bill is one of more than a dozen \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11976617/state-lawmakers-propose-14-bills-to-provide-reparations-for-black-californians\">included in a reparations package of bills supported by the California Legislative Black Caucus\u003c/a>. Earlier this year, the state Assembly approved a resolution acknowledging many of the harms inflicted by state leaders against Black residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other bills in the reparations package are focused on repairing that harm, including proposals to compensate Black residents for land taken by eminent domain and another requiring state licensing boards to prioritize Black applicants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those bills and a handful of others cleared a key hurdle on Thursday, winning the backing of the Legislature’s powerful appropriations committees. But two other reparations-related proposals were quietly shelved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Senate Bill 1007 and Senate Bill 1013 would take a first step toward providing homeowner assistance and property tax relief, respectively, to the descendants of slaves. Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) wrote both bills, but the Black Caucus designated neither as a priority bill for its members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11986615/state-assembly-passes-bill-apologizing-for-californias-role-in-supporting-slavery",
"authors": [
"227"
],
"series": [
"news_34369"
],
"categories": [
"news_31795",
"news_6188",
"news_8",
"news_13"
],
"tags": [
"news_28272",
"news_30652",
"news_30343",
"news_22493"
],
"featImg": "news_11986628",
"label": "news_34369"
},
"news_11986396": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11986396",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11986396",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1715853627000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "when-bart-was-built-people-and-houses-had-to-go",
"title": "When BART Was Built, People — and Houses — Had to Go",
"publishDate": 1715853627,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "When BART Was Built, People — and Houses — Had to Go | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 33523,
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in the early 1960s, when BART was just a sketch on a map, planners with the young transit agency had a task in front of them. BART had to acquire around 2,200 parcels of land in order to build the transportation system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Exactly how the agency went about getting that land was something that always puzzled Janine Dictor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For her, the question was also personal. Growing up, her family would tell stories about an amazing house her great-grandparents used to own in North Oakland, at 59th, and what is now Martin Luther King Jr. Way (it was called Grove Street back then). But the stories always ended with how they had to sell their home to BART.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriouspodcastinfo]“There was always a sad tone to the story as if they didn’t have control over it,” Dictor said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dictor’s great-grandparents, Vito and Elizabeth Campilongo, loved that house. They were both immigrants from Italy, and they kept the house full of family, friends and good food. Vito tended a bountiful garden in the backyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My grandmother loved to cook in the basement,” said Johanne Dictor, Janine’s mother. “She had this great kitchen downstairs where she made her ravioli; she made her sausages with her women friends.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a happy time, but it didn’t last. By the time Johanne was a teenager in the early ‘60s, one topic started to dominate their family dinners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I remember we’d be sitting at the table and they’d say, ‘They’re going to take my house, they say we have to sell it. And we have to leave everything here.’ And you know, they just were devastated,” said Johanne about her grandparents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, the Campilongos sold their house to BART and moved to San Leandro. Her grandfather planted a new garden, but he felt it was never as big or as beautiful as the one in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’d sit on the porch in San Leandro looking so sad,” remembers Johanne.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All this history left Janine wondering how exactly the sale of her great-grandparents’ house went down. So she asked KQED’s Bay Curious to look into how much property BART acquired at the time of its inception and whether any homeowners challenged the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There must be a pretty robust story behind all of this, and it’s just odd that we never have known quite what it is,” Janine said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11986429\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1384px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2024/05/16/when-bart-was-built-people-and-houses-had-to-go/vito_elizabeth_family/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11986429\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11986429\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Vito_Elizabeth_family.png\" alt=\"An old black-and-white photo of a family in their living room\" width=\"1384\" height=\"1020\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Vito_Elizabeth_family.png 1384w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Vito_Elizabeth_family-800x590.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Vito_Elizabeth_family-1020x752.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Vito_Elizabeth_family-160x118.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1384px) 100vw, 1384px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vito and Elizabeth Campilongo (center) left their North Oakland home in the 1960s to make room for a BART line. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the Campilongo family)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>And so BART begins\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Like much of the country in the early 1950s, the Bay Area was in a post-war building boom. New houses were going up all over the region, in places like Concord and Fremont. City planners had to figure out how folks would get around and travel between all these developments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State lawmakers began \u003ca href=\"https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=San_Francisco_Bay_Area_Rapid_Transit_Commission%E2%80%94The_Beginnings\">mapping out\u003c/a> a regional transportation system to connect the suburbs to the economic hubs of Oakland and San Francisco. In 1957, they passed a bill creating the Bay Area Rapid Transit District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But BART needed land, including in residential areas where property was already owned and inhabited by people. As an entity charged with building public infrastructure, BART was given the power of eminent domain, a legal tool that helped it acquire the needed property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Radhika Rao, a professor at UC San Francisco College of the Law, eminent domain allows the government to take people’s property “even if they don’t consent,” as long as it pays them fair market value for it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eminent domain is an important tool for governments, said Rao, because infrastructure projects like hospitals, public schools, highways, parks and train tracks might never be built without it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because you could have one private property owner who says, ‘My house stands in the way, you can’t build a highway,’ and then we have no highway. So our infrastructure depends upon government having this power,” Rao said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, Rao says, historically, the use of eminent domain in California has disproportionately affected low-income people and communities of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Radhika Rao, UC San Francisco College of Law\"]‘That just makes economic sense, right? Why would government situate your infrastructure in a place where you have to pay more?’[/pullquote]One reason, she said, is that government agencies often use eminent domain in areas with lower property values since it costs them less to acquire that property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That just makes economic sense, right? Why would government situate your infrastructure in a place where you have to pay more?” Rao said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another reason for the disproportionate impact, suggests Rao, is that government officials choose to develop areas where residents are less likely to organize against them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Who has the money to hire a lawyer and go to court saying, ‘the compensation that you’re offering me is not fair market value?’ Rao said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>West Oakland residents displaced\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the places in the Bay Area hit hardest by eminent domain projects — including, but not limited to, BART construction — was West Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maxine Willis Ussery was born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1939, but her family moved to West Oakland when she was just a few years old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I was a girl, Seventh Street and all of West Oakland was predominantly Black, owned by Black people. Beautiful old Victorians were there,” Willis Ussery said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her family, like many Black families at the time, had come from the South in search of work and a better life. Her mother and father made the journey from Louisiana and settled in West Oakland. They found jobs at the nearby Naval shipyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They had no problems understanding that they had to develop their own businesses, their own services because that’s how they lived in the South,” Willis Ussery said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says the West Oakland community had everything they needed: drug stores, groceries, restaurants, churches, doctors, and lawyers. But starting in the 1950s, successive government infrastructure projects ripped apart the fabric of this community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, government agencies demolished homes and businesses for the Nimitz Freeway (Interstate 880) in the 1950s. Then, in the following decades, they cleared more buildings to make way for the Oakland Main Post Office and the Acorn housing projects. And then, \u003ca href=\"https://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/232778\">there was BART\u003c/a>. The Oakland Planning Department estimates that between 5,100 and 9,700 housing units were lost in West Oakland in the 1960s alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was like a dispersement of a whole community, not just taking the buildings, it was taking people who had lived there. Teachers, athletes, all of them were displaced,” Willis Ussery said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The effect on the community was disastrous, she said, especially for the older folks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They were up in age, and they were moved into areas where they could afford to go with the money they were given for BART, which was not a lot,” Willis Ussery said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A KQED analysis of the 1960 census reveals that the West Oakland census tracts hardest hit by eminent domain were where people of color lived — in some areas, as many as 95% of the residents were Black. Annual incomes in the development zones were also far lower than the city average. The neighborhood in North Oakland where the Campilongos lived had a higher median income but was also predominantly Black.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11986231\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/240514-eminentdomain-25-bl-kqed/\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11986231\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-25-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A BART train above two streets intersecting\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-25-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-25-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-25-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-25-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-25-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-25-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A BART train runs along the tracks at 59th Street and Martin Luther King Jr Way in Oakland on May 14, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Berkeley residents resist BART plans\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Some East Bay residents, such as Mable Howard of Berkeley, successfully altered BART’s path.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Howard argued that BART’s plan to construct raised tracks through part of the city would further divide it along racial lines. Her legal challenge was highlighted in the documentary “\u003ca href=\"https://video.kqed.org/video/welcome-to-the-neighborhood-truly-ca-zag6fb/\">Welcome to the Neighborhood\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the documentary explains, in 1966, Berkeley voters approved a tax that would pay to put BART completely underground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But BART proposed a design for the Ashby station that was slightly above ground. Howard felt that the design would further segregate the city. She teamed up with the late East Bay politician Ron Dellums, then a city council member, to successfully sue the agency to underground all their Berkeley infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We won the case. How do we know we won the case? Go to Berkeley. You’ll see the whole thing’s underground,” said attorney Matthew Weinberg in the film.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>BART spokesperson: ‘Lessons learned’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>These days, it is hard to imagine a Bay Area without BART. People from all over the Bay Area make millions of trips on it every month. Even the aerial tracks that tower over Martin Luther King Jr. Way, where the Campilongo house used to stand, seem to blend into the background of freeways and buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BART’s Chief Communications Officer Alicia Trost says it’s still important for the agency to acknowledge the past harms that the agency committed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was a lot of generational wealth that was deeply impacted, if not destroyed, because of the building of the BART system,” Trost said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BART now has an Office of Civil Rights and other equity initiatives that Trost says are critical to rebuilding trust with the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Alicia Trost, BART\"]‘There was a lot of generational wealth that was deeply impacted if not destroyed because of the building of the BART system.’[/pullquote]“Especially when we’re building on our land, we want to make sure there’s a carve-out specifically for affordable housing and that we are in a daily conversation with the community to make sure what we’re building is something that they want,” Trost said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the agency imagines future development, like building a possible second transbay tube between San Francisco and Oakland, she says they’re also developing plans to prevent the displacement of residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trost said the uprooting of residents to create BART in the 1960s provided “lessons learned,” and mistakes that shouldn’t be repeated were made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State leaders are also looking at the long-term impact that eminent domain property transfers have had on families and communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California State Senator Steven Bradford, a member of California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/reparations\">Reparations Task Force\u003c/a>, introduced a bill in February that would compensate former property owners if their parcel was taken through eminent domain, but they didn’t receive just compensation due to racism or discrimination by the government.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The price the Campilongos paid\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11986413\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2024/05/16/when-bart-was-built-people-and-houses-had-to-go/campilongo_contract_page_01/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11986413\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11986413\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Campilongo_contract_Page_01-800x1032.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1032\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Campilongo_contract_Page_01-800x1032.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Campilongo_contract_Page_01-1020x1316.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Campilongo_contract_Page_01-160x206.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Campilongo_contract_Page_01-1190x1536.jpg 1190w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Campilongo_contract_Page_01-1587x2048.jpg 1587w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Campilongo_contract_Page_01.jpg 1701w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The contract the Campilongos signed with BART.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A public records request submitted by KQED reveals that the Bay Area Rapid Transit District paid Vito and Elizabeth Campilongo $25,000 for their property in North Oakland on Sept. 2, 1965. Adjusted for inflation, that’s about $245,000 today. These days, homes go for around $1 million in that neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Janine and Johanne Dictor were excited to see the contract their relatives signed with BART, the physical evidence of their family history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Doesn’t that look like Nana’s handwriting?” Janine asked her mom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But after the initial excitement, the mood turned somber.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s about a lot more than what they were compensated,” Janine said. “It’s about the fact that they were forced into this, that they lost a lifestyle, that they lost a community,”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The premise of using eminent domain is that individual sacrifices are warranted to build public infrastructure. However, for families like the Dictors, the construction of BART was a painful turn in their history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After we lost that house, we lost the sense of our family in a way. It was kind of driven apart,” her mom, Johanne, added. “That house really brought us together.”\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>\u003cbr>\nSpecial thanks to Pam Uzzell for providing parts of her documentary “Welcome to the Neighborhood” and to KQED’s Dan Brekke for reporting support and data analysis. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sounds of BART\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> Johanne Dictor points at the grassy median dividing the six lanes of Martin Luther King Junior Way in North Oakland. An elevated BART track towers overhead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Johanne Dictor:\u003c/strong> I guess my grandmother’s house was right here on the, the tracks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> Johanne’s grandparents, Vito and Elizabeth Campilongo were immigrants from Italy. They loved their home on what was then 59th and Grove street in Oakland … Grove is Martin Luther King Jr Way these days. They kept the house full of family, friends and, as is the Italian way … good food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Johanne Dictor:\u003c/strong> So she, she had this great kitchen downstairs where she made her ravioli. She made her sausages with her women friends. They’d come over, and all day, they’d make sausages down there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> And Vito grew food in the backyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Janine Dictor: Ah, garden, this master gardener with this beautiful, extensive garden that he used to cook these delicious Italian meals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> This was a happy time. But it didn’t last. By the time Johanne was a teenager in the early ’60s, one topic started to dominate their family dinners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Johanne Dictor:\u003c/strong> I remember, you know, be sitting at the table and they’d say, you know, they’re, they’re gonna take my house, they say we have to sell it. And we have to leave everything here, and you know, they just were devastated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> Ultimately, the Campilongos sold their house to BART and moved to San Leandro. Her grandfather planted a new garden, but it was never as big or as beautiful as the one in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Johanne Dictor:\u003c/strong> He’d sit on the porch like in San Leandro looking so sad, you know, (cries)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> Johanne’s daughter, Janine, grew up with this family story. But she has always thought it was odd that they didn’t know more about how it all went down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Janine Dictor:\u003c/strong> How many properties were acquired? Did anybody challenge, you know, Bart’s ability to acquire their property? What was the outcome of that? Um, yeah, just there seems like there must, there must be a pretty robust story behind all of this. And it’s just odd that we never have known what, quite what it is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> I’m Olivia Allen Price, and today on Bay Curious the story of how families like the Campilongos were uprooted to make way for BART. Theirs is a common story — people have been displaced for large infrastructure projects time and time again all across the United States. And it’s still happening today. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Area Rapid Transit…better known as BART…is a fixture of life in the Bay Area today. But many families and businesses were displaced to build it. KQED reporter Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman is going to help us understand how it all went down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Music starts\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> In the early ’50s, the Bay Area, like much of the country, was in a post-war building boom. New houses were going up all over the region in places like Concord and Fremont. And a big question was how folks would get around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sounds of BART promo reel\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> State lawmakers began planning for a regional transportation system to connect the suburbs to the economic hubs of Oakland and San Francisco. There was a lot of excitement … which you can hear in this promotional video for BART.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>BART promo reel:\u003c/strong>…To do this by weaving into the fabric of the Bay Area an entirely new and vastly better way of getting around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> In 1962, voters in Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco counties approved a nearly 800 million dollar bond to build the new tracks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>BART promo reel:\u003c/strong>… Locations of lines and stations was the first step in the long planning process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman\u003c/strong>: But BART needed land, including in residential areas where property was already owned and inhabited by people. The Campilongos neighborhood in North Oakland was one of those areas; another was West Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maxine Ussery\u003c/strong>: When I was a girl, there were… So 7th Street and all of West Oakland was predominantly black, owned by black people. Beautiful old Victorians were there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman\u003c/strong>: Maxine Ussery was born in Oakland in 1939. Her family, like many Black families at the time, had come from the South in search of work and a better life. Maxine’s mother and father made the journey from Louisiana and settled in West Oakland. They found jobs at the nearby Naval Shipyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maxine Ussery\u003c/strong>: They had no problems understanding that they had to, in fact, develop their own businesses, their own services, because that’s how they lived in the South.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman\u003c/strong>: She says the West Oakland community had everything they needed…drug stores, groceries, restaurants, churches, doctors and lawyers. But starting in the 1950s, successive government infrastructure projects ripped apart the fabric of this community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maxine Ussery\u003c/strong>: They forced people to move.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman\u003c/strong>: Government agencies demolished homes and businesses for the Nimitz Freeway in the ’50s. Then, in the following decades, they cleared more buildings to make way for Oakland’s Main Post Office and the Acorn housing projects. And then, there was BART. The Oakland Planning Department estimates that upwards of 5,000 units of housing were destroyed in West Oakland in the 1960s alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maxine Ussery\u003c/strong>: It was like a disbursement of a, of a whole group of a whole community, not just, uh, taking the buildings, it was taking people and who had lived there and who, uh, uh, teachers, um, uh, uh, educate, you know, people who were athletes, all of them were displaced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman\u003c/strong>: Maxine says the effect on the community was disastrous, especially for the older folks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maxine Ussery\u003c/strong>: They were up in age, and they were moved into areas where they, that where they could afford to go with the money they were given for BART, which was not a lot. It wasn’t enough money for them to live on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman\u003c/strong>: Many of the infrastructure projects in West Oakland that Maxine talks about were only possible because of a legal tool known as eminent domain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Radhika Rao\u003c/strong>: So that’s the part of the Constitution that gives government the power to come along and take people’s private property even if they don’t consent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman\u003c/strong>: Radhika Rao is a professor of Law at UC San Francisco College of the Law. Eminent domain allows public agencies to buy private property at “fair market value” in order to build infrastructure that is in the public interest. Think hospitals, Public Schools, Highways, Parks, and train tracks. Radhika says without it, infrastructure projects like these might never get built.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Radhika Rao\u003c/strong>: Because you could have one private property owner who says, my house stands in the way; you can’t build a highway. And then we have no highway. So, our infrastructure depends upon government having this power. It’s, it’s super important.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman\u003c/strong>: But Rhadika says government agencies often target areas with lower property values because they cost less.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Radhika Rao\u003c/strong>: Of course! That’s, that just makes economic sense, right? Why would government situate your infrastructure in a place where you have to pay more?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> And the government has a long history of undervaluing properties where people of color and low-income people live and work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Radhika Rao\u003c/strong>: And then there are also political reasons, you know, which communities have power, um, and which communities don’t, to organize against this kind of action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman\u003c/strong>: The 1960 census reveals the parts of West Oakland hit hardest by eminent domain projects were highly segregated … as much as 95% Black … with annual incomes far lower than the city average. The neighborhood in North Oakland that the Campilongos lived in had a higher median income but was also predominantly Black. Rhadika says these communities were vulnerable to eminent domain action and less likely to fight back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Radhika Rao\u003c/strong>: Who has the money to hire a lawyer and go to court saying this, the compensation that you’re offering me is not just compensation? It’s not fair market value.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Music starts\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> BART records show that the agency acquired approximately 2,200 properties in order to build its first 75 miles of track. Some people sold their parcels to BART willingly, but others had to be evicted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Clip of news report: \u003c/strong>This is Seventh Street on Oakland’s west side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> In this KPIX news report from 1967, BART staff are evicting an elderly Black woman named Leitha Blick from the thrift store she owns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>News report:\u003c/strong> An admittedly blighted area, directly in the path of proposed Bay Area Rapid Transit District construction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> That word — blighted — is important. It’s a term that was used by urban redevelopment agencies throughout the country — including in Oakland — to describe neighborhoods that were seen as deteriorating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>News report:\u003c/strong> Most of the homes and businesses in this area will have to be destroyed to make room for progress, and the push of progress is not always gentle. Angry and confused, many of the residents say they can’t buy new homes with the market value prices given them for the ones they now live in. Business people face the same dilemma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> In the news clip, Blick stands by with her arms crossed as workers pack her things into boxes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>News report footage:\u003c/strong> Miss Blick, had you and the Bay Area Rapid Transit District reached any agreement before this happened?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Blick:\u003c/strong> No.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>News reporter:\u003c/strong> Why?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Blick:\u003c/strong> Because, uh, the price wasn’t satisfactory.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>News reporter:\u003c/strong> You didn’t think they were offering you enough money for your merchandise?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Blick:\u003c/strong> That’s correct. Moving us out, and we had no place to go, and I didn’t think they were offering enough, no way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> Blick tried to stop BART from taking her property…but ultimately lost. But there are some examples of people successfully altering BART’s plan.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\nDocumentary footage:\u003c/strong> Berkeley was basically a segregated city. So, the whole of South Berkeley was pretty much a black neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/strong>Pam Uzzell’s documentary “Welcome to the Neighborhood” chronicles one effort in Berkeley. It profiles Mable Howard, who argued that BART’s plan to put raised tracks through part of the city would divide it along racial lines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Documentary footage: \u003c/strong>A woman who said, I won’t have The city of Berkeley, divided in half, there won’t be any other side of the tracks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> In 1966, Berkeley voters approved a tax that would pay to put BART completely underground in Berkeley. But BART proposed a design for Ashby station that was slightly above ground. So Mable Howard teamed up with Ron Dellums, then a city council member, to sue the agency. Here’s a lawyer on the case, Matthew Weinberg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Weinberg:\u003c/strong> We won the case. How do we know we won the case? Go to Berkeley. You’ll see the whole thing’s underground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/strong>BART acknowledges this legacy of displacement and struggle. Here’s Chief Communications Officer Alicia Trost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alicia Trost: \u003c/strong>There was a lot of generational wealth that was deeply impacted, if not destroyed, because of the building of the BART system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> BART now has an office of civil rights, and other equity initiatives that Trost says are critical to rebuilding trust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alicia Trost:\u003c/strong> And especially when we’re building on our land, uh, we want to make sure there’s a carve-out specifically for affordable housing and that we are in a daily conversation with the community to make sure what we’re building is something that they want.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> As the agency imagines building a possible second transbay tube, Trost says they’re also developing anti-displacement goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alicia Trost:\u003c/strong> Which, if that’s not lessons learned, you know, I don’t know what is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> I’ve gone through multiple public records requests and dozens of deeds, right-of-way contracts, and insurance policies for this story. At the end of it all, I paid another visit to Janine, our question-asker, and her mom, Johanne. I had something for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman, talking to the Dictors:\u003c/strong> I actually found the contract that your grandparents signed with Bart, so here it is. And so this, you can see, like it says right-of-way contract, and it has your grandparents’ names on it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Johanne Dictor:\u003c/strong> Oh, is that all they, so it was just 25,000. Is that right? Oh my God. Oh my gosh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman talking to the Dictors:\u003c/strong> We’re looking at the original contract between Vito and Elizabeth Campilongo and the Bay Area Rapid Transportation District, dated Sept. 2, 1965.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Janine Dictor:\u003c/strong> And it looks like my grandmother’s handwriting, too, actually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Johanne Dictor:\u003c/strong> Oh, it does?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> It shows the Campilongos agreed to sell their property for $25,000. Adjusted for inflation, that’s about 245,000 dollars today. These days, homes go for around a million in that neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Janine Dictor:\u003c/strong> Doesn’t it look like Nana’s?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Johanne Dictor:\u003c/strong> Not really.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Janine Dictor: \u003c/strong>That floral?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Johanne Dictor:\u003c/strong> Yeah, a little bit, but hers was, yeah, she had a good penmanship, Nana. Yeah,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> Janine and Johanne are excited to see the physical evidence of their family history. But after the initial excitement, the mood is somber.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Janine Dictor:\u003c/strong> Going through this process, it’s like you realize it’s like about a lot more than what they were compensated, right? It’s about the fact that they were forced into this, that they lost a lifestyle, that they lost a community, you know. So, even if they got a good price, it’s kind of like, there’s still something to mourn there right about their experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> The word progress comes up a lot when talking about these kinds of projects. The idea is that progress, the greater good, justifies the sacrifice some families have to make. But for families like the Dictors, progress could feel like a step in the wrong direction. Here’s Johanne.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Johanne Dictor: \u003c/strong>After we lost that house, we lost the sense of our family in a way, it seemed like. It was kind of driven apart. Because that house really brought us together. More than the house in San Leandro, you know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> Public infrastructure is often seen as a kind of equalizer … it’s something we all pay for and that anyone can use. But the fact is … some people had to pay more than others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> That was KQED reporter Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman.The use of eminent domain led to the displacement in some of the stories we explored today. It was often used to displace communities of color to make way for various infrastructure projects around the state. As part of its reparations efforts, California is now considering a bill that would compensate people if they can prove racism or discrimination prevented them from getting just compensation. To learn more about California’s reparations efforts, check out KQED’s coverage at KQED dot org slash reparations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Special Thanks to Pam Uzzell for allowing us to use clips from her documentary “Welcome to the Neighborhood” in this story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/strong>This episode was edited by Katrina Schwartz.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> Produced by Olivia Allen-Price.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Tamuna Chkareuli:\u003c/strong> Tamuna Chkareuli\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Pauline Bartolone:\u003c/strong> Pauline Bartolone\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale:\u003c/strong> And Christopher Beale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> We get additional support from:\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Jen Chien:\u003c/strong> Jen Chien\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Katie Sprenger:\u003c/strong> Katie Sprenger\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Cesar Saldaña:\u003c/strong> Cesar Saldaña\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Maha Sanad:\u003c/strong> Maha Sanad\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Xorje Olivares:\u003c/strong> Xorje Olivares:\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> And the whole KQED family. Have a great week, everyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "Building the BART system in the 1960s required thousands of parcels of land. Decades later, memories of the homes and communities that were destroyed remain strong",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1725920239,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": true,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 141,
"wordCount": 4872
},
"headData": {
"title": "When BART Was Built, People — and Houses — Had to Go | KQED",
"description": "Building the BART system in the 1960s required thousands of parcels of land. Decades later, memories of the homes and communities that were destroyed remain strong",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "When BART Was Built, People — and Houses — Had to Go",
"datePublished": "2024-05-16T03:00:27-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-09T15:17:19-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"audioUrl": "https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/chrt.fm/track/G6C7C3/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC5722041302.mp3?updated=1715818705",
"sticky": false,
"nprStoryId": "kqed-11986396",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11986396/when-bart-was-built-people-and-houses-had-to-go",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in the early 1960s, when BART was just a sketch on a map, planners with the young transit agency had a task in front of them. BART had to acquire around 2,200 parcels of land in order to build the transportation system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Exactly how the agency went about getting that land was something that always puzzled Janine Dictor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For her, the question was also personal. Growing up, her family would tell stories about an amazing house her great-grandparents used to own in North Oakland, at 59th, and what is now Martin Luther King Jr. Way (it was called Grove Street back then). But the stories always ended with how they had to sell their home to BART.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area.\n Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>,\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>“There was always a sad tone to the story as if they didn’t have control over it,” Dictor said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dictor’s great-grandparents, Vito and Elizabeth Campilongo, loved that house. They were both immigrants from Italy, and they kept the house full of family, friends and good food. Vito tended a bountiful garden in the backyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My grandmother loved to cook in the basement,” said Johanne Dictor, Janine’s mother. “She had this great kitchen downstairs where she made her ravioli; she made her sausages with her women friends.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a happy time, but it didn’t last. By the time Johanne was a teenager in the early ‘60s, one topic started to dominate their family dinners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I remember we’d be sitting at the table and they’d say, ‘They’re going to take my house, they say we have to sell it. And we have to leave everything here.’ And you know, they just were devastated,” said Johanne about her grandparents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, the Campilongos sold their house to BART and moved to San Leandro. Her grandfather planted a new garden, but he felt it was never as big or as beautiful as the one in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’d sit on the porch in San Leandro looking so sad,” remembers Johanne.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All this history left Janine wondering how exactly the sale of her great-grandparents’ house went down. So she asked KQED’s Bay Curious to look into how much property BART acquired at the time of its inception and whether any homeowners challenged the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There must be a pretty robust story behind all of this, and it’s just odd that we never have known quite what it is,” Janine said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11986429\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1384px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2024/05/16/when-bart-was-built-people-and-houses-had-to-go/vito_elizabeth_family/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11986429\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11986429\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Vito_Elizabeth_family.png\" alt=\"An old black-and-white photo of a family in their living room\" width=\"1384\" height=\"1020\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Vito_Elizabeth_family.png 1384w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Vito_Elizabeth_family-800x590.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Vito_Elizabeth_family-1020x752.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Vito_Elizabeth_family-160x118.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1384px) 100vw, 1384px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vito and Elizabeth Campilongo (center) left their North Oakland home in the 1960s to make room for a BART line. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the Campilongo family)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>And so BART begins\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Like much of the country in the early 1950s, the Bay Area was in a post-war building boom. New houses were going up all over the region, in places like Concord and Fremont. City planners had to figure out how folks would get around and travel between all these developments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State lawmakers began \u003ca href=\"https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=San_Francisco_Bay_Area_Rapid_Transit_Commission%E2%80%94The_Beginnings\">mapping out\u003c/a> a regional transportation system to connect the suburbs to the economic hubs of Oakland and San Francisco. In 1957, they passed a bill creating the Bay Area Rapid Transit District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But BART needed land, including in residential areas where property was already owned and inhabited by people. As an entity charged with building public infrastructure, BART was given the power of eminent domain, a legal tool that helped it acquire the needed property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Radhika Rao, a professor at UC San Francisco College of the Law, eminent domain allows the government to take people’s property “even if they don’t consent,” as long as it pays them fair market value for it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eminent domain is an important tool for governments, said Rao, because infrastructure projects like hospitals, public schools, highways, parks and train tracks might never be built without it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because you could have one private property owner who says, ‘My house stands in the way, you can’t build a highway,’ and then we have no highway. So our infrastructure depends upon government having this power,” Rao said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, Rao says, historically, the use of eminent domain in California has disproportionately affected low-income people and communities of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘That just makes economic sense, right? Why would government situate your infrastructure in a place where you have to pay more?’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Radhika Rao, UC San Francisco College of Law",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>One reason, she said, is that government agencies often use eminent domain in areas with lower property values since it costs them less to acquire that property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That just makes economic sense, right? Why would government situate your infrastructure in a place where you have to pay more?” Rao said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another reason for the disproportionate impact, suggests Rao, is that government officials choose to develop areas where residents are less likely to organize against them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Who has the money to hire a lawyer and go to court saying, ‘the compensation that you’re offering me is not fair market value?’ Rao said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>West Oakland residents displaced\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the places in the Bay Area hit hardest by eminent domain projects — including, but not limited to, BART construction — was West Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maxine Willis Ussery was born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1939, but her family moved to West Oakland when she was just a few years old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I was a girl, Seventh Street and all of West Oakland was predominantly Black, owned by Black people. Beautiful old Victorians were there,” Willis Ussery said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her family, like many Black families at the time, had come from the South in search of work and a better life. Her mother and father made the journey from Louisiana and settled in West Oakland. They found jobs at the nearby Naval shipyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They had no problems understanding that they had to develop their own businesses, their own services because that’s how they lived in the South,” Willis Ussery said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says the West Oakland community had everything they needed: drug stores, groceries, restaurants, churches, doctors, and lawyers. But starting in the 1950s, successive government infrastructure projects ripped apart the fabric of this community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, government agencies demolished homes and businesses for the Nimitz Freeway (Interstate 880) in the 1950s. Then, in the following decades, they cleared more buildings to make way for the Oakland Main Post Office and the Acorn housing projects. And then, \u003ca href=\"https://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/232778\">there was BART\u003c/a>. The Oakland Planning Department estimates that between 5,100 and 9,700 housing units were lost in West Oakland in the 1960s alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was like a dispersement of a whole community, not just taking the buildings, it was taking people who had lived there. Teachers, athletes, all of them were displaced,” Willis Ussery said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The effect on the community was disastrous, she said, especially for the older folks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They were up in age, and they were moved into areas where they could afford to go with the money they were given for BART, which was not a lot,” Willis Ussery said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A KQED analysis of the 1960 census reveals that the West Oakland census tracts hardest hit by eminent domain were where people of color lived — in some areas, as many as 95% of the residents were Black. Annual incomes in the development zones were also far lower than the city average. The neighborhood in North Oakland where the Campilongos lived had a higher median income but was also predominantly Black.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11986231\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/240514-eminentdomain-25-bl-kqed/\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11986231\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-25-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A BART train above two streets intersecting\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-25-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-25-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-25-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-25-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-25-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240514-EMINENTDOMAIN-25-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A BART train runs along the tracks at 59th Street and Martin Luther King Jr Way in Oakland on May 14, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Berkeley residents resist BART plans\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Some East Bay residents, such as Mable Howard of Berkeley, successfully altered BART’s path.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Howard argued that BART’s plan to construct raised tracks through part of the city would further divide it along racial lines. Her legal challenge was highlighted in the documentary “\u003ca href=\"https://video.kqed.org/video/welcome-to-the-neighborhood-truly-ca-zag6fb/\">Welcome to the Neighborhood\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the documentary explains, in 1966, Berkeley voters approved a tax that would pay to put BART completely underground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But BART proposed a design for the Ashby station that was slightly above ground. Howard felt that the design would further segregate the city. She teamed up with the late East Bay politician Ron Dellums, then a city council member, to successfully sue the agency to underground all their Berkeley infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We won the case. How do we know we won the case? Go to Berkeley. You’ll see the whole thing’s underground,” said attorney Matthew Weinberg in the film.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>BART spokesperson: ‘Lessons learned’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>These days, it is hard to imagine a Bay Area without BART. People from all over the Bay Area make millions of trips on it every month. Even the aerial tracks that tower over Martin Luther King Jr. Way, where the Campilongo house used to stand, seem to blend into the background of freeways and buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BART’s Chief Communications Officer Alicia Trost says it’s still important for the agency to acknowledge the past harms that the agency committed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was a lot of generational wealth that was deeply impacted, if not destroyed, because of the building of the BART system,” Trost said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BART now has an Office of Civil Rights and other equity initiatives that Trost says are critical to rebuilding trust with the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘There was a lot of generational wealth that was deeply impacted if not destroyed because of the building of the BART system.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Alicia Trost, BART",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Especially when we’re building on our land, we want to make sure there’s a carve-out specifically for affordable housing and that we are in a daily conversation with the community to make sure what we’re building is something that they want,” Trost said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the agency imagines future development, like building a possible second transbay tube between San Francisco and Oakland, she says they’re also developing plans to prevent the displacement of residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trost said the uprooting of residents to create BART in the 1960s provided “lessons learned,” and mistakes that shouldn’t be repeated were made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State leaders are also looking at the long-term impact that eminent domain property transfers have had on families and communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California State Senator Steven Bradford, a member of California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/reparations\">Reparations Task Force\u003c/a>, introduced a bill in February that would compensate former property owners if their parcel was taken through eminent domain, but they didn’t receive just compensation due to racism or discrimination by the government.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The price the Campilongos paid\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11986413\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2024/05/16/when-bart-was-built-people-and-houses-had-to-go/campilongo_contract_page_01/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11986413\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11986413\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Campilongo_contract_Page_01-800x1032.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1032\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Campilongo_contract_Page_01-800x1032.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Campilongo_contract_Page_01-1020x1316.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Campilongo_contract_Page_01-160x206.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Campilongo_contract_Page_01-1190x1536.jpg 1190w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Campilongo_contract_Page_01-1587x2048.jpg 1587w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/Campilongo_contract_Page_01.jpg 1701w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The contract the Campilongos signed with BART.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A public records request submitted by KQED reveals that the Bay Area Rapid Transit District paid Vito and Elizabeth Campilongo $25,000 for their property in North Oakland on Sept. 2, 1965. Adjusted for inflation, that’s about $245,000 today. These days, homes go for around $1 million in that neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Janine and Johanne Dictor were excited to see the contract their relatives signed with BART, the physical evidence of their family history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Doesn’t that look like Nana’s handwriting?” Janine asked her mom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But after the initial excitement, the mood turned somber.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s about a lot more than what they were compensated,” Janine said. “It’s about the fact that they were forced into this, that they lost a lifestyle, that they lost a community,”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The premise of using eminent domain is that individual sacrifices are warranted to build public infrastructure. However, for families like the Dictors, the construction of BART was a painful turn in their history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After we lost that house, we lost the sense of our family in a way. It was kind of driven apart,” her mom, Johanne, added. “That house really brought us together.”\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>\u003cbr>\nSpecial thanks to Pam Uzzell for providing parts of her documentary “Welcome to the Neighborhood” and to KQED’s Dan Brekke for reporting support and data analysis. