S1: It’s time for Midday Edition on Kpbs. Today , we are talking about California’s final reparations report. I’m Jade Hindman. Here’s to conversations that keep you informed , inspired and make you think. California’s now secretary of state , Dr. Shirley Webber , led the charge to get a state task force to study reparations in California. And I thought to myself.
S2:
S1: That’s ahead on Midday Edition. Welcome in San Diego. It’s Jade Hindman. On today’s show , we are exploring the final report from the California Reparations Task Force. What’s in it and what are the recommendations for Redress ? This is Midday Edition connecting our communities through conversation. On June 29th , the California Reparations Task Force , after more than two years of effort , submitted their final report to state legislators. The 1100 page report proposes hundreds of recommendations for reparations for black Californians to address the legacy of slavery and systemic racism. Here’s what one of the public commentators , Marion Johnson , had to say at the June 29th meeting today.
S3: This is a grand stand for us. We thank you so much for all the work that you’re doing. But let’s continue on to get repaired , restored and repaid for the pain that was inflicted upon our community.
S1: I’m joined now by California Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Webber , who authored the bill to create the reparations Task Force , which was formed in 2020. Dr. Webber , welcome back to Midday Edition. Well , thank.
S2: You for the invitation having me here. Appreciate it.
S1: So glad to have you. You are the driving force behind the creation of California’s reparations task force.
S2: And so it’s been a journey. And we just finished doing a resolution in our in the assembly saying we supported we support it. And and so at that point , I said , well , when it failed again in Washington , I said , you know , California can do this. We had just finished doing some I had actually just finished doing some very difficult legislation that that dealt with police and use of force and a host of other things. And so I thought , well , you know , if anybody in the assembly is going to try it , it’ll probably be me. And if anybody could probably get through , it might be me as well , because of the fact that I have have had some good relationships with members in the House and in the Senate. And and it really was forming a task force. And reparations is something that this nation is known for doing. Its not not asking for anything out of the extraordinary. And we had a governor who would believe would work with us and complement the bill in terms of him supporting it. So we were in the midst of doing a lot of unique things in the legislature and leading in a lot of areas. And I thought to myself , if not California , then who ? And and that has proven to be true because it doesn’t take us a couple of years to get the resolution , get the bill passed. It took actually less than a full session , less than a year to get the bill written and get it passed. Get the support from the Black Caucus is one of their priorities. And so I just thought it was time. You know , we had wasted a lot of time. And the complications in Washington continue to grow. And we could not just depend on them to provide the leadership. And California is known for leadership.
S1:
S2: One of the things that I’ve found somewhat refreshing and in this whole process is that a number of cities decided that they were going to try to do some reparations in their city because of the conditions and and the status of African Americans in their local city. So LA now has a task force and the Bay Area has a task force. And then then small cities across the nation decided , you know , we can do something even in San Diego , which is where my home is , our foundation , the San Diego Foundation decided that they wanted to see what they could do about homeownership because that was one of the issues raised. And they felt , well , we can make a difference. And so they’ve begun looking at homeownership and ways in which they can help African Americans improve their data with regards to the ownership of homes. So I think it has opened up an opportunity for a lot of individuals across the nation. There have been organized groups before , but never organized at this level from the legislature and from the large state. And so now we’re having more and more individuals asking us about what to do. New York is looking at a a a task force as well. And so other states are saying , you know , we don’t have to sit and wait for for Washington. We can actually do this ourselves and our cities and our nonprofit organizations. And so across the nation , people are looking carefully at it and learning a lot about reparations.
S1:
S2: I intentionally did want to be on the task force because I felt we needed to hear the voices of the community much more than the continuing voices of legislators. And so it’s been good to see that the diverse group of individuals , in terms of their background , their age , their experience and and watch them work as a team to arrive at a product that I think they’re very pleased with. I was pleased that our attorney general , Rob Bonta , which the bill was put into his operation and did an excellent job and put in pulling together additional staff and persons. The governor funded the task force with resources so they could travel to meetings and they could bring in experts. And and and I’ve just just been impressed as I’ve every turn as I’ve looked at the material , the hearings , the things that have taken place , everybody has their issues and concerns. And sometimes it’s not a unanimous decision , but it’s a good decision because they are moving forward with with making some recommendations. Right.
S1: That in mind , the final 1100 page report has many recommendations in its pages.
