S1: It’s time for Midday Edition on Kpbs. Reparations will be a big legislative issue for California , so we’ll talk about the issues at stake. I’m Jade Hindman. Here’s the conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and make you think. From the controversy over who’s eligible for reparations.
S2: These are the people who went through the lion’s share of the racial trauma that has to do with violence , the racial trauma that has to do with economic violence.
S1: To the impact California’s policy could have on the nation. We’ll talk to the journalist behind a new marketplace series on reparations. Then we’ll talk about how San Diego County is helping small nonprofits tackle social and racial justice. That’s ahead on Midday Edition. It’s been seven months since the release of California’s Reparations Task Force report. The 1100 page document proposes hundreds of recommendations to address the legacy of human chattel enslavement and systemic racism imposed on the descendants of chattel slaves living in California. Now , California lawmakers are gearing up to debate these recommendations , in particular economic reparations for black residents descended from enslaved ancestors. Marketplace Morning Report chronicled the road to reparations in a three part series called Golden Promises. It came out last week. Journalist Lee Hawkins reported the series. He’s also the author of the book Nobody’s Slave How Uncovering My Family’s History Set Me Free , which comes out later this year. He joins me now to talk about California’s reparations movement and the challenges that lie ahead. Lee , welcome to Midday Edition. Hello.
S2: Hello.
S1: So glad to have you here.
S2: Compensation to black American descendants of slavery , and also those whose family members who were in California before 1900. And it could look like direct payments. It could look like tax opportunities for people to buy homes. It could look like a health care benefits. It could look like all kinds of things similar to the GI Bill and other things that African-Americans were excluded from throughout history in this country. And so the same kinds of formulaic decisions that were made for the GI Bill would be made for reparations.
S1: And there’s currently a bill in the California legislature that would create a first of its kind agency to carry out and distribute reparations. It could be voted on as soon as this year. What exactly does the bill entail there ? Yes.
S2: And what the SB 490 bill , authored by Senator Bradford of California would be , is to establish an agency which would be the agency that would administer reparations because they want to actually have an agency and a bureaucracy that would handle the millions of payments that would be made if this were passed. And so his feeling is that this framework has to be put in place for something this large and this massive. They can’t even make the decision about reparations until they establish that kind of agency that’s going to even decide who would be eligible for reparations. So at this point , it’s been recommended by the Reparations Task Force that African Americans , whose family members were there before 1900 are the people who are qualified for this. But the agency would have to make that final decision. And so they would have to go through genealogical records and all kinds of records to establish people qualifying for this. So that agency would be the clearinghouse for all reparations payments. And they want to do that first before they do anything.
S1: And as you you , you know , just talked about eligibility was a huge topic of debate among the task force.
S2: And a lot of it is because of the fact that these are the people who went through the lion’s share of the racial trauma that has to do with violence , the racial trauma that has to do with economic violence. When you have 4 or 5 , six generations of your family members , in some cases , 18 generations of family members who went through slavery and worked for free for that whole period of time and then went through another block of time where they were under Jim Crow laws which restricted voting , which restricted marriage rights , which restricted employment. All of that has direct impact on wealth accumulation and wealth transfer. If you’re a person whose family member , for instance , came in in 2015 or even 1995 or something , yes , there was definitely discrimination that those African Americans went through , such as police brutality and