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "baycuriousquestion",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sounds of BART\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> Johanne Dictor points at the grassy median dividing the six lanes of Martin Luther King Junior Way in North Oakland. An elevated BART track towers overhead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Johanne Dictor:\u003c/strong> I guess my grandmother’s house was right here on the, the tracks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> Johanne’s grandparents, Vito and Elizabeth Campilongo were immigrants from Italy. They loved their home on what was then 59th and Grove street in Oakland … Grove is Martin Luther King Jr Way these days. They kept the house full of family, friends and, as is the Italian way … good food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Johanne Dictor:\u003c/strong> So she, she had this great kitchen downstairs where she made her ravioli. She made her sausages with her women friends. They’d come over, and all day, they’d make sausages down there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> And Vito grew food in the backyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Janine Dictor: Ah, garden, this master gardener with this beautiful, extensive garden that he used to cook these delicious Italian meals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> This was a happy time. But it didn’t last. By the time Johanne was a teenager in the early ’60s, one topic started to dominate their family dinners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Johanne Dictor:\u003c/strong> I remember, you know, be sitting at the table and they’d say, you know, they’re, they’re gonna take my house, they say we have to sell it. And we have to leave everything here, and you know, they just were devastated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> Ultimately, the Campilongos sold their house to BART and moved to San Leandro. Her grandfather planted a new garden, but it was never as big or as beautiful as the one in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Johanne Dictor:\u003c/strong> He’d sit on the porch like in San Leandro looking so sad, you know, (cries)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> Johanne’s daughter, Janine, grew up with this family story. But she has always thought it was odd that they didn’t know more about how it all went down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Janine Dictor:\u003c/strong> How many properties were acquired? Did anybody challenge, you know, Bart’s ability to acquire their property? What was the outcome of that? Um, yeah, just there seems like there must, there must be a pretty robust story behind all of this. And it’s just odd that we never have known what, quite what it is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> I’m Olivia Allen Price, and today on Bay Curious the story of how families like the Campilongos were uprooted to make way for BART. Theirs is a common story — people have been displaced for large infrastructure projects time and time again all across the United States. And it’s still happening today. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Area Rapid Transit…better known as BART…is a fixture of life in the Bay Area today. But many families and businesses were displaced to build it. KQED reporter Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman is going to help us understand how it all went down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Music starts\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> In the early ’50s, the Bay Area, like much of the country, was in a post-war building boom. New houses were going up all over the region in places like Concord and Fremont. And a big question was how folks would get around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sounds of BART promo reel\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> State lawmakers began planning for a regional transportation system to connect the suburbs to the economic hubs of Oakland and San Francisco. There was a lot of excitement … which you can hear in this promotional video for BART.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>BART promo reel:\u003c/strong>…To do this by weaving into the fabric of the Bay Area an entirely new and vastly better way of getting around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> In 1962, voters in Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco counties approved a nearly 800 million dollar bond to build the new tracks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>BART promo reel:\u003c/strong>… Locations of lines and stations was the first step in the long planning process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman\u003c/strong>: But BART needed land, including in residential areas where property was already owned and inhabited by people. The Campilongos neighborhood in North Oakland was one of those areas; another was West Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maxine Ussery\u003c/strong>: When I was a girl, there were… So 7th Street and all of West Oakland was predominantly black, owned by black people. Beautiful old Victorians were there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman\u003c/strong>: Maxine Ussery was born in Oakland in 1939. Her family, like many Black families at the time, had come from the South in search of work and a better life. Maxine’s mother and father made the journey from Louisiana and settled in West Oakland. They found jobs at the nearby Naval Shipyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maxine Ussery\u003c/strong>: They had no problems understanding that they had to, in fact, develop their own businesses, their own services, because that’s how they lived in the South.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman\u003c/strong>: She says the West Oakland community had everything they needed…drug stores, groceries, restaurants, churches, doctors and lawyers. But starting in the 1950s, successive government infrastructure projects ripped apart the fabric of this community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maxine Ussery\u003c/strong>: They forced people to move.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman\u003c/strong>: Government agencies demolished homes and businesses for the Nimitz Freeway in the ’50s. Then, in the following decades, they cleared more buildings to make way for Oakland’s Main Post Office and the Acorn housing projects. And then, there was BART. The Oakland Planning Department estimates that upwards of 5,000 units of housing were destroyed in West Oakland in the 1960s alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maxine Ussery\u003c/strong>: It was like a disbursement of a, of a whole group of a whole community, not just, uh, taking the buildings, it was taking people and who had lived there and who, uh, uh, teachers, um, uh, uh, educate, you know, people who were athletes, all of them were displaced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman\u003c/strong>: Maxine says the effect on the community was disastrous, especially for the older folks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maxine Ussery\u003c/strong>: They were up in age, and they were moved into areas where they, that where they could afford to go with the money they were given for BART, which was not a lot. It wasn’t enough money for them to live on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman\u003c/strong>: Many of the infrastructure projects in West Oakland that Maxine talks about were only possible because of a legal tool known as eminent domain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Radhika Rao\u003c/strong>: So that’s the part of the Constitution that gives government the power to come along and take people’s private property even if they don’t consent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman\u003c/strong>: Radhika Rao is a professor of Law at UC San Francisco College of the Law. Eminent domain allows public agencies to buy private property at “fair market value” in order to build infrastructure that is in the public interest. Think hospitals, Public Schools, Highways, Parks, and train tracks. Radhika says without it, infrastructure projects like these might never get built.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Radhika Rao\u003c/strong>: Because you could have one private property owner who says, my house stands in the way; you can’t build a highway. And then we have no highway. So, our infrastructure depends upon government having this power. It’s, it’s super important.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman\u003c/strong>: But Rhadika says government agencies often target areas with lower property values because they cost less.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Radhika Rao\u003c/strong>: Of course! That’s, that just makes economic sense, right? Why would government situate your infrastructure in a place where you have to pay more?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> And the government has a long history of undervaluing properties where people of color and low-income people live and work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Radhika Rao\u003c/strong>: And then there are also political reasons, you know, which communities have power, um, and which communities don’t, to organize against this kind of action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman\u003c/strong>: The 1960 census reveals the parts of West Oakland hit hardest by eminent domain projects were highly segregated … as much as 95% Black … with annual incomes far lower than the city average. The neighborhood in North Oakland that the Campilongos lived in had a higher median income but was also predominantly Black. Rhadika says these communities were vulnerable to eminent domain action and less likely to fight back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Radhika Rao\u003c/strong>: Who has the money to hire a lawyer and go to court saying this, the compensation that you’re offering me is not just compensation? It’s not fair market value.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Music starts\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> BART records show that the agency acquired approximately 2,200 properties in order to build its first 75 miles of track. Some people sold their parcels to BART willingly, but others had to be evicted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Clip of news report: \u003c/strong>This is Seventh Street on Oakland’s west side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> In this KPIX news report from 1967, BART staff are evicting an elderly Black woman named Leitha Blick from the thrift store she owns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>News report:\u003c/strong> An admittedly blighted area, directly in the path of proposed Bay Area Rapid Transit District construction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> That word — blighted — is important. It’s a term that was used by urban redevelopment agencies throughout the country — including in Oakland — to describe neighborhoods that were seen as deteriorating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>News report:\u003c/strong> Most of the homes and businesses in this area will have to be destroyed to make room for progress, and the push of progress is not always gentle. Angry and confused, many of the residents say they can’t buy new homes with the market value prices given them for the ones they now live in. Business people face the same dilemma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> In the news clip, Blick stands by with her arms crossed as workers pack her things into boxes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>News report footage:\u003c/strong> Miss Blick, had you and the Bay Area Rapid Transit District reached any agreement before this happened?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Blick:\u003c/strong> No.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>News reporter:\u003c/strong> Why?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Blick:\u003c/strong> Because, uh, the price wasn’t satisfactory.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>News reporter:\u003c/strong> You didn’t think they were offering you enough money for your merchandise?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Blick:\u003c/strong> That’s correct. Moving us out, and we had no place to go, and I didn’t think they were offering enough, no way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> Blick tried to stop BART from taking her property…but ultimately lost. But there are some examples of people successfully altering BART’s plan.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\nDocumentary footage:\u003c/strong> Berkeley was basically a segregated city. So, the whole of South Berkeley was pretty much a black neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/strong>Pam Uzzell’s documentary “Welcome to the Neighborhood” chronicles one effort in Berkeley. It profiles Mable Howard, who argued that BART’s plan to put raised tracks through part of the city would divide it along racial lines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Documentary footage: \u003c/strong>A woman who said, I won’t have The city of Berkeley, divided in half, there won’t be any other side of the tracks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> In 1966, Berkeley voters approved a tax that would pay to put BART completely underground in Berkeley. But BART proposed a design for Ashby station that was slightly above ground. So Mable Howard teamed up with Ron Dellums, then a city council member, to sue the agency. Here’s a lawyer on the case, Matthew Weinberg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Matthew Weinberg:\u003c/strong> We won the case. How do we know we won the case? Go to Berkeley. You’ll see the whole thing’s underground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman: \u003c/strong>BART acknowledges this legacy of displacement and struggle. Here’s Chief Communications Officer Alicia Trost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alicia Trost: \u003c/strong>There was a lot of generational wealth that was deeply impacted, if not destroyed, because of the building of the BART system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> BART now has an office of civil rights, and other equity initiatives that Trost says are critical to rebuilding trust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alicia Trost:\u003c/strong> And especially when we’re building on our land, uh, we want to make sure there’s a carve-out specifically for affordable housing and that we are in a daily conversation with the community to make sure what we’re building is something that they want.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> As the agency imagines building a possible second transbay tube, Trost says they’re also developing anti-displacement goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alicia Trost:\u003c/strong> Which, if that’s not lessons learned, you know, I don’t know what is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> I’ve gone through multiple public records requests and dozens of deeds, right-of-way contracts, and insurance policies for this story. At the end of it all, I paid another visit to Janine, our question-asker, and her mom, Johanne. I had something for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman, talking to the Dictors:\u003c/strong> I actually found the contract that your grandparents signed with Bart, so here it is. And so this, you can see, like it says right-of-way contract, and it has your grandparents’ names on it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Johanne Dictor:\u003c/strong> Oh, is that all they, so it was just 25,000. Is that right? Oh my God. Oh my gosh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman talking to the Dictors:\u003c/strong> We’re looking at the original contract between Vito and Elizabeth Campilongo and the Bay Area Rapid Transportation District, dated Sept. 2, 1965.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Janine Dictor:\u003c/strong> And it looks like my grandmother’s handwriting, too, actually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Johanne Dictor:\u003c/strong> Oh, it does?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> It shows the Campilongos agreed to sell their property for $25,000. Adjusted for inflation, that’s about 245,000 dollars today. These days, homes go for around a million in that neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Janine Dictor:\u003c/strong> Doesn’t it look like Nana’s?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Johanne Dictor:\u003c/strong> Not really.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Janine Dictor: \u003c/strong>That floral?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Johanne Dictor:\u003c/strong> Yeah, a little bit, but hers was, yeah, she had a good penmanship, Nana. Yeah,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> Janine and Johanne are excited to see the physical evidence of their family history. But after the initial excitement, the mood is somber.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Janine Dictor:\u003c/strong> Going through this process, it’s like you realize it’s like about a lot more than what they were compensated, right? It’s about the fact that they were forced into this, that they lost a lifestyle, that they lost a community, you know. So, even if they got a good price, it’s kind of like, there’s still something to mourn there right about their experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> The word progress comes up a lot when talking about these kinds of projects. The idea is that progress, the greater good, justifies the sacrifice some families have to make. But for families like the Dictors, progress could feel like a step in the wrong direction. Here’s Johanne.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Johanne Dictor: \u003c/strong>After we lost that house, we lost the sense of our family in a way, it seemed like. It was kind of driven apart. Because that house really brought us together. More than the house in San Leandro, you know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman:\u003c/strong> Public infrastructure is often seen as a kind of equalizer … it’s something we all pay for and that anyone can use. But the fact is … some people had to pay more than others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> That was KQED reporter Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman.The use of eminent domain led to the displacement in some of the stories we explored today. It was often used to displace communities of color to make way for various infrastructure projects around the state. As part of its reparations efforts, California is now considering a bill that would compensate people if they can prove racism or discrimination prevented them from getting just compensation. To learn more about California’s reparations efforts, check out KQED’s coverage at KQED dot org slash reparations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Special Thanks to Pam Uzzell for allowing us to use clips from her documentary “Welcome to the Neighborhood” in this story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/strong>This episode was edited by Katrina Schwartz.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> Produced by Olivia Allen-Price.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Tamuna Chkareuli:\u003c/strong> Tamuna Chkareuli\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Pauline Bartolone:\u003c/strong> Pauline Bartolone\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale:\u003c/strong> And Christopher Beale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> We get additional support from:\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Jen Chien:\u003c/strong> Jen Chien\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Katie Sprenger:\u003c/strong> Katie Sprenger\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Cesar Saldaña:\u003c/strong> Cesar Saldaña\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Maha Sanad:\u003c/strong> Maha Sanad\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Xorje Olivares:\u003c/strong> Xorje Olivares:\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> And the whole KQED family. Have a great week, everyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>"
}
],
"link": "/news/11986396/when-bart-was-built-people-and-houses-had-to-go",
"authors": [
"11785"
],
"programs": [
"news_33523"
],
"series": [
"news_17986",
"news_34369"
],
"categories": [
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_269",
"news_30652",
"news_1764",
"news_2318"
],
"featImg": "news_11986229",
"label": "news_33523"
},
"news_11982724": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11982724",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11982724",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1712919649000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "californias-black-lawmakers-are-advancing-different-sets-of-reparations-bills",
"title": "California's Black Lawmakers are Advancing Different Sets of Reparations Bills",
"publishDate": 1712919649,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "California’s Black Lawmakers are Advancing Different Sets of Reparations Bills | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 18481,
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>As California becomes the first state to publicly grapple with the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/reparations-california/\">complexities of reparations\u003c/a>, a conflict has emerged between reparations advocates and some lawmakers backing bills to implement a state task force’s recommendations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leading Black lawmakers are advancing different sets of bills, raising questions about whether they have competing visions. But the chairperson of the California Legislative Black Caucus on Wednesday said there’s no rift between caucus members, just a strategic discussion over which bills to prioritize this year.[aside postID=news_11981271 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/AP24032786348814-1020x680.jpg']“I wouldn’t describe it as an internal dispute at all,” said \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/lori-wilson-165454\">Assemblymember Lori Wilson\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Suisun City in the outer Bay Area and chairperson of the coalition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even so, some advocates say the caucus is backing bills that don’t go far enough to address systemic inequities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, the California Legislative Black Caucus introduced \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2024/01/reparations-california-2/\">a slate of 14 reparations bills\u003c/a>. However, \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/steven-bradford-100945\">Sen. Steven Bradford\u003c/a>, a member of the state reparations task force, has introduced his own set of more ambitious bills, most of which are not listed by the caucus as part of their priority reparations package.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bradford said last week the caucus’ package of bills is a great start, “but there’s much more heavy lifting that will be needed to be done in the years to come.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For instance, some of Bradford’s bills are tailored specifically for the descendants of enslaved persons, which opponents say may raise constitutional issues. Some of the caucus-backed bills are not as narrowly focused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/reginald-jones-sawyer-165441\">Reggie Jones-Sawyer\u003c/a>, also on the task force, is sponsoring another bill not included in the caucus’ slate to create a funding mechanism to narrow\u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240ab3152?slug=CA_202320240AB3152\"> the wealth gap\u003c/a> between white and Black communities in California.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer\"]‘All of the bills are important. Taken in totality, it’s not just inching this or inching that. All of these bills have a significant impact on moving forward with closing the wealth gap.’[/pullquote]“All of the bills are important,” Jones-Sawyer said Wednesday. “Taken in totality; it’s not just inching this or inching that. All of these bills have a significant impact on moving forward with closing the wealth gap.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the nation watching, Black California lawmakers are facing pushback from reparations advocates who argue the caucus’ measures fall far short of addressing the full scope of systemic injustices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The conflict leaves lawmakers in a tough spot. They want to build on the momentum the first-in-the-nation reparations task force created by writing bills that will gain enough of their colleagues’ support to become laws this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are so mad at them,” said Chris Lodgson, an organizer with the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California, a reparations advocacy group. “We’re mad at them in a hopefully productive way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Will California voters support reparations?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Aside from activists’ dissatisfaction, lawmakers face a budget deficit that could balloon to more than $70 billion and a lack of public support for reparations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly 60% of California voters \u003ca href=\"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5ks5g9f6?\">oppose reparation payments\u003c/a> for Black residents, according to a poll published in September by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies. Republicans overwhelmingly reject the concept, with 91% opposed, while 43% of Democrats approved of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2020, the police murder of George Floyd set off a nationwide racial reckoning. In its wake, California’s Secretary of State Shirley Weber, then an assemblywoman, championed a bill establishing the California Reparations Task Force that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For two years, the task force traveled up and down the state, conducting hundreds of hours of public hearings and listening to residents and researchers. It released a more than 1,000-page report with findings and more than 100 recommendations.[aside postID=news_11975584 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-05-KQED-1038x576.jpg']Some of the public enthusiasm for racial justice has since waned. Meanwhile, key legislative deadlines are approaching in late April and early May. For bills to stay alive this session, they must pass their first chamber by May 24.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of Bradford’s proposed legislation would establish a new state agency called the California American Freedman Affairs Agency to \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240sb1403?slug=CA_202320240SB1403\">administer reparations\u003c/a> and help people research their ancestry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another of his bills would establish \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240sb1007\">homeowners’ financial assistance\u003c/a> to help descendants of enslaved people buy, insure and maintain their homes, and another would \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240sb1331\">create a fund for reparations\u003c/a> in the state budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His homeowners’ assistance bill passed the Senate’s Housing Committee last week, and his proposal to establish the Freedman Affairs Agency passed the Senate’s Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have to eat the elephant one bite at a time,” Bradford explained in an interview with CalMatters last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Bradford, 64, who is in the last year of his final term, is taking a bigger bite of the elephant than his colleagues, advocates say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He is our hero right now,” Lodgson said. “Because if it weren’t for him, I don’t know, this would be very, very ugly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Black caucus priorities\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Members of the California Legislative Black Caucus say their slate of bills is only the first step in a multiyear effort to right the wrongs of slavery and racism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wilson said the caucus considered about 26 bills based on the task force’s recommendations and voted on which ones to prioritize this year while “recognizing the budget environment we’re in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11982735\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11982735\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/CMReparations02.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/CMReparations02.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/CMReparations02-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/CMReparations02-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/CMReparations02-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/CMReparations02-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/CMReparations02-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Akilah Weber speaks during a press conference led by the California Legislative Black Caucus at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Feb. 21, 2024. Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer introduced AB 3089, a bill that seeks a formal apology for the state’s role in chattel slavery. \u003ccite>(Greaves/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We ended up coming up with 14 bills that everybody was ‘all in’ on,” Wilson said. For the other bills not in the slate, it “doesn’t mean it’s not a reparations bill. It doesn’t mean that members aren’t supporting it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She noted even she has a bill modeled after the task force’s recommendations that was not included in the coalition’s slate this year. That measure is aimed at reducing the disproportionate \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240ab2319\">maternal mortality\u003c/a> rate of Black women and \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-california-legislative-black-caucus-introduce-legislation\">was introduced with state Attorney General Rob Bonta\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The differing sets of proposed laws underscore a broader debate over the extent and form of restitution necessary to redress the historical wrongs. The United Nations defines reparations as including compensation. The task force made about 115 recommendations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Black Caucus’ reparations slate includes proposed laws that would \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240ab280\">limit solitary confinement\u003c/a> in state prisons, provide \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240sb1013?slug=CA_202320240SB1013\">property tax relief in redlined communities\u003c/a> and prompt a \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240acr135\">formal apology\u003c/a> from California and Newsom for the Golden State’s history of slavery and anti-Black racism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s almost insulting to call their bills reparations,” Lodgson said of the slate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of Bradford’s bills is included in the caucus package. That measure would create a database of California residents whose \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240sb1050?slug=CA_202320240SB1050\">land was taken\u003c/a> through the racially motivated use of eminent domain. The bill would be a first step in returning what was taken.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How to pay for California reparations\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>None of the bills — neither the caucus’ nor Bradford’s — includes the direct cash payments recommended by the task force. Not yet, Bradford said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m still not of the belief that we have come that far as a state, let alone a nation, to truly embrace and understand the obligation,” Bradford said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the possibility of cash payments isn’t off the table. One of his bills aims to create a fund for reparations in the state budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s not enough money in the state’s budget or in the national budget to make descendants of slavery whole in this country,” he said. If he had to start somewhere, though, he would begin with the wealth gap between average African Americans and whites, pegged at around $370,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://e.infogram.com/de76c2c8-b0c6-41cb-bb9c-03a83a52e9dd?parent_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalmatters.org%2Fcalifornia-divide%2F2024%2F04%2Freparations-california-legislature%2F&src=embed#async_embed\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen title=\"Reparations approval\" style=\"border: none; width: 653px; height: 1696px;\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jones-Sawyer said one major hurdle to overcome is paying for the various reparations measures. He said his proposal would tax the same products that brought wealth to other races through slave labor — gold, cotton, tobacco, wine, olives, cane sugar, rice and coffee beans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A group of people gave free labor for 400 years. These commodities benefited greatly from that. We need to be able to figure out a way to excise money so that it can be brought back into the Black community,” he said. “It’s really a crawl back on the ill-gotten wealth that faceless and nameless individuals and corporations acquired from slave labor, who never earned a wage or benefited from their work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recognizing the uphill battle lawmakers face, Bradford noted some Republicans won’t even vote in favor of acknowledging slavery existed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many Republicans did not cast a vote on the recently proposed resolution to “acknowledge the harms and atrocities committed by representatives of the State of California who promoted, facilitated, enforced, and permitted the institution of chattel slavery and the legacy of ongoing badges and incidents of slavery that form the systemic structures of discrimination.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/diane-dixon-165458\">Assemblymember Diane Dixon\u003c/a>, a Republican from Newport Beach, said even though California in its early days “enacted a number of laws that intentionally discriminated against African Americans,” she was abstaining from voting in favor or against the measure because “today, we can be proud that California, in the second half … of the 20th century \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/hearings/257419?t=925&f=a9ef78e5f7c0c168cc834d40217f5e65\">became a national leader in extending civil rights to African Americans and others\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dixon, 72, made her comments when the proposed legislation was before the Assembly’s judiciary committee on Feb. 20, adding she looked forward to “growing our knowledge in reading the reparations report.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Forced labor in California\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Some of the proposed legislation in the caucus’ reparations package were bills that previously failed, such as the measure to remove an exemption in California’s constitution that allows for forced labor. Critics say requiring incarcerated people to work, often for low pay, is a form of slavery, but state officials say prison workers save the state tens of millions of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bradford said he urges all lawmakers to read the task force’s report or at least the executive summary. Several lawmakers say more education and public outreach are needed before some reparations measures can become a reality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We spent two years of our lives on this,” Bradford said, adding it cost taxpayers nearly $1 million for the task force hearings, research and report.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Sen. Steven Bradford\"]‘We spent two years of our lives on this.’[/pullquote]“And now, for legislators not to read it, I think it does a great disservice to taxpayers’ dollars that we went through this effort and the individuals who are now responsible for implementing what the report says are just ignoring it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lodgson said that’s also where his group draws its sense of urgency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Two years of our lives, going to every hearing, hundreds of community meetings. We’re all volunteers. We come, and we spend our own money. We’ve got people breaking up with their girlfriends because they spend so much time on this,” he said. “Then to come to this year, and we’ve got bills like ‘We’re gonna get [California corrections officials] to tell us what books they’ve banned. We’re gonna apologize’ … It’s not enough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kamilah Moore, a reparatory justice scholar and attorney who served as the task force chair, said she supports all the bills — both the caucus’ and Bradford’s and other lawmakers — because every step in the right direction is positive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With all of these bills’ passage, it just creates a solid foundation for eventually a direct cash payments bill, maybe in the next legislative session,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers say progress on the caucus’ slate is inching ahead.[aside postID=news_11965926 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/005_Sharon_230929_076-KQED-1020x680.jpg']In the last few weeks, Assembly and Senate committees took up several bills from the reparations slate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One was a bill that would \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240ab1815\">expand California’s original 2019 CROWN Act\u003c/a>, barring hair discrimination in competitive sports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Speaking before the committee, the bill’s author, \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/akilah-weber-165432\">Assemblywoman Akilah Weber\u003c/a>, described \u003ca href=\"https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/opinion/columnists/2024/03/06/crown-act-law-discrimination-black-americans-natural-hair/72857014007/\">instances across the nation\u003c/a> where Black teenagers have been told to cut their hair to continue playing soccer or softball.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are incredibly dehumanizing events,” said Weber, a Democrat from San Diego. “Our hair is a symbol of who we are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weber said the legislation is personal because her son is beginning to consider how he wants to style his hair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California lawmakers enacted the original CROWN Act (which stands for Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) in 2019 to prevent discrimination based on hairstyle and hair texture in schools and workplaces. It was the first such legislation passed at the state level. Since then, 22 states have \u003ca href=\"https://www.naacpldf.org/crown-act/\">followed California’s lead\u003c/a>, but similar federal bills have failed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "Though California’s Legislative Black Caucus filed a slate of 14 bills linked to reparations, a few lawmakers are floating their own proposals.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1725920249,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": true,
"iframeSrcs": [
"https://e.infogram.com/de76c2c8-b0c6-41cb-bb9c-03a83a52e9dd"
],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 54,
"wordCount": 2348
},
"headData": {
"title": "California's Black Lawmakers are Advancing Different Sets of Reparations Bills | KQED",
"description": "Though California’s Legislative Black Caucus filed a slate of 14 bills linked to reparations, a few lawmakers are floating their own proposals.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "California's Black Lawmakers are Advancing Different Sets of Reparations Bills",
"datePublished": "2024-04-12T04:00:49-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-09T15:17:29-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"sticky": false,
"nprByline": "\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/wendy-fry/\">Wendy Fry\u003c/a>",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"showOnAuthorArchivePages": "No",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11982724/californias-black-lawmakers-are-advancing-different-sets-of-reparations-bills",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As California becomes the first state to publicly grapple with the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/reparations-california/\">complexities of reparations\u003c/a>, a conflict has emerged between reparations advocates and some lawmakers backing bills to implement a state task force’s recommendations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leading Black lawmakers are advancing different sets of bills, raising questions about whether they have competing visions. But the chairperson of the California Legislative Black Caucus on Wednesday said there’s no rift between caucus members, just a strategic discussion over which bills to prioritize this year.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "news_11981271",
"hero": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/AP24032786348814-1020x680.jpg",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I wouldn’t describe it as an internal dispute at all,” said \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/lori-wilson-165454\">Assemblymember Lori Wilson\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Suisun City in the outer Bay Area and chairperson of the coalition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even so, some advocates say the caucus is backing bills that don’t go far enough to address systemic inequities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, the California Legislative Black Caucus introduced \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2024/01/reparations-california-2/\">a slate of 14 reparations bills\u003c/a>. However, \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/steven-bradford-100945\">Sen. Steven Bradford\u003c/a>, a member of the state reparations task force, has introduced his own set of more ambitious bills, most of which are not listed by the caucus as part of their priority reparations package.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bradford said last week the caucus’ package of bills is a great start, “but there’s much more heavy lifting that will be needed to be done in the years to come.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For instance, some of Bradford’s bills are tailored specifically for the descendants of enslaved persons, which opponents say may raise constitutional issues. Some of the caucus-backed bills are not as narrowly focused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/reginald-jones-sawyer-165441\">Reggie Jones-Sawyer\u003c/a>, also on the task force, is sponsoring another bill not included in the caucus’ slate to create a funding mechanism to narrow\u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240ab3152?slug=CA_202320240AB3152\"> the wealth gap\u003c/a> between white and Black communities in California.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘All of the bills are important. Taken in totality, it’s not just inching this or inching that. All of these bills have a significant impact on moving forward with closing the wealth gap.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“All of the bills are important,” Jones-Sawyer said Wednesday. “Taken in totality; it’s not just inching this or inching that. All of these bills have a significant impact on moving forward with closing the wealth gap.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the nation watching, Black California lawmakers are facing pushback from reparations advocates who argue the caucus’ measures fall far short of addressing the full scope of systemic injustices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The conflict leaves lawmakers in a tough spot. They want to build on the momentum the first-in-the-nation reparations task force created by writing bills that will gain enough of their colleagues’ support to become laws this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are so mad at them,” said Chris Lodgson, an organizer with the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California, a reparations advocacy group. “We’re mad at them in a hopefully productive way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Will California voters support reparations?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Aside from activists’ dissatisfaction, lawmakers face a budget deficit that could balloon to more than $70 billion and a lack of public support for reparations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly 60% of California voters \u003ca href=\"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5ks5g9f6?\">oppose reparation payments\u003c/a> for Black residents, according to a poll published in September by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies. Republicans overwhelmingly reject the concept, with 91% opposed, while 43% of Democrats approved of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2020, the police murder of George Floyd set off a nationwide racial reckoning. In its wake, California’s Secretary of State Shirley Weber, then an assemblywoman, championed a bill establishing the California Reparations Task Force that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For two years, the task force traveled up and down the state, conducting hundreds of hours of public hearings and listening to residents and researchers. It released a more than 1,000-page report with findings and more than 100 recommendations.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "news_11975584",
"hero": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-05-KQED-1038x576.jpg",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Some of the public enthusiasm for racial justice has since waned. Meanwhile, key legislative deadlines are approaching in late April and early May. For bills to stay alive this session, they must pass their first chamber by May 24.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of Bradford’s proposed legislation would establish a new state agency called the California American Freedman Affairs Agency to \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240sb1403?slug=CA_202320240SB1403\">administer reparations\u003c/a> and help people research their ancestry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another of his bills would establish \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240sb1007\">homeowners’ financial assistance\u003c/a> to help descendants of enslaved people buy, insure and maintain their homes, and another would \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240sb1331\">create a fund for reparations\u003c/a> in the state budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His homeowners’ assistance bill passed the Senate’s Housing Committee last week, and his proposal to establish the Freedman Affairs Agency passed the Senate’s Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have to eat the elephant one bite at a time,” Bradford explained in an interview with CalMatters last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Bradford, 64, who is in the last year of his final term, is taking a bigger bite of the elephant than his colleagues, advocates say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He is our hero right now,” Lodgson said. “Because if it weren’t for him, I don’t know, this would be very, very ugly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Black caucus priorities\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Members of the California Legislative Black Caucus say their slate of bills is only the first step in a multiyear effort to right the wrongs of slavery and racism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wilson said the caucus considered about 26 bills based on the task force’s recommendations and voted on which ones to prioritize this year while “recognizing the budget environment we’re in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11982735\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11982735\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/CMReparations02.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/CMReparations02.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/CMReparations02-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/CMReparations02-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/CMReparations02-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/CMReparations02-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/CMReparations02-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Akilah Weber speaks during a press conference led by the California Legislative Black Caucus at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Feb. 21, 2024. Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer introduced AB 3089, a bill that seeks a formal apology for the state’s role in chattel slavery. \u003ccite>(Greaves/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We ended up coming up with 14 bills that everybody was ‘all in’ on,” Wilson said. For the other bills not in the slate, it “doesn’t mean it’s not a reparations bill. It doesn’t mean that members aren’t supporting it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She noted even she has a bill modeled after the task force’s recommendations that was not included in the coalition’s slate this year. That measure is aimed at reducing the disproportionate \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240ab2319\">maternal mortality\u003c/a> rate of Black women and \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-california-legislative-black-caucus-introduce-legislation\">was introduced with state Attorney General Rob Bonta\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The differing sets of proposed laws underscore a broader debate over the extent and form of restitution necessary to redress the historical wrongs. The United Nations defines reparations as including compensation. The task force made about 115 recommendations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Black Caucus’ reparations slate includes proposed laws that would \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240ab280\">limit solitary confinement\u003c/a> in state prisons, provide \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240sb1013?slug=CA_202320240SB1013\">property tax relief in redlined communities\u003c/a> and prompt a \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240acr135\">formal apology\u003c/a> from California and Newsom for the Golden State’s history of slavery and anti-Black racism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s almost insulting to call their bills reparations,” Lodgson said of the slate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of Bradford’s bills is included in the caucus package. That measure would create a database of California residents whose \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240sb1050?slug=CA_202320240SB1050\">land was taken\u003c/a> through the racially motivated use of eminent domain. The bill would be a first step in returning what was taken.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How to pay for California reparations\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>None of the bills — neither the caucus’ nor Bradford’s — includes the direct cash payments recommended by the task force. Not yet, Bradford said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m still not of the belief that we have come that far as a state, let alone a nation, to truly embrace and understand the obligation,” Bradford said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the possibility of cash payments isn’t off the table. One of his bills aims to create a fund for reparations in the state budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s not enough money in the state’s budget or in the national budget to make descendants of slavery whole in this country,” he said. If he had to start somewhere, though, he would begin with the wealth gap between average African Americans and whites, pegged at around $370,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://e.infogram.com/de76c2c8-b0c6-41cb-bb9c-03a83a52e9dd?parent_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalmatters.org%2Fcalifornia-divide%2F2024%2F04%2Freparations-california-legislature%2F&src=embed#async_embed\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen title=\"Reparations approval\" style=\"border: none; width: 653px; height: 1696px;\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jones-Sawyer said one major hurdle to overcome is paying for the various reparations measures. He said his proposal would tax the same products that brought wealth to other races through slave labor — gold, cotton, tobacco, wine, olives, cane sugar, rice and coffee beans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A group of people gave free labor for 400 years. These commodities benefited greatly from that. We need to be able to figure out a way to excise money so that it can be brought back into the Black community,” he said. “It’s really a crawl back on the ill-gotten wealth that faceless and nameless individuals and corporations acquired from slave labor, who never earned a wage or benefited from their work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recognizing the uphill battle lawmakers face, Bradford noted some Republicans won’t even vote in favor of acknowledging slavery existed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many Republicans did not cast a vote on the recently proposed resolution to “acknowledge the harms and atrocities committed by representatives of the State of California who promoted, facilitated, enforced, and permitted the institution of chattel slavery and the legacy of ongoing badges and incidents of slavery that form the systemic structures of discrimination.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/diane-dixon-165458\">Assemblymember Diane Dixon\u003c/a>, a Republican from Newport Beach, said even though California in its early days “enacted a number of laws that intentionally discriminated against African Americans,” she was abstaining from voting in favor or against the measure because “today, we can be proud that California, in the second half … of the 20th century \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/hearings/257419?t=925&f=a9ef78e5f7c0c168cc834d40217f5e65\">became a national leader in extending civil rights to African Americans and others\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dixon, 72, made her comments when the proposed legislation was before the Assembly’s judiciary committee on Feb. 20, adding she looked forward to “growing our knowledge in reading the reparations report.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Forced labor in California\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Some of the proposed legislation in the caucus’ reparations package were bills that previously failed, such as the measure to remove an exemption in California’s constitution that allows for forced labor. Critics say requiring incarcerated people to work, often for low pay, is a form of slavery, but state officials say prison workers save the state tens of millions of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bradford said he urges all lawmakers to read the task force’s report or at least the executive summary. Several lawmakers say more education and public outreach are needed before some reparations measures can become a reality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We spent two years of our lives on this,” Bradford said, adding it cost taxpayers nearly $1 million for the task force hearings, research and report.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘We spent two years of our lives on this.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Sen. Steven Bradford",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“And now, for legislators not to read it, I think it does a great disservice to taxpayers’ dollars that we went through this effort and the individuals who are now responsible for implementing what the report says are just ignoring it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lodgson said that’s also where his group draws its sense of urgency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Two years of our lives, going to every hearing, hundreds of community meetings. We’re all volunteers. We come, and we spend our own money. We’ve got people breaking up with their girlfriends because they spend so much time on this,” he said. “Then to come to this year, and we’ve got bills like ‘We’re gonna get [California corrections officials] to tell us what books they’ve banned. We’re gonna apologize’ … It’s not enough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kamilah Moore, a reparatory justice scholar and attorney who served as the task force chair, said she supports all the bills — both the caucus’ and Bradford’s and other lawmakers — because every step in the right direction is positive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With all of these bills’ passage, it just creates a solid foundation for eventually a direct cash payments bill, maybe in the next legislative session,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers say progress on the caucus’ slate is inching ahead.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "news_11965926",