S2: If you’re a young person looking at it , then you’re going to you’re going to say , this is great because it may help me with my entrance to the university and , and putting my path forward. I think to those who have been struggling for so long , home ownership is a big issue for them. And and so you look at it and you realize depending on where you are , even as I was talking with someone when they were asking about cash , cash out , things said , you know , depending on where you are in your life. So there have been a lot of African Americans in the state who came to California and they’re in their 70s and 80 , mostly in their 80s now 80 in some 90s , who lived in some very difficult circumstances where their plumbing is bad , they don’t have the resources to remodel their home. And and so I see them live and work with these really difficult conditions that continue to disintegrate because they don’t have the resources , They can’t get the loans. They weren’t advantaged when they were young to be able to have the kinds of jobs and opportunities that others and said in those cases , you know , cash might be important because they could or the opportunity to renovate their homes and to give them at least some relief from the racism they faced all of their lives in California , the United States , but at least having a decent place to live. So everyone’s going to approach it differently. And I’m hoping that we’ll first spend some time figuring out what things that we recommended that we already do. And I think we look at the educational piece. The legislature just did $300 million annually for the improvement of achievement for African American students. And so and and so it’ll be important to make sure that we factor in all the resources that are currently exist that address this issue and make sure it addresses not just the broad issue of poverty , but really the issue of race and African Americans in California. So I’m looking forward to us initially pulling out , and some have already begun to do that where we are in terms of resources and and those resources as they impact African American lives. And then we need to address some of the bold issues of economics and and redistribution of resources , whether it’s a housing shortage , whether it’s jobs. We see the nation has pretty much turned its back on anything that talks about affirmative action. And that’s why this reparations is a harm based issue , not a race based issue. So we will have to basically deal with that and began slowly but surely to to basically rebuild the role of African Americans in California and the resources that they deserve. I anticipate this will take there’ll be things done in the next year , but we anticipate that there will continue to be things that may take a little bit longer to recreate the kind of equity and purity that needs to happen.
S1: And , you know , Governor Newsom , he was not in attendance at the final meeting of the task force.
S2: He and I have had some conversation about a lot of things that we’re already doing , and I think his staff is working on that to make sure that there’s some sense of what where we are with the resources that have happened in the last few years and and making sure that that’s there. Um , the task force task was the governor signed the bill , but it really was a bill of the legislature and , and and up to the legislature to actually implement the bill. And that’s why the California Legislative Black Caucus took leadership with regards to the bill being present , receiving the reports and our planning right now , what they’re going to do in terms of how they’re going to address each one of the issues and which issues we will address first. So wanting to prioritize things so that we realize what we have to work with and what things need to be done right away , which things timely and then what things may take a while. It’s like dealing with the issue of education. It’s in in in the in in the report. It’s not going to happen in a year because we’ve gotten too far down in terms of student achievement. But some of it will happen and it may happen at the upper level with regards to high school students and college admissions. But there are a lot of things that we can do almost immediately in California to to basically begin to to create the sense of fairness and equity that’s so essential.
S1: You’re listening to Midday Edition on Kpbs. We’re speaking with California Secretary of State Shirley Weber about the California Reparations Task Force’s final report. Dr. Weber And apology is among the task force’s recommendations.
S2: Um , I think as most of the apologies have been , there have been somewhat , um , small in terms of the words that are actually being stated , but clearly an apology that , that recognizes that there have been wrongs done , that there is some some responsibility for it and that that the responsibility for lies with those who are in the California who live in California , and that we don’t shuffle it off to the ancestors and the this and the that where people say , well I’m I wasn’t here when these things happen. Yeah. But we all somehow enjoy the sunshine and the benefits of what took place. So an apology that that people have given to the Native Americans and some others that are really a blueprint for saying basically understanding one , that that a harm was created to that you’re responsible for that harm. And three , that you never plan to have it happen again , that you’re going to put things in place to make sure that you don’t go down that same road again. So those are the things that people look for in apology and a commitment from those who are making the apology that their behavior and the behavior of those that they work with up and down the state obviously will will be will be transformed into something that will be much more beneficial for.
S1: During this process of researching and analyzing the harms of chattel slavery , there was much conversation about eligibility for reparations.