"hero": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/005_Sharon_230929_076-KQED-1020x680.jpg",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In the last few weeks, Assembly and Senate committees took up several bills from the reparations slate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One was a bill that would \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240ab1815\">expand California’s original 2019 CROWN Act\u003c/a>, barring hair discrimination in competitive sports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Speaking before the committee, the bill’s author, \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/akilah-weber-165432\">Assemblywoman Akilah Weber\u003c/a>, described \u003ca href=\"https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/opinion/columnists/2024/03/06/crown-act-law-discrimination-black-americans-natural-hair/72857014007/\">instances across the nation\u003c/a> where Black teenagers have been told to cut their hair to continue playing soccer or softball.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are incredibly dehumanizing events,” said Weber, a Democrat from San Diego. “Our hair is a symbol of who we are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weber said the legislation is personal because her son is beginning to consider how he wants to style his hair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California lawmakers enacted the original CROWN Act (which stands for Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) in 2019 to prevent discrimination based on hairstyle and hair texture in schools and workplaces. It was the first such legislation passed at the state level. Since then, 22 states have \u003ca href=\"https://www.naacpldf.org/crown-act/\">followed California’s lead\u003c/a>, but similar federal bills have failed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11982724/californias-black-lawmakers-are-advancing-different-sets-of-reparations-bills",
"authors": [
"byline_news_11982724"
],
"series": [
"news_34369"
],
"categories": [
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_30345",
"news_30652",
"news_2923"
],
"affiliates": [
"news_18481"
],
"featImg": "news_11982734",
"label": "news_18481"
},
"news_11981271": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11981271",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11981271",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1712055626000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "track-the-success-of-californias-14-reparations-bills-for-black-residents",
"title": "Track the Success of California's 14 Reparations Bills for Black Residents",
"publishDate": 1712055626,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "Track the Success of California’s 14 Reparations Bills for Black Residents | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 34369,
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>The California Legislative Black Caucus is prioritizing 14 reparations bills, which the group hopes to pass this year. CLBC members curated the list to test the limits of the Legislature’s commitment to racial justice while seeking to avoid a wholesale rejection that could derail the quest for reparations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are aware that everyone in the state is watching us, but also everyone in this nation, but also in this world,” Assemblymember Akilah Weber (D-San Diego) said.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Assemblymember Akilah Weber (D-San Diego)\"]‘We are aware that everyone in the state is watching us, but also everyone in this nation, but also in this world.’[/pullquote]The bills are drawn from two years of work by the California Reparations Task Force, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/reparations\">KQED has reported on since its inception\u003c/a>. The task force’s \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/ab3121/report\">final report\u003c/a>, published in June 2023, includes over 100 policy proposals, as well as a plan to provide direct cash payments to eligible residents. None of the introduced bills include cash payments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Passing bills with hefty price tags will be challenging because California’s deficit could exceed $70 billion. Even if cash payments weren’t controversial, a plan to pay out millions of dollars to residents would likely face intense opposition in the Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CLBC’s 12 members each submitted ideas for reparations bills to the caucus, which then voted on the bills to prioritize. The 14 listed below won support from two-thirds of caucus members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fate of the first-in-the-nation effort for state-level reparations will play out over the next five months in Sacramento. Legislators face an Aug. 31 deadline to pass bills on to Gov. Gavin Newsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Success on Aug. 31, at the end of session, looks like our priority package is across the line, plus a few more,” Assemblymember Lori Wilson (D-Suisun City) said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Below are the details of each bill under consideration by the Legislature. Bookmark this page and check back as we track each bill’s fate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Table of contents\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblyconstitutionalamendment7\">Assembly Constitutional Amendment 7\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Allow the state to fund race-based programs.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblyconstitutionalamendment8\">Assembly Constitutional Amendment 8\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Ban involuntary servitude in state prisons.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblyconcurrentresolution135\">Assembly Concurrent Resolution 135\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Acknowledge the residual impact of slavery in California.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblybill280\">Assembly Bill 280\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Limit solitary confinement in state prisons.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblybill1815\">Assembly Bill 1815\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Prohibit discrimination based on hair texture and style.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblybill1929\">Assembly Bill 1929\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Allow deeper analysis of technical education grants.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblybill1975\">Assembly Bill 1975\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Require Medi-Cal to broaden food and nutrition coverage.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblybill1986\">Assembly Bill 1986\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Limit book bans in state prisons.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblybill2064\">Assembly Bill 2064\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Create grant program to decrease violence.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblybill2862\">Assembly Bill 2862\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Require licensing boards to prioritize Black applicants.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblybill3089\">Assembly Bill 3089\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Formal apology for slavery and systemic discrimination.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblybill3131\">Assembly Bill 3131\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Target economic support to formerly redlined communities.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#senatebill1050\">Senate Bill 1050\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Compensation for land taken by eminent domain. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#senatebill1089\">Senate Bill 1089\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Require advance notice for grocery and pharmacy closures.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"assemblyconstitutionalamendment7\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240ACA7\">❎Assembly Constitutional Amendment 7\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: Assemblymember Corey Jackson (D-Riverside)\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do: \u003c/strong>Allow the state to fund programs designed to improve the health, education or economic well-being of “specific groups based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin or marginalized genders or sexual orientations.” It would amend Proposition 209, the state’s ban on affirmative action in government policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11904283\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11904283\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53515_20220204-IMG_2539-2-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Several red and white signs shown from a distance with many people standing in front of City Hall in Oakland\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1342\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53515_20220204-IMG_2539-2-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53515_20220204-IMG_2539-2-qut-800x559.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53515_20220204-IMG_2539-2-qut-1020x713.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53515_20220204-IMG_2539-2-qut-160x112.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53515_20220204-IMG_2539-2-qut-1536x1074.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Educators, parents and youth gather in protest during a citywide rally at Oakland City Hall on Feb. 4, 2022. \u003ccite>(Amaya Edwards/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations? \u003c/strong>Much of the state’s proposed reparations plan hinges on this passing. Without amending Proposition 209, lawmakers cannot pass policies to specifically benefit the state’s Black residents. At a meeting of the reparations task force last year, member Donald Tamaki argued that to assist people harmed by racial discrimination, reparations policies must target support to people based on their racial identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly:\u003c/strong> California voters passed Proposition 209, the nation’s first ban on affirmative action, in 1996 during a wave of anti-affirmative action activism. That was 28 years ago. In 2020, an attempt to repeal the law was rejected by 57% of voters. ACA 7 is not a full-scale repeal, and legislators might be hoping this pared-down proposal is more appealing to voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest:\u003c/strong> ACA 7 was pulled from consideration for the November ballot on June 25 by Jackson, who said he still intends to move the bill through the Legislature this year. It’s currently awaiting hearing dates in the Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee and Constitutional Amendments Committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"assemblyconstitutionalamendment8\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240ACA8\">✅Assembly Constitutional Amendment 8\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: \u003c/strong>Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do: \u003c/strong>Remove language from the state’s constitution allowing involuntary servitude “as punishment to a crime.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11909591\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11909591 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54515_007_KQED_LoriWilson_03172022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A woman wearing glasses and a yellow dress stands outside.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54515_007_KQED_LoriWilson_03172022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54515_007_KQED_LoriWilson_03172022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54515_007_KQED_LoriWilson_03172022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54515_007_KQED_LoriWilson_03172022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54515_007_KQED_LoriWilson_03172022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson, the author of Assembly Constitutional Amendment 8. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations? \u003c/strong>Black residents, who make up just 5% of California’s population, account for 28% of the state’s prison population. Incarcerated people are paid as little as $0.08 an hour and face punishment for not completing work. “That is where you see it currently, with people being forced to work no matter what and to work without any sense of compensation,” Wilson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly:\u003c/strong> In 2022, a similar proposal was voted down, in part, over \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/prisons-california-gavin-newsom-minimum-wage-slavery-a0aed840fc6dc54c7eb0da98d0f6bb05\">concerns that the end of involuntary servitude would require wage increases\u003c/a> for prison labor, adding significant costs to the state prison system, according to analysts with the state Department of Finance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ACA 8 passed the Assembly on a bipartisan vote in September. Four Republicans voted against the bill, and eight other GOP members did not vote. The bill is now pending in the state Senate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest: \u003c/strong>It \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992329/californians-will-vote-on-whether-to-end-forced-prison-labor-this-november\">passed\u003c/a> the state Legislature and will appear on the ballot in November.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"assemblyconcurrentresolution135\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240ACR135\">❎Assembly Concurrent Resolution 135\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: \u003c/strong>Assemblymember Akilah Weber (D-San Diego)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do:\u003c/strong> Acknowledge the actions of government officials in California who advanced chattel slavery and subsequent discriminatory policies against Black Californians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11981334\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11981334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/001_Oakland_ReparationsMarch_10162021_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/001_Oakland_ReparationsMarch_10162021_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/001_Oakland_ReparationsMarch_10162021_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/001_Oakland_ReparationsMarch_10162021_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/001_Oakland_ReparationsMarch_10162021_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/001_Oakland_ReparationsMarch_10162021_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bakari Olatunji, Western Regional Party Representative of the African People’s Socialist Party, speaks during a rally for reparations for African people in Oakland on Oct. 16, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations?\u003c/strong> Weber said the process of providing reparations must begin with an acknowledgment and an honest reckoning of the harms perpetrated by California’s government. The transgressions pre-date California’s statehood, when Southern-born lawmakers played an outsized role in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11942302/californias-legislature-has-roots-in-slavery-are-lawmakers-ready-to-confront-that\">shaping the state’s pro-slavery stance — and even owned slaves\u003c/a>. “This is the foundation upon which we will build for this year and years to come,” Weber said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly:\u003c/strong> ACR 135 sailed through the state Assembly, though not without some controversy. In the Assembly Judiciary Committee, Diane Dixon (R-Newport Beach) said that California “can be proud” of its progress in achieving racial justice in the last 75 years, which Weber and others characterized as dismissive of discriminatory policies enacted in recent decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ACR 135 passed the State Assembly on a 59-0 vote on Feb 26.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest:\u003c/strong> ACR 135 never advanced in the state Senate.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"assemblybill280\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB280\">❎Assembly Bill 280\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author:\u003c/strong> Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-Pasadena)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do:\u003c/strong> Limit the use of solitary confinement in state prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11971776\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11971776\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/072623_San-Quentin_SN_01-CM-copy.jpg\" alt=\"A prison guard in uniform stands in front of a gate with a building in the background.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/072623_San-Quentin_SN_01-CM-copy.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/072623_San-Quentin_SN_01-CM-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/072623_San-Quentin_SN_01-CM-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/072623_San-Quentin_SN_01-CM-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/072623_San-Quentin_SN_01-CM-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/072623_San-Quentin_SN_01-CM-copy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The entry gate at San Quentin State Prison on July 26, 2023. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations? \u003c/strong>Black men make up 28% of the state’s prison population and 18.5% of the population in restricted housing. Meanwhile, Black women account for 25.4% of the prison population, and four out of five women in restricted housing are Black, \u003ca href=\"https://law.yale.edu/centers-workshops/arthur-liman-center-public-interest-law/liman-center-publications/time-cell-2021\">according to a 2022 report\u003c/a> by the Correctional Leaders Association and the Arthur Liman Center for Public Interest Law at Yale Law School.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly:\u003c/strong> Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar proposal in 2022, arguing that the bill’s exclusion of certain groups from segregated housing — such as inmates younger than 26 or older than 59 — was too broad. After vetoing the bill, Newsom ordered state prison officials to “develop regulations that would restrict the use of segregated confinement except in limited situations, such as where the individual has been found to have engaged in violence in the prison.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While AB 280 was pending in the state Assembly, a spokesperson told KQED that Holden is waiting for advice from the governor’s office about how to amend the bill to avoid a second veto.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest: \u003c/strong>On Aug. 19, Holden’s staff sent a press release with the news that AB 280 was not moving forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Last year, we decided to leave the bill on the Assembly Floor to allow more time for all of the stakeholders involved to work toward a solution and during that time, new regulations were put forth to address some of the issues related to solitary confinement,” Holden said in the press release. “Without a doubt, more change is needed and I believe holding the bill on the Assembly Floor will allow the Legislature and advocates to review the results of these regulations and use new data to implement the most effective plan of action.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"assemblybill1815\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1815\">✅Assembly Bill 1815\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: \u003c/strong>Assemblymember Akilah Weber (D-San Diego)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do: \u003c/strong>Prohibit discrimination based on hair texture or hairstyles like braids, locks and twists. When introduced, the bill focused on preventing discrimination in amateur sports leagues and later broadened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations?: \u003c/strong>According to a 2023 study by Dove, Black women with coily or textured hair are twice as likely to experience microaggressions at work compared to those with straight hair. Up until 2017, the U.S. military did not allow men to wear their hair in dreadlocks, and Black women were required to straighten their hair or wear wigs to comply with military regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly: \u003c/strong>This would expand the 2019 California CROWN Act, which outlawed discrimination based on hairstyle in schools and workplaces. The law is part of a nationwide CROWN Act campaign to protect and celebrate natural Black hairstyles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill was amended on March 21 to remove the focus on amateur sports leagues and instead changed the definition of “race” used in state civil rights laws to include characteristics associated with race, such as hair textures and stylings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In arguing support of the bill in the Assembly Judiciary on April 2, Weber pointed to cases of hair-based discrimination in \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/04/17/wrestler-was-forced-cut-his-dreadlocks-before-match-his-town-is-still-looking-answers/\">New Jersey\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/14/softball-hair-beads-discrimination-pyles/\">North Carolina\u003c/a>. “Our hair is a symbol of who we are,” she said. “These cases around the country are exactly why the California Reparations Task Force made this expansion one of their policy recommendations to the legislature.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AB 1815 passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee with unanimous support on April 24. The bill passed the Assembly in a 71-0 vote on May 2. It unanimously passed the Senate Judicial Committee with minor amendments on June 4.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The latest: \u003c/b>AB1815 passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee suspense file of Aug. 15 and now heads to the Senate floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1929\">✅Assembly Bill 1929\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: \u003c/strong>Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do:\u003c/strong> Require data about recipients of state technical education grants to be disaggregated by race.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations? \u003c/strong>The reparations task force’s report cites research from the Center for American Progress that found “students of color still face disparities in access to and participation in high-quality [Career Technical Education] programs.”[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Assemblymember David Alvarez (D-San Diego)\"]‘The only way we’ll know if we’re actually making strides to address the inequalities and certainly to ensure that we don’t perpetuate them is if we have the information.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly:\u003c/strong> This bill was significantly watered down ahead of a hearing in the Assembly Education Committee. AB 1929 initially would have moved the state toward creating a competitive grant program to increase the enrollment of descendants of slavery in STEM-related career technical education programs. Now it sets a less ambitious goal: allowing the state to get race-specific \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/ct/ig/\">data on existing\u003c/a> workforce \u003ca href=\"https://www.cccco.edu/About-Us/Chancellors-Office/Divisions/Workforce-and-Economic-Development/Strong-Workforce-Program\">development programs\u003c/a>. A McKinnor spokesperson said the initial language was only a placeholder, known as a spot bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest: \u003c/strong>AB 1929 passed the Assembly on a 65-0 vote on April 9 and now heads to the state Senate. It was approved by the Senate on June 20. Amendments were approved by the Assembly on July 1. Newsom signed AB 1929 on July 18.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"assemblybill1975\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1975\">❎Assembly Bill 1975\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: \u003c/strong>Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do: \u003c/strong>Require Medi-Cal, the state’s public health insurance plan, to cover culturally relevant and medically supportive foods or nutrition interventions when deemed necessary by a healthcare provider.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11887623\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11887623\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/RS50120_010_Oakland_MiaBonta_06232021-qut.jpeg\" alt=\"A woman in a blue and white short-sleeved shirt smiling and looking to the left of the camera\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/RS50120_010_Oakland_MiaBonta_06232021-qut.jpeg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/RS50120_010_Oakland_MiaBonta_06232021-qut-800x533.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/RS50120_010_Oakland_MiaBonta_06232021-qut-1020x680.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/RS50120_010_Oakland_MiaBonta_06232021-qut-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/RS50120_010_Oakland_MiaBonta_06232021-qut-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Mia Bonta, who authored Assembly Bill 1975. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations? \u003c/strong>According to a 2021 study by UCLA, nearly four in 10 adult Californians don’t have consistent access to sufficient food. Access to enough healthy food is essential to treat and prevent chronic illness, which disproportionately impacts people of color. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black Americans and Native Americans are more likely than all other racial groups to experience diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly:\u003c/strong> Medi-Cal is in the midst of a five-year revamp. It’s been piloting food and nutrition interventions over the last two years which have been popular. According to Bonta’s office, as of July 2023, over 26,000 Californians had used the benefit to access healthy foods. The bill passed the Assembly Health Committee on April 16 in a 14-1 vote. Itpassed out of the Assembly on May 21 with a 64-0 vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Senate Health Committee heard AB 1975 on June 5. Amendments were made requiring the bill only be implemented if funding is provided in the state budget. The bill is set for a second reading on June 12.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The latest: \u003c/b>AB AB 1975 passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee suspense file on Aug. 15 and now heads to the Senate floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"assemblybill1986\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1986\">✅Assembly Bill 1986\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: \u003c/strong>Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do: \u003c/strong>Allow the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Office of the Inspector General to voice disapproval of CDCR’s decision to ban a book from state prisons. Previously, the bill would have allowed the Inspector General to remove book bans if they don’t further the interest of managing the prisons.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Tommy 'Shakur' Ross, a formerly incarcerated Californian\"]‘To ban a book just because a person simply has a different perspective than the mainstream seems like totalitarianism to me.’[/pullquote]\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations?\u003c/strong> The task force report argues that “states and local governments have engaged in racist censorship of books written by African American authors, primarily in public schools and in prisons,” and recommended examining whether books featuring stories about Black people and their ancestors should be removed from the list of banned books in state prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly: \u003c/strong>PEN America \u003ca href=\"https://pen.org/report/reading-between-the-bars/\">researched book bans in prisons across America\u003c/a> and found that in California, page numbers are listed to justify a decision to censor books without any further information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest:\u003c/strong> After receiving major amendments AB 1986 passed the Senate on a 40-0 vote and cleared the Assembly on a 75-0 vote. The bill is now on Gov. Newsom’s desk.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"assemblybill2064\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2064\">❎Assembly Bill 2064\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author:\u003c/strong> Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-South Los Angeles)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do: T\u003c/strong>ake money saved from closing state prisons and redirect it to community-based violence prevention programs via a state grant program. When introduced, the bill set out to create a grant program to decrease violence in Black communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960421\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960421\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68800_IMG_5293-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1250\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68800_IMG_5293-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68800_IMG_5293-qut-800x521.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68800_IMG_5293-qut-1020x664.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68800_IMG_5293-qut-160x104.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68800_IMG_5293-qut-1536x1000.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles) on Political Breakdown on Sept. 7, 2023 in Sacramento. \u003ccite>(Guy Marzorati/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations? \u003c/strong>In 2022, Black Californians accounted for 31% of the state’s homicide victims, according to a report from the California Department of Justice. The task force report notes “programs that promote socialization, emotional regulation techniques and social and cultural competence in early-school-age children have been shown to reduce violence among youth.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly: \u003c/strong>AB2061 was amended in March to remove language that specified grants be targeted toward Black communities. The bill now directs the state to use a competitive application process to select community-based organizations doing violence prevention work, like operating afterschool programs and school-based health clinics, to receive funds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AB 2064 passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee with a 7-1 vote on April 9, and the Assembly Committee on Health with a 15-1 vote on April 23.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee with a 11-4 vote on May 16 after being amended to remove a provision that automatically transferred prison closure savings to the grant program. Instead, the transfer requires annual legislative approval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AB 2064 passed out of the Assembly on a 55-7 vote on May 21.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The latest: \u003c/b>AB 2064 was killed in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Aug 15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AB 2064 passed the Senate Public Safety Committee on July 2. It is now pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"assemblybill2862\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2862\">❎Assembly Bill 2862\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: \u003c/strong>Assemblymember Mike Gipson (D-Carson)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do: \u003c/strong>Require licensing boards, which oversee state workforces such as \u003ca href=\"https://www.dca.ca.gov/about_us/entities.shtml\">barbers and real estate agents\u003c/a>, to prioritize African American applicants, especially those who are descendants of people enslaved in the United States. In April, the bill was amended to sunset after four years.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Assemblymember Mike Gipson (D-Carson)\"]‘It is imperative that we take further measures to address the inequalities and expand the opportunities for growth and professional development.’[/pullquote]\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations? \u003c/strong>Prioritizing Black Californians in the state licensing process, supporters of AB 2862 contend, is a way of promoting economic advancement and closing the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/blog/most-californians-say-racial-bias-is-linked-to-economic-inequality/\">income gap between Black and white Californians\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly:\u003c/strong> The income gap is the “piece of evidence that serves as proof of the long-standing consequences of slavery,” Gipson said. “It is imperative that we take further measures to address the inequalities and expand the opportunities for growth and professional development.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The context: \u003c/b>Conservative legal groups have opposed the legislation, arguing that it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. But supporters maintain that leveling the economic playing field is an important component of reversing historic discrimination against Black Californians in job access. Supporters have also noted that California lawmakers have previously given priority in licensing to military veterans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest: \u003c/strong>AB 2862 was shelved by Gipson before a hearing in the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee, with a Gipson spokesman telling KQED “Asm. Gipson pulled the bill from consideration, so it will no longer move forward.” Committee staffers questioned how licensing boards would be able to distinguish African-American applicants under existing law and raised doubts about whether the bill would meet its stated goals of increasing employment opportunities for Black Californians.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca id=\"assemblybill3089\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB3089\">✅Assembly Bill 3089\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-South Los Angeles)\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do: \u003c/strong>Issue a formal apology for state officials and institutions “who promoted, facilitated, enforced and permitted the institution of chattel slavery” and the systemic discrimination against Black Californians in the decades that followed.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-South Los Angeles)\"]‘America’s original sin is the genocide and enslavement of human beings. America’s second greatest sin is watching it happen and pretending that it never did.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations?\u003c/strong>: Jones-Sawyer, a member of the reparations task force, said the first steps of reparations must be acknowledging the harms committed by the state and recognizing them with an apology. “America’s original sin is the genocide and enslavement of human beings,” he said. “America’s second greatest sin is watching it happen and pretending that it never did.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly:\u003c/strong> In 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a formal apology to Native Americans in the state for a history of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2019/06/18/governor-newsom-issues-apology-to-native-americans-for-states-historical-wrongdoings-establishes-truth-and-healing-council/\">violence, mistreatment and neglect\u003c/a>.” That apology was issued by executive order, whereas AB 3089 requires a vote of the Legislature before Newsom can weigh in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest: \u003c/strong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">AB 3089 is now on Gov. Newsom’s desk after passing the Assembly on a 72-0 vote on August 29. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"assemblybill3131\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB3131\">✅Assembly Bill 3131\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: \u003c/strong>Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do: \u003c/strong>Give schools that qualify for the state Board of Education’s local control funding formula equity multiplier “positive consideration” for state grants supporting career technical education. When introduced, this bill gave programs based in historically redlined communities first priority for career education grants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations? \u003c/strong>Redlining — the practice of denying home loans to credit-worthy candidates who lived in predominantly nonwhite neighborhoods — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/lowdown/18486/redlining\">was common in California cities\u003c/a> until the federal Fair Housing Act outlawed it in 1968. Redlining denied generations of Black residents the ability to own homes and accrue wealth, contributing to wealth disparities that persist today. \u003ca href=\"https://belonging.berkeley.edu/racial-segregation-san-francisco-bay-area-part-4\">A 2019 study from UC Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute\u003c/a>found that predominantly white neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay Area have more than double the average household income and home values of predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly: \u003c/strong>This bill was one of a handful under consideration by the Legislature that would target economic support to formerly redlined communities. It was amended on April 1 and watered down. Instead of giving residents in formerly redlined communities “first priority” for grant programs, it proposed giving them “positive consideration.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill passed the Education Committee on April 10 with a unanimous vote. “Investment into high quality CTE programs that combine academic education with occupational training offer essential tools against persistent inequities,” Troy Williams, chief impact officer for the Greater Sacramento Urban League, said in his testimony in support. “This bill will help break down those barriers to educational access and create pathways for economic mobility for underserved populations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill was amended again on April 15 to additionally give schools that qualify for the Board of Education’s local control funding formula equity multiplier positive consideration for state career technical education grants. The LCFF equity multiplier is a classification the board uses to identify schools that serve socio-economically disadvantaged students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AB 3131 was amended to remove all mention of historically redlined communities and passed the Assembly Committee on Higher Education with unanimous support on April 24. The bill now only gives positive consideration to programs based at schools that currently qualify for the LCFF equity multiplier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AB 3131 passed the Assembly with a 72-0 vote on May 23, with eight members not voting. The bill now heads to the state Senate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest: \u003c/strong>AB 3131 passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on Aug. 15 and now heads to the Senate floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"senatebill1050\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB1050\">❎Senate Bill 1050\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: \u003c/strong>Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do: \u003c/strong>Review, investigate and “make certain determinations” on applications from California residents who claim their land was taken through racially motivated use of eminent domain without being provided fair compensation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950330\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11950330\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS55315_025_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04142022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"An older man is leaning over a podium as he is speaking to a young woman with long braids. They both wear business attire and have a projection screen behind them.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS55315_025_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04142022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS55315_025_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04142022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS55315_025_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04142022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS55315_025_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04142022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS55315_025_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04142022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sen. Steven Bradford and Lisa Holder speak during the second day of an in-person meeting of the California Reparations Task Force at the Third Baptist Church in San Francisco on April 14, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations? \u003c/strong>Between 1949 and 1973, Black Americans were five times more likely than white Americans to be \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11956963/how-black-californians-had-their-land-stolen\">displaced by government use of eminent domain\u003c/a>. In the Bay Area, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11957757/why-san-franciscos-fillmore-district-is-no-longer-the-harlem-of-the-west\">the Fillmore\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11897843/decades-after-cultural-genocide-residents-of-a-bulldozed-community-get-apology-from-hayward\">Russell City\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x3ibklQhZY\">West Oakland\u003c/a> were impacted by the practice. According to research by the reparations task force, displaced families and businesses often said the money the government provided for the land was below market rate and insufficient for relocation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly:\u003c/strong> SB 1050 is dependent on two bills — \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB1403\">SB 1403\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB1331\">SB 1331\u003c/a> — passing. The two bills would create a new government agency to manage reparations programs for eligible Black Californians and a state reparations fund to support its work. SB 1050 would instruct the agency’s Office of Legal Affairs to review claims, make payments to eligible families and provide public education about the unjust use of eminent domain throughout the state. Initially, the bill required the state to review its own history of taking land and locate victims to provide compensation. The bill was amended on April 3 to put the onus on the individuals to apply to the state for compensation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 1050 passed the Judiciary Committee on April 16 with a 8-1 vote. It now heads to the Appropriations Committee. Sen. Roger Niello (R-Roseville) voted no. He argued local jurisdictions that used eminent domain in racist ways should be responsible for providing compensation, not state taxpayers. “Manhattan Beach was responsible for what happened, not Modoc County,” he said, referring to . In response, Bradford implied the state review process might require local jurisdictions to provide compensation as well. “This obligation doesn’t fall on the state in of itself. Local jurisdictions will be responsible if they played a direct role,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill passed the Senate Appropriations Committee with unanimous support on May 13 and was placed on the committee’s “suspense file.” It passed out of the “suspense file” with a 5-2 vote along party lines — Republicans voted against the bill — on May 16.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 1050 passed the state Senate on May 21 with a 32-4 vote. Brian Jones (R-San Diego), Janet Nguyen (R-Huntington Beach), Roger Niello (R-Roseville) and Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta) voted against the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest:\u003c/strong> SB 1050 passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee suspense file on Aug. 15 and now heads to the Assembly floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"senatebill1089\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB1089\">✅Senate Bill 1089\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: \u003c/strong>Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do\u003c/strong>: Require companies to provide advance notice to employees and county officials if a grocery store or pharmacy is closing and obligate counties to track closures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11981355\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11981355\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/003_KQED_Oakland_MiCarnalMarket_04082020_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/003_KQED_Oakland_MiCarnalMarket_04082020_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/003_KQED_Oakland_MiCarnalMarket_04082020_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/003_KQED_Oakland_MiCarnalMarket_04082020_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/003_KQED_Oakland_MiCarnalMarket_04082020_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/003_KQED_Oakland_MiCarnalMarket_04082020_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Senate Bill 1089 would require companies to provide advance notice to employees and county officials if a grocery store or pharmacy is closing. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations? \u003c/strong>According to the bill authors, predominantly white neighborhoods have four times as many grocery stores as predominantly Black neighborhoods. Task force members said the lack of grocery stores in predominantly Black neighborhoods compared to predominantly white neighborhoods is a clear case of food injustice. Advanced notice of pharmacy closures will allow residents to make adjustments to avoid interruptions in access to medications.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland)\"]‘When you close a store, when you close the ability for people to go in and shop healthily and shop in an empowered way, you reduce their ability to be able to live.’[/pullquote]“When you close a store, when you close the ability for people to go in and shop healthily and shop in an empowered way, you reduce their ability to be able to live,” Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland) said. “It’s that plain and simple.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly: \u003c/strong>The bill began as what’s called an “intent bill” or “spot bill,” meaning it was a placeholder Smallwood-Cuevas intended to flesh out through amendments. The text of the bill was added via an amendment on March 18. The bill passed the Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee with a unanimous vote on April 17, and the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 23.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 1089 passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 6 with a unanimous vote. It passed out of the committee’s “suspense file” with a 5-2 vote along party lines on May 16. It passed the Senate with a 29-9 vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 1089 was amended in the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee to remove a provision requiring counties to track grocery store closures, and narrowing the definition of a pharmacy to exclude pharmacies that are part of health clinics. The bill was passed by the committee on June 19 on a 5-1 vote. SB 1089 passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee on July 2 and is pending before the Assembly Appropriations Committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest:\u003c/strong> SB 1089 passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee suspense file on Aug. 15 with amendments to narrow notification requirements and civil penalties for businesses that fail to notify employees and state officials of impending closures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "The legislation is designed to provide some semblance of repair to Black Californians targeted by anti-Black bias in public policy since the state’s founding.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1731269949,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 113,
"wordCount": 4879
},
"headData": {
"title": "Track the Success of California's 14 Reparations Bills for Black Residents | KQED",
"description": "The legislation is designed to provide some semblance of repair to Black Californians targeted by anti-Black bias in public policy since the state’s founding.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "Track the Success of California's 14 Reparations Bills for Black Residents",
"datePublished": "2024-04-02T04:00:26-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-11-10T12:19:09-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"audioUrl": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/KQINC6549310740.mp3",
"sticky": false,
"nprStoryId": "kqed-11981271",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11981271/track-the-success-of-californias-14-reparations-bills-for-black-residents",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The California Legislative Black Caucus is prioritizing 14 reparations bills, which the group hopes to pass this year. CLBC members curated the list to test the limits of the Legislature’s commitment to racial justice while seeking to avoid a wholesale rejection that could derail the quest for reparations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are aware that everyone in the state is watching us, but also everyone in this nation, but also in this world,” Assemblymember Akilah Weber (D-San Diego) said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘We are aware that everyone in the state is watching us, but also everyone in this nation, but also in this world.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Assemblymember Akilah Weber (D-San Diego)",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The bills are drawn from two years of work by the California Reparations Task Force, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/reparations\">KQED has reported on since its inception\u003c/a>. The task force’s \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/ab3121/report\">final report\u003c/a>, published in June 2023, includes over 100 policy proposals, as well as a plan to provide direct cash payments to eligible residents. None of the introduced bills include cash payments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Passing bills with hefty price tags will be challenging because California’s deficit could exceed $70 billion. Even if cash payments weren’t controversial, a plan to pay out millions of dollars to residents would likely face intense opposition in the Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CLBC’s 12 members each submitted ideas for reparations bills to the caucus, which then voted on the bills to prioritize. The 14 listed below won support from two-thirds of caucus members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fate of the first-in-the-nation effort for state-level reparations will play out over the next five months in Sacramento. Legislators face an Aug. 31 deadline to pass bills on to Gov. Gavin Newsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Success on Aug. 31, at the end of session, looks like our priority package is across the line, plus a few more,” Assemblymember Lori Wilson (D-Suisun City) said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Below are the details of each bill under consideration by the Legislature. Bookmark this page and check back as we track each bill’s fate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Table of contents\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblyconstitutionalamendment7\">Assembly Constitutional Amendment 7\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Allow the state to fund race-based programs.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblyconstitutionalamendment8\">Assembly Constitutional Amendment 8\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Ban involuntary servitude in state prisons.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblyconcurrentresolution135\">Assembly Concurrent Resolution 135\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Acknowledge the residual impact of slavery in California.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblybill280\">Assembly Bill 280\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Limit solitary confinement in state prisons.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblybill1815\">Assembly Bill 1815\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Prohibit discrimination based on hair texture and style.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblybill1929\">Assembly Bill 1929\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Allow deeper analysis of technical education grants.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblybill1975\">Assembly Bill 1975\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Require Medi-Cal to broaden food and nutrition coverage.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblybill1986\">Assembly Bill 1986\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Limit book bans in state prisons.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblybill2064\">Assembly Bill 2064\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Create grant program to decrease violence.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblybill2862\">Assembly Bill 2862\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Require licensing boards to prioritize Black applicants.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblybill3089\">Assembly Bill 3089\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Formal apology for slavery and systemic discrimination.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#assemblybill3131\">Assembly Bill 3131\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Target economic support to formerly redlined communities.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#senatebill1050\">Senate Bill 1050\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Compensation for land taken by eminent domain. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#senatebill1089\">Senate Bill 1089\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>: Require advance notice for grocery and pharmacy closures.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"assemblyconstitutionalamendment7\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240ACA7\">❎Assembly Constitutional Amendment 7\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: Assemblymember Corey Jackson (D-Riverside)\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do: \u003c/strong>Allow the state to fund programs designed to improve the health, education or economic well-being of “specific groups based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin or marginalized genders or sexual orientations.” It would amend Proposition 209, the state’s ban on affirmative action in government policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11904283\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11904283\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53515_20220204-IMG_2539-2-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Several red and white signs shown from a distance with many people standing in front of City Hall in Oakland\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1342\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53515_20220204-IMG_2539-2-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53515_20220204-IMG_2539-2-qut-800x559.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53515_20220204-IMG_2539-2-qut-1020x713.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53515_20220204-IMG_2539-2-qut-160x112.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/RS53515_20220204-IMG_2539-2-qut-1536x1074.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Educators, parents and youth gather in protest during a citywide rally at Oakland City Hall on Feb. 4, 2022. \u003ccite>(Amaya Edwards/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations? \u003c/strong>Much of the state’s proposed reparations plan hinges on this passing. Without amending Proposition 209, lawmakers cannot pass policies to specifically benefit the state’s Black residents. At a meeting of the reparations task force last year, member Donald Tamaki argued that to assist people harmed by racial discrimination, reparations policies must target support to people based on their racial identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly:\u003c/strong> California voters passed Proposition 209, the nation’s first ban on affirmative action, in 1996 during a wave of anti-affirmative action activism. That was 28 years ago. In 2020, an attempt to repeal the law was rejected by 57% of voters. ACA 7 is not a full-scale repeal, and legislators might be hoping this pared-down proposal is more appealing to voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest:\u003c/strong> ACA 7 was pulled from consideration for the November ballot on June 25 by Jackson, who said he still intends to move the bill through the Legislature this year. It’s currently awaiting hearing dates in the Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee and Constitutional Amendments Committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"assemblyconstitutionalamendment8\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240ACA8\">✅Assembly Constitutional Amendment 8\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: \u003c/strong>Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do: \u003c/strong>Remove language from the state’s constitution allowing involuntary servitude “as punishment to a crime.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11909591\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11909591 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54515_007_KQED_LoriWilson_03172022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A woman wearing glasses and a yellow dress stands outside.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54515_007_KQED_LoriWilson_03172022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54515_007_KQED_LoriWilson_03172022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54515_007_KQED_LoriWilson_03172022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54515_007_KQED_LoriWilson_03172022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54515_007_KQED_LoriWilson_03172022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson, the author of Assembly Constitutional Amendment 8. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations? \u003c/strong>Black residents, who make up just 5% of California’s population, account for 28% of the state’s prison population. Incarcerated people are paid as little as $0.08 an hour and face punishment for not completing work. “That is where you see it currently, with people being forced to work no matter what and to work without any sense of compensation,” Wilson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly:\u003c/strong> In 2022, a similar proposal was voted down, in part, over \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/prisons-california-gavin-newsom-minimum-wage-slavery-a0aed840fc6dc54c7eb0da98d0f6bb05\">concerns that the end of involuntary servitude would require wage increases\u003c/a> for prison labor, adding significant costs to the state prison system, according to analysts with the state Department of Finance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ACA 8 passed the Assembly on a bipartisan vote in September. Four Republicans voted against the bill, and eight other GOP members did not vote. The bill is now pending in the state Senate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest: \u003c/strong>It \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992329/californians-will-vote-on-whether-to-end-forced-prison-labor-this-november\">passed\u003c/a> the state Legislature and will appear on the ballot in November.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"assemblyconcurrentresolution135\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240ACR135\">❎Assembly Concurrent Resolution 135\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: \u003c/strong>Assemblymember Akilah Weber (D-San Diego)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do:\u003c/strong> Acknowledge the actions of government officials in California who advanced chattel slavery and subsequent discriminatory policies against Black Californians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11981334\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11981334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/001_Oakland_ReparationsMarch_10162021_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/001_Oakland_ReparationsMarch_10162021_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/001_Oakland_ReparationsMarch_10162021_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/001_Oakland_ReparationsMarch_10162021_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/001_Oakland_ReparationsMarch_10162021_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/001_Oakland_ReparationsMarch_10162021_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bakari Olatunji, Western Regional Party Representative of the African People’s Socialist Party, speaks during a rally for reparations for African people in Oakland on Oct. 16, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations?\u003c/strong> Weber said the process of providing reparations must begin with an acknowledgment and an honest reckoning of the harms perpetrated by California’s government. The transgressions pre-date California’s statehood, when Southern-born lawmakers played an outsized role in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11942302/californias-legislature-has-roots-in-slavery-are-lawmakers-ready-to-confront-that\">shaping the state’s pro-slavery stance — and even owned slaves\u003c/a>. “This is the foundation upon which we will build for this year and years to come,” Weber said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly:\u003c/strong> ACR 135 sailed through the state Assembly, though not without some controversy. In the Assembly Judiciary Committee, Diane Dixon (R-Newport Beach) said that California “can be proud” of its progress in achieving racial justice in the last 75 years, which Weber and others characterized as dismissive of discriminatory policies enacted in recent decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ACR 135 passed the State Assembly on a 59-0 vote on Feb 26.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest:\u003c/strong> ACR 135 never advanced in the state Senate.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"assemblybill280\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB280\">❎Assembly Bill 280\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author:\u003c/strong> Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-Pasadena)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do:\u003c/strong> Limit the use of solitary confinement in state prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11971776\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11971776\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/072623_San-Quentin_SN_01-CM-copy.jpg\" alt=\"A prison guard in uniform stands in front of a gate with a building in the background.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/072623_San-Quentin_SN_01-CM-copy.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/072623_San-Quentin_SN_01-CM-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/072623_San-Quentin_SN_01-CM-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/072623_San-Quentin_SN_01-CM-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/072623_San-Quentin_SN_01-CM-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/072623_San-Quentin_SN_01-CM-copy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The entry gate at San Quentin State Prison on July 26, 2023. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations? \u003c/strong>Black men make up 28% of the state’s prison population and 18.5% of the population in restricted housing. Meanwhile, Black women account for 25.4% of the prison population, and four out of five women in restricted housing are Black, \u003ca href=\"https://law.yale.edu/centers-workshops/arthur-liman-center-public-interest-law/liman-center-publications/time-cell-2021\">according to a 2022 report\u003c/a> by the Correctional Leaders Association and the Arthur Liman Center for Public Interest Law at Yale Law School.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly:\u003c/strong> Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar proposal in 2022, arguing that the bill’s exclusion of certain groups from segregated housing — such as inmates younger than 26 or older than 59 — was too broad. After vetoing the bill, Newsom ordered state prison officials to “develop regulations that would restrict the use of segregated confinement except in limited situations, such as where the individual has been found to have engaged in violence in the prison.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While AB 280 was pending in the state Assembly, a spokesperson told KQED that Holden is waiting for advice from the governor’s office about how to amend the bill to avoid a second veto.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest: \u003c/strong>On Aug. 19, Holden’s staff sent a press release with the news that AB 280 was not moving forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Last year, we decided to leave the bill on the Assembly Floor to allow more time for all of the stakeholders involved to work toward a solution and during that time, new regulations were put forth to address some of the issues related to solitary confinement,” Holden said in the press release. “Without a doubt, more change is needed and I believe holding the bill on the Assembly Floor will allow the Legislature and advocates to review the results of these regulations and use new data to implement the most effective plan of action.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"assemblybill1815\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1815\">✅Assembly Bill 1815\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: \u003c/strong>Assemblymember Akilah Weber (D-San Diego)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do: \u003c/strong>Prohibit discrimination based on hair texture or hairstyles like braids, locks and twists. When introduced, the bill focused on preventing discrimination in amateur sports leagues and later broadened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations?: \u003c/strong>According to a 2023 study by Dove, Black women with coily or textured hair are twice as likely to experience microaggressions at work compared to those with straight hair. Up until 2017, the U.S. military did not allow men to wear their hair in dreadlocks, and Black women were required to straighten their hair or wear wigs to comply with military regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly: \u003c/strong>This would expand the 2019 California CROWN Act, which outlawed discrimination based on hairstyle in schools and workplaces. The law is part of a nationwide CROWN Act campaign to protect and celebrate natural Black hairstyles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill was amended on March 21 to remove the focus on amateur sports leagues and instead changed the definition of “race” used in state civil rights laws to include characteristics associated with race, such as hair textures and stylings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In arguing support of the bill in the Assembly Judiciary on April 2, Weber pointed to cases of hair-based discrimination in \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/04/17/wrestler-was-forced-cut-his-dreadlocks-before-match-his-town-is-still-looking-answers/\">New Jersey\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/14/softball-hair-beads-discrimination-pyles/\">North Carolina\u003c/a>. “Our hair is a symbol of who we are,” she said. “These cases around the country are exactly why the California Reparations Task Force made this expansion one of their policy recommendations to the legislature.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AB 1815 passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee with unanimous support on April 24. The bill passed the Assembly in a 71-0 vote on May 2. It unanimously passed the Senate Judicial Committee with minor amendments on June 4.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The latest: \u003c/b>AB1815 passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee suspense file of Aug. 15 and now heads to the Senate floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1929\">✅Assembly Bill 1929\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: \u003c/strong>Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do:\u003c/strong> Require data about recipients of state technical education grants to be disaggregated by race.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations? \u003c/strong>The reparations task force’s report cites research from the Center for American Progress that found “students of color still face disparities in access to and participation in high-quality [Career Technical Education] programs.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘The only way we’ll know if we’re actually making strides to address the inequalities and certainly to ensure that we don’t perpetuate them is if we have the information.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Assemblymember David Alvarez (D-San Diego)",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly:\u003c/strong> This bill was significantly watered down ahead of a hearing in the Assembly Education Committee. AB 1929 initially would have moved the state toward creating a competitive grant program to increase the enrollment of descendants of slavery in STEM-related career technical education programs. Now it sets a less ambitious goal: allowing the state to get race-specific \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/ct/ig/\">data on existing\u003c/a> workforce \u003ca href=\"https://www.cccco.edu/About-Us/Chancellors-Office/Divisions/Workforce-and-Economic-Development/Strong-Workforce-Program\">development programs\u003c/a>. A McKinnor spokesperson said the initial language was only a placeholder, known as a spot bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest: \u003c/strong>AB 1929 passed the Assembly on a 65-0 vote on April 9 and now heads to the state Senate. It was approved by the Senate on June 20. Amendments were approved by the Assembly on July 1. Newsom signed AB 1929 on July 18.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"assemblybill1975\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1975\">❎Assembly Bill 1975\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: \u003c/strong>Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do: \u003c/strong>Require Medi-Cal, the state’s public health insurance plan, to cover culturally relevant and medically supportive foods or nutrition interventions when deemed necessary by a healthcare provider.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11887623\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11887623\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/RS50120_010_Oakland_MiaBonta_06232021-qut.jpeg\" alt=\"A woman in a blue and white short-sleeved shirt smiling and looking to the left of the camera\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/RS50120_010_Oakland_MiaBonta_06232021-qut.jpeg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/RS50120_010_Oakland_MiaBonta_06232021-qut-800x533.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/RS50120_010_Oakland_MiaBonta_06232021-qut-1020x680.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/RS50120_010_Oakland_MiaBonta_06232021-qut-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/RS50120_010_Oakland_MiaBonta_06232021-qut-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Mia Bonta, who authored Assembly Bill 1975. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations? \u003c/strong>According to a 2021 study by UCLA, nearly four in 10 adult Californians don’t have consistent access to sufficient food. Access to enough healthy food is essential to treat and prevent chronic illness, which disproportionately impacts people of color. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black Americans and Native Americans are more likely than all other racial groups to experience diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly:\u003c/strong> Medi-Cal is in the midst of a five-year revamp. It’s been piloting food and nutrition interventions over the last two years which have been popular. According to Bonta’s office, as of July 2023, over 26,000 Californians had used the benefit to access healthy foods. The bill passed the Assembly Health Committee on April 16 in a 14-1 vote. Itpassed out of the Assembly on May 21 with a 64-0 vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Senate Health Committee heard AB 1975 on June 5. Amendments were made requiring the bill only be implemented if funding is provided in the state budget. The bill is set for a second reading on June 12.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The latest: \u003c/b>AB AB 1975 passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee suspense file on Aug. 15 and now heads to the Senate floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"assemblybill1986\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1986\">✅Assembly Bill 1986\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: \u003c/strong>Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do: \u003c/strong>Allow the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Office of the Inspector General to voice disapproval of CDCR’s decision to ban a book from state prisons. Previously, the bill would have allowed the Inspector General to remove book bans if they don’t further the interest of managing the prisons.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘To ban a book just because a person simply has a different perspective than the mainstream seems like totalitarianism to me.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Tommy 'Shakur' Ross, a formerly incarcerated Californian",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations?\u003c/strong> The task force report argues that “states and local governments have engaged in racist censorship of books written by African American authors, primarily in public schools and in prisons,” and recommended examining whether books featuring stories about Black people and their ancestors should be removed from the list of banned books in state prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly: \u003c/strong>PEN America \u003ca href=\"https://pen.org/report/reading-between-the-bars/\">researched book bans in prisons across America\u003c/a> and found that in California, page numbers are listed to justify a decision to censor books without any further information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest:\u003c/strong> After receiving major amendments AB 1986 passed the Senate on a 40-0 vote and cleared the Assembly on a 75-0 vote. The bill is now on Gov. Newsom’s desk.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"assemblybill2064\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2064\">❎Assembly Bill 2064\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author:\u003c/strong> Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-South Los Angeles)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do: T\u003c/strong>ake money saved from closing state prisons and redirect it to community-based violence prevention programs via a state grant program. When introduced, the bill set out to create a grant program to decrease violence in Black communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960421\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960421\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68800_IMG_5293-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1250\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68800_IMG_5293-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68800_IMG_5293-qut-800x521.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68800_IMG_5293-qut-1020x664.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68800_IMG_5293-qut-160x104.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68800_IMG_5293-qut-1536x1000.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles) on Political Breakdown on Sept. 7, 2023 in Sacramento. \u003ccite>(Guy Marzorati/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations? \u003c/strong>In 2022, Black Californians accounted for 31% of the state’s homicide victims, according to a report from the California Department of Justice. The task force report notes “programs that promote socialization, emotional regulation techniques and social and cultural competence in early-school-age children have been shown to reduce violence among youth.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly: \u003c/strong>AB2061 was amended in March to remove language that specified grants be targeted toward Black communities. The bill now directs the state to use a competitive application process to select community-based organizations doing violence prevention work, like operating afterschool programs and school-based health clinics, to receive funds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AB 2064 passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee with a 7-1 vote on April 9, and the Assembly Committee on Health with a 15-1 vote on April 23.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee with a 11-4 vote on May 16 after being amended to remove a provision that automatically transferred prison closure savings to the grant program. Instead, the transfer requires annual legislative approval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AB 2064 passed out of the Assembly on a 55-7 vote on May 21.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The latest: \u003c/b>AB 2064 was killed in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Aug 15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AB 2064 passed the Senate Public Safety Committee on July 2. It is now pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"assemblybill2862\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2862\">❎Assembly Bill 2862\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: \u003c/strong>Assemblymember Mike Gipson (D-Carson)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do: \u003c/strong>Require licensing boards, which oversee state workforces such as \u003ca href=\"https://www.dca.ca.gov/about_us/entities.shtml\">barbers and real estate agents\u003c/a>, to prioritize African American applicants, especially those who are descendants of people enslaved in the United States. In April, the bill was amended to sunset after four years.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘It is imperative that we take further measures to address the inequalities and expand the opportunities for growth and professional development.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Assemblymember Mike Gipson (D-Carson)",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations? \u003c/strong>Prioritizing Black Californians in the state licensing process, supporters of AB 2862 contend, is a way of promoting economic advancement and closing the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/blog/most-californians-say-racial-bias-is-linked-to-economic-inequality/\">income gap between Black and white Californians\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly:\u003c/strong> The income gap is the “piece of evidence that serves as proof of the long-standing consequences of slavery,” Gipson said. “It is imperative that we take further measures to address the inequalities and expand the opportunities for growth and professional development.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The context: \u003c/b>Conservative legal groups have opposed the legislation, arguing that it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. But supporters maintain that leveling the economic playing field is an important component of reversing historic discrimination against Black Californians in job access. Supporters have also noted that California lawmakers have previously given priority in licensing to military veterans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest: \u003c/strong>AB 2862 was shelved by Gipson before a hearing in the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee, with a Gipson spokesman telling KQED “Asm. Gipson pulled the bill from consideration, so it will no longer move forward.” Committee staffers questioned how licensing boards would be able to distinguish African-American applicants under existing law and raised doubts about whether the bill would meet its stated goals of increasing employment opportunities for Black Californians.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca id=\"assemblybill3089\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB3089\">✅Assembly Bill 3089\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-South Los Angeles)\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do: \u003c/strong>Issue a formal apology for state officials and institutions “who promoted, facilitated, enforced and permitted the institution of chattel slavery” and the systemic discrimination against Black Californians in the decades that followed.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘America’s original sin is the genocide and enslavement of human beings. America’s second greatest sin is watching it happen and pretending that it never did.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-South Los Angeles)",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations?\u003c/strong>: Jones-Sawyer, a member of the reparations task force, said the first steps of reparations must be acknowledging the harms committed by the state and recognizing them with an apology. “America’s original sin is the genocide and enslavement of human beings,” he said. “America’s second greatest sin is watching it happen and pretending that it never did.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly:\u003c/strong> In 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a formal apology to Native Americans in the state for a history of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2019/06/18/governor-newsom-issues-apology-to-native-americans-for-states-historical-wrongdoings-establishes-truth-and-healing-council/\">violence, mistreatment and neglect\u003c/a>.” That apology was issued by executive order, whereas AB 3089 requires a vote of the Legislature before Newsom can weigh in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest: \u003c/strong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">AB 3089 is now on Gov. Newsom’s desk after passing the Assembly on a 72-0 vote on August 29. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"assemblybill3131\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB3131\">✅Assembly Bill 3131\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: \u003c/strong>Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do: \u003c/strong>Give schools that qualify for the state Board of Education’s local control funding formula equity multiplier “positive consideration” for state grants supporting career technical education. When introduced, this bill gave programs based in historically redlined communities first priority for career education grants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations? \u003c/strong>Redlining — the practice of denying home loans to credit-worthy candidates who lived in predominantly nonwhite neighborhoods — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/lowdown/18486/redlining\">was common in California cities\u003c/a> until the federal Fair Housing Act outlawed it in 1968. Redlining denied generations of Black residents the ability to own homes and accrue wealth, contributing to wealth disparities that persist today. \u003ca href=\"https://belonging.berkeley.edu/racial-segregation-san-francisco-bay-area-part-4\">A 2019 study from UC Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute\u003c/a>found that predominantly white neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay Area have more than double the average household income and home values of predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly: \u003c/strong>This bill was one of a handful under consideration by the Legislature that would target economic support to formerly redlined communities. It was amended on April 1 and watered down. Instead of giving residents in formerly redlined communities “first priority” for grant programs, it proposed giving them “positive consideration.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill passed the Education Committee on April 10 with a unanimous vote. “Investment into high quality CTE programs that combine academic education with occupational training offer essential tools against persistent inequities,” Troy Williams, chief impact officer for the Greater Sacramento Urban League, said in his testimony in support. “This bill will help break down those barriers to educational access and create pathways for economic mobility for underserved populations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill was amended again on April 15 to additionally give schools that qualify for the Board of Education’s local control funding formula equity multiplier positive consideration for state career technical education grants. The LCFF equity multiplier is a classification the board uses to identify schools that serve socio-economically disadvantaged students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AB 3131 was amended to remove all mention of historically redlined communities and passed the Assembly Committee on Higher Education with unanimous support on April 24. The bill now only gives positive consideration to programs based at schools that currently qualify for the LCFF equity multiplier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AB 3131 passed the Assembly with a 72-0 vote on May 23, with eight members not voting. The bill now heads to the state Senate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest: \u003c/strong>AB 3131 passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on Aug. 15 and now heads to the Senate floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"senatebill1050\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB1050\">❎Senate Bill 1050\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: \u003c/strong>Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do: \u003c/strong>Review, investigate and “make certain determinations” on applications from California residents who claim their land was taken through racially motivated use of eminent domain without being provided fair compensation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11950330\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11950330\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS55315_025_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04142022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"An older man is leaning over a podium as he is speaking to a young woman with long braids. They both wear business attire and have a projection screen behind them.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS55315_025_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04142022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS55315_025_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04142022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS55315_025_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04142022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS55315_025_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04142022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS55315_025_KQED_CAReparationsTaskForce_04142022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sen. Steven Bradford and Lisa Holder speak during the second day of an in-person meeting of the California Reparations Task Force at the Third Baptist Church in San Francisco on April 14, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations? \u003c/strong>Between 1949 and 1973, Black Americans were five times more likely than white Americans to be \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11956963/how-black-californians-had-their-land-stolen\">displaced by government use of eminent domain\u003c/a>. In the Bay Area, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11957757/why-san-franciscos-fillmore-district-is-no-longer-the-harlem-of-the-west\">the Fillmore\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11897843/decades-after-cultural-genocide-residents-of-a-bulldozed-community-get-apology-from-hayward\">Russell City\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x3ibklQhZY\">West Oakland\u003c/a> were impacted by the practice. According to research by the reparations task force, displaced families and businesses often said the money the government provided for the land was below market rate and insufficient for relocation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly:\u003c/strong> SB 1050 is dependent on two bills — \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB1403\">SB 1403\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB1331\">SB 1331\u003c/a> — passing. The two bills would create a new government agency to manage reparations programs for eligible Black Californians and a state reparations fund to support its work. SB 1050 would instruct the agency’s Office of Legal Affairs to review claims, make payments to eligible families and provide public education about the unjust use of eminent domain throughout the state. Initially, the bill required the state to review its own history of taking land and locate victims to provide compensation. The bill was amended on April 3 to put the onus on the individuals to apply to the state for compensation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 1050 passed the Judiciary Committee on April 16 with a 8-1 vote. It now heads to the Appropriations Committee. Sen. Roger Niello (R-Roseville) voted no. He argued local jurisdictions that used eminent domain in racist ways should be responsible for providing compensation, not state taxpayers. “Manhattan Beach was responsible for what happened, not Modoc County,” he said, referring to . In response, Bradford implied the state review process might require local jurisdictions to provide compensation as well. “This obligation doesn’t fall on the state in of itself. Local jurisdictions will be responsible if they played a direct role,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill passed the Senate Appropriations Committee with unanimous support on May 13 and was placed on the committee’s “suspense file.” It passed out of the “suspense file” with a 5-2 vote along party lines — Republicans voted against the bill — on May 16.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 1050 passed the state Senate on May 21 with a 32-4 vote. Brian Jones (R-San Diego), Janet Nguyen (R-Huntington Beach), Roger Niello (R-Roseville) and Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta) voted against the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest:\u003c/strong> SB 1050 passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee suspense file on Aug. 15 and now heads to the Assembly floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"senatebill1089\">\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB1089\">✅Senate Bill 1089\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Author: \u003c/strong>Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What it would do\u003c/strong>: Require companies to provide advance notice to employees and county officials if a grocery store or pharmacy is closing and obligate counties to track closures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11981355\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11981355\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/003_KQED_Oakland_MiCarnalMarket_04082020_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/003_KQED_Oakland_MiCarnalMarket_04082020_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/003_KQED_Oakland_MiCarnalMarket_04082020_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/003_KQED_Oakland_MiCarnalMarket_04082020_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/003_KQED_Oakland_MiCarnalMarket_04082020_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/003_KQED_Oakland_MiCarnalMarket_04082020_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Senate Bill 1089 would require companies to provide advance notice to employees and county officials if a grocery store or pharmacy is closing. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why is this reparations? \u003c/strong>According to the bill authors, predominantly white neighborhoods have four times as many grocery stores as predominantly Black neighborhoods. Task force members said the lack of grocery stores in predominantly Black neighborhoods compared to predominantly white neighborhoods is a clear case of food injustice. Advanced notice of pharmacy closures will allow residents to make adjustments to avoid interruptions in access to medications.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘When you close a store, when you close the ability for people to go in and shop healthily and shop in an empowered way, you reduce their ability to be able to live.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland)",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“When you close a store, when you close the ability for people to go in and shop healthily and shop in an empowered way, you reduce their ability to be able to live,” Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland) said. “It’s that plain and simple.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up quickly: \u003c/strong>The bill began as what’s called an “intent bill” or “spot bill,” meaning it was a placeholder Smallwood-Cuevas intended to flesh out through amendments. The text of the bill was added via an amendment on March 18. The bill passed the Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee with a unanimous vote on April 17, and the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 23.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 1089 passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 6 with a unanimous vote. It passed out of the committee’s “suspense file” with a 5-2 vote along party lines on May 16. It passed the Senate with a 29-9 vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 1089 was amended in the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee to remove a provision requiring counties to track grocery store closures, and narrowing the definition of a pharmacy to exclude pharmacies that are part of health clinics. The bill was passed by the committee on June 19 on a 5-1 vote. SB 1089 passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee on July 2 and is pending before the Assembly Appropriations Committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest:\u003c/strong> SB 1089 passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee suspense file on Aug. 15 with amendments to narrow notification requirements and civil penalties for businesses that fail to notify employees and state officials of impending closures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11981271/track-the-success-of-californias-14-reparations-bills-for-black-residents",
"authors": [
"227",
"11772"
],
"series": [
"news_34369"
],
"categories": [
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_30345",
"news_30652",
"news_33935",
"news_17968",
"news_2923"
],
"featImg": "news_11976639",
"label": "news_34369"
},
"news_11976617": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11976617",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11976617",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1708557750000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "state-lawmakers-propose-14-bills-to-provide-reparations-for-black-californians",
"title": "State Lawmakers Propose 14 Bills to Provide Reparations for Black Californians",
"publishDate": 1708557750,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "State Lawmakers Propose 14 Bills to Provide Reparations for Black Californians | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 34369,
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>On Wednesday, California Legislative Black Caucus members announced the 14 reparations bills they are prioritizing this year — a day after the first of those bills won approval at a committee hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bills are inspired by recommendations from the California Reparations Task Force, which detailed how the state government had supported slavery and dozens of discriminatory laws in a \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/ab3121/report\">1,000-page report\u003c/a> released last summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why it matters:\u003c/strong> California is the first state in the country to consider providing reparations to Black residents. The state’s task force was created in the months after George Floyd’s murder. State lawmakers committed to exploring how decades of discriminatory policies contributed to Black residents facing higher rates of incarceration, having less wealth and suffering worse health outcomes than other racial groups. Now, the lawmakers will be asked to turn their promises into votes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By the numbers\u003c/strong>: Fourteen. That’s the number of reparations bills the Legislative Black Caucus is prioritizing this year. None of them spell out direct cash payments to Black residents. Instead, the reparations bills include ideas ranging from limiting solitary confinement in state prisons to starting a grant program to enroll more descendants of slavery in STEM-related career technical education programs. [aside label='More on Reparations' tag='california-reparations']\u003cstrong>Between the lines: \u003c/strong>Wednesday’s press conference was the second rollout of reparations bills. Or the third if you count a solo press call held by state Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, on his reparations proposals. The uneven rollout has been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11975619/11975619\">criticized as disorganized and lacking a cohesive vision\u003c/a> — critiques which lawmakers hoped to put to rest by laying out the reparations bills they will be prioritizing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest: \u003c/strong>On Tuesday, the Assembly Judiciary Committee approved ACR 135, a resolution acknowledging \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11942302/californias-legislature-has-roots-in-slavery-are-lawmakers-ready-to-confront-that\">the role of California lawmakers who worked to advance slavery\u003c/a> in the state. All nine Democrats on the committee voted to support the resolution, while the three Republicans abstained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Warning signs: \u003c/strong>Asm. Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach, was one of the Republicans who abstained, saying she had not yet read the report. She condemned racist laws passed by early state lawmakers but drew a line. “As California legislators today, we can be proud that in the second half — it took a long time — of the 20th century, we became a national leader in extending civil rights to African Americans and others,” she said. Her statement drew rebukes from members of the Black Caucus, who said discriminatory policies have continued in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What’s next:\u003c/strong> The bills touted on Wednesday must now clear policy committees in either the Senate or the Assembly by April 26.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What they’re saying:\u003c/strong> California Legislative Black Caucus Chair Lori Wilson, D-Suisun City, is setting a high bar for the 14 bills before the legislative session ends on Aug. 31. “Success looks like our priority package getting done,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "California Legislative Black Caucus members announced the 14 reparations bills they are prioritizing in 2024. Now, the bills must clear policy committees in the Senate or the Assembly by April 26.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1725920256,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 10,
"wordCount": 495
},
"headData": {
"title": "State Lawmakers Propose 14 Bills to Provide Reparations for Black Californians | KQED",
"description": "California Legislative Black Caucus members announced the 14 reparations bills they are prioritizing in 2024. Now, the bills must clear policy committees in the Senate or the Assembly by April 26.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "State Lawmakers Propose 14 Bills to Provide Reparations for Black Californians",
"datePublished": "2024-02-21T15:22:30-08:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-09T15:17:36-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"audioUrl": "https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/0af137ef-751e-4b19-a055-aaef00d2d578/ffca7e9f-6831-4[…]f-aaef00f5a073/dbfe53d6-e92d-41da-b745-b11e01101047/audio.mp3",
"sticky": false,
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11976617/state-lawmakers-propose-14-bills-to-provide-reparations-for-black-californians",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On Wednesday, California Legislative Black Caucus members announced the 14 reparations bills they are prioritizing this year — a day after the first of those bills won approval at a committee hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bills are inspired by recommendations from the California Reparations Task Force, which detailed how the state government had supported slavery and dozens of discriminatory laws in a \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/ab3121/report\">1,000-page report\u003c/a> released last summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why it matters:\u003c/strong> California is the first state in the country to consider providing reparations to Black residents. The state’s task force was created in the months after George Floyd’s murder. State lawmakers committed to exploring how decades of discriminatory policies contributed to Black residents facing higher rates of incarceration, having less wealth and suffering worse health outcomes than other racial groups. Now, the lawmakers will be asked to turn their promises into votes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By the numbers\u003c/strong>: Fourteen. That’s the number of reparations bills the Legislative Black Caucus is prioritizing this year. None of them spell out direct cash payments to Black residents. Instead, the reparations bills include ideas ranging from limiting solitary confinement in state prisons to starting a grant program to enroll more descendants of slavery in STEM-related career technical education programs. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "More on Reparations ",
"tag": "california-reparations"
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Between the lines: \u003c/strong>Wednesday’s press conference was the second rollout of reparations bills. Or the third if you count a solo press call held by state Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, on his reparations proposals. The uneven rollout has been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11975619/11975619\">criticized as disorganized and lacking a cohesive vision\u003c/a> — critiques which lawmakers hoped to put to rest by laying out the reparations bills they will be prioritizing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The latest: \u003c/strong>On Tuesday, the Assembly Judiciary Committee approved ACR 135, a resolution acknowledging \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11942302/californias-legislature-has-roots-in-slavery-are-lawmakers-ready-to-confront-that\">the role of California lawmakers who worked to advance slavery\u003c/a> in the state. All nine Democrats on the committee voted to support the resolution, while the three Republicans abstained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Warning signs: \u003c/strong>Asm. Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach, was one of the Republicans who abstained, saying she had not yet read the report. She condemned racist laws passed by early state lawmakers but drew a line. “As California legislators today, we can be proud that in the second half — it took a long time — of the 20th century, we became a national leader in extending civil rights to African Americans and others,” she said. Her statement drew rebukes from members of the Black Caucus, who said discriminatory policies have continued in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What’s next:\u003c/strong> The bills touted on Wednesday must now clear policy committees in either the Senate or the Assembly by April 26.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What they’re saying:\u003c/strong> California Legislative Black Caucus Chair Lori Wilson, D-Suisun City, is setting a high bar for the 14 bills before the legislative session ends on Aug. 31. “Success looks like our priority package getting done,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11976617/state-lawmakers-propose-14-bills-to-provide-reparations-for-black-californians",
"authors": [
"227"
],
"series": [
"news_34369"
],
"categories": [
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_30656",
"news_28272",
"news_18538",
"news_30345",
"news_30652",
"news_33935",
"news_27626",
"news_2923"
],
"featImg": "news_11976639",
"label": "news_34369"
},
"news_11975584": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11975584",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11975584",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1707838220000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "californias-groundbreaking-racial-justice-act-cuts-its-teeth-in-contra-costa",
"title": "California's Groundbreaking Racial Justice Act Cuts Its Teeth in Contra Costa",
"publishDate": 1707838220,
"format": "image",
"headTitle": "California’s Groundbreaking Racial Justice Act Cuts Its Teeth in Contra Costa | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 34369,
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>The effort to change the fundamental way race is considered in the California justice system received a jolt last week when a Contra Costa Superior Court judge \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11974853/judge-finds-8-antioch-police-officers-tainted-by-racial-bias-reduces-criminal-charges\">ruled that racism within the Antioch Police Department tainted a murder investigation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Feb. 5, Judge David Goldstein, a former public defender, removed all gang enhancements that could have resulted in life without parole sentences for the four men charged with the murder. Defense attorneys used the California Racial Justice Act to argue that racism tainted the handling of the case, from the murder investigation to the charges given to the four defendants, all of whom are Black and in their early 20s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Vienna Peterson Joiner, Eric Windom's mother \"]‘People think that just because slavery ended, racism was pulled out at the root. But it wasn’t.’[/pullquote]It was the second time Goldstein ruled that anti-Black bias had shaped elements of the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Race has been a mostly silent character in criminal courtrooms because race couldn’t be raised explicitly in court proceedings to defend someone accused of a crime until the RJA. The law, enacted in 2020, is the first of its kind in the country. Over several months, a KQED reporter attended the RJA hearings in the case. KQED also spoke with defense attorneys, prosecutors and community members about how the law is changing the way race is recognized in courtrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of July, four young men in yellow jumpsuits were spread across the courtroom as the afternoon sun streamed through windows behind Goldstein’s bench. Keyshawn McGee and Trent Allen sat in the jury box. Eric Windom and Terryonn Pugh were tucked in around the far end of the attorney’s table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Behind them, the gallery was packed. The hallway outside the courtroom was filled with an overflow of family members, reporters and curious attorneys taking advantage of breaks between court appearances to get a glimpse of the historic hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The four men were charged with an alleged gang-related murder and attempted murder. The murder charge included five enhancements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s what happened: On March 9, 2021, police allege that the four men shot a car 40 times in a drive-by shooting on a residential street in Antioch. Arnold Marcel Hawkins, 22, was killed and another man was wounded. The shooting was allegedly part of a long-running feud between two East Bay gangs. The arrests of the men \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80Gb7Z1vaLM\">were heralded by East Bay law enforcement\u003c/a> as a meaningful step toward reducing gun violence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Updated last year, the RJA made two major changes to existing state law. First, it created a way for defense attorneys to raise racism in court to defend someone accused of a crime. Second, it broadened what kind of evidence the court can consider to include indications of implicit bias, usually an analysis of the outcomes of similar cases that reveal the preferential or discriminatory treatment of one demographic group or another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Contra Costa County, a growing number of RJA claims have recently gained traction. The ruling in the case against McGee, Allen, Pugh and Windom was the third time a Contra Costa judge has sided with the RJA, which allows judges to exclude witness testimony and drop charges, among other options.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It will hopefully be a model for defendants across the state,” said Evan Kuluk, Windom’s attorney. “If the police who investigated their case were racially biased, used excessive force or spoke about them in racially discriminatory ways, there truly is a remedy available.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Reparations Task Force submitted a \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/ab3121/report\">1,000-page report\u003c/a> to the state Legislature last summer, which included provisions to strengthen the RJA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The heart of implicit bias is when racism becomes so endemic, so pervasive, so enduring, so intractable, that it’s normal course,” Donald Tamaki, an attorney and task force member, told KQED. “So how do you disrupt that?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11974445/california-reparations-backers-applaud-bills-even-without-big-cash-payouts\">members of California’s legislative Black Caucus introduced a package of bills\u003c/a>, including four proposed changes to the state’s justice system. The proposed legislation does not include cash payments, but Tamaki and fellow task member Lisa Holder said policies like the RJA are just as important to reducing racial disparities as cutting a check.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11971366\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11971366\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A person in a dark suit stands in front of a large outdoor flight of brick stairs.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Evan Kuluk, a public defender who used the California Racial Justice Act to argue that racism in the Antioch Police Department tainted a murder investigation, in front of the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse in Martinez on Aug. 25, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The district attorney\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Last spring, Kuluk was focused on how Contra Contra County district attorneys choose to add gang enhancements to murder charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve handled a lot of cases with gang allegations in this county and saw what I believe to be a disproportionate number of Black young men, especially from Richmond and Antioch, being charged with gang allegations,” said Kuluk, a public defender for 15 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"left\" citation=\"Evan Kuluk, attorney\"]‘If the police who investigated their case were racially biased, used excessive force or spoke about them in racially discriminatory ways, there truly is a remedy available.’[/pullquote]As a member of the county’s Alternate Defender Office, Kuluk was assigned to represent Windom, now 24, who was pursuing a music career at the time of his arrest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kuluk and Windom requested charging records from Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton. With the help of a UC Irvine statistician, they found that from 2015–2022, Black men accused of gang-related murders were 44% more likely to be charged with enhancements than defendants of other races accused of similar gang-related murders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because they carry mandatory LWOP, the filing of special circumstances is an assertion that an individual is irredeemable,” Kuluk told KQED, referring to a life without the possibility of parole sentence. “It is beyond unfair and unacceptable for the government to more frequently deem Black people unworthy to ever get the opportunity to prove their redemption to a parole board.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becton’s office disputed Kuluk’s findings, but in May, Windom and his co-defendants convinced the court that the district attorney had applied the enhancement in a biased way. The gang enhancement was dismissed. It was the first time in the United States, a country where Black residents are \u003ca href=\"https://www.sentencingproject.org/reports/the-color-of-justice-racial-and-ethnic-disparity-in-state-prisons-the-sentencing-project/\">five times more likely to be incarcerated in state prison than white residents\u003c/a>, that an argument of implicit bias in the justice system resulted in a charge being dropped from a criminal case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Contra Costa Chief Assistant District Attorney Simon O’Connell said he doubted anyone in the office was knowingly targeting Black defendants for harsher punishment. But he said the RJA challenge gave the DA a reason to look more closely at their charging data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t know what we don’t know,” he said. “It was important for us to start looking at historical data to see if, in fact, there were implicit biases and trends in our data, which would be surprising to us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The police\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Windom and his three co-defendants had a second RJA hearing related to racist text messages uncovered by an FBI probe into alleged criminal activity by the Antioch and Pittsburg police departments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the messages were sent during the murder investigation. Here’s one exchange sent over the course of 22 minutes while officers were surveilling McGee, Allen, Pugh and Windom eating at a barbecue restaurant in Concord in March 2021:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Antioch police officer Eric Rombough:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> “Sooo many black peolpe (sic).”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Antioch police officer Jonathan Adams:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> “Bro. They all look the same.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Rombough: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>“Tell me about it. I feel like I’m at the zoo.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Rombough:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> “They’re getting ice cream. Swarming to it like Hennessy. I bet its chicken.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Adams:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> “Could be ribs.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Rombough:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> “For sure watermelon and kool aid. I hate these idiots.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other messages suggest Black people don’t like pools and can’t be seen in the dark, employing tropes used to demean Black people. Still, other messages use the N-word and include photos of Pugh and Allen in hospital beds after being injured by officers during their arrests. In the messages, the officers joke about kicking Allen’s head like a football.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shirelle Cobbs, Allen’s mother, shook with rage outside of the courtroom after the texts were read during a hearing. “If it was the other way around, my son would be under the courthouse or dead,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becton has recommended at least 30 criminal cases for dismissal that involve police work by officers involved in the text messaging exchanges. But not in this case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the second RJA claim, the men asked Goldstein to dismiss all the enhancements and to downgrade a number of the top charges. They argued that the racist text messages made it impossible for the investigating officers to have done their jobs free of bias. They argued that not only were the officers who sent the messages compromised but so was the entire police department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In August, Claire Jean Kim, a UC Irvine political science professor and expert in racial bias, testified for the defense. The text messages included department supervisors. She said only in a department with an entrenched culture of racism would no one report the violations of department policy. And that, she said, is exactly what happened in the Antioch Police Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The law can and must repudiate the decisions made by such decision-makers, both for the sake of the defendant and for the community that rests its trust in the justice system,” she told the court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961176\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11961176\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Two people with their hair in buns stand together looking at the camera in an outdoor setting.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vienna Peterson Joiner (right) and Mariah Thomas drove up from Los Angeles to be in the courtroom during Eric Windom’s Racial Justice Act hearing in Martinez on Sept. 8, 2023. \u003ccite>(Annelise Finney/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Vienna Peterson Joiner was frequently in the gallery watching Windom, her son, closely. She told KQED she was trying to decipher how he was feeling and whether he’d eaten by the way he sat in his chair. Peterson Joiner and Windom are not allowed to speak at his court appearances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want to run up there and hug him,” she said. “I want to tell [the court] what we know about Eric.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She drove to Martinez from Los Angeles for court dates, sometimes stopping to pick up her son’s fiance, Mariah Thomas, and their 1-year-old daughter. When Windom was a toddler, his father was incarcerated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“His own experience with his father and his current situation and lack of ability to be fully there for his child now is weighing on him,” Kuluk told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Thomas, the disruption to building a family with Windom is painful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s being held by people who don’t like the color of his skin,” she said. “That’s really what it boils down to because if these people were white, they would’ve been home. They would’ve been with their family.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peterson Joiner said it was a relief when the judge dropped the gang enhancement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was glad that the judge did see that and paid attention to what was actually really going on,” she said. “People think that just because slavery ended, racism was pulled out at the root. But it wasn’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Data is the mechanism\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Natasha Minsker, a criminal justice reform policy consultant, said Becton’s willingness to provide data on charging practices has made the county a hot spot for attorneys testing the limits of the RJA using statistical evidence of discriminatory treatment. She, like Kuluk, is a member of the Racial Justice Act Implementation Working Group, a collection of advocates, attorneys and policymakers moving to bring claims.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of Jan. 1, people who are currently and formerly incarcerated are now able to challenge their convictions using the RJA. Minsker said more than three-quarters of the state’s prison population — about 90,000 people — could have viable claims. If implemented, she said, the law could help end mass incarceration in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But to get there, defense attorneys need more funding and more data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They were incredibly cooperative,” Kuluk said of Becton’s office. “That’s not what has been happening in many other counties in California where DA’s offices have been hostile to public records requests that they interpret as potentially leading to Racial Justice Act claims.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cities and counties aren’t currently required to collect data on the race of defendants or to make that data public. According to a statewide survey conducted by the reparations task force, 12 out of 57 responding county DA offices, including Sacramento, do not collect data on an accused person’s race, making RJA claims extremely challenging, if not impossible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solano County, home to the Vallejo Police Department, did not respond to the survey. In October, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11964674/trust-has-been-broken-california-demands-vallejo-police-reforms-citing-major-rights-violations\">the state Department of Justice expanded oversight of the Vallejo police\u003c/a> after the department failed to comply with the vast majority of court-mandated reforms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without access to data, the promise of the [Racial Justice] Act has the potential to ring hollow to many,” the task force wrote in its report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside tag=\"racial-justice, racism\" label=\"More Related Stories\"]Among the 115 policy proposals suggested by the task force are \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/ch28-ca-reparations.pdf\">a series meant to strengthen and expand the Racial Justice Act (PDF)\u003c/a>, including additional funding to help defense attorneys hire data analysts, penalties for district attorneys who fail to provide complete data and calls to fund the Justice Data Accountability and Transparency Act fully. The law, passed in 2022 and set to go into effect in 2027, will require district attorneys to report case data, including the race of the defendant and the victim, to the state DOJ.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you can bring irrefutable evidence of anti-Black bias within the criminal justice system to a court, then they will have no choice but to respond and to right the wrongs,” said Holder, who is also the president of the Equal Justice Society, an Oakland-based racial justice nonprofit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently, Becton hired an analyst to guide the office’s data collection and preservation practices. In response to Windom’s claim, the office also established a committee review system for evaluating all special circumstances charges on articulable, race-neutral grounds before they are filed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the power of the Racial Justice Act,” Minsker said. “It makes all actors in the justice system responsible for pushing forward racial justice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, the California DOJ published the state’s first-ever race-blind charging guidelines for prosecutors. A state law passed in 2022 will require county prosecutors to institute race-blind charging practices starting next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11959229\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11959229\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Two people hold signs, one depicting a man with a deep wound to his head, as one of the people speaks emphatically in an outdoor setting.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kathryn Wade (left) and Carolyn Simmons speak out against the police violence that Wade says her son, Malad Baldwin, experienced at the hands of the Antioch Police Department at a rally in front of the AF Bray Courthouse in Martinez on Aug. 25, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For some, the recent RJA successes in Contra Costa come with a sting. At each court date for Windom’s RJA hearing, Hawkins’ family members were there, including his mother, Brandi Griffin. For six months after he was shot outside of their Antioch home, she kept him on life support, hoping her son, who she described as free-spirited, would recover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our family has been sacrificed based on what the Antioch Police Department has done,” said Griffin, who told KQED that the case has stripped her faith in the justice system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In front of the courthouse in July, she shouted at a scrum of reporters, her voice strained with grief and rage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t give a shit about no racist shit!” she said. “What about my son?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "The Racial Justice Act was designed to radically reshape how our criminal justice system handles race. Contra Costa County has become a hot spot for cases testing the limits of the law. ",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1725920259,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 56,
"wordCount": 2737
},
"headData": {
"title": "California's Groundbreaking Racial Justice Act Cuts Its Teeth in Contra Costa | KQED",
"description": "The Racial Justice Act was designed to radically reshape how our criminal justice system handles race. Contra Costa County has become a hot spot for cases testing the limits of the law. ",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "California's Groundbreaking Racial Justice Act Cuts Its Teeth in Contra Costa",
"datePublished": "2024-02-13T07:30:20-08:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-09T15:17:39-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"sticky": false,
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11975584/californias-groundbreaking-racial-justice-act-cuts-its-teeth-in-contra-costa",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The effort to change the fundamental way race is considered in the California justice system received a jolt last week when a Contra Costa Superior Court judge \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11974853/judge-finds-8-antioch-police-officers-tainted-by-racial-bias-reduces-criminal-charges\">ruled that racism within the Antioch Police Department tainted a murder investigation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Feb. 5, Judge David Goldstein, a former public defender, removed all gang enhancements that could have resulted in life without parole sentences for the four men charged with the murder. Defense attorneys used the California Racial Justice Act to argue that racism tainted the handling of the case, from the murder investigation to the charges given to the four defendants, all of whom are Black and in their early 20s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘People think that just because slavery ended, racism was pulled out at the root. But it wasn’t.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Vienna Peterson Joiner, Eric Windom's mother ",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>It was the second time Goldstein ruled that anti-Black bias had shaped elements of the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Race has been a mostly silent character in criminal courtrooms because race couldn’t be raised explicitly in court proceedings to defend someone accused of a crime until the RJA. The law, enacted in 2020, is the first of its kind in the country. Over several months, a KQED reporter attended the RJA hearings in the case. KQED also spoke with defense attorneys, prosecutors and community members about how the law is changing the way race is recognized in courtrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of July, four young men in yellow jumpsuits were spread across the courtroom as the afternoon sun streamed through windows behind Goldstein’s bench. Keyshawn McGee and Trent Allen sat in the jury box. Eric Windom and Terryonn Pugh were tucked in around the far end of the attorney’s table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Behind them, the gallery was packed. The hallway outside the courtroom was filled with an overflow of family members, reporters and curious attorneys taking advantage of breaks between court appearances to get a glimpse of the historic hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The four men were charged with an alleged gang-related murder and attempted murder. The murder charge included five enhancements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s what happened: On March 9, 2021, police allege that the four men shot a car 40 times in a drive-by shooting on a residential street in Antioch. Arnold Marcel Hawkins, 22, was killed and another man was wounded. The shooting was allegedly part of a long-running feud between two East Bay gangs. The arrests of the men \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80Gb7Z1vaLM\">were heralded by East Bay law enforcement\u003c/a> as a meaningful step toward reducing gun violence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Updated last year, the RJA made two major changes to existing state law. First, it created a way for defense attorneys to raise racism in court to defend someone accused of a crime. Second, it broadened what kind of evidence the court can consider to include indications of implicit bias, usually an analysis of the outcomes of similar cases that reveal the preferential or discriminatory treatment of one demographic group or another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Contra Costa County, a growing number of RJA claims have recently gained traction. The ruling in the case against McGee, Allen, Pugh and Windom was the third time a Contra Costa judge has sided with the RJA, which allows judges to exclude witness testimony and drop charges, among other options.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It will hopefully be a model for defendants across the state,” said Evan Kuluk, Windom’s attorney. “If the police who investigated their case were racially biased, used excessive force or spoke about them in racially discriminatory ways, there truly is a remedy available.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Reparations Task Force submitted a \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/ab3121/report\">1,000-page report\u003c/a> to the state Legislature last summer, which included provisions to strengthen the RJA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The heart of implicit bias is when racism becomes so endemic, so pervasive, so enduring, so intractable, that it’s normal course,” Donald Tamaki, an attorney and task force member, told KQED. “So how do you disrupt that?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11974445/california-reparations-backers-applaud-bills-even-without-big-cash-payouts\">members of California’s legislative Black Caucus introduced a package of bills\u003c/a>, including four proposed changes to the state’s justice system. The proposed legislation does not include cash payments, but Tamaki and fellow task member Lisa Holder said policies like the RJA are just as important to reducing racial disparities as cutting a check.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11971366\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11971366\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A person in a dark suit stands in front of a large outdoor flight of brick stairs.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Evan Kuluk, a public defender who used the California Racial Justice Act to argue that racism in the Antioch Police Department tainted a murder investigation, in front of the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse in Martinez on Aug. 25, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The district attorney\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Last spring, Kuluk was focused on how Contra Contra County district attorneys choose to add gang enhancements to murder charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve handled a lot of cases with gang allegations in this county and saw what I believe to be a disproportionate number of Black young men, especially from Richmond and Antioch, being charged with gang allegations,” said Kuluk, a public defender for 15 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘If the police who investigated their case were racially biased, used excessive force or spoke about them in racially discriminatory ways, there truly is a remedy available.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "left",
"citation": "Evan Kuluk, attorney",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>As a member of the county’s Alternate Defender Office, Kuluk was assigned to represent Windom, now 24, who was pursuing a music career at the time of his arrest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kuluk and Windom requested charging records from Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton. With the help of a UC Irvine statistician, they found that from 2015–2022, Black men accused of gang-related murders were 44% more likely to be charged with enhancements than defendants of other races accused of similar gang-related murders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because they carry mandatory LWOP, the filing of special circumstances is an assertion that an individual is irredeemable,” Kuluk told KQED, referring to a life without the possibility of parole sentence. “It is beyond unfair and unacceptable for the government to more frequently deem Black people unworthy to ever get the opportunity to prove their redemption to a parole board.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becton’s office disputed Kuluk’s findings, but in May, Windom and his co-defendants convinced the court that the district attorney had applied the enhancement in a biased way. The gang enhancement was dismissed. It was the first time in the United States, a country where Black residents are \u003ca href=\"https://www.sentencingproject.org/reports/the-color-of-justice-racial-and-ethnic-disparity-in-state-prisons-the-sentencing-project/\">five times more likely to be incarcerated in state prison than white residents\u003c/a>, that an argument of implicit bias in the justice system resulted in a charge being dropped from a criminal case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Contra Costa Chief Assistant District Attorney Simon O’Connell said he doubted anyone in the office was knowingly targeting Black defendants for harsher punishment. But he said the RJA challenge gave the DA a reason to look more closely at their charging data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t know what we don’t know,” he said. “It was important for us to start looking at historical data to see if, in fact, there were implicit biases and trends in our data, which would be surprising to us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The police\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Windom and his three co-defendants had a second RJA hearing related to racist text messages uncovered by an FBI probe into alleged criminal activity by the Antioch and Pittsburg police departments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the messages were sent during the murder investigation. Here’s one exchange sent over the course of 22 minutes while officers were surveilling McGee, Allen, Pugh and Windom eating at a barbecue restaurant in Concord in March 2021:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Antioch police officer Eric Rombough:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> “Sooo many black peolpe (sic).”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Antioch police officer Jonathan Adams:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> “Bro. They all look the same.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Rombough: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>“Tell me about it. I feel like I’m at the zoo.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Rombough:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> “They’re getting ice cream. Swarming to it like Hennessy. I bet its chicken.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Adams:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> “Could be ribs.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Rombough:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> “For sure watermelon and kool aid. I hate these idiots.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other messages suggest Black people don’t like pools and can’t be seen in the dark, employing tropes used to demean Black people. Still, other messages use the N-word and include photos of Pugh and Allen in hospital beds after being injured by officers during their arrests. In the messages, the officers joke about kicking Allen’s head like a football.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shirelle Cobbs, Allen’s mother, shook with rage outside of the courtroom after the texts were read during a hearing. “If it was the other way around, my son would be under the courthouse or dead,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becton has recommended at least 30 criminal cases for dismissal that involve police work by officers involved in the text messaging exchanges. But not in this case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the second RJA claim, the men asked Goldstein to dismiss all the enhancements and to downgrade a number of the top charges. They argued that the racist text messages made it impossible for the investigating officers to have done their jobs free of bias. They argued that not only were the officers who sent the messages compromised but so was the entire police department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In August, Claire Jean Kim, a UC Irvine political science professor and expert in racial bias, testified for the defense. The text messages included department supervisors. She said only in a department with an entrenched culture of racism would no one report the violations of department policy. And that, she said, is exactly what happened in the Antioch Police Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The law can and must repudiate the decisions made by such decision-makers, both for the sake of the defendant and for the community that rests its trust in the justice system,” she told the court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961176\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11961176\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Two people with their hair in buns stand together looking at the camera in an outdoor setting.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vienna Peterson Joiner (right) and Mariah Thomas drove up from Los Angeles to be in the courtroom during Eric Windom’s Racial Justice Act hearing in Martinez on Sept. 8, 2023. \u003ccite>(Annelise Finney/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Vienna Peterson Joiner was frequently in the gallery watching Windom, her son, closely. She told KQED she was trying to decipher how he was feeling and whether he’d eaten by the way he sat in his chair. Peterson Joiner and Windom are not allowed to speak at his court appearances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want to run up there and hug him,” she said. “I want to tell [the court] what we know about Eric.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She drove to Martinez from Los Angeles for court dates, sometimes stopping to pick up her son’s fiance, Mariah Thomas, and their 1-year-old daughter. When Windom was a toddler, his father was incarcerated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“His own experience with his father and his current situation and lack of ability to be fully there for his child now is weighing on him,” Kuluk told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Thomas, the disruption to building a family with Windom is painful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s being held by people who don’t like the color of his skin,” she said. “That’s really what it boils down to because if these people were white, they would’ve been home. They would’ve been with their family.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peterson Joiner said it was a relief when the judge dropped the gang enhancement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was glad that the judge did see that and paid attention to what was actually really going on,” she said. “People think that just because slavery ended, racism was pulled out at the root. But it wasn’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Data is the mechanism\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Natasha Minsker, a criminal justice reform policy consultant, said Becton’s willingness to provide data on charging practices has made the county a hot spot for attorneys testing the limits of the RJA using statistical evidence of discriminatory treatment. She, like Kuluk, is a member of the Racial Justice Act Implementation Working Group, a collection of advocates, attorneys and policymakers moving to bring claims.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of Jan. 1, people who are currently and formerly incarcerated are now able to challenge their convictions using the RJA. Minsker said more than three-quarters of the state’s prison population — about 90,000 people — could have viable claims. If implemented, she said, the law could help end mass incarceration in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But to get there, defense attorneys need more funding and more data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They were incredibly cooperative,” Kuluk said of Becton’s office. “That’s not what has been happening in many other counties in California where DA’s offices have been hostile to public records requests that they interpret as potentially leading to Racial Justice Act claims.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cities and counties aren’t currently required to collect data on the race of defendants or to make that data public. According to a statewide survey conducted by the reparations task force, 12 out of 57 responding county DA offices, including Sacramento, do not collect data on an accused person’s race, making RJA claims extremely challenging, if not impossible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solano County, home to the Vallejo Police Department, did not respond to the survey. In October, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11964674/trust-has-been-broken-california-demands-vallejo-police-reforms-citing-major-rights-violations\">the state Department of Justice expanded oversight of the Vallejo police\u003c/a> after the department failed to comply with the vast majority of court-mandated reforms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without access to data, the promise of the [Racial Justice] Act has the potential to ring hollow to many,” the task force wrote in its report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"tag": "racial-justice, racism",
"label": "More Related Stories "
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Among the 115 policy proposals suggested by the task force are \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/ch28-ca-reparations.pdf\">a series meant to strengthen and expand the Racial Justice Act (PDF)\u003c/a>, including additional funding to help defense attorneys hire data analysts, penalties for district attorneys who fail to provide complete data and calls to fund the Justice Data Accountability and Transparency Act fully. The law, passed in 2022 and set to go into effect in 2027, will require district attorneys to report case data, including the race of the defendant and the victim, to the state DOJ.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you can bring irrefutable evidence of anti-Black bias within the criminal justice system to a court, then they will have no choice but to respond and to right the wrongs,” said Holder, who is also the president of the Equal Justice Society, an Oakland-based racial justice nonprofit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently, Becton hired an analyst to guide the office’s data collection and preservation practices. In response to Windom’s claim, the office also established a committee review system for evaluating all special circumstances charges on articulable, race-neutral grounds before they are filed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the power of the Racial Justice Act,” Minsker said. “It makes all actors in the justice system responsible for pushing forward racial justice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, the California DOJ published the state’s first-ever race-blind charging guidelines for prosecutors. A state law passed in 2022 will require county prosecutors to institute race-blind charging practices starting next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11959229\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11959229\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Two people hold signs, one depicting a man with a deep wound to his head, as one of the people speaks emphatically in an outdoor setting.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kathryn Wade (left) and Carolyn Simmons speak out against the police violence that Wade says her son, Malad Baldwin, experienced at the hands of the Antioch Police Department at a rally in front of the AF Bray Courthouse in Martinez on Aug. 25, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For some, the recent RJA successes in Contra Costa come with a sting. At each court date for Windom’s RJA hearing, Hawkins’ family members were there, including his mother, Brandi Griffin. For six months after he was shot outside of their Antioch home, she kept him on life support, hoping her son, who she described as free-spirited, would recover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our family has been sacrificed based on what the Antioch Police Department has done,” said Griffin, who told KQED that the case has stripped her faith in the justice system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In front of the courthouse in July, she shouted at a scrum of reporters, her voice strained with grief and rage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t give a shit about no racist shit!” she said. “What about my son?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11975584/californias-groundbreaking-racial-justice-act-cuts-its-teeth-in-contra-costa",
"authors": [
"11772"
],
"series": [
"news_34369"
],
"categories": [
"news_31795",
"news_6188",
"news_28250",
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_19122",
"news_30345",
"news_30652",
"news_27626",
"news_2960",
"news_33821"
],
"featImg": "news_11959230",
"label": "news_34369"
},
"news_11975619": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11975619",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11975619",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1707787853000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "11975619",
"title": "California's Reparations Plan: Too Much Too Soon? Or Too Little, Too Late?",
"publishDate": 1707787853,
"format": "audio",
"headTitle": "California’s Reparations Plan: Too Much Too Soon? Or Too Little, Too Late? | KQED",
"labelTerm": {},
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Members of California’s Legislative Black Caucus released its list of priorities following recommendations from the state’s Reparations Task Force. They include 14 bills aimed at addressing inequities in education, health care, criminal justice and business — but no mention of cash payments. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED’s Scott Shafer and Annelise Finney discuss the process so far with \u003cem>Los Angeles Times\u003c/em> columnist Erika D. Smith, who calls the recommendations “half-baked and disorganized.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": null,
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1725920262,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 4,
"wordCount": 80
},
"headData": {
"title": "California's Reparations Plan: Too Much Too Soon? Or Too Little, Too Late? | KQED",
"description": "Members of California’s Legislative Black Caucus released its list of priorities following recommendations from the state’s Reparations Task Force. They include 14 bills aimed at addressing inequities in education, health care, criminal justice and business — but no mention of cash payments. KQED’s Scott Shafer and Annelise Finney discuss the process so far with Los Angeles Times columnist Erika D. Smith, who calls the recommendations “half-baked and disorganized.”",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "California's Reparations Plan: Too Much Too Soon? Or Too Little, Too Late?",
"datePublished": "2024-02-12T17:30:53-08:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-09T15:17:42-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"source": "Political Breakdown",
"audioUrl": "https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/chrt.fm/track/G6C7C3/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC4043864882.mp3?updated=1707783275",
"sticky": false,
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11975619/11975619",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Members of California’s Legislative Black Caucus released its list of priorities following recommendations from the state’s Reparations Task Force. They include 14 bills aimed at addressing inequities in education, health care, criminal justice and business — but no mention of cash payments. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED’s Scott Shafer and Annelise Finney discuss the process so far with \u003cem>Los Angeles Times\u003c/em> columnist Erika D. Smith, who calls the recommendations “half-baked and disorganized.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11975619/11975619",
"authors": [
"255",
"11772"
],
"programs": [
"news_33544"
],
"series": [
"news_34369"
],
"categories": [
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_30345",
"news_30652",
"news_2960",
"news_22235",
"news_17968",
"news_2923"
],
"featImg": "news_11952793",
"label": "source_news_11975619"
},
"news_11974445": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11974445",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11974445",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1706817630000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "california-reparations-backers-applaud-bills-even-without-big-cash-payouts",
"title": "California Reparations Backers Applaud Bills, Even Without Big Cash Payouts",
"publishDate": 1706817630,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "California Reparations Backers Applaud Bills, Even Without Big Cash Payouts | KQED",
"labelTerm": {},
"content": "\u003cp>A group of California lawmakers is tackling reparations for Black descendants of enslaved people with a set of bills modeled after recommendations that a state reparations task force spent years studying and developing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislative package — a set of 14 bills the California Legislative Black Caucus released Wednesday — addresses everything from criminal justice to food. It includes proposed laws requiring the governor and Legislature to apologize for human rights violations. One bill would provide financial aid for redlined communities, while another proposal aims to protect the right to wear “natural and protective” hairstyles in all competitive sports. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Assemblymember Lori Wilson, who chairs the Black Caucus\"]‘While many only associate direct cash payments with reparations, the true meaning of the word, to repair, involves much more.’[/pullquote]The headliner of the package, authored by state \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/steven-bradford-1960/\">Sen. Steven Bradford\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Inglewood who served on the task force, would address \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/ab3121-agenda11-ch22-policies-addressing-housing-segregation-and-unjust-property-takings-05062023.pdf\">unjust property takings\u003c/a> — referring to land, homes or businesses that were seized from Black owners through discriminatory practices and eminent domain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill would “restore property taken during raced-based uses of eminent domain to its original owners or provide another effective remedy where appropriate, such as restitution or compensation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Notably, none of the proposed new laws would include widespread cash compensation for the descendants of slavery, as was recommended by the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/05/reparations-payments-california/\">state’s reparations task force\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While many only associate direct cash payments with reparations, the true meaning of the word, to repair, involves much more,” said state Assemblymember\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/lori-wilson-1976/\"> Lori Wilson\u003c/a>, who chairs the Black Caucus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need a comprehensive approach to dismantling the legacy of slavery and systemic racism,” said Wilson, a Democrat from Suisun City.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Reparations to ‘right the wrongs’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/ab3121/members\">nine-member reparations task force\u003c/a>, which included five members appointed by the governor, issued its final recommendations last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While serving on the state panel, Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/reginald-jones-sawyer-1957/\">Reggie Jones-Sawyer\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Los Angeles, urged his colleagues to be practical about which measures could get approved and signed into law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, he applauded the first set of bills, which include proposals to provide medically supportive food to Medi-Cal recipients and to require advance notice when grocery stores close in underserved communities. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a Democrat from Los Angeles\"]‘We will endeavor to right the wrongs committed against Black communities through laws and policies designed to restrict and alienate African Americans.’[/pullquote]“We will endeavor to right the wrongs committed against Black communities through laws and policies designed to restrict and alienate African Americans,” Jones-Sawyer said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hundreds of legislative and budgetary reparatory recommendations were made within the final report, and I, along with the members of the Black Caucus, look forward to working with our legislative colleagues to achieve true reparations and justice for all Black Californians,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the bills announced Wednesday include only broad strokes of what the proposed legislation would do, and some have not yet been formally introduced. All of the proposed bills in the reparations slate will be formally introduced by the Feb. 16 deadline, a spokesman for Jones-Sawyer said.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The handful of proposed laws makes the Golden State the first in the nation to undertake reparations for Black Californians, but it is being released amid turbulent political and financial waters. The state is facing a budget deficit that the governor’s office says is $38 billion, making it a daunting task to gather support for any measures with hefty price tags attached.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2020, Newsom and some Democratic leaders applauded the creation and work of the state’s reparations task force, which held monthly meetings in several cities, from San Diego to Sacramento. Formed in the aftermath of the police murder of George Floyd, the task force began while initial public support for racial justice was strong, but it has \u003ca href=\"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5ks5g9f6#main\">since waned\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the governor aims to boost his national profile, he has responded cooly to the state panel’s final recommendations, which included more than 115 wide-ranging policy prescriptions and a formula for calculating direct cash payments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11974452\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11974452\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02.jpg\" alt=\"A memorial stone plaque reads "Bruce's Beach."\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1315\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02-800x526.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02-1020x671.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02-1536x1010.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02-1920x1262.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bruce’s Beach in Manhattan Beach on June 30, 2022. The beach was returned to the descendants of the Bruce family in 2022. \u003ccite>(Raquel Natalicchio/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The panel held 15 public hearings, deliberated for two years, and considered input from more than 100 expert witnesses and the public. Task force advisors suggested the state owes Black Californians hundreds of millions of dollars for the harm they’ve suffered because of systemic racism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalMatters \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/05/california-payment-calculator-reparations/\">created an interactive tool for calculating\u003c/a> how much a person is owed, using formulas in the task force’s final reports and how long a person lived in California during the periods of racial harm.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>An uphill battle\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Advocates face an uphill battle convincing other ethnic groups that a payout is due, in part because they have also endured racism and unfair treatment. Asians and Latino voters, who combined make up a majority of the California electorate, largely oppose reparations, as do a majority of white residents, \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/06/29/california-reparations-black-latino-asian-support/\">polls show\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for Newsom said Wednesday that the governor “continues to have productive conversations with the California Legislative Black Caucus. The governor is committed to further building upon California’s record of advancing justice, opportunity, and equity for Black Californians.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a press conference announcing his proposed budget last month, Newsom said he had “devoured” the more than thousand-page report issued by the state reparations panel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are deeply mindful of what will come next in partnership with the Caucus, and the work continues in that space,” Newsom said. [aside label='More on California Reparations' tag='california-reparations']Jonathan Burgess, a fire battalion chief from Sacramento and well-known advocate for reparations, called the legislative package “phenomenal,” especially its proposal to restore property or repay former owners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a monumental, profound time,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burgess and his family say a portion of land that is now within the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in El Dorado County once belonged to him and his family and was unfairly taken away by the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His great-great-grandfather first came to California from New Orleans in 1849, initially brought here as a slave to mine for gold. Burgess regularly attended the state task force’s meetings, speaking about California’s racist history and the need for repair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I started my work almost five years ago now,” Burgess told CalMatters on Wednesday, hours after the legislative package was released. “It’s very emotional for me. It’s hard to put into words how I feel — a sense of joy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burgess said many of the wrongs committed against Black people and their families can never be fully quantified with any dollar amount, but returning property is one of the most important measures because it correlates to what would have been generational wealth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really about righting history and showing our nation the path forward,” he said. “This is just the beginning, I’d like to hope.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "California lawmakers introduced a package of bills designed to tackle some forms of reparations. The measures may face budget constraints and opposition.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1725920266,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 28,
"wordCount": 1250
},
"headData": {
"title": "California Reparations Backers Applaud Bills, Even Without Big Cash Payouts | KQED",
"description": "California lawmakers introduced a package of bills designed to tackle some forms of reparations. The measures may face budget constraints and opposition.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "California Reparations Backers Applaud Bills, Even Without Big Cash Payouts",
"datePublished": "2024-02-01T12:00:30-08:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-09T15:17:46-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"source": "CalMatters",
"sourceUrl": "https://calmatters.org/",
"sticky": false,
"nprByline": "\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/wendy-fry/\">Wendy Fry\u003c/a>\u003cbr>",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"showOnAuthorArchivePages": "No",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11974445/california-reparations-backers-applaud-bills-even-without-big-cash-payouts",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A group of California lawmakers is tackling reparations for Black descendants of enslaved people with a set of bills modeled after recommendations that a state reparations task force spent years studying and developing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislative package — a set of 14 bills the California Legislative Black Caucus released Wednesday — addresses everything from criminal justice to food. It includes proposed laws requiring the governor and Legislature to apologize for human rights violations. One bill would provide financial aid for redlined communities, while another proposal aims to protect the right to wear “natural and protective” hairstyles in all competitive sports. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘While many only associate direct cash payments with reparations, the true meaning of the word, to repair, involves much more.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Assemblymember Lori Wilson, who chairs the Black Caucus",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The headliner of the package, authored by state \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/steven-bradford-1960/\">Sen. Steven Bradford\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Inglewood who served on the task force, would address \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/ab3121-agenda11-ch22-policies-addressing-housing-segregation-and-unjust-property-takings-05062023.pdf\">unjust property takings\u003c/a> — referring to land, homes or businesses that were seized from Black owners through discriminatory practices and eminent domain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill would “restore property taken during raced-based uses of eminent domain to its original owners or provide another effective remedy where appropriate, such as restitution or compensation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Notably, none of the proposed new laws would include widespread cash compensation for the descendants of slavery, as was recommended by the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/05/reparations-payments-california/\">state’s reparations task force\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While many only associate direct cash payments with reparations, the true meaning of the word, to repair, involves much more,” said state Assemblymember\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/lori-wilson-1976/\"> Lori Wilson\u003c/a>, who chairs the Black Caucus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need a comprehensive approach to dismantling the legacy of slavery and systemic racism,” said Wilson, a Democrat from Suisun City.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Reparations to ‘right the wrongs’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/ab3121/members\">nine-member reparations task force\u003c/a>, which included five members appointed by the governor, issued its final recommendations last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While serving on the state panel, Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/reginald-jones-sawyer-1957/\">Reggie Jones-Sawyer\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Los Angeles, urged his colleagues to be practical about which measures could get approved and signed into law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, he applauded the first set of bills, which include proposals to provide medically supportive food to Medi-Cal recipients and to require advance notice when grocery stores close in underserved communities. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘We will endeavor to right the wrongs committed against Black communities through laws and policies designed to restrict and alienate African Americans.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a Democrat from Los Angeles",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We will endeavor to right the wrongs committed against Black communities through laws and policies designed to restrict and alienate African Americans,” Jones-Sawyer said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hundreds of legislative and budgetary reparatory recommendations were made within the final report, and I, along with the members of the Black Caucus, look forward to working with our legislative colleagues to achieve true reparations and justice for all Black Californians,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the bills announced Wednesday include only broad strokes of what the proposed legislation would do, and some have not yet been formally introduced. All of the proposed bills in the reparations slate will be formally introduced by the Feb. 16 deadline, a spokesman for Jones-Sawyer said.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The handful of proposed laws makes the Golden State the first in the nation to undertake reparations for Black Californians, but it is being released amid turbulent political and financial waters. The state is facing a budget deficit that the governor’s office says is $38 billion, making it a daunting task to gather support for any measures with hefty price tags attached.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2020, Newsom and some Democratic leaders applauded the creation and work of the state’s reparations task force, which held monthly meetings in several cities, from San Diego to Sacramento. Formed in the aftermath of the police murder of George Floyd, the task force began while initial public support for racial justice was strong, but it has \u003ca href=\"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5ks5g9f6#main\">since waned\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the governor aims to boost his national profile, he has responded cooly to the state panel’s final recommendations, which included more than 115 wide-ranging policy prescriptions and a formula for calculating direct cash payments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11974452\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11974452\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02.jpg\" alt=\"A memorial stone plaque reads "Bruce's Beach."\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1315\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02-800x526.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02-1020x671.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02-1536x1010.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02-1920x1262.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bruce’s Beach in Manhattan Beach on June 30, 2022. The beach was returned to the descendants of the Bruce family in 2022. \u003ccite>(Raquel Natalicchio/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The panel held 15 public hearings, deliberated for two years, and considered input from more than 100 expert witnesses and the public. Task force advisors suggested the state owes Black Californians hundreds of millions of dollars for the harm they’ve suffered because of systemic racism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalMatters \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/05/california-payment-calculator-reparations/\">created an interactive tool for calculating\u003c/a> how much a person is owed, using formulas in the task force’s final reports and how long a person lived in California during the periods of racial harm.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>An uphill battle\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Advocates face an uphill battle convincing other ethnic groups that a payout is due, in part because they have also endured racism and unfair treatment. Asians and Latino voters, who combined make up a majority of the California electorate, largely oppose reparations, as do a majority of white residents, \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/06/29/california-reparations-black-latino-asian-support/\">polls show\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for Newsom said Wednesday that the governor “continues to have productive conversations with the California Legislative Black Caucus. The governor is committed to further building upon California’s record of advancing justice, opportunity, and equity for Black Californians.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a press conference announcing his proposed budget last month, Newsom said he had “devoured” the more than thousand-page report issued by the state reparations panel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are deeply mindful of what will come next in partnership with the Caucus, and the work continues in that space,” Newsom said. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "More on California Reparations ",
"tag": "california-reparations"
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Jonathan Burgess, a fire battalion chief from Sacramento and well-known advocate for reparations, called the legislative package “phenomenal,” especially its proposal to restore property or repay former owners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a monumental, profound time,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burgess and his family say a portion of land that is now within the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in El Dorado County once belonged to him and his family and was unfairly taken away by the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His great-great-grandfather first came to California from New Orleans in 1849, initially brought here as a slave to mine for gold. Burgess regularly attended the state task force’s meetings, speaking about California’s racist history and the need for repair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I started my work almost five years ago now,” Burgess told CalMatters on Wednesday, hours after the legislative package was released. “It’s very emotional for me. It’s hard to put into words how I feel — a sense of joy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burgess said many of the wrongs committed against Black people and their families can never be fully quantified with any dollar amount, but returning property is one of the most important measures because it correlates to what would have been generational wealth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really about righting history and showing our nation the path forward,” he said. “This is just the beginning, I’d like to hope.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11974445/california-reparations-backers-applaud-bills-even-without-big-cash-payouts",
"authors": [
"byline_news_11974445"
],
"series": [
"news_34369"
],
"categories": [
"news_6188",
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_30069",
"news_22307",
"news_30345",
"news_30652",
"news_27626",
"news_2960",
"news_2923"
],
"affiliates": [
"news_18481"
],
"featImg": "news_11974448",
"label": "source_news_11974445"
},
"news_11965926": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11965926",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11965926",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1698861630000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "survivors-of-californias-forced-sterilization-denied-reparations",
"title": "Survivors from California’s Period of Forced Sterilization Denied Reparations",
"publishDate": 1698861630,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "Survivors from California’s Period of Forced Sterilization Denied Reparations | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 26731,