S2: And understand in many of the other groups in the Japanese groups , everyone has the issue of who is eligible to receive any kind of reparations if it’s harmed based. And you have to look at who who basically was affected by the harm and where the harm was done. And and clearly , there are those who are not were not born in the United States who , you know , maybe recent arrivals or 30 or 40 years are individuals who have suffered as a result of the impact of that. But there’s so much more to it in terms of eligibility that that exists there. You see , when you , um , when you have ancestors who were enslaved in this country for as long as our ancestors were there knowledge of self , their knowledge of their history , their background , their past. I was talking with someone the other day about it and I said , you know , it’s it’s , it’s really when you began to really realize what took place during slavery , all of our souls were taken away. In many ways. We have been spending our time trying to rebuild our identity , rebuild where we came from to really understand our culture. Those things were taken away when I talked to my friends or even my son in law , who was a was from Kenya , he he can trace his people all the way back. He knows his tradition. He knows everyone that for generations of who his relatives were and the resources that they had and how and how they survived , we don’t have that information. We don’t many of us don’t know much more than our grandparents or great grandparents , depending on our age of where they came from and who they were and and what kind of skills and knowledge that they had and what we can build on to make ourselves happy and proud that we were individuals that that survived this , but also where we came from and the strength of that. So , you know , the taking away of our names. Many of us are trying to trace our ancestors back to a village that we can think we can kind of get the chance to see who the people are. All of us have tried that. And and we get so far. But it’s really interesting that it doesn’t go far enough because obviously they took not only our our last name and gave us another name. And then you have to find out what plantation you are. And it goes on and on and on so that some point you realize it’s a it’s a it’s a it’s a brick wall and that you’re not going to get very far. You’ll get to some relatives , but not enough. So when we started talking about harm done , that that is the deepest harm because what it takes away all of your identity. But then too , it creates a mental state. I mean , I tell people my grandfather was afraid of his whole life and that had to have some impact upon his children and what they did in life. But person comes in to the United States in the last 30 or 40 years , was African American , may have some difficulty getting jobs and applications. But they’re but they’re not afraid as as those who lived through the Jim Crow South whose ancestors were slaves , who were limited in what they could do and were forever afraid that someone would walk in and take everything they had , which happened often and and then led someone in the process. And there would be no no compensation. There would be nothing done to anyone who abused or misused or even kill someone in those days. So it’s that kind of , um , reality that those of us who were who are descendants of slaves had somehow or another our vision changed about who we are and what we could achieve. And I often say , and it may not be true that Obama had a different mentality about becoming president. He believed he could because he had. Grandmother who was white and a grandfather who was white , and he had a father from from Kenya. He had no relative who had actually been enslaved in this country. And therefore , his his his his optimism and his outlook for himself was totally different than than so many others who had thought about running for office but realized the fear and the apprehensions and and the vision of the limitation of visions that you that you might have. So it it has a direct impact. And if we got if we have to talk about harm , you have to go to the first source of the harm. And there may be some residual impacts that are there also other countries in the Caribbean , many of them have reparations activities and they’re in the process of doing it. And when I was at the UN , I got a chance to hear from some of them. And none of them , none of them have included African Americans in the United States who were who were at chattel slavery. None of them included us in their reparations. The reparations are strictly based in the Caribbean for those who live and and were abused or misused in the Caribbean.
S4: Mm hmm.
S1: So the task force , you know , here at least , has done its job , delivered this final report.
S2: As as the work that they’re going to do in the next few years. They are totally committed to the success of the reparations. They are looking at ways and they’re going to be working between now and the beginning of the next session , which will be in January , to begin to talk about what they can do and what legislation will come forward and how they restructuring. So they’ve they’ve already begun to organize and to figure out how they were going to do this , how they’re also going to keep the public engaged and informed. And so they’re going to take up the charge that they should , as legislators of the Black Caucus , to really take this bill and give it legislation , give it funding , giving the things that it needs and fight for it. And hopefully they they’re also in a position to bring along their colleagues from the other caucuses that that exist in the legislature to to because they themselves have helped the Chicano Caucus. They’ve helped the Native American Caucus. They felt the LGBT caucus , the women’s caucus , they’ve helped all of those caucuses in very difficult times to pass legislation that advantaged them , that gave them the kind of justice that they deserve. And we expect that we’ll have the same level of support from the other caucuses. Okay.
S4: Okay.
S1: Random question.
S2: I was asked to speak at the U.N. for reparations , so we weren’t necessarily excluded. But I think part of the problems that the United States has never felt it needed to give us reparations. And and as a result , as we’ve gone around the world and shared reparations with everyone else , and it’s a difficult to to understand why I have my own concept of why I think it is. But when you look at the US involvement in reparations , we have given reparations to almost everyone other than African Americans , and it has to be a sense of feeling of guilt that they think that they did us a favor by bringing us here , that that’s oftentimes people will say , Look , if you been in Africa , where would you be ? I said , If you hadn’t taken all of us from Africa , where we’re Africa ? Be That’s the most important question. And and so as a result , there hasn’t been this , um , this this real welcoming that , that we deserve reparations. And I think much of it has to do with feelings of guilt some people don’t even want to admit or acknowledge , as we find now that no one wants to even talk about having been enslaved because a new idea of being woke or being a critical race theory or whatever folks talk about , has a tendency to want to wipe the slate clean and not have any traces of the of of the past , despite the fact that the past is still impacting in the streets with our law enforcement , with our schools , we’re still adversely impacted as a result of of of the the racism and and people’s perception of us as being dangerous and so forth and so on. And while we see it every day , we have a tendency to try to pretend that it doesn’t exist , you know , when people are being shot because they were driving somebody’s driveway or knock on somebody’s door and people say , I was afraid. Afraid of what ? I mean , you know , those kinds of things , creating this this image that that African Americans were , you know , barbaric , were out of control. We could not do certain things. And therefore , it gives people the right to not treat them fairly. So it is it is going to be a journey in terms of people’s mental state to come to recognition. That’s why the apology so important that they did something wrong and they continue to do something wrong and that they have to recognize that if they’re going to basically improve what not only the lives of African Americans , but improve the life of Americans who live here , to basically understand that these things happen and that we should never , ever go down that path again.
S1: I’ve been speaking with California Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Webber. And Dr. Webber , thank you so much for joining us.
S2: Thank you for the opportunity. And I hope the public stays tuned because there’ll be lots of conversations concerning reparations. And the document is on the Internet so anyone can read it and can respond to it and hopefully become engaged. Thank you.
S1: What harms have you experienced from the legacy of chattel slavery and what do you think reparations should look like ? Give us a call. (619) 452-0228. You can leave a message or you can email us at midday at pbs.org. Coming up , the conversation continues with San Diego City Council President Pro Tem Monica Montgomery , who shares her experience on the task force.
S5: It really was emotional. I felt that it was one of the most impactful. The things that I would probably do in my entire career.
S1: You’re listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. Welcome back. You’re listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. I’m Jade Hindman. We just heard from California’s secretary of state , Dr. Shirley Webber , about the journey of the state’s reparations task force. Now we hear from one of the task forces members who helped to author its final 1100 plus page report. Monica Montgomery Steppe is president pro tem of the San Diego City Council , representing San Diego’s fourth District , as well as being a member of the California Reparations Task Force. Monica , welcome to Midday Edition.
S5: Thank you so much for having me.
S1: Glad to have you here. So at the June 29th meeting , the task force delivered its final 1100 page report.
S5: We had spent two full years of powerful testimonies , folks telling their stories over generations and really bringing and shedding a light upon the trauma that had been inflicted on this particular community , which is the community of descendants of enslaved people. And so to go through all of that and to come out with an 1100 page report to be able to deliver that to the California state legislature , it really was emotional. I felt that it was one of the most impactful things that I would probably do in my entire career. Major sense of purpose. So I’m really honored to have been a part of this process and just to have been a witness of it and to be able to add my input into it. I know that there’s a lot of work ahead , but it really , really was a heavy lift to get this report and these recommendations to the California state legislature.
S1: And there is a lot in this report. We’ll dig into more of the details later in the interview.
S5: One phase in the first year was really to make the case to , you know , provide the public with the links between , you know , the slavery itself , you know , California’s participation , and then those badges and incidents of slavery that we see , you know , reinventing themselves in the system that we have. And then , you know , the second year was to really dig into the interim recommendation and to throw those ideas , you know , forward to the task force members and to the public and also to the Department of Justice who really helped us and really was the backbone of of compiling all of the facts that have been included in the report. And so the report breaks down , you know , these harms that that the descendants on enslaved people have experienced into separate categories. And we kind of broke up into committees within the task force to concentrate on those various categories. And also , I would note that , you know , another important part of this process is bringing the experts in for expert testimony. So we heard Powerful. Testimonies , personal testimonies , and we also heard expert testimonies throughout this process. And so that is what the report. That includes and that is what we’ll be taking to the state lawmakers to prepare a full , you know , full package that addresses reparations and the harms.
S1: To put this proposal together. You didn’t just rely on experts or testimony. I mean , there was a lot that went into this. There was data as well , right ? Absolutely.