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>In March 2006, Sharon Fennix, then incarcerated at Valley State Prison in California’s Central Valley, was transported to Madera Community Hospital for surgery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A prison doctor had recommended that she have non-cancerous growths removed from her uterus and, according to Fennix, she was told that the procedure wouldn’t have lasting impacts and recovery would be quick. She was given a dose of anesthesia, and the last thing she remembers was counting backward while two correctional officers wheeled her gurney down a hallway.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Sharon Fennix, a survivor who applied for reparations\"]‘My hope and my dream was always to have a child and be free. To give my son a sister or brother.’[/pullquote]When she woke up from the operation, she said her entire hospital gown was soaked with sweat. She remembers turning to the correctional officer in the room and saying, “I feel like something’s wrong.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Approximately two weeks later, the follow-up visit with the prison doctor who ordered the surgery, Dr. James Heinrich, also left her deeply unsettled. The conversation is carved into her mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was sweating, bleeding and pain,” Fennix recently told KQED. “It plunged me into menopause.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She asked Heinrich how long her side effects would last. Fennix said she was told what she was experiencing was normal and the growths on her uterus might return. Puzzled and upset, she wondered why surgery was necessary if the growths could come back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Fennix, she demanded to know what happened to her body during surgery. But the more she probed, the more Heinrich tried to rush her out of his office. Finally, he explained that a surgeon had put a boiling solution in her uterus. Toward the end of the appointment, Fennix said he looked at her file and remarked on the fact that she was serving a life sentence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She would never get out, she recalled Heinrich saying, so she didn’t need children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He was very cunning the way he said that to me,” Fennix said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would take nearly a decade for Fennix to fully understand what had happened to her. Before she was released from prison, another doctor explained that she had undergone an endometrial ablation, a procedure that damages the uterine lining.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My hope and my dream was always to have a child and be free,” Fennix said. “To give my son a sister or brother.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But pregnancy would be unlikely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, if a pregnancy occurs after the procedure, “the risks of miscarriage and other problems are greatly increased.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964883\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11964883\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person hold a photo of a family in an ornate frame.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sharon Fennix holds a photo of her son, Dontay Pickettay, center, his wife and their four children. Pickettay hoped for siblings, she said. “My hope and my dream was always to have a child and be free. To give my son a sister or brother,” Fennix said. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Florence Middleton)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I would make sure that [a person is] 110% sure that they do not want children before we discuss an ablation,” said Kavita Shah Arora, division director of General Obstetrics, Gynecology and Midwifery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and former chair of the ACOG’s national ethics committee. “I think it really boils down to, what informed consent was given? Were patients aware of the impact on future fertility?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fennix said she never provided informed consent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the state passed historic legislation in 2021 that provided financial reparations to people who were forcibly or involuntarily sterilized, an advocate from the California Coalition for Women Prisoners thought Fennix had a clear-cut case and persuaded her to apply. Fennix submitted her first application on Jan. 3, 2022, two days after applications opened. Seven months later, she received a denial letter from the state’s Victim Compensation Board, which administers the program.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Kavita Shah Arora, division director, General Obstetrics, Gynecology and Midwifery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill\"]‘I think it really boils down to, what informed consent was given? Were patients aware of the impact on future fertility?’[/pullquote]Fennix, who was 43 when she had the surgery, said she felt insulted by the rejection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You dehumanized me,” she said. “You took my body. How dare you later on tell me that I don’t deserve to be one of the ones that gets reparations for it?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the application period for the reparations program \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11965672/forced-sterilization-survivors-of-california-prisons-face-reparations-deadline\">winds to a close in December\u003c/a>, Fennix and those who received endometrial ablations are at the heart of a dispute over who should be recognized as a survivor of a shameful chapter in California’s history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A year-long investigation by UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program and KQED found that the compensation board has denied a majority of applicants and repeatedly rejected ablations as a procedure worthy of recognition. The investigation included 30 public records requests, the review of more than 3,000 pages of documents — and interviews with survivors, advocates, medical experts and lawmakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the applicants who volunteered their demographic information, the majority self-identified as Black or African American. Approximately 47% self-identified as male, 40% female and 4% transgender. While reporting this story, KQED spoke with six ablation survivors who were denied reparations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It feels so clear — based on the spirit of the law, based on the idea of who is perpetuating the harm — that if someone says, ‘I’m not able to have children’ and it’s documented that they had a procedure that limits your ability to have children, that feels like it should be sufficient,” said Jennifer James, an associate professor of sociology at UCSF and member of the California Coalition for Women Prisoners, or CCWP, who has assisted survivors with their applications.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, since 2014, California’s prison health care services have categorized ablations and dozens of other treatments as potentially sterilizing, according to a memo circulated among prison health care leadership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board declined to respond to specific questions but said in a statement that it has worked “to meet the requirements established in the law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fennix appealed her case. That, too, was rejected. She went through the application and appeals process a second time. She was denied at every stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In rejecting Fennix’s first appeal, the board said that ablations don’t qualify as sterilizations under the law and cited the Mayo Clinic website, writing that pregnancy “can and does occur after an endometrial ablation.” The board left out what followed on the website: “The pregnancy is higher risk to you and the baby.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next week, Fennix and another formerly incarcerated woman who received an ablation will file a petition in state courts aimed at testing the state’s implementation of the reparations law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her case, Fennix said, reflects a hole in the state’s efforts to compensate survivors of state-sponsored sterilization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not able to reproduce,” she said. “And so, how am I not sterilized?”\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: line-through\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘It’s another betrayal’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When legislators passed the reparations law, California became the first and only state in the country to publicly recognize its role in prison sterilizations. Through monetary compensation and memorialization efforts, the state aimed to “raise public awareness about the discriminatory harms” survivors of forced sterilization had faced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state allocated $7.5 million to the two-year program, with $4.5 million earmarked for compensation, $1 million for memorialization and $2 million for program administration and outreach. Each individual whose application is approved receives $15,000. A second and final payment of $20,000, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB143\">signed\u003c/a> into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September, will be processed by October 2024. Up to $1 million of any remaining compensation funds could be extended for survivors if legislation is passed in the next few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of Oct. 25, 108 out of 510 applications had been approved.[aside postID=news_11965672 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/IMG_0468-1020x659.jpg']Those who championed the legislation estimated that there were roughly 600 living survivors of forced or involuntary sterilization. The actual number of survivors, however, may never be known due to various limitations, such as medical records retention policies. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2013-120.pdf\">2014 state audit\u003c/a> found that at least 794 people in state prisons underwent various procedures that “could have resulted in sterilization” between 2005 and 2013.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People who had been forcibly or involuntarily sterilized while incarcerated in state prisons after 1979 or at state-run hospitals, homes and institutions during the eugenics era between 1909 and 1979 could qualify for reparations. But advocates, like CCWP, say that the board is looking for a level of proof that’s unreasonably difficult to meet. For example, they say medical records are more heavily weighted than a personal statement from the survivor, even though the board is required by law to accept multiple forms of documentation to prove that sterilization was more likely than not forcible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It isn’t gray to us because the stories are so convincing about how people were just pressured into signing the consent and didn’t understand what they were signing,” said Diana Block, a legal advocate at CCWP. “But those are all things that are so difficult and challenging to prove.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A significant hurdle has been the lack of consistency and clarity around the compensation board’s definition of sterilization. According to its own guidelines, which KQED obtained through a public records request, the board describes the condition as “the removal of one’s ability to have biological children through medical procedures.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the only method medical experts use for sterilization — or what is now called permanent contraception due to the coercive history of sterilization — is a vasectomy or tubal procedure, which cuts, burns, occludes or removes the fallopian tubes.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Carolyn Sufrin, associate professor and OBGYN, Johns Hopkins University\"]‘I believe that people who had this procedure should receive reparations because this is a procedure that, after it, all medical recommendations say, ‘Do not get pregnant after this.’[/pullquote]Medical experts such as Carolyn Sufrin, an associate professor and OBGYN at Johns Hopkins University, also agree that various treatments can profoundly affect fertility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Endometrial ablations, for example, are typically offered when a person is experiencing abnormal uterine bleeding, such as heavy or irregular periods that are not caused by cancer. While experts say an ablation is not clinically defined as sterilization, they contend the procedure should not be done for people who have any desire for future childbearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Chances of a pregnancy at all or healthy pregnancy are vastly reduced,” Sufrin said. “I believe that people who had this procedure should receive reparations because this is a procedure that, after it, all medical recommendations say, ‘Do not get pregnant after this.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sufrin referenced a patient brochure for NovaSure, one of the most common mechanisms used to perform an endometrial ablation, which states, “A pregnancy after an ablation is very dangerous for both the mother and the fetus since the uterine lining would not be able to properly support fetal development.” Contraception is recommended after ablation because of the dangers associated with a possible pregnancy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the denial of Fennix’s second appeal, the compensation board rejected her application because the legislation did not define “sterilization,” so it relied on the “ordinary plain meaning, which is the permanent inability to produce offspring.” The board cited Black’s Law Dictionary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board also cited a 2014 criminal law that banned procedures that “render an individual permanently incapable of reproducing” except for in a life-or-death situation or when medically necessary. Based on the language of that law, the board said it believed ablations don’t meet the criteria for reparations because legislators “intended sterilization to mean a permanent form of birth control.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, who authored the 2014 law in response to the state audit on coercive sterilizations, said she suspected the board was narrowly interpreting the reparations law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If a procedure is so overwhelmingly likely to lead to sterilization, in my opinion, that should entitle someone to reparations,” she said. “But if it means that you have to go back in and identify all of the procedures that could lead to sterilization, then so be it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Emails obtained through a public records request show the compensation board staff has also questioned how it determines who should receive compensation: “We went round and round about ablations, and we are not doctors. We always felt there should be more medical evidence to support our decision.”[aside postID=news_11964027 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/IMG_0434-1020x659.jpg']Cynthia Chandler, the policy chief for Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price and a lawyer who helped draft the reparations law, first heard about ablations in the early 2000s when her legal organization was contacted by a cluster of people who described a “grotesque” procedure that was sometimes performed without anesthesia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Chandler, people reported “the most painful, terrifying experience of their life … and even if some of them were medically necessary, people had no information about what was happening to them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Chandler, ablations were an example of the many procedures used to limit incarcerated people’s fertility by a group of unethical physicians. When a coalition of reparation advocates asked her to help draft the bill, she said that she and her colleagues consciously decided not to define sterilization nor list specific qualifying medical procedures because they knew they would not be able to capture them all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, Chandler and her colleagues listed a number of criteria to qualify for compensation. Among the requirements, applicants needed to show that they had been sterilized while incarcerated and that the procedure wasn’t a medical response to a life-or-death situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chandler said that if she had known that the board would define sterilization in a way that wasn’t based on “medical realities,” she would have written the legislation differently.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the state’s one and only opportunity to make amends, and this is how they’re behaving with it,” said Chandler, who also drafted the 2014 law that the compensation board referenced in Fennix’s appeal denial. “I’m horrified at how language that I actually wrote could be so weaponized to remove it so far from its actual meaning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the compensation board has declined to view ablations as a form of sterilization for the purposes of reparations, state officials have been aware of its sterilizing potential for at least a decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On March 19, 2014, three months before the state concluded its audit on forced sterilization in California prisons, Dr. Ricki Barnett, then the deputy medical executive at the California Correctional Health Care Services, sent a memo to top prison health care officials.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Cynthia Chandler, a lawyer who helped draft the reparations law\"]‘This is the state’s one and only opportunity to make amends, and this is how they’re behaving with it. I’m horrified at how language that I actually wrote could be so weaponized to remove it so far from its actual meaning.’[/pullquote]In 2006, the California Department of Corrections division of health care services was put under federal oversight for the state’s 33 institutions after a class-action lawsuit, Plata v. Schwarzenegger. The case brought to light the dire environment of prison medical care in California, which the court ruled was a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Twelve of the state’s institutions remain under federal oversight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The subject line of Barnett’s 2014 memo read, “Prospective Review for Procedures that have Sterilization Risks.” What followed was an urgent message: Effective immediately, all of the procedures that [the health care services] deemed to have “the potential for sterilization or diminished capacity for future conception” must go through a heightened level of review. Ablations were included in this list, along with nearly 50 other procedures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CCHCS and CDCR declined to respond to questions about the memo but said in a statement that when they became aware that “non-medically necessary procedures resulting in sterilization were being performed on patients, the procedures were stopped.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before the memo was issued, the doctor who ordered Fennix’s ablation, Heinrich, signed off on tubal ligations, hysterectomies, the removal of ovaries and endometrial ablations between 2006 and 2012, \u003ca href=\"https://revealnews.org/article/calif-prison-doctor-linked-to-sterilizations-no-stranger-to-controversy-2/\">according to The Center for Investigative Reporting\u003c/a>, which first reported the illegal sterilizations. According to state prison medical records obtained by KQED, he ordered at least 80 ablations during that time, as the one performed on Fennix.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heinrich told The Center for Investigative Reporting that the state wasn’t paying doctors a significant amount of money for the sterilizations “compared to what you save in welfare paying for these unwanted children — as they procreated more.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heinrich did not respond to repeated attempts for comment. When a reporter recently knocked on the door of his Castro Valley home, a woman who answered slammed it in the reporter’s face.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clairreatha Brown, who is incarcerated at Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, said Heinrich pressured her into an ablation in 2008 when she was 30. He never mentioned that the procedure would impact her fertility, she said, though his secretary told her she would not have children because of the procedure. But Brown said she was made to feel that there were no other options.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brown’s application for reparations was also denied, catching her off guard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s another betrayal,” Brown said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘I’m going to need a second opinion’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Despite Heinrich’s expectations, Fennix was released from prison in 2017. Four years later, she completed her parole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am just so ecstatic with this world and not being in that box,” she said.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Sharon Fennix, a survivor who applied for reparations\"]‘These are the times I can cry for the little girl who spent 38 years in prison.’[/pullquote]Fennix, now 60, is the director at a community wellness center and a coordinator at a health care organization for formerly incarcerated people in Northern California. She begins her day at 3 a.m. The morning is the most gratifying time of day because she said she can sit on her porch and watch the sunrise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are the times I can cry for the little girl who spent 38 years in prison,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Fennix was incarcerated, she met Chandler, the attorney who helped write the reparations law, when she had come to the prison to meet with her clients. After Fennix’s first reparations application and appeal were both denied, Chandler introduced her to WookSun Hong, an attorney at the Bay Area Legal Incubator, an organization that supports attorneys who serve underrepresented communities. Hong helped her file a second application.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964881\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1334px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11964881\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person in a pink blouse looks out of a window.\" width=\"1334\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED.jpg 1334w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED-800x1199.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED-1020x1529.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED-1025x1536.jpg 1025w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1334px) 100vw, 1334px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sharon Fennix, now 60, is the director of a community wellness center and a coordinator at a health care organization for formerly incarcerated people in Northern California. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Florence Middleton)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This time, the application included a declaration from Amy Huibonhoa, a board-certified OBGYN who noted the serious risks associated with pregnancy after ablation. Huibonhoa stated that it is “imperative” for informed consent to cover those risks, along with its negative impact on fertility. Fennix was still denied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hong suggested they petition the state court, arguing that the government isn’t adhering to the law. It is slated to be filed next week. According to Hong, the petition is important because he believes the compensation board’s grounds for denials are arbitrary and not based on the law or science.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The whole purpose of the Victim Compensation Board is to compensate the victims,” Hong said. “But it’s almost like they’re acting like insurance adjusters. They are trying to find the excuse to deny the claim.”[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"WookSun Hong, attorney, Bay Area Legal Incubator\"]‘The whole purpose of the Victim Compensation Board is to compensate the victims. But it’s almost like they’re acting like insurance adjusters. They are trying to find the excuse to deny the claim.’[/pullquote]Continuing to push is Fennix’s way of demanding that the board begin to fully comprehend the extent of the damage that was done to people like her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m hoping [the compensation board] realizes that they sterilized a lot of us and that they should give people options, not just do what they want to do with our bodies,” she said. “It’s not about the money more than it is about the fact that these people don’t want to take accountability, and they don’t want to say that they actually ruined my body based on a procedure that didn’t have to happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fennix said her body continues to feel off-kilter, and the symptoms she experienced after having an ablation have largely remained the same. Now, anytime she needs to have a procedure done, she takes extra time and caution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m going to ask a thousand questions,” she said. “I’m going to need a second opinion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Cayla Mihalovich is a reporter with the Investigative Reporting Program at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>More information on how to apply for compensation for involuntary sterilization can be found at the California Victim Compensation Board \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://victims.ca.gov/for-victims/fiscp/#How_to_apply\">\u003cem>website\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. Applications are available in English and Spanish. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Anyone needing assistance with the application can call the compensation board’s toll-free helpline at 1-800-777-9229 from 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday-Friday.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "As of Oct. 25, 70% of applicants were denied reparations. Who qualifies as a survivor in this dark chapter of California's history?",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1738778133,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 72,
"wordCount": 3810
},
"headData": {
"title": "Survivors from California’s Period of Forced Sterilization Denied Reparations | KQED",
"description": "As of Oct. 25, 70% of applicants were denied reparations. Who qualifies as a survivor in this dark chapter of California's history?",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "Survivors from California’s Period of Forced Sterilization Denied Reparations",
"datePublished": "2023-11-01T11:00:30-07:00",
"dateModified": "2025-02-05T09:55:33-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"sticky": false,
"nprByline": "\u003ca href=\"https://caylamihalovich.com/\">Cayla Mihalovich\u003c/a>",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"showOnAuthorArchivePages": "No",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11965926/survivors-of-californias-forced-sterilization-denied-reparations",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In March 2006, Sharon Fennix, then incarcerated at Valley State Prison in California’s Central Valley, was transported to Madera Community Hospital for surgery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A prison doctor had recommended that she have non-cancerous growths removed from her uterus and, according to Fennix, she was told that the procedure wouldn’t have lasting impacts and recovery would be quick. She was given a dose of anesthesia, and the last thing she remembers was counting backward while two correctional officers wheeled her gurney down a hallway.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘My hope and my dream was always to have a child and be free. To give my son a sister or brother.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Sharon Fennix, a survivor who applied for reparations",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>When she woke up from the operation, she said her entire hospital gown was soaked with sweat. She remembers turning to the correctional officer in the room and saying, “I feel like something’s wrong.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Approximately two weeks later, the follow-up visit with the prison doctor who ordered the surgery, Dr. James Heinrich, also left her deeply unsettled. The conversation is carved into her mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was sweating, bleeding and pain,” Fennix recently told KQED. “It plunged me into menopause.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She asked Heinrich how long her side effects would last. Fennix said she was told what she was experiencing was normal and the growths on her uterus might return. Puzzled and upset, she wondered why surgery was necessary if the growths could come back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Fennix, she demanded to know what happened to her body during surgery. But the more she probed, the more Heinrich tried to rush her out of his office. Finally, he explained that a surgeon had put a boiling solution in her uterus. Toward the end of the appointment, Fennix said he looked at her file and remarked on the fact that she was serving a life sentence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She would never get out, she recalled Heinrich saying, so she didn’t need children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He was very cunning the way he said that to me,” Fennix said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would take nearly a decade for Fennix to fully understand what had happened to her. Before she was released from prison, another doctor explained that she had undergone an endometrial ablation, a procedure that damages the uterine lining.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My hope and my dream was always to have a child and be free,” Fennix said. “To give my son a sister or brother.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But pregnancy would be unlikely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, if a pregnancy occurs after the procedure, “the risks of miscarriage and other problems are greatly increased.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964883\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11964883\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person hold a photo of a family in an ornate frame.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sharon Fennix holds a photo of her son, Dontay Pickettay, center, his wife and their four children. Pickettay hoped for siblings, she said. “My hope and my dream was always to have a child and be free. To give my son a sister or brother,” Fennix said. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Florence Middleton)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I would make sure that [a person is] 110% sure that they do not want children before we discuss an ablation,” said Kavita Shah Arora, division director of General Obstetrics, Gynecology and Midwifery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and former chair of the ACOG’s national ethics committee. “I think it really boils down to, what informed consent was given? Were patients aware of the impact on future fertility?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fennix said she never provided informed consent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the state passed historic legislation in 2021 that provided financial reparations to people who were forcibly or involuntarily sterilized, an advocate from the California Coalition for Women Prisoners thought Fennix had a clear-cut case and persuaded her to apply. Fennix submitted her first application on Jan. 3, 2022, two days after applications opened. Seven months later, she received a denial letter from the state’s Victim Compensation Board, which administers the program.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘I think it really boils down to, what informed consent was given? Were patients aware of the impact on future fertility?’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Kavita Shah Arora, division director, General Obstetrics, Gynecology and Midwifery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Fennix, who was 43 when she had the surgery, said she felt insulted by the rejection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You dehumanized me,” she said. “You took my body. How dare you later on tell me that I don’t deserve to be one of the ones that gets reparations for it?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the application period for the reparations program \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11965672/forced-sterilization-survivors-of-california-prisons-face-reparations-deadline\">winds to a close in December\u003c/a>, Fennix and those who received endometrial ablations are at the heart of a dispute over who should be recognized as a survivor of a shameful chapter in California’s history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A year-long investigation by UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program and KQED found that the compensation board has denied a majority of applicants and repeatedly rejected ablations as a procedure worthy of recognition. The investigation included 30 public records requests, the review of more than 3,000 pages of documents — and interviews with survivors, advocates, medical experts and lawmakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the applicants who volunteered their demographic information, the majority self-identified as Black or African American. Approximately 47% self-identified as male, 40% female and 4% transgender. While reporting this story, KQED spoke with six ablation survivors who were denied reparations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It feels so clear — based on the spirit of the law, based on the idea of who is perpetuating the harm — that if someone says, ‘I’m not able to have children’ and it’s documented that they had a procedure that limits your ability to have children, that feels like it should be sufficient,” said Jennifer James, an associate professor of sociology at UCSF and member of the California Coalition for Women Prisoners, or CCWP, who has assisted survivors with their applications.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, since 2014, California’s prison health care services have categorized ablations and dozens of other treatments as potentially sterilizing, according to a memo circulated among prison health care leadership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board declined to respond to specific questions but said in a statement that it has worked “to meet the requirements established in the law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fennix appealed her case. That, too, was rejected. She went through the application and appeals process a second time. She was denied at every stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In rejecting Fennix’s first appeal, the board said that ablations don’t qualify as sterilizations under the law and cited the Mayo Clinic website, writing that pregnancy “can and does occur after an endometrial ablation.” The board left out what followed on the website: “The pregnancy is higher risk to you and the baby.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next week, Fennix and another formerly incarcerated woman who received an ablation will file a petition in state courts aimed at testing the state’s implementation of the reparations law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her case, Fennix said, reflects a hole in the state’s efforts to compensate survivors of state-sponsored sterilization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not able to reproduce,” she said. “And so, how am I not sterilized?”\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: line-through\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘It’s another betrayal’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When legislators passed the reparations law, California became the first and only state in the country to publicly recognize its role in prison sterilizations. Through monetary compensation and memorialization efforts, the state aimed to “raise public awareness about the discriminatory harms” survivors of forced sterilization had faced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state allocated $7.5 million to the two-year program, with $4.5 million earmarked for compensation, $1 million for memorialization and $2 million for program administration and outreach. Each individual whose application is approved receives $15,000. A second and final payment of $20,000, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB143\">signed\u003c/a> into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September, will be processed by October 2024. Up to $1 million of any remaining compensation funds could be extended for survivors if legislation is passed in the next few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of Oct. 25, 108 out of 510 applications had been approved.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "news_11965672",
"hero": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/IMG_0468-1020x659.jpg",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Those who championed the legislation estimated that there were roughly 600 living survivors of forced or involuntary sterilization. The actual number of survivors, however, may never be known due to various limitations, such as medical records retention policies. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2013-120.pdf\">2014 state audit\u003c/a> found that at least 794 people in state prisons underwent various procedures that “could have resulted in sterilization” between 2005 and 2013.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People who had been forcibly or involuntarily sterilized while incarcerated in state prisons after 1979 or at state-run hospitals, homes and institutions during the eugenics era between 1909 and 1979 could qualify for reparations. But advocates, like CCWP, say that the board is looking for a level of proof that’s unreasonably difficult to meet. For example, they say medical records are more heavily weighted than a personal statement from the survivor, even though the board is required by law to accept multiple forms of documentation to prove that sterilization was more likely than not forcible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It isn’t gray to us because the stories are so convincing about how people were just pressured into signing the consent and didn’t understand what they were signing,” said Diana Block, a legal advocate at CCWP. “But those are all things that are so difficult and challenging to prove.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A significant hurdle has been the lack of consistency and clarity around the compensation board’s definition of sterilization. According to its own guidelines, which KQED obtained through a public records request, the board describes the condition as “the removal of one’s ability to have biological children through medical procedures.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the only method medical experts use for sterilization — or what is now called permanent contraception due to the coercive history of sterilization — is a vasectomy or tubal procedure, which cuts, burns, occludes or removes the fallopian tubes.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘I believe that people who had this procedure should receive reparations because this is a procedure that, after it, all medical recommendations say, ‘Do not get pregnant after this.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Carolyn Sufrin, associate professor and OBGYN, Johns Hopkins University",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Medical experts such as Carolyn Sufrin, an associate professor and OBGYN at Johns Hopkins University, also agree that various treatments can profoundly affect fertility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Endometrial ablations, for example, are typically offered when a person is experiencing abnormal uterine bleeding, such as heavy or irregular periods that are not caused by cancer. While experts say an ablation is not clinically defined as sterilization, they contend the procedure should not be done for people who have any desire for future childbearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Chances of a pregnancy at all or healthy pregnancy are vastly reduced,” Sufrin said. “I believe that people who had this procedure should receive reparations because this is a procedure that, after it, all medical recommendations say, ‘Do not get pregnant after this.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sufrin referenced a patient brochure for NovaSure, one of the most common mechanisms used to perform an endometrial ablation, which states, “A pregnancy after an ablation is very dangerous for both the mother and the fetus since the uterine lining would not be able to properly support fetal development.” Contraception is recommended after ablation because of the dangers associated with a possible pregnancy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the denial of Fennix’s second appeal, the compensation board rejected her application because the legislation did not define “sterilization,” so it relied on the “ordinary plain meaning, which is the permanent inability to produce offspring.” The board cited Black’s Law Dictionary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board also cited a 2014 criminal law that banned procedures that “render an individual permanently incapable of reproducing” except for in a life-or-death situation or when medically necessary. Based on the language of that law, the board said it believed ablations don’t meet the criteria for reparations because legislators “intended sterilization to mean a permanent form of birth control.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, who authored the 2014 law in response to the state audit on coercive sterilizations, said she suspected the board was narrowly interpreting the reparations law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If a procedure is so overwhelmingly likely to lead to sterilization, in my opinion, that should entitle someone to reparations,” she said. “But if it means that you have to go back in and identify all of the procedures that could lead to sterilization, then so be it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Emails obtained through a public records request show the compensation board staff has also questioned how it determines who should receive compensation: “We went round and round about ablations, and we are not doctors. We always felt there should be more medical evidence to support our decision.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "news_11964027",
"hero": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/IMG_0434-1020x659.jpg",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Cynthia Chandler, the policy chief for Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price and a lawyer who helped draft the reparations law, first heard about ablations in the early 2000s when her legal organization was contacted by a cluster of people who described a “grotesque” procedure that was sometimes performed without anesthesia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Chandler, people reported “the most painful, terrifying experience of their life … and even if some of them were medically necessary, people had no information about what was happening to them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Chandler, ablations were an example of the many procedures used to limit incarcerated people’s fertility by a group of unethical physicians. When a coalition of reparation advocates asked her to help draft the bill, she said that she and her colleagues consciously decided not to define sterilization nor list specific qualifying medical procedures because they knew they would not be able to capture them all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, Chandler and her colleagues listed a number of criteria to qualify for compensation. Among the requirements, applicants needed to show that they had been sterilized while incarcerated and that the procedure wasn’t a medical response to a life-or-death situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chandler said that if she had known that the board would define sterilization in a way that wasn’t based on “medical realities,” she would have written the legislation differently.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the state’s one and only opportunity to make amends, and this is how they’re behaving with it,” said Chandler, who also drafted the 2014 law that the compensation board referenced in Fennix’s appeal denial. “I’m horrified at how language that I actually wrote could be so weaponized to remove it so far from its actual meaning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the compensation board has declined to view ablations as a form of sterilization for the purposes of reparations, state officials have been aware of its sterilizing potential for at least a decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On March 19, 2014, three months before the state concluded its audit on forced sterilization in California prisons, Dr. Ricki Barnett, then the deputy medical executive at the California Correctional Health Care Services, sent a memo to top prison health care officials.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘This is the state’s one and only opportunity to make amends, and this is how they’re behaving with it. I’m horrified at how language that I actually wrote could be so weaponized to remove it so far from its actual meaning.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Cynthia Chandler, a lawyer who helped draft the reparations law",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In 2006, the California Department of Corrections division of health care services was put under federal oversight for the state’s 33 institutions after a class-action lawsuit, Plata v. Schwarzenegger. The case brought to light the dire environment of prison medical care in California, which the court ruled was a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Twelve of the state’s institutions remain under federal oversight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The subject line of Barnett’s 2014 memo read, “Prospective Review for Procedures that have Sterilization Risks.” What followed was an urgent message: Effective immediately, all of the procedures that [the health care services] deemed to have “the potential for sterilization or diminished capacity for future conception” must go through a heightened level of review. Ablations were included in this list, along with nearly 50 other procedures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CCHCS and CDCR declined to respond to questions about the memo but said in a statement that when they became aware that “non-medically necessary procedures resulting in sterilization were being performed on patients, the procedures were stopped.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before the memo was issued, the doctor who ordered Fennix’s ablation, Heinrich, signed off on tubal ligations, hysterectomies, the removal of ovaries and endometrial ablations between 2006 and 2012, \u003ca href=\"https://revealnews.org/article/calif-prison-doctor-linked-to-sterilizations-no-stranger-to-controversy-2/\">according to The Center for Investigative Reporting\u003c/a>, which first reported the illegal sterilizations. According to state prison medical records obtained by KQED, he ordered at least 80 ablations during that time, as the one performed on Fennix.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heinrich told The Center for Investigative Reporting that the state wasn’t paying doctors a significant amount of money for the sterilizations “compared to what you save in welfare paying for these unwanted children — as they procreated more.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heinrich did not respond to repeated attempts for comment. When a reporter recently knocked on the door of his Castro Valley home, a woman who answered slammed it in the reporter’s face.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clairreatha Brown, who is incarcerated at Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, said Heinrich pressured her into an ablation in 2008 when she was 30. He never mentioned that the procedure would impact her fertility, she said, though his secretary told her she would not have children because of the procedure. But Brown said she was made to feel that there were no other options.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brown’s application for reparations was also denied, catching her off guard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s another betrayal,” Brown said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘I’m going to need a second opinion’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Despite Heinrich’s expectations, Fennix was released from prison in 2017. Four years later, she completed her parole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am just so ecstatic with this world and not being in that box,” she said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘These are the times I can cry for the little girl who spent 38 years in prison.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Sharon Fennix, a survivor who applied for reparations",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Fennix, now 60, is the director at a community wellness center and a coordinator at a health care organization for formerly incarcerated people in Northern California. She begins her day at 3 a.m. The morning is the most gratifying time of day because she said she can sit on her porch and watch the sunrise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are the times I can cry for the little girl who spent 38 years in prison,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Fennix was incarcerated, she met Chandler, the attorney who helped write the reparations law, when she had come to the prison to meet with her clients. After Fennix’s first reparations application and appeal were both denied, Chandler introduced her to WookSun Hong, an attorney at the Bay Area Legal Incubator, an organization that supports attorneys who serve underrepresented communities. Hong helped her file a second application.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964881\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1334px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11964881\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person in a pink blouse looks out of a window.\" width=\"1334\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED.jpg 1334w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED-800x1199.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED-1020x1529.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED-1025x1536.jpg 1025w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1334px) 100vw, 1334px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sharon Fennix, now 60, is the director of a community wellness center and a coordinator at a health care organization for formerly incarcerated people in Northern California. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Florence Middleton)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This time, the application included a declaration from Amy Huibonhoa, a board-certified OBGYN who noted the serious risks associated with pregnancy after ablation. Huibonhoa stated that it is “imperative” for informed consent to cover those risks, along with its negative impact on fertility. Fennix was still denied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hong suggested they petition the state court, arguing that the government isn’t adhering to the law. It is slated to be filed next week. According to Hong, the petition is important because he believes the compensation board’s grounds for denials are arbitrary and not based on the law or science.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The whole purpose of the Victim Compensation Board is to compensate the victims,” Hong said. “But it’s almost like they’re acting like insurance adjusters. They are trying to find the excuse to deny the claim.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘The whole purpose of the Victim Compensation Board is to compensate the victims. But it’s almost like they’re acting like insurance adjusters. They are trying to find the excuse to deny the claim.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "WookSun Hong, attorney, Bay Area Legal Incubator",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Continuing to push is Fennix’s way of demanding that the board begin to fully comprehend the extent of the damage that was done to people like her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m hoping [the compensation board] realizes that they sterilized a lot of us and that they should give people options, not just do what they want to do with our bodies,” she said. “It’s not about the money more than it is about the fact that these people don’t want to take accountability, and they don’t want to say that they actually ruined my body based on a procedure that didn’t have to happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fennix said her body continues to feel off-kilter, and the symptoms she experienced after having an ablation have largely remained the same. Now, anytime she needs to have a procedure done, she takes extra time and caution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m going to ask a thousand questions,” she said. “I’m going to need a second opinion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Cayla Mihalovich is a reporter with the Investigative Reporting Program at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>More information on how to apply for compensation for involuntary sterilization can be found at the California Victim Compensation Board \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://victims.ca.gov/for-victims/fiscp/#How_to_apply\">\u003cem>website\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. Applications are available in English and Spanish. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Anyone needing assistance with the application can call the compensation board’s toll-free helpline at 1-800-777-9229 from 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday-Friday.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11965926/survivors-of-californias-forced-sterilization-denied-reparations",
"authors": [
"byline_news_11965926"
],
"programs": [
"news_26731"
],
"series": [
"news_34369"
],
"categories": [
"news_457",
"news_6188",
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_18538",
"news_30652",
"news_1471",
"news_2923"
],
"featImg": "news_11964882",
"label": "news_26731"
},
"news_11965672": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11965672",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11965672",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1698663650000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "forced-sterilization-survivors-of-california-prisons-face-reparations-deadline",
"title": "Forced Sterilization Survivors of California Prisons Face Reparations Deadline",
"publishDate": 1698663650,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "Forced Sterilization Survivors of California Prisons Face Reparations Deadline | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 34369,