S5: Absolutely. So in every piece of this report , there is significant data attached. I will say that erasure is real and in some instances it was hard to find. Information and data that would back up every aspect of some of the personal testimony. For example , we had many members of our communities throughout the state come to us and tell us about their their their family land that had been taken away either by an eminent domain process or by other means , and being able to track some of those stories within our archives in the various municipalities proved to be very , very difficult. And that is part of the oppression , right , that we talk about. That’s part of the process. And that was a contributor in erasing people’s stories , thereby erasing their sense of ownership. And so we had to overcome many of those types of obstacles to get to where we are. But , you know , with 1100 pages of information , there’s still a lot of information out there. It just this is the first time that it’s really in one place of this type of magnitude. Yes. We’ve had other previous studies. We’ve had the Kerner Report. We’ve had other studies. But this is the first of its kind that takes all of those different categories and does a really , really deep dive into the history and then also has quite a few recommendations that are placed in this report.
S1: Speaking of recommendations , I mean , the report puts forth more than 100 policy recommendations.
S5: But I do want to talk about our. Um.
S6: Um.
S5: Recommendation with regard to Proposition 209 , because we have seen the recent Supreme Court decision. I also talk extensively about my own experience and my family’s experience from the passage of Proposition 209. And , you know , there are universal recommendations like that in the report , and there are also some more specific ones that have to do more with the community of descendants of enslaved people. But with regard to Proposition two to oh nine , I talked about my family’s experience , and that was one of the most impactful recommendations for me because , you know , as we know , Prop two nine , in 1996 , it was passed and it prohibited state entities from using race or ethnicity or sex as a criteria for public employment , you know , for public contracting and public education. And we see the impacts of that in California to this very day. But it came at a time for my family when my parents had owned a very successful construction company where they were working hard every day to take care of their family. And they were also , you know , building generational wealth for my brothers and me. And so , you know , because of the passage of two and nine , I saw a very real and direct connection to the impact on my family. My parents , um , dissolved their business , although they have started it back up as of now. And my brother is working hard at the business now , so that is a good thing. But at the time in 1996 , they had to ultimately dissolve their business based on Prop 209 and that had other impacts in our family. And so this report coming to fruition and that being one of the recommendations that we find ways to include , you know , my minority businesses or businesses that are owned by people of color so that they can really begin again in California to build wealth for their families or at least even just to , you know , make a good living here was is very , very important to me. And that certainly is one of the recommendations. We also know I’ve been very involved in speaking out against the fallacies of our criminal legal system. So this report also includes the breadth of recommendations around what we call in the report and unjust legal system. So , you know , it’s it’s very exciting. I really , really , really encourage people to go to the report and read it. You know , this is a topic that has not been discussed in the way that it should around reparations.
S1: Coming up , the conversation continues with how the African-American community responded here in California to the study of reparations for chattel slavery.
S5: It gave community a space to talk about these issues and to be heard on these issues and to be believed.
S1: You’re listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. You’re listening to Midday Edition on Kpbs. We’re speaking with Monica Montgomery Stepp about the California Reparations Task Force final report. And Monica , assessing the cost and impacts of housing discrimination against black Californians. That was a major point of emphasis for the task force.
S4:
S5: The trauma aspect of this is very real , and it’s really hard to quantify that. But we took the approach and the same approach that we have taken over the last two years to make sure that the recommendations that we put forward , including dealing with the wealth gap and the compensation piece , that is one part of an entire reparations package. We did bring in economic experts from across the world. Who provide us with their recommendations and with formulas that would somehow. Encapsulate some of the harm that process. We met with the economic advisors. Probably almost half of the meetings we had , they were there with us. And that’s where also the data collection was so important for them to be able to do a full economic analysis over this wealth gap and to quantify the health harms , the impact of redlining , the impact of loss of business , the impact of the criminal legal system to quantify those things economically. Certainly not an easy task. There’s a lot of talk about the compensation piece , you know , rightfully so. It’s something that we do have to grapple with. But , you know , it is taking us as a state , you know , hundreds of years to deal with this as a nation. Over 400 years , it has taken for us to deal with this issue. And we have to at some point confronted no matter what the outcome is , because we did bring in experts to sort of quantify these amounts and at least start the conversation. We know that the harms are there. We know that the harms are still , you know , impacting people generation after generation. We spoke about , you know , the impact of the physical body and the trauma that has been inflicted upon. People. Descendants of enslaved people. You have to at some point address that. It’s been done , you know , in other places across the world. It’s been done here , right here in the United States. And we have to include that as a part of this reparations conversation , although it is not the only piece that is a part of the reparations conversation. Mhm.