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>Leesha Gooseberry experienced many ups and downs before being incarcerated at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, a city 40 miles northwest of Fresno. It was in prison that a routine gynecological check-up wound up changing her life irreparably. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Leesha Gooseberry, survivor of forced sterilization\"]‘They took everything out of my stomach. I was hurt and depressed, and I just didn’t know what to do with myself. I just felt incomplete.’[/pullquote] She was 38 when a doctor at the facility told her that she would need a partial hysterectomy to remove fibroid tumors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it wasn’t until the year after she was released from prison — almost seven years after the procedure — that her primary care doctor informed her that she had been given a full hysterectomy, meaning her uterus and cervix were completely removed without her informed consent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They took everything out of my stomach. I was hurt, depressed, and I just didn’t know what to do with myself,” Gooseberry, who is now 55 and lives in her home state of Louisiana, told KQED. “I just felt incomplete.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State-run hospitals and institutions sterilized people — mostly Black, Latino and Native American women — from 1909–1979 as part of state eugenics policies. At least 100 women were sterilized in the early 2000s, well beyond when the state banned the practice in 1979.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some cases, women were told they had cysts or cancerous growths that needed to be removed, only to wake up or learn several years later that doctors had performed other procedures such as tubal ligations, hysterectomies or ovary removals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following a state law passed in 2021, people sterilized without consent while incarcerated in California’s women’s prisons are eligible for at least $15,000. The Dec. 31 deadline for survivors to apply for funding is quickly approaching. Out of tens of thousands of people who were forcibly sterilized, less than 500 survivors or their descendants have applied to the reparations program, according to state data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Far fewer people have actually received their compensation. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Dr. Jennifer James, associate professor, UCSF\"]‘Finding people, getting them to come forward and reaching people is challenging. … Records weren’t always kept, or weren’t kept well, and the whereabouts of those records are unclear.’[/pullquote] Now, time is running out for survivors of a state-run eugenics effort to receive reparations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Finding people, getting them to come forward and reaching people is challenging,” said Dr. Jennifer James, an associate professor at UCSF who has studied involuntary sterilization. “Systems and medical records were not quite what they are today as they were in 1920. Records weren’t always kept or weren’t kept well, and the whereabouts of those records are unclear.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California \u003ca href=\"https://victims.ca.gov/for-victims/fiscp/#How_to_apply\">Victim Compensation Board\u003c/a> received 510 applications as of Oct. 25, according to data provided by the state. A total of 108 people were approved for the compensation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s compared to the 600 survivors estimated to be living when California set aside $4.5 million for survivors or their descendants two years ago. That’s a small fraction of the more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5308144/\">20,000 people\u003c/a>, state records show, who were forced to undergo hysterectomies and other sterilization procedures in California since the early 1900s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To apply, survivors or their descendants must fill out an application online or by mail detailing their experience. Survivors must have been alive at the start of the compensation program for their descendants to benefit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Only three survivors from 1909–1979 have applied and been approved, according to James.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s really devastating,” she said. “There were tens of thousands of people affected. A lot of those people are no longer alive and aren’t eligible, but we’re really trying to spread the word.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Survivors who can prove they were wrongfully sterilized will receive $15,000. A second and final payment of $20,000 will be sent to survivors whose applications were approved by October 2024. Any remaining money will revert to the general fund, according to the compensation board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gooseberry, who was surprised to learn other women were sterilized without consent, received the first portion of her compensation last year. Now, she is encouraging others to come forward and apply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I thought it was just me,” said Gooseberry, who now advocates for incarcerated women and the reparations program. “I’ve been trying to reach as many people as I can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Describing a traumatic life event in detail can be extremely difficult, so it was particularly painful for Carmen Worthy to learn her application was rejected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Worthy, who is currently incarcerated at California Central Women’s Facility, said a prison doctor recommended removing her uterus to stop some heavy bleeding she was experiencing due to uterine fibroids. She took his advice and went through with the procedure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not a medical doctor. So, all my yeses were from him telling me what needs to be done. I would have never done it on my own,” Worthy said in a phone interview. “You know what I mean?” [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Dr. Jennifer James, associate professor, UCSF\"]‘… Continuing to spread the word to survivors is just so critical so as many people can get compensated as possible before the end of the year.’[/pullquote] She’s not alone in getting rejected by the compensation board. So far, over 400 applications, the vast majority of those submitted, have been denied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ray Aspuria, a spokesperson for the compensation board, said that many victims of the state’s sterilization practices have passed away or don’t have direct descendants who could apply for the funds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is an aging population, and survivors may not have direct descendants,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Applications will not be accepted beyond Dec. 31, but the state’s latest budget includes language to add up to $1 million for the compensation program through legislation in the next few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Securing that extra funding will depend on the outcome of a forthcoming report on the extent to which forced sterilizations took place at Los Angeles County General Hospital, according to Aspuria.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people don’t want to talk about being in these facilities that were really troubling and a really horrific time in their lives,” said James, a vocal advocate for sterilization survivors. “But continuing to spread the word to survivors is just so critical so as many people can get compensated as possible before the end of the year.” [aside label='More on California Reparations' tag='reparations'] Despite the uncertainty of coming forward for many applicants, James stressed that anyone who thinks they may qualify should apply, even those who may have unknowingly consented to the procedure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The medical record is the word of the person perpetuating the harm,” she said. “Many people have been approved who \u003cem>did\u003c/em> sign a consent form because they stated that they didn’t know what they were consenting to, no one reviewed it with them, and they thought they were having a different procedure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>More information on how to apply for compensation for involuntary sterilization can be found at the California Victim Compensation Board \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://victims.ca.gov/for-victims/fiscp/#How_to_apply\">\u003cem>website\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. \u003c/em>\u003cem>Applications are available in English and Spanish. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Anyone needing assistance with the application can call the compensation board’s toll-free helpline at 1-800-777-9229 from 8 a.m.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">–\u003c/span>5 p.m.\u003c/em> \u003cem>Monday\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">–\u003c/span>Friday.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "The deadline for compensation for survivors of involuntary sterilization while incarcerated within California prisons is Dec. 31.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1738778140,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 29,
"wordCount": 1312
},
"headData": {
"title": "Forced Sterilization Survivors of California Prisons Face Reparations Deadline | KQED",
"description": "The deadline for compensation for survivors of involuntary sterilization while incarcerated within California prisons is Dec. 31.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "Forced Sterilization Survivors of California Prisons Face Reparations Deadline",
"datePublished": "2023-10-30T04:00:50-07:00",
"dateModified": "2025-02-05T09:55:40-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"sticky": false,
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11965672/forced-sterilization-survivors-of-california-prisons-face-reparations-deadline",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Leesha Gooseberry experienced many ups and downs before being incarcerated at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, a city 40 miles northwest of Fresno. It was in prison that a routine gynecological check-up wound up changing her life irreparably. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘They took everything out of my stomach. I was hurt and depressed, and I just didn’t know what to do with myself. I just felt incomplete.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Leesha Gooseberry, survivor of forced sterilization",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> She was 38 when a doctor at the facility told her that she would need a partial hysterectomy to remove fibroid tumors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it wasn’t until the year after she was released from prison — almost seven years after the procedure — that her primary care doctor informed her that she had been given a full hysterectomy, meaning her uterus and cervix were completely removed without her informed consent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They took everything out of my stomach. I was hurt, depressed, and I just didn’t know what to do with myself,” Gooseberry, who is now 55 and lives in her home state of Louisiana, told KQED. “I just felt incomplete.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State-run hospitals and institutions sterilized people — mostly Black, Latino and Native American women — from 1909–1979 as part of state eugenics policies. At least 100 women were sterilized in the early 2000s, well beyond when the state banned the practice in 1979.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some cases, women were told they had cysts or cancerous growths that needed to be removed, only to wake up or learn several years later that doctors had performed other procedures such as tubal ligations, hysterectomies or ovary removals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following a state law passed in 2021, people sterilized without consent while incarcerated in California’s women’s prisons are eligible for at least $15,000. The Dec. 31 deadline for survivors to apply for funding is quickly approaching. Out of tens of thousands of people who were forcibly sterilized, less than 500 survivors or their descendants have applied to the reparations program, according to state data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Far fewer people have actually received their compensation. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘Finding people, getting them to come forward and reaching people is challenging. … Records weren’t always kept, or weren’t kept well, and the whereabouts of those records are unclear.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Dr. Jennifer James, associate professor, UCSF",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> Now, time is running out for survivors of a state-run eugenics effort to receive reparations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Finding people, getting them to come forward and reaching people is challenging,” said Dr. Jennifer James, an associate professor at UCSF who has studied involuntary sterilization. “Systems and medical records were not quite what they are today as they were in 1920. Records weren’t always kept or weren’t kept well, and the whereabouts of those records are unclear.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California \u003ca href=\"https://victims.ca.gov/for-victims/fiscp/#How_to_apply\">Victim Compensation Board\u003c/a> received 510 applications as of Oct. 25, according to data provided by the state. A total of 108 people were approved for the compensation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s compared to the 600 survivors estimated to be living when California set aside $4.5 million for survivors or their descendants two years ago. That’s a small fraction of the more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5308144/\">20,000 people\u003c/a>, state records show, who were forced to undergo hysterectomies and other sterilization procedures in California since the early 1900s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To apply, survivors or their descendants must fill out an application online or by mail detailing their experience. Survivors must have been alive at the start of the compensation program for their descendants to benefit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Only three survivors from 1909–1979 have applied and been approved, according to James.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s really devastating,” she said. “There were tens of thousands of people affected. A lot of those people are no longer alive and aren’t eligible, but we’re really trying to spread the word.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Survivors who can prove they were wrongfully sterilized will receive $15,000. A second and final payment of $20,000 will be sent to survivors whose applications were approved by October 2024. Any remaining money will revert to the general fund, according to the compensation board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gooseberry, who was surprised to learn other women were sterilized without consent, received the first portion of her compensation last year. Now, she is encouraging others to come forward and apply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I thought it was just me,” said Gooseberry, who now advocates for incarcerated women and the reparations program. “I’ve been trying to reach as many people as I can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Describing a traumatic life event in detail can be extremely difficult, so it was particularly painful for Carmen Worthy to learn her application was rejected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Worthy, who is currently incarcerated at California Central Women’s Facility, said a prison doctor recommended removing her uterus to stop some heavy bleeding she was experiencing due to uterine fibroids. She took his advice and went through with the procedure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not a medical doctor. So, all my yeses were from him telling me what needs to be done. I would have never done it on my own,” Worthy said in a phone interview. “You know what I mean?” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘… Continuing to spread the word to survivors is just so critical so as many people can get compensated as possible before the end of the year.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Dr. Jennifer James, associate professor, UCSF",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> She’s not alone in getting rejected by the compensation board. So far, over 400 applications, the vast majority of those submitted, have been denied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ray Aspuria, a spokesperson for the compensation board, said that many victims of the state’s sterilization practices have passed away or don’t have direct descendants who could apply for the funds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is an aging population, and survivors may not have direct descendants,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Applications will not be accepted beyond Dec. 31, but the state’s latest budget includes language to add up to $1 million for the compensation program through legislation in the next few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Securing that extra funding will depend on the outcome of a forthcoming report on the extent to which forced sterilizations took place at Los Angeles County General Hospital, according to Aspuria.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people don’t want to talk about being in these facilities that were really troubling and a really horrific time in their lives,” said James, a vocal advocate for sterilization survivors. “But continuing to spread the word to survivors is just so critical so as many people can get compensated as possible before the end of the year.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "More on California Reparations ",
"tag": "reparations"
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> Despite the uncertainty of coming forward for many applicants, James stressed that anyone who thinks they may qualify should apply, even those who may have unknowingly consented to the procedure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The medical record is the word of the person perpetuating the harm,” she said. “Many people have been approved who \u003cem>did\u003c/em> sign a consent form because they stated that they didn’t know what they were consenting to, no one reviewed it with them, and they thought they were having a different procedure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>More information on how to apply for compensation for involuntary sterilization can be found at the California Victim Compensation Board \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://victims.ca.gov/for-victims/fiscp/#How_to_apply\">\u003cem>website\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. \u003c/em>\u003cem>Applications are available in English and Spanish. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Anyone needing assistance with the application can call the compensation board’s toll-free helpline at 1-800-777-9229 from 8 a.m.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">–\u003c/span>5 p.m.\u003c/em> \u003cem>Monday\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">–\u003c/span>Friday.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11965672/forced-sterilization-survivors-of-california-prisons-face-reparations-deadline",
"authors": [
"11840"
],
"series": [
"news_34369"
],
"categories": [
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_30345",
"news_30652",
"news_19522",
"news_4738",
"news_32261",
"news_1471",
"news_2923",
"news_4585"
],
"featImg": "news_11965719",
"label": "news_34369"
},
"news_11961026": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11961026",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11961026",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1694646034000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "thousands-sf-homes-destroyed-decades-ago-rebuilt-under-new-bill",
"title": "Thousands of SF Homes Destroyed Decades Ago During 'Redevelopment' Could Be Rebuilt for Lower-Income Residents",
"publishDate": 1694646034,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "Thousands of SF Homes Destroyed Decades Ago During ‘Redevelopment’ Could Be Rebuilt for Lower-Income Residents | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 34369,
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>Decades after San Francisco bulldozed thousands of homes in the name of redevelopment, a state bill could boost efforts to repair that damage and make it easier for displaced families to regain a foothold in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The push comes as San Francisco faces a state-mandated obligation to produce nearly 46,000 units for very low, low and moderate-income households in the next eight years. Supporters of the bill say it could make a dent in an area that many Bay Area housing and racial justice advocates assert is long overdue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But success isn’t guaranteed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some West Coast cities have seen mixed results from their efforts to remedy similar urban infrastructure projects during the 1960s and 1970s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco went through a very ugly period where in the name of ‘urban renewal,’ the city bulldozed and destroyed thousands and thousands of homes, primarily in Black, Japanese and Filipino neighborhoods,” said state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who authored \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB593\">Senate Bill 593\u003c/a>. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco)\"]‘San Francisco went through a very ugly period where in the name of ‘urban renewal,’ the city bulldozed and destroyed thousands and thousands of homes, primarily in Black, Japanese and Filipino neighborhoods.’[/pullquote] The bill aims to fund the production of nearly 6,000 affordable housing units that were destroyed during the mid-century redevelopment era in San Francisco’s Western Addition, Fillmore, Japantown and SoMa neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was just a horrific situation and San Francisco has a legal responsibility to replace the homes that were destroyed when redevelopment ended a decade ago,” Wiener said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 593 cleared the California Legislature on Wednesday and is now awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature. The bill would allow residual property tax dollars to remain in the city’s Redevelopment Property Tax Trust Fund, rather than be redistributed to the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure could then issue bonds to construct or add 5,800 units of replacement housing that were never rebuilt after redevelopment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, there are between 500–900 units in the city’s own pipeline for affordable housing construction that could benefit from the new financing structure. The city will also solicit projects and developers that could maximize the number of new affordable units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960806\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11960806 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-014-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-014-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-014-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-014-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-014-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-014-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-014-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Homes at Freedom West, a housing cooperative, seen from the interior courtyard in the Fillmore District on Sept. 11, 2023. The property will be redeveloped in what is referred to as ‘Freedom West 2.0,’ with new buildings for current residents and community facilities. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>There are a number of housing projects in the works that could seek funding if they are approved. Among them is Freedom West cooperative in the Western Addition, which is currently working on a renovation and expansion project with the developer MacFarlane Partners to replace 382 co-op units and add 133 affordable homes to the site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mattie Scott is a longtime resident of the Western Addition and president of the Freedom West Housing Cooperative in San Francisco, which supports Wiener’s bill. She remembers growing up in the neighborhood before redevelopment cleared it out to make way for new expressways and shopping centers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was just wonderful being a teenager to have that experience with so much diversity,” Scott told KQED of the variety of businesses and restaurants near the Western Addition in the early 1960s. “Fillmore was the Harlem of the West at that time. You couldn’t wait to get to Fillmore Street with your families on any given day. There were Italian meat markets, Jewish delis and Japanese restaurants.” [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Mattie Scott, president, Freedom West Housing Cooperative\"]‘Fillmore was the Harlem of the West at that time. You couldn’t wait to get to Fillmore Street with your families on any given day. There were Italian meat markets, Jewish delis and Japanese restaurants.’[/pullquote] When the U.S. federal government began implementing the National Housing Act of 1949, San Francisco’s Western Addition and Japantown were among the first areas selected for redevelopment in the name of addressing so-called “urban blight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To make way for a widened Geary Boulevard, the government bulldozed thousands of homes in the area that were predominantly owned and lived in by Black, Filipino, Japanese and some Jewish residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, San Franciscans like Scott who remember the vibrant neighborhoods that were destroyed say the urgency to rebuild the lost homes is long overdue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They called it urban renewal, but I call it urban removal,” Scott said. “All of a sudden, you just see your neighborhood just demolished, you know, homes demolished, Victorian houses demolished, whole communities. Grocery stores down the block where you go to eat with your family were no longer there. To me, as a young person, it was very devastating.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Families in nearby Japantown have passed on similar stories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The community had just returned from concentration camps during World War II, and a lot of businesses and homes had already been lost. Then redevelopment happened, so it was this one-two punch that really devastated Japantown,” said Jeremy Chan, a board member with the Japantown Task Force. “The creation of the Geary Expressway created this physical barrier that divided Japantown from our African American neighbors in the Fillmore, and we’re still struggling to repair and rebuild those connections to this day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960803\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11960803 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-16-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-16-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-16-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-16-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-16-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-16-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-16-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeremy Chan (left) and Glynis Nakahara stand in a residential area of Japantown in San Francisco on Sept. 7, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Back then, the city promised to rebuild homes and give preference to families who had to flee. But it’s largely failed to follow through with promises to rebuild those homes, and only a small fraction of people have used their opportunity to return.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People were forced to leave Japantown and then they were later unable to return either because they were priced out or because they ended up being disqualified for the certificates of preference they received,” Chan explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Redressing redevelopment\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>To address the displacement redevelopment caused, San Francisco and other cities have given preference for affordable housing to people who lost their homes and to their descendants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the 1960s, San Francisco has distributed 6,957 “\u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/data/dashboard-certificate-preference-eligible-waitlist-opportunities#how-to-use-the-dashboard\">certificates of preference\u003c/a>” to residents and descendants of residents who lost homes due to redevelopment, according to the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development. The certificates provide \u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/data/dashboard-certificate-preference-eligible-waitlist-opportunities#how-to-use-the-dashboard\">priority for certain housing units\u003c/a> in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But out of the nearly 7,000 certificates of preference issued by the city, less than 1,500 of those have been utilized as of Aug. 18, city data shows. [aside postID=news_11957757 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/GettyImages-1408881472-for-wp-1020x760.jpg'] Those who do want to use their certificate often face long wait lists. There are approximately 115,000 applicants wait-listed for the 28,500 public housing units eligible for the certificates, according to the mayor’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to those 28,500 units, the city is also listing 1,274 home-ownership and rental units that certificate holders can apply for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of Sept. 7, there were nine below-market-rate homeownership units available for certificate holders, and one rental unit available, according to data from the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 593 would increase the production of units that are eligible for the certificates and aims to prevent further displacement for families who are currently in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco has actually, for a while, had this commitment to restore the units that were demolished during urban renewal, and this bill would provide some of the funding that’s required to help restore that,” said Sujata Srivastava, housing and planning director at the local public policy nonprofit, SPUR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960804\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960804\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-17-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-17-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-17-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-17-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-17-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-17-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-17-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of the Japantown Peace Plaza in San Francisco on Sept. 7, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But many families who were displaced during that era have left, establishing lives, businesses and communities elsewhere, as affordable housing in San Francisco has lagged to meet a growing demand. When homes and businesses were destroyed, trust also eroded between the city and the communities it forced out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is an argument for thinking more expansively about what it might look like if you were really trying to help, especially Black and African American households that were displaced from redevelopment,” Srivastava said. “How do you actually think about correcting those harms?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters of SB 593 don’t expect the bill to lead to a wave of migration back to San Francisco by families who were displaced decades ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there is a hope that it can mitigate the housing crisis and acknowledge the ways that crisis falls disproportionately on communities of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Rethinking Reparations\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California’s Reparations Task Force \u003ca href=\"http://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/ch22-ca-reparations.pdf\">recommends giving preference to affordable housing, also known as “right to return” policies, for displaced African Americans (PDF)\u003c/a> as one of several ways to address lingering effects of racism and slavery on African Americans and broader society today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Predominantly white neighborhoods are that way for a clear reason: the history of racist housing policies,” said Dr. Jovan Scott Lewis, chair of the Geography Department at UC Berkeley and a member of California’s Reparations Task Force. “The only antidote to that is to create a justice-oriented housing policy. The first step is to give community members who were dispossessed a right to return.” [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín\"]‘We must face and rectify the wrongs of our City’s past and do right by those who were displaced. This policy will prioritize housing for those who have faced injustices, and restore the diversity of our community.’[/pullquote] Lewis pointed to places like Evanston, Illinois, which in 2021 became the first U.S. city to issue reparations for slavery through housing grants to Black residents. He said the effort was well-intended, but more limited in scale and scope than what he and other racial justice advocates want to see in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, other cities are putting forward policies that tie reparations to housing, but with different mechanisms for getting there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In July, the city of Berkeley adopted a \u003ca href=\"https://records.cityofberkeley.info/PublicAccess/api/Document/AR5OmrYC8r7A%C3%89N2HFiUv4RJEsSIWGVj4VrP3fd706J0hSXkyL2DAt1mrdqsXUoz6OGtf13qdxu%C3%89asqGqDxGiyGc%3D/\">housing preference policy (PDF)\u003c/a> that prioritizes affordable housing for current and former Berkeley residents, along with their descendants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berkeley’s plan would prioritize people who were displaced because of BART construction, foreclosure anytime after 2005, or no-fault evictions and other factors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We must face and rectify the wrongs of our City’s past and do right by those who were displaced,” Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín said in a press release after the policy was announced. “This policy will prioritize housing for those who have faced injustices, and restore the diversity of our community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some are skeptical of the idea. [aside label='More Stories on Bay Area Housing' tag='housing'] Historian Darrell Millner saw how his city of Portland, Oregon, sought to \u003ca href=\"https://www.wweek.com/news/2022/05/25/the-city-of-portland-tried-to-undo-gentrification-black-portlanders-are-conflicted-about-the-results/\">slow gentrification and address redevelopment harms\u003c/a> by building new affordable housing to keep families in place and provide preference for housing to those who were displaced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program helped hundreds of lower-income residents lease subsidized apartments and at least 110 families buy homes, 94 of which were Black Portlanders, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.portland.gov/phb/nne-oversight/documents/n-ne-annual-report-2022/download\">city report (PDF)\u003c/a>. But some criticized the effort for having a relatively small impact compared to the damage that was done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m glad for the people who could find some decent housing in a decent part of town. But you haven’t replaced what was destroyed,” said Darrell Millner, professor emeritus of Black Studies at Portland State University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This happened to so many communities and in so many areas here in the Bay Area. We are now shining a light of hope that we bring families back,” said Scott of the Freedom West Housing Cooperative. “This bill is going to help us in many ways to address those issues and allow working class families and seniors to be able to afford to stay in the city.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "A state bill approved by lawmakers on Wednesday aims to fund the construction of nearly 6,000 affordable housing units to help replace ones that were destroyed a half-century ago, largely in communities of color, in the name of urban renewal.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1725920276,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 42,
"wordCount": 2094
},
"headData": {
"title": "Thousands of SF Homes Destroyed Decades Ago During 'Redevelopment' Could Be Rebuilt for Lower-Income Residents | KQED",
"description": "A state bill approved by lawmakers on Wednesday aims to fund the construction of nearly 6,000 affordable housing units to help replace ones that were destroyed a half-century ago, largely in communities of color, in the name of urban renewal.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "Thousands of SF Homes Destroyed Decades Ago During 'Redevelopment' Could Be Rebuilt for Lower-Income Residents",
"datePublished": "2023-09-13T16:00:34-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-09T15:17:56-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"sticky": false,
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11961026/thousands-sf-homes-destroyed-decades-ago-rebuilt-under-new-bill",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Decades after San Francisco bulldozed thousands of homes in the name of redevelopment, a state bill could boost efforts to repair that damage and make it easier for displaced families to regain a foothold in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The push comes as San Francisco faces a state-mandated obligation to produce nearly 46,000 units for very low, low and moderate-income households in the next eight years. Supporters of the bill say it could make a dent in an area that many Bay Area housing and racial justice advocates assert is long overdue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But success isn’t guaranteed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some West Coast cities have seen mixed results from their efforts to remedy similar urban infrastructure projects during the 1960s and 1970s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco went through a very ugly period where in the name of ‘urban renewal,’ the city bulldozed and destroyed thousands and thousands of homes, primarily in Black, Japanese and Filipino neighborhoods,” said state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who authored \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB593\">Senate Bill 593\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘San Francisco went through a very ugly period where in the name of ‘urban renewal,’ the city bulldozed and destroyed thousands and thousands of homes, primarily in Black, Japanese and Filipino neighborhoods.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco)",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> The bill aims to fund the production of nearly 6,000 affordable housing units that were destroyed during the mid-century redevelopment era in San Francisco’s Western Addition, Fillmore, Japantown and SoMa neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was just a horrific situation and San Francisco has a legal responsibility to replace the homes that were destroyed when redevelopment ended a decade ago,” Wiener said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 593 cleared the California Legislature on Wednesday and is now awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature. The bill would allow residual property tax dollars to remain in the city’s Redevelopment Property Tax Trust Fund, rather than be redistributed to the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure could then issue bonds to construct or add 5,800 units of replacement housing that were never rebuilt after redevelopment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, there are between 500–900 units in the city’s own pipeline for affordable housing construction that could benefit from the new financing structure. The city will also solicit projects and developers that could maximize the number of new affordable units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960806\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11960806 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-014-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-014-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-014-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-014-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-014-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-014-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230911-MattieScottFreedomWest-014-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Homes at Freedom West, a housing cooperative, seen from the interior courtyard in the Fillmore District on Sept. 11, 2023. The property will be redeveloped in what is referred to as ‘Freedom West 2.0,’ with new buildings for current residents and community facilities. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>There are a number of housing projects in the works that could seek funding if they are approved. Among them is Freedom West cooperative in the Western Addition, which is currently working on a renovation and expansion project with the developer MacFarlane Partners to replace 382 co-op units and add 133 affordable homes to the site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mattie Scott is a longtime resident of the Western Addition and president of the Freedom West Housing Cooperative in San Francisco, which supports Wiener’s bill. She remembers growing up in the neighborhood before redevelopment cleared it out to make way for new expressways and shopping centers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was just wonderful being a teenager to have that experience with so much diversity,” Scott told KQED of the variety of businesses and restaurants near the Western Addition in the early 1960s. “Fillmore was the Harlem of the West at that time. You couldn’t wait to get to Fillmore Street with your families on any given day. There were Italian meat markets, Jewish delis and Japanese restaurants.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘Fillmore was the Harlem of the West at that time. You couldn’t wait to get to Fillmore Street with your families on any given day. There were Italian meat markets, Jewish delis and Japanese restaurants.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Mattie Scott, president, Freedom West Housing Cooperative",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> When the U.S. federal government began implementing the National Housing Act of 1949, San Francisco’s Western Addition and Japantown were among the first areas selected for redevelopment in the name of addressing so-called “urban blight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To make way for a widened Geary Boulevard, the government bulldozed thousands of homes in the area that were predominantly owned and lived in by Black, Filipino, Japanese and some Jewish residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, San Franciscans like Scott who remember the vibrant neighborhoods that were destroyed say the urgency to rebuild the lost homes is long overdue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They called it urban renewal, but I call it urban removal,” Scott said. “All of a sudden, you just see your neighborhood just demolished, you know, homes demolished, Victorian houses demolished, whole communities. Grocery stores down the block where you go to eat with your family were no longer there. To me, as a young person, it was very devastating.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Families in nearby Japantown have passed on similar stories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The community had just returned from concentration camps during World War II, and a lot of businesses and homes had already been lost. Then redevelopment happened, so it was this one-two punch that really devastated Japantown,” said Jeremy Chan, a board member with the Japantown Task Force. “The creation of the Geary Expressway created this physical barrier that divided Japantown from our African American neighbors in the Fillmore, and we’re still struggling to repair and rebuild those connections to this day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960803\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11960803 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-16-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-16-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-16-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-16-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-16-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-16-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-16-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeremy Chan (left) and Glynis Nakahara stand in a residential area of Japantown in San Francisco on Sept. 7, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Back then, the city promised to rebuild homes and give preference to families who had to flee. But it’s largely failed to follow through with promises to rebuild those homes, and only a small fraction of people have used their opportunity to return.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People were forced to leave Japantown and then they were later unable to return either because they were priced out or because they ended up being disqualified for the certificates of preference they received,” Chan explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Redressing redevelopment\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>To address the displacement redevelopment caused, San Francisco and other cities have given preference for affordable housing to people who lost their homes and to their descendants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the 1960s, San Francisco has distributed 6,957 “\u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/data/dashboard-certificate-preference-eligible-waitlist-opportunities#how-to-use-the-dashboard\">certificates of preference\u003c/a>” to residents and descendants of residents who lost homes due to redevelopment, according to the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development. The certificates provide \u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/data/dashboard-certificate-preference-eligible-waitlist-opportunities#how-to-use-the-dashboard\">priority for certain housing units\u003c/a> in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But out of the nearly 7,000 certificates of preference issued by the city, less than 1,500 of those have been utilized as of Aug. 18, city data shows. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"postid": "news_11957757",
"hero": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/GettyImages-1408881472-for-wp-1020x760.jpg",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> Those who do want to use their certificate often face long wait lists. There are approximately 115,000 applicants wait-listed for the 28,500 public housing units eligible for the certificates, according to the mayor’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to those 28,500 units, the city is also listing 1,274 home-ownership and rental units that certificate holders can apply for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of Sept. 7, there were nine below-market-rate homeownership units available for certificate holders, and one rental unit available, according to data from the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 593 would increase the production of units that are eligible for the certificates and aims to prevent further displacement for families who are currently in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco has actually, for a while, had this commitment to restore the units that were demolished during urban renewal, and this bill would provide some of the funding that’s required to help restore that,” said Sujata Srivastava, housing and planning director at the local public policy nonprofit, SPUR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960804\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960804\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-17-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-17-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-17-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-17-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-17-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-17-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230907-RightToReturn-17-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of the Japantown Peace Plaza in San Francisco on Sept. 7, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But many families who were displaced during that era have left, establishing lives, businesses and communities elsewhere, as affordable housing in San Francisco has lagged to meet a growing demand. When homes and businesses were destroyed, trust also eroded between the city and the communities it forced out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is an argument for thinking more expansively about what it might look like if you were really trying to help, especially Black and African American households that were displaced from redevelopment,” Srivastava said. “How do you actually think about correcting those harms?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters of SB 593 don’t expect the bill to lead to a wave of migration back to San Francisco by families who were displaced decades ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there is a hope that it can mitigate the housing crisis and acknowledge the ways that crisis falls disproportionately on communities of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Rethinking Reparations\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California’s Reparations Task Force \u003ca href=\"http://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/ch22-ca-reparations.pdf\">recommends giving preference to affordable housing, also known as “right to return” policies, for displaced African Americans (PDF)\u003c/a> as one of several ways to address lingering effects of racism and slavery on African Americans and broader society today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Predominantly white neighborhoods are that way for a clear reason: the history of racist housing policies,” said Dr. Jovan Scott Lewis, chair of the Geography Department at UC Berkeley and a member of California’s Reparations Task Force. “The only antidote to that is to create a justice-oriented housing policy. The first step is to give community members who were dispossessed a right to return.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘We must face and rectify the wrongs of our City’s past and do right by those who were displaced. This policy will prioritize housing for those who have faced injustices, and restore the diversity of our community.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> Lewis pointed to places like Evanston, Illinois, which in 2021 became the first U.S. city to issue reparations for slavery through housing grants to Black residents. He said the effort was well-intended, but more limited in scale and scope than what he and other racial justice advocates want to see in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, other cities are putting forward policies that tie reparations to housing, but with different mechanisms for getting there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In July, the city of Berkeley adopted a \u003ca href=\"https://records.cityofberkeley.info/PublicAccess/api/Document/AR5OmrYC8r7A%C3%89N2HFiUv4RJEsSIWGVj4VrP3fd706J0hSXkyL2DAt1mrdqsXUoz6OGtf13qdxu%C3%89asqGqDxGiyGc%3D/\">housing preference policy (PDF)\u003c/a> that prioritizes affordable housing for current and former Berkeley residents, along with their descendants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berkeley’s plan would prioritize people who were displaced because of BART construction, foreclosure anytime after 2005, or no-fault evictions and other factors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We must face and rectify the wrongs of our City’s past and do right by those who were displaced,” Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín said in a press release after the policy was announced. “This policy will prioritize housing for those who have faced injustices, and restore the diversity of our community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some are skeptical of the idea. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "More Stories on Bay Area Housing ",
"tag": "housing"
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> Historian Darrell Millner saw how his city of Portland, Oregon, sought to \u003ca href=\"https://www.wweek.com/news/2022/05/25/the-city-of-portland-tried-to-undo-gentrification-black-portlanders-are-conflicted-about-the-results/\">slow gentrification and address redevelopment harms\u003c/a> by building new affordable housing to keep families in place and provide preference for housing to those who were displaced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program helped hundreds of lower-income residents lease subsidized apartments and at least 110 families buy homes, 94 of which were Black Portlanders, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.portland.gov/phb/nne-oversight/documents/n-ne-annual-report-2022/download\">city report (PDF)\u003c/a>. But some criticized the effort for having a relatively small impact compared to the damage that was done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m glad for the people who could find some decent housing in a decent part of town. But you haven’t replaced what was destroyed,” said Darrell Millner, professor emeritus of Black Studies at Portland State University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This happened to so many communities and in so many areas here in the Bay Area. We are now shining a light of hope that we bring families back,” said Scott of the Freedom West Housing Cooperative. “This bill is going to help us in many ways to address those issues and allow working class families and seniors to be able to afford to stay in the city.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11961026/thousands-sf-homes-destroyed-decades-ago-rebuilt-under-new-bill",
"authors": [
"11840"
],
"series": [
"news_34369"
],
"categories": [
"news_6266",
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_3921",
"news_28272",
"news_30345",
"news_30652",
"news_27626",
"news_22210",
"news_1775",
"news_23056",
"news_38",
"news_1217",
"news_6544"
],
"featImg": "news_11960807",
"label": "news_34369"
}
},
"podcastsReducer": {
"isFetching": false,
"fetchFailed": false,
"hasFetched": false,
"podcasts": {}
},
"radioProgramsReducer": {
"isFetching": false,
"fetchFailed": false,
"hasFetched": false,
"radioPrograms": {}
},
"programsReducer": {
"all-things-considered": {
"id": "all-things-considered",
"title": "All Things Considered",
"info": "Every weekday, \u003cem>All Things Considered\u003c/em> hosts Robert Siegel, Audie Cornish, Ari Shapiro, and Kelly McEvers present the program's trademark mix of news, interviews, commentaries, reviews, and offbeat features. Michel Martin hosts on the weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 1pm-2pm, 4:30pm-6:30pm\u003cbr />SAT-SUN 5pm-6pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/All-Things-Considered-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/all-things-considered"
},
"american-suburb-podcast": {
"id": "american-suburb-podcast",
"title": "American Suburb: The Podcast",
"tagline": "The flip side of gentrification, told through one town",
"info": "Gentrification is changing cities across America, forcing people from neighborhoods they have long called home. Call them the displaced. Now those priced out of the Bay Area are looking for a better life in an unlikely place. American Suburb follows this migration to one California town along the Delta, 45 miles from San Francisco. But is this once sleepy suburb ready for them?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/American-Suburb-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/news/series/american-suburb-podcast",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 19
},
"link": "/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=1287748328",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/American-Suburb-p1086805/",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/feed/podcast",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMzMDExODgxNjA5"
}
},
"baycurious": {
"id": "baycurious",
"title": "Bay Curious",
"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Bay-Curious-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Bay Curious",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/news/series/baycurious",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 3
},
"link": "/podcasts/baycurious",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/category/bay-curious-podcast/feed/podcast",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9a90d476-aa04-455d-9a4c-0871ed6216d4/bay-curious",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/bay-curious",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/6O76IdmhixfijmhTZLIJ8k"
}
},
"bbc-world-service": {
"id": "bbc-world-service",
"title": "BBC World Service",
"info": "The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "BBC World Service"
},
"link": "/radio/program/bbc-world-service",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/global-news-podcast/id135067274?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/BBC-World-Service-p455581/",
"rss": "https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"
}
},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
"title": "The California Report",
"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The California Report",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqeds-the-california-report/id79681292",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/26099305-72af-4542-9dde-ac1807fe36d5/kqed-s-the-california-report",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432285393/the-california-report",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqedfm-kqeds-the-california-report-podcast-8838",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/tcram/feed/podcast"
}
},
"californiareportmagazine": {
"id": "californiareportmagazine",
"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Magazine-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The California Report Magazine",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 10
},
"link": "/californiareportmagazine",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-california-report-magazine/id1314750545",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/564733126/the-california-report-magazine",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-california-report-magazine",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/tcrmag/feed/podcast"
}
},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.cityarts.net/",
"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
"subscribe": {
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/City-Arts-and-Lectures-p692/",
"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
"id": "closealltabs",
"title": "Close All Tabs",
"tagline": "Your irreverent guide to the trends redefining our world",
"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/CAT_2_Tile-scaled.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Close All Tabs",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 1
},
"link": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/close-all-tabs/id214663465",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC6993880386",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/92d9d4ac-67a3-4eed-b10a-fb45d45b1ef2/close-all-tabs",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/6LAJFHnGK1pYXYzv6SIol6?si=deb0cae19813417c"
}
},
"code-switch-life-kit": {
"id": "code-switch-life-kit",
"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
"airtime": "SUN 9pm-10pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Code-Switch-Life-Kit-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/code-switch-life-kit",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/1112190608?mt=2&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/3bExJ9JQpkwNhoHvaIIuyV",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510312/podcast.xml"
}
},
"commonwealth-club": {
"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.commonwealthclub.org/podcasts",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/commonwealth-club-of-california-podcast/id976334034?mt=2",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Commonwealth-Club-of-California-p1060/"
}
},
"forum": {
"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/forum",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