S7: Mhm.
S1: And you know , I mean , you touched on compensation. Did you come up with a ballpark figure on what that would be or what it looks like in California. Yes.
S5: Yes. Well , this is where the one of our recommendations is for an office that we call a Freedmen’s Bureau of Affairs that would allow for those who are ultimately eligible to determine , you know , what that eligibility looks like and what reparations would look like for them. And what I mean by that is the way that the calculations have been made , there’s not necessarily a set amount. And again , this comes from the task force. This is you know , we do not know what the state legislature is going to do yet. And there’s , you know , a lot of work ahead of us to make sure that this issue is addressed appropriately. But , you know , someone who has suffered health , health harms , that is , you know , 70 years old , may get an amount that is different from someone who has suffered health harms or loss of a business that is 40 years old. So it doesn’t it’s not one amount that is applied to each individual person. It really depends on the circumstances and the impact of , you know , whatever harm it is that a person may come to the table with. So it is complex. And that’s why we wanted to set up this office to ensure that everyone that is eligible is has access to the information that they need and has folks to be able to guide them through whatever process will be set up. When we talk about. Reparations.
S4: Reparations.
S1: And the task force held 16 public meetings over the course of its work and heard from many experts , but also many Californians with the lived experience of systemic racism and the ongoing impact of chattel slavery.
S5: Like I said , it was a labor of love because we were finally just kind of scratching the surface of. Hundreds of years of disparate treatment. Unjust treatment. And the pain that is attached to that. But when we listen to the actual stories. There’s really a lot of anecdotal evidence there. To help us through this process. And we have to continue to lift up those stories because it is a part of the process and it does help to inform the larger public about how severe this issue really is and , you know , how we should all be dedicated to truth and justice that is surrounding this conversation about reparations. So , you know , like I said , this would be probably one of the most impactful things that I have done in my life because it gave people an opportunity and a space to truly be heard. So many times in our history , we have dismissed the stories of black people and descendants of enslaved people. We have said people are making excuses. We have said people are lazy. We have not believed people when they tell us their stories. But in this instance , the task force , along with the 1100 page report , along with all of the recommendations , along with the formal passing of this report and proposals to the state legislature , it gave community a space. To talk about these issues and to be heard on these issues and to be believed. And to turn that pain into this purpose has really been an honor of a lifetime. And I also. Personally was able to connect some of the dots in my own personal story that I may not have been able to do without this process. So I’m very appreciative of , you know , Dr. Shirley Webber , now our secretary of state , that fought hard to even get this this bill passed. The appointment that I received from Senate President Pro Tem Tony Atkins. The work of the task force members who are all extremely brilliant and brought everything they had to this space every time we met in all of the time in between the chair , Camilla Moore , for standing strong in her conviction. This has just been an awesome , awesome process and I’m just encouraged that many people will learn from it.
S1: Ongoing health disparities between black and white people in the state was also tackled in this formal report or this final report , rather.
S5: One is , you know , ways to address anti-black discrimination in health care. You know , we’re providing medical , social workers and health care advocates to people who are experienced that experiencing that type of discrimination. We want to improve diversity among clinical trial participants even , which is another level to this. We want to mandate standardized data collection. There’s so many things within our system on a very granular level that we would need to do to address those health harms and health disparities that we see in our communities. You know , of course , we talked about the higher rates of injury and death among African American mothers and infants and ways to decrease that that infant mortality rate. And so , you know , there’s there is a lot when it comes to the health harms that have been experienced by African Americans in California. But now we have a place to go to look at recommendations , a breadth of recommendations all in one place. Absolutely. We did discuss that in some of our expert testimony that came before us. During the task force meetings. It is also reported extensively in the proposals and you know that we are submitting to the state legislature.
S6: And , you.
S5: Know , some of that results in ongoing generational , physical harm. And in addition , you know , mental harm and neglect. And so just being able to even teach our medical students about that type of generational trauma that particularly people who are descendants of enslaved people. Have within us daily. As we go on with our lives. It’s very , very important. It’s addressed extensively by the task force. And by this report. And I’m really , really looking forward to seeing what we can do at the state level to implement some of these recommendations.
S1: I’ve been joined by San Diego City Council President Pro Tem Monica Montgomery Stepp about her work with the California Reparations Task Force. And Monica , thank you very much for joining us.
S5: Thank you so much for having me , Jay.