"link": "/forum",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqeds-forum/id73329719",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432307980/forum",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqedfm-kqeds-forum-podcast",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC9557381633"
}
},
"freakonomics-radio": {
"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
}
},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 7pm-8pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Fresh-Air-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Fresh-Air-p17/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
}
},
"here-and-now": {
"id": "here-and-now",
"title": "Here & Now",
"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
"airtime": "MON-THU 11am-12pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Here-And-Now-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/here-and-now",
"subsdcribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=426698661",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Here--Now-p211/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
}
},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/hiddenbrain.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hidden-brain/id1028908750?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Hidden-Brain-p787503/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510308/podcast.xml"
}
},
"how-i-built-this": {
"id": "how-i-built-this",
"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/How-I-Built-This-p910896/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510313/podcast.xml"
}
},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
"imageAlt": "KQED Hyphenación",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hyphenaci%C3%B3n/id1191591838",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
"youtube": "https://www.youtube.com/c/kqedarts",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/6c3dd23c-93fb-4aab-97ba-1725fa6315f1/hyphenaci%C3%B3n",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC2275451163"
}
},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/790253322/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/jerrybrown/feed/podcast/",
"tuneIn": "http://tun.in/pjGcK",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/54C1dmuyFyKMFttY6X2j6r?si=K8SgRCoISNK6ZbjpXrX5-w",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/44420f75-3b0e-4301-ab3b-16da6b09e543/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown"
}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/xtTd",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Latino-USA-p621/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=201853034&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/APM-Marketplace-p88/",
"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Masters-of-Scale-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindshift-podcast/id1078765985",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/0MxSpNYZKNprFLCl7eEtyx"
}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/onourwatch",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/0OLWoyizopu6tY1XiuX70x",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-Our-Watch-p1436229/",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/show/on-our-watch",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"
}
},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "pbs"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Perspectives_Tile_Final.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Perspectives",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id73801135",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432309616/perspectives",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/perspectives/category/perspectives/feed/",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvcGVyc3BlY3RpdmVzL2NhdGVnb3J5L3BlcnNwZWN0aXZlcy9mZWVkLw"
}
},
"planet-money": {
"id": "planet-money",
"title": "Planet Money",
"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/sections/money/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/M4f5",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Business--Economics-Podcasts/Planet-Money-p164680/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"
}
},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Political Breakdown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 5
},
"link": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/political-breakdown/id1327641087",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e0c2d153-ad36-4c8d-901d-f1da6a724824/political-breakdown",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/572155894/political-breakdown",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/political-breakdown",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/07RVyIjIdk2WDuVehvBMoN",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/political-breakdown/feed/podcast"
}
},
"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/possible/id1677184070",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"
}
},
"pri-the-world": {
"id": "pri-the-world",
"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pri.org/programs/the-world",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "PRI"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pri-the-world",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pris-the-world-latest-edition/id278196007?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/PRIs-The-World-p24/",
"rss": "http://feeds.feedburner.com/pri/theworld"
}
},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
"airtime": "SUN 12am-1am, SAT 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/radiolab1400.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/radiolab/",
"meta": {
"site": "science",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/radiolab",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/radiolab/id152249110?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/RadioLab-p68032/",
"rss": "https://feeds.wnyc.org/radiolab"
}
},
"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
"airtime": "SAT 4pm-5pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/reveal300px.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/reveal",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/reveal/id886009669",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Reveal-p679597/",
"rss": "http://feeds.revealradio.org/revealpodcast"
}
},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rightnowish-Podcast-Tile-500x500-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Rightnowish with Pendarvis Harshaw",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/rightnowish",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 16
},
"link": "/podcasts/rightnowish",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/programs/rightnowish/feed/podcast",
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMxMjU5MTY3NDc4",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I"
}
},
"science-friday": {
"id": "science-friday",
"title": "Science Friday",
"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
"airtime": "FRI 11am-1pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Science-Friday-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/science-friday",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/science-friday",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=73329284&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Science-Friday-p394/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/science-friday"
}
},
"snap-judgment": {
"id": "snap-judgment",
"title": "Snap Judgment",
"tagline": "Real stories with killer beats",
"info": "The Snap Judgment radio show and podcast mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic radio. Snap's musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. This is storytelling... with a BEAT!! Snap first aired on public radio stations nationwide in July 2010. Today, Snap Judgment airs on over 450 public radio stations and is brought to the airwaves by KQED & PRX.",
"airtime": "SAT 1pm-2pm, 9pm-10pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Snap-Judgment-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Snap Judgment",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://snapjudgment.org",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 4
},
"link": "https://snapjudgment.org",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/snap-judgment/id283657561",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/449018144/snap-judgment",
"stitcher": "https://www.pandora.com/podcast/snap-judgment/PC:241?source=stitcher-sunset",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/3Cct7ZWmxHNAtLgBTqjC5v",
"rss": "https://snap.feed.snapjudgment.org/"
}
},
"soldout": {
"id": "soldout",
"title": "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America",
"tagline": "A new future for housing",
"info": "Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Sold-Out-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/soldout",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 13
},
"link": "/podcasts/soldout",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/911586047/s-o-l-d-o-u-t-a-new-future-for-housing",
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/introducing-sold-out-rethinking-housing-in-america/id1531354937",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/soldout",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/38dTBSk2ISFoPiyYNoKn1X",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/sold-out-rethinking-housing-in-america",
"tunein": "https://tunein.com/radio/SOLD-OUT-Rethinking-Housing-in-America-p1365871/"
}
},
"spooked": {
"id": "spooked",
"title": "Spooked",
"tagline": "True-life supernatural stories",
"info": "",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Spooked-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Spooked",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://spookedpodcast.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 7
},
"link": "https://spookedpodcast.org/",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spooked/id1279361017",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/549547848/snap-judgment-presents-spooked",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/76571Rfl3m7PLJQZKQIGCT",
"rss": "https://feeds.simplecast.com/TBotaapn"
}
},
"tech-nation": {
"id": "tech-nation",
"title": "Tech Nation Radio Podcast",
"info": "Tech Nation is a weekly public radio program, hosted by Dr. Moira Gunn. Founded in 1993, it has grown from a simple interview show to a multi-faceted production, featuring conversations with noted technology and science leaders, and a weekly science and technology-related commentary.",
"airtime": "FRI 10pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Tech-Nation-Radio-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://technation.podomatic.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "science",
"source": "Tech Nation Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/tech-nation",
"subscribe": {
"rss": "https://technation.podomatic.com/rss2.xml"
}
},
"ted-radio-hour": {
"id": "ted-radio-hour",
"title": "TED Radio Hour",
"info": "The TED Radio Hour is a journey through fascinating ideas, astonishing inventions, fresh approaches to old problems, and new ways to think and create.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm, SAT 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/tedRadioHour.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/?showDate=2018-06-22",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/ted-radio-hour",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/8vsS",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=523121474&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/TED-Radio-Hour-p418021/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510298/podcast.xml"
}
},
"thebay": {
"id": "thebay",
"title": "The Bay",
"tagline": "Local news to keep you rooted",
"info": "Host Devin Katayama walks you through the biggest story of the day with reporters and newsmakers.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Bay-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Bay",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/thebay",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 2
},
"link": "/podcasts/thebay",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bay/id1350043452",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/d800ea4c-7a2c-42f2-b861-edaf78a5db0b/the-bay",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/586725995/the-bay",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-bay",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/4BIKBKIujizLHlIlBNaAqQ",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC8259786327"
}
},
"thelatest": {
"id": "thelatest",
"title": "The Latest",
"tagline": "Trusted local news in real time",
"info": "",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/The-Latest-2025-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Latest",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/thelatest",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 6
},
"link": "/thelatest",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-latest-from-kqed/id1197721799",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/1257949365/the-latest-from-k-q-e-d",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/5KIIXMgM9GTi5AepwOYvIZ?si=bd3053fec7244dba",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC9137121918"
}
},
"theleap": {
"id": "theleap",
"title": "The Leap",
"tagline": "What if you closed your eyes, and jumped?",
"info": "Stories about people making dramatic, risky changes, told by award-winning public radio reporter Judy Campbell.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Leap-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Leap",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/theleap",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 17
},
"link": "/podcasts/theleap",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-leap/id1046668171",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/447248267/the-leap",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-leap",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/3sSlVHHzU0ytLwuGs1SD1U",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/programs/the-leap/feed/podcast"
}
},
"the-moth-radio-hour": {
"id": "the-moth-radio-hour",
"title": "The Moth Radio Hour",
"info": "Since its launch in 1997, The Moth has presented thousands of true stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. Moth storytellers stand alone, under a spotlight, with only a microphone and a roomful of strangers. The storyteller and the audience embark on a high-wire act of shared experience which is both terrifying and exhilarating. Since 2008, The Moth podcast has featured many of our favorite stories told live on Moth stages around the country. For information on all of our programs and live events, visit themoth.org.",
"airtime": "SAT 8pm-9pm and SUN 11am-12pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/theMoth.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://themoth.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "prx"
},
"link": "/radio/program/the-moth-radio-hour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-moth-podcast/id275699983?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/The-Moth-p273888/",
"rss": "http://feeds.themoth.org/themothpodcast"
}
},
"the-new-yorker-radio-hour": {
"id": "the-new-yorker-radio-hour",
"title": "The New Yorker Radio Hour",
"info": "The New Yorker Radio Hour is a weekly program presented by the magazine's editor, David Remnick, and produced by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker. Each episode features a diverse mix of interviews, profiles, storytelling, and an occasional burst of humor inspired by the magazine, and shaped by its writers, artists, and editors. This isn't a radio version of a magazine, but something all its own, reflecting the rich possibilities of audio storytelling and conversation. Theme music for the show was composed and performed by Merrill Garbus of tUnE-YArDs.",
"airtime": "SAT 10am-11am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-New-Yorker-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/tnyradiohour",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/the-new-yorker-radio-hour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1050430296",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/New-Yorker-Radio-Hour-p803804/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/newyorkerradiohour"
}
},
"the-sam-sanders-show": {
"id": "the-sam-sanders-show",
"title": "The Sam Sanders Show",
"info": "One of public radio's most dynamic voices, Sam Sanders helped launch The NPR Politics Podcast and hosted NPR's hit show It's Been A Minute. Now, the award-winning host returns with something brand new, The Sam Sanders Show. Every week, Sam Sanders and friends dig into the culture that shapes our lives: what's driving the biggest trends, how artists really think, and even the memes you can't stop scrolling past. Sam is beloved for his way of unpacking the world and bringing you up close to fresh currents and engaging conversations. The Sam Sanders Show is smart, funny and always a good time.",
"airtime": "FRI 12-1pm AND SAT 11am-12pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-Sam-Sanders-Show-Podcast-Tile-400x400-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.kcrw.com/shows/the-sam-sanders-show/latest",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "KCRW"
},
"link": "https://www.kcrw.com/shows/the-sam-sanders-show/latest",
"subscribe": {
"rss": "https://feed.cdnstream1.com/zjb/feed/download/ac/28/59/ac28594c-e1d0-4231-8728-61865cdc80e8.xml"
}
},
"the-splendid-table": {
"id": "the-splendid-table",
"title": "The Splendid Table",
"info": "\u003cem>The Splendid Table\u003c/em> hosts our nation's conversations about cooking, sustainability and food culture.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Splendid-Table-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.splendidtable.org/",
"airtime": "SUN 10-11 pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/the-splendid-table"
},
"this-american-life": {
"id": "this-american-life",
"title": "This American Life",
"info": "This American Life is a weekly public radio show, heard by 2.2 million people on more than 500 stations. Another 2.5 million people download the weekly podcast. It is hosted by Ira Glass, produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media, delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards.",
"airtime": "SAT 12pm-1pm, 7pm-8pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/thisAmericanLife.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.thisamericanlife.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "wbez"
},
"link": "/radio/program/this-american-life",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=201671138&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"rss": "https://www.thisamericanlife.org/podcast/rss.xml"
}
},
"tinydeskradio": {
"id": "tinydeskradio",
"title": "Tiny Desk Radio",
"info": "We're bringing the best of Tiny Desk to the airwaves, only on public radio.",
"airtime": "SUN 8pm and SAT 9pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/300x300-For-Member-Station-Logo-Tiny-Desk-Radio-@2x.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/g-s1-52030/tiny-desk-radio",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/tinydeskradio",
"subscribe": {
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/g-s1-52030/rss.xml"
}
},
"wait-wait-dont-tell-me": {
"id": "wait-wait-dont-tell-me",
"title": "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!",
"info": "Peter Sagal and Bill Kurtis host the weekly NPR News quiz show alongside some of the best and brightest news and entertainment personalities.",
"airtime": "SUN 10am-11am, SAT 11am-12pm, SAT 6pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Wait-Wait-Podcast-Tile-300x300-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/wait-wait-dont-tell-me",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/Xogv",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=121493804&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Wait-Wait-Dont-Tell-Me-p46/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/344098539/podcast.xml"
}
},
"weekend-edition-saturday": {
"id": "weekend-edition-saturday",
"title": "Weekend Edition Saturday",
"info": "Weekend Edition Saturday wraps up the week's news and offers a mix of analysis and features on a wide range of topics, including arts, sports, entertainment, and human interest stories. The two-hour program is hosted by NPR's Peabody Award-winning Scott Simon.",
"airtime": "SAT 5am-10am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Weekend-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-saturday/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/weekend-edition-saturday"
},
"weekend-edition-sunday": {
"id": "weekend-edition-sunday",
"title": "Weekend Edition Sunday",
"info": "Weekend Edition Sunday features interviews with newsmakers, artists, scientists, politicians, musicians, writers, theologians and historians. The program has covered news events from Nelson Mandela's 1990 release from a South African prison to the capture of Saddam Hussein.",
"airtime": "SUN 5am-10am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Weekend-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-sunday/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/weekend-edition-sunday"
}
},
"racesReducer": {},
"racesGenElectionReducer": {},
"racesGenElection2026Reducer": {},
"radioSchedulesReducer": {},
"listsReducer": {
"posts/news?tag=california-reparations": {
"isFetching": false,
"latestQuery": {
"from": 36,
"size": 12
},
"vitalsOnly": false,
"totalRequested": 12,
"isLoading": false,
"isLoadingMore": true,
"total": {
"value": 95,
"relation": "eq"
},
"items": [
"news_11987911",
"news_11986615",
"news_11986396",
"news_11982724",
"news_11981271",
"news_11976617",
"news_11975584",
"news_11975619",
"news_11974445",
"news_11965926",
"news_11965672",
"news_11961026"
],
"complete": true
}
},
"recallGuideReducer": {
"intros": {},
"policy": {},
"candidates": {}
},
"savedArticleReducer": {
"articles": [],
"status": {}
},
"newslettersReducer": {
"isFetching": false,
"fetchFailed": false,
"hasFetched": false,
"newsletters": {},
"isSubscribing": false,
"isUnsubscribing": false,
"subscribedNewsletters": {}
},
"termsReducer": {
"about": {
"name": "About",
"type": "terms",
"id": "about",
"slug": "about",
"link": "/about",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"arts": {
"name": "Arts & Culture",
"grouping": [
"arts",
"pop",
"trulyca"
],
"description": "KQED Arts provides daily in-depth coverage of the Bay Area's music, art, film, performing arts, literature and arts news, as well as cultural commentary and criticism.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts",
"slug": "arts",
"link": "/arts",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"artschool": {
"name": "Art School",
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "artschool",
"slug": "artschool",
"link": "/artschool",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"bayareabites": {
"name": "KQED food",
"grouping": [
"food",
"bayareabites",
"checkplease"
],
"parent": "food",
"type": "terms",
"id": "bayareabites",
"slug": "bayareabites",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"bayareahiphop": {
"name": "Bay Area Hiphop",
"type": "terms",
"id": "bayareahiphop",
"slug": "bayareahiphop",
"link": "/bayareahiphop",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"campaign21": {
"name": "Campaign 21",
"type": "terms",
"id": "campaign21",
"slug": "campaign21",
"link": "/campaign21",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"careers": {
"name": "Careers",
"type": "terms",
"id": "careers",
"slug": "careers",
"link": "/careers",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"checkplease": {
"name": "KQED food",
"grouping": [
"food",
"bayareabites",
"checkplease"
],
"parent": "food",
"type": "terms",
"id": "checkplease",
"slug": "checkplease",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"education": {
"name": "Education",
"grouping": [
"education"
],
"type": "terms",
"id": "education",
"slug": "education",
"link": "/education",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"elections": {
"name": "Elections",
"type": "terms",
"id": "elections",
"slug": "elections",
"link": "/elections",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"events": {
"name": "Events",
"type": "terms",
"id": "events",
"slug": "events",
"link": "/events",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"event": {
"name": "Event",
"alias": "events",
"type": "terms",
"id": "event",
"slug": "event",
"link": "/event",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"filmschoolshorts": {
"name": "Film School Shorts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "filmschoolshorts",
"slug": "filmschoolshorts",
"link": "/filmschoolshorts",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"food": {
"name": "KQED food",
"grouping": [
"food",
"bayareabites",
"checkplease"
],
"type": "terms",
"id": "food",
"slug": "food",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"forum": {
"name": "Forum",
"relatedContentQuery": "posts/forum?",
"parent": "news",
"type": "terms",
"id": "forum",
"slug": "forum",
"link": "/forum",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"futureofyou": {
"name": "Future of You",
"grouping": [
"science",
"futureofyou"
],
"parent": "science",
"type": "terms",
"id": "futureofyou",
"slug": "futureofyou",
"link": "/futureofyou",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"jpepinheart": {
"name": "KQED food",
"relatedContentQuery": "posts/food,bayareabites,checkplease",
"parent": "food",
"type": "terms",
"id": "jpepinheart",
"slug": "jpepinheart",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"liveblog": {
"name": "Live Blog",
"type": "terms",
"id": "liveblog",
"slug": "liveblog",
"link": "/liveblog",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"livetv": {
"name": "Live TV",
"parent": "tv",
"type": "terms",
"id": "livetv",
"slug": "livetv",
"link": "/livetv",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"lowdown": {
"name": "The Lowdown",
"relatedContentQuery": "posts/lowdown?",
"parent": "news",
"type": "terms",
"id": "lowdown",
"slug": "lowdown",
"link": "/lowdown",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"mindshift": {
"name": "Mindshift",
"parent": "news",
"description": "MindShift explores the future of education by highlighting the innovative – and sometimes counterintuitive – ways educators and parents are helping all children succeed.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift",
"slug": "mindshift",
"link": "/mindshift",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"news": {
"name": "News",
"grouping": [
"news",
"forum"
],
"type": "terms",
"id": "news",
"slug": "news",
"link": "/news",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"newsletters": {
"name": "newsletters",
"type": "terms",
"id": "newsletters",
"slug": "newsletters",
"link": "/newsletters",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"perspectives": {
"name": "Perspectives",
"parent": "radio",
"type": "terms",
"id": "perspectives",
"slug": "perspectives",
"link": "/perspectives",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"podcasts": {
"name": "Podcasts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "podcasts",
"slug": "podcasts",
"link": "/podcasts",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"pop": {
"name": "Pop",
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "pop",
"slug": "pop",
"link": "/pop",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"pressroom": {
"name": "Pressroom",
"type": "terms",
"id": "pressroom",
"slug": "pressroom",
"link": "/pressroom",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"quest": {
"name": "Quest",
"parent": "science",
"type": "terms",
"id": "quest",
"slug": "quest",
"link": "/quest",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"radio": {
"name": "Radio",
"grouping": [
"forum",
"perspectives"
],
"description": "Listen to KQED Public Radio – home of Forum and The California Report – on 88.5 FM in San Francisco, 89.3 FM in Sacramento, 88.3 FM in Santa Rosa and 88.1 FM in Martinez.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "radio",
"slug": "radio",
"link": "/radio",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"root": {
"name": "KQED",
"image": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"imageWidth": 1200,
"imageHeight": 630,
"headData": {
"title": "KQED | News, Radio, Podcasts, TV | Public Media for Northern California",
"description": "KQED provides public radio, television, and independent reporting on issues that matter to the Bay Area. We’re the NPR and PBS member station for Northern California."
},
"type": "terms",
"id": "root",
"slug": "root",
"link": "/root",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"science": {
"name": "Science",
"grouping": [
"science",
"futureofyou"
],
"description": "KQED Science brings you award-winning science and environment coverage from the Bay Area and beyond.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "science",
"slug": "science",
"link": "/science",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"stateofhealth": {
"name": "State of Health",
"parent": "science",
"type": "terms",
"id": "stateofhealth",
"slug": "stateofhealth",
"link": "/stateofhealth",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"support": {
"name": "Support",
"type": "terms",
"id": "support",
"slug": "support",
"link": "/support",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"thedolist": {
"name": "The Do List",
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "thedolist",
"slug": "thedolist",
"link": "/thedolist",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"trulyca": {
"name": "Truly CA",
"grouping": [
"arts",
"pop",
"trulyca"
],
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "trulyca",
"slug": "trulyca",
"link": "/trulyca",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"tv": {
"name": "TV",
"type": "terms",
"id": "tv",
"slug": "tv",
"link": "/tv",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"voterguide": {
"name": "Voter Guide",
"parent": "elections",
"alias": "elections",
"type": "terms",
"id": "voterguide",
"slug": "voterguide",
"link": "/voterguide",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"guiaelectoral": {
"name": "Guia Electoral",
"parent": "elections",
"alias": "elections",
"type": "terms",
"id": "guiaelectoral",
"slug": "guiaelectoral",
"link": "/guiaelectoral",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"news_tag_california-reparations": {
"isLoading": true
},
"news_30652": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_30652",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "30652",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "california-reparations",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "california-reparations Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 30669,
"slug": "california-reparations",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/california-reparations"
},
"source_news_11975619": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_news_11975619",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "Political Breakdown",
"isLoading": false
},
"source_news_11974445": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_news_11974445",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "CalMatters",
"link": "https://calmatters.org/",
"isLoading": false
},
"news_34369": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_34369",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "34369",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "Reparations",
"slug": "reparations",
"taxonomy": "series",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "Reparations Archives | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 34386,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/series/reparations"
},
"news_8": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_8",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "8",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "News",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "News Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 8,
"slug": "news",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/news"
},
"news_30345": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_30345",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "30345",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "California reparations task force",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "California reparations task force Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 30362,
"slug": "california-reparations-task-force",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/california-reparations-task-force"
},
"news_27626": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_27626",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "27626",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "featured-news",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "featured-news Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 27643,
"slug": "featured-news",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/featured-news"
},
"news_28031": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_28031",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "28031",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "George Floyd",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "George Floyd Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 28048,
"slug": "george-floyd",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/george-floyd"
},
"news_28248": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_28248",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "28248",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "George Floyd Protests",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "George Floyd Protests Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 28265,
"slug": "george-floyd-protests",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/george-floyd-protests"
},
"news_2672": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_2672",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "2672",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Photography",
"description": "Witness the Bay Area through captivating images and compelling narratives. Explore the latest visually-driven storytelling by KQED and immerse yourself in the heart of our community.",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": "Witness the Bay Area through captivating images and compelling narratives. Explore the latest visually-driven storytelling by KQED and immerse yourself in the heart of our community.",
"title": "Photography Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 2689,
"slug": "photography",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/photography"
},
"news_22050": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_22050",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "22050",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "police brutality",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "police brutality Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 22067,
"slug": "police-brutality",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/police-brutality"
},
"news_2923": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_2923",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "2923",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "reparations",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "reparations Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 2941,
"slug": "reparations",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/reparations"
},
"news_33738": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33738",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33738",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "California",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "California Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 33755,
"slug": "california",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/interest/california"
},
"news_33733": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33733",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33733",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "News",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "News Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 33750,
"slug": "news",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/interest/news"
},
"news_33730": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33730",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33730",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Oakland",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Oakland Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 33747,
"slug": "oakland",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/interest/oakland"
},
"news_31795": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_31795",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "31795",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "California",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "California Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 31812,
"slug": "california",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/california"
},
"news_6188": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_6188",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "6188",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Law and Justice",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Law and Justice Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 6212,
"slug": "law-and-justice",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/law-and-justice"
},
"news_13": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_13",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "13",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "Politics",
"slug": "politics",
"taxonomy": "category",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "Politics | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 13,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/politics"
},
"news_28272": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_28272",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "28272",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "black californians",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "black californians Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 28289,
"slug": "black-californians",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/black-californians"
},
"news_30343": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_30343",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "30343",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "reparations task force",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "reparations task force Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 30360,
"slug": "reparations-task-force",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/reparations-task-force"
},
"news_22493": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_22493",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "22493",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Slavery",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Slavery Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 22510,
"slug": "slavery",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/slavery"
},
"news_33523": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33523",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33523",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Bay Curious",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "program",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Bay Curious Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 33540,
"slug": "bay-curious",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/program/bay-curious"
},
"news_17986": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_17986",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "17986",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/BayCuriousLogoFinal01-e1493662037229.png",
"name": "Bay Curious",
"description": "\u003ch2>A podcast exploring the Bay Area one question at a time\u003c/h2>\r\n\r\n\u003caside>\r\n\u003cdiv style=\"width: 100%; padding-right: 20px;\">\r\n\r\nKQED’s \u003cstrong>Bay Curious\u003c/strong> gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.\r\n\u003cbr />\r\n\u003cspan class=\"alignleft\">\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1172473406\">\u003cimg width=\"75px\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/DownloadOniTunes_100x100.png\">\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://goo.gl/app/playmusic?ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&isi=691797987&ius=googleplaymusic&link=https://play.google.com/music/m/Ipi2mc5aqfen4nr2daayiziiyuy?t%3DBay_Curious\">\u003cimg width=\"75px\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/Google_Play_100x100.png\">\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/div>\r\n\u003c/aside> \r\n\u003ch2>What's your question?\u003c/h2>\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"huxq6\" class=\"curiosity-module\" data-pym-src=\"//modules.wearehearken.com/kqed/curiosity_modules/133\">\u003c/div>\r\n\u003cscript src=\"//assets.wearehearken.com/production/thirdparty/p.m.js\">\u003c/script>\r\n\u003ch2>Bay Curious monthly newsletter\u003c/h2>\r\nWe're launching it soon! \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdEtzbyNbSQkRHCCAkKhoGiAl3Bd0zWxhk0ZseJ1KH_o_ZDjQ/viewform\" target=\"_blank\">Sign up\u003c/a> so you don't miss it when it drops.\r\n",
"taxonomy": "series",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": "A podcast exploring the Bay Area one question at a time KQED’s Bay Curious gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers. What's your question? Bay Curious monthly newsletter We're launching it soon! Sign up so you don't miss it when it drops.",
"title": "Bay Curious Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 18020,
"slug": "baycurious",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/series/baycurious"
},
"news_269": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_269",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "269",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "BART",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "BART Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 277,
"slug": "bart",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/bart"
},
"news_1764": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_1764",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "1764",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "public transit",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "public transit Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 1777,
"slug": "public-transit",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/public-transit"
},
"news_2318": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_2318",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "2318",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "West Oakland",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "West Oakland Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 2333,
"slug": "west-oakland",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/west-oakland"
},
"news_18481": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_18481",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "18481",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "CALmatters",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "affiliate",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "CALmatters Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 18515,
"slug": "calmatters",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/affiliate/calmatters"
},
"news_33935": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33935",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33935",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "featured-california-reparations",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "featured-california-reparations Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 33952,
"slug": "featured-california-reparations",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/featured-california-reparations"
},
"news_17968": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_17968",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "17968",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "Politics",
"slug": "politics",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "Politics | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 18002,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/politics"
},
"news_30656": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_30656",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "30656",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "African American reparations",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "African American reparations Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 30673,
"slug": "african-american-reparations",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/african-american-reparations"
},
"news_18538": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_18538",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "18538",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "California",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "California Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 31,
"slug": "california",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/california"
},
"news_28250": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_28250",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "28250",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Local",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Local Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 28267,
"slug": "local",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/local"
},
"news_19122": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_19122",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "19122",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Antioch",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Antioch Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 19139,
"slug": "antioch",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/antioch"
},
"news_2960": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_2960",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "2960",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "legislation",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "legislation Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 2978,
"slug": "legislation",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/legislation"
},
"news_33821": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33821",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33821",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "racial justice act",
"slug": "racial-justice-act",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "racial justice act | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null,
"metaRobotsNoIndex": "noindex"
},
"ttid": 33838,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/racial-justice-act"
},
"news_33745": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33745",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33745",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Criminal Justice",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Criminal Justice Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 33762,
"slug": "criminal-justice",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/interest/criminal-justice"
},
"news_33544": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33544",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33544",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Political Breakdown",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "program",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Political Breakdown Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 33561,
"slug": "political-breakdown",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/program/political-breakdown"
},
"news_22235": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_22235",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "22235",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Political Breakdown",
"description": "\u003cimg class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-11638190\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/PB-for-FB-links.png\" alt=\"\" />\r\n\r\nJoin hosts\u003cstrong> Scott Shafer\u003c/strong> and \u003cstrong>Marisa Lagos\u003c/strong> as they unpack the week in politics with a California perspective. Featuring interviews with reporters and other insiders involved in the craft of politics—including elected officials, candidates, pollsters, campaign managers, fundraisers, and other political players—\u003ci>Political Breakdown \u003c/i>pulls back the curtain to offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics works today.\r\n\r\n\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/political-breakdown/id1327641087?mt=2\">\u003cimg src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/Listen_on_Apple_Podcasts_sRGB_US-e1515635079510.png\" />\u003c/a>",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": "Join hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos as they unpack the week in politics with a California perspective. Featuring interviews with reporters and other insiders involved in the craft of politics—including elected officials, candidates, pollsters, campaign managers, fundraisers, and other political players—Political Breakdown pulls back the curtain to offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics works today.",
"title": "Political Breakdown Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 22252,
"slug": "political-breakdown",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/political-breakdown"
},
"news_30069": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_30069",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "30069",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "california law",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "california law Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 30086,
"slug": "california-law",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/california-law"
},
"news_22307": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_22307",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "22307",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "california laws",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "california laws Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 22324,
"slug": "california-laws",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/california-laws"
},
"news_26731": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_26731",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "26731",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "The California Report Magazine",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "program",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "The California Report Magazine Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 26748,
"slug": "the-california-report-magazine",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/program/the-california-report-magazine"
},
"news_457": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_457",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "457",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Health",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Health Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 16998,
"slug": "health",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/health"
},
"news_1471": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_1471",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "1471",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "prisons",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "prisons Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 1483,
"slug": "prisons",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/prisons"
},
"news_33747": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33747",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33747",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Health",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "interest",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Health Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 33764,
"slug": "health",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/interest/health"
},
"news_19522": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_19522",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "19522",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "corruption",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "corruption Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 19539,
"slug": "corruption",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/corruption"
},
"news_4738": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_4738",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "4738",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "female sterilization",
"slug": "female-sterilization",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "female sterilization | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null,
"metaRobotsNoIndex": "noindex"
},
"ttid": 4757,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/female-sterilization"
},
"news_32261": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_32261",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "32261",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "forced sterilizations",
"slug": "forced-sterilizations",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "forced sterilizations | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null,
"metaRobotsNoIndex": "noindex"
},
"ttid": 32278,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/forced-sterilizations"
},
"news_4585": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_4585",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "4585",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "sterilization",
"slug": "sterilization",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "sterilization | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null,
"metaRobotsNoIndex": "noindex"
},
"ttid": 4604,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/sterilization"
},
"news_6266": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_6266",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "6266",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Housing",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Housing Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 6290,
"slug": "housing",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/housing"
},
"news_3921": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_3921",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "3921",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "affordable housing",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "affordable housing Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 3940,
"slug": "affordable-housing",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/affordable-housing"
},
"news_22210": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_22210",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "22210",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Fillmore District",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Fillmore District Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 22227,
"slug": "fillmore-district",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/fillmore-district"
},
"news_1775": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_1775",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "1775",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "housing",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "housing Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 1790,
"slug": "housing",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/housing"
},
"news_23056": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_23056",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "23056",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "japantown",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "japantown Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 23073,
"slug": "japantown",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/japantown"
},
"news_38": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_38",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "38",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "San Francisco",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "San Francisco Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 58,
"slug": "san-francisco",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/san-francisco"
},
"news_1217": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_1217",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "1217",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Scott Wiener",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Scott Wiener Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 1229,
"slug": "scott-wiener",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/scott-wiener"
},
"news_6544": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_6544",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "6544",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "SOMA",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "SOMA Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 6568,
"slug": "soma",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/soma"
}
},
"userPermissionsReducer": {
"wpLoggedIn": false
},
"eventsReducer": {},
"fssReducer": {},
"tvDailyScheduleReducer": {},
"tvWeeklyScheduleReducer": {},
"tvPrimetimeScheduleReducer": {},
"tvMonthlyScheduleReducer": {},
"userAccountReducer": {
"user": {
"email": null,
"emailStatus": "EMAIL_UNVALIDATED",
"loggedStatus": "LOGGED_OUT",
"loggingChecked": false,
"articles": [],
"firstName": null,
"lastName": null,
"phoneNumber": null,
"fetchingMembership": false,
"membershipError": false,
"memberships": [
{
"id": null,
"startDate": null,
"firstName": null,
"lastName": null,
"familyNumber": null,
"memberNumber": null,
"memberSince": null,
"expirationDate": null,
"pfsEligible": false,
"isSustaining": false,
"membershipLevel": "Prospect",
"membershipStatus": "Non Member",
"lastGiftDate": null,
"renewalDate": null,
"lastDonationAmount": null
}
]
},
"authModal": {
"isOpen": false,
"view": "LANDING_VIEW"
},
"error": null
},
"youthMediaReducer": {},
"checkPleaseReducer": {
"filterData": {
"region": {
"key": "Restaurant Region",
"filters": [
"Any Region"
]
},
"cuisine": {
"key": "Restaurant Cuisine",
"filters": [
"Any Cuisine"
]
}
},
"restaurantDataById": {},
"restaurantIdsSorted": [],
"error": null
},
"userAgentReducer": {
"userAgent": "Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)",
"isBot": true
}
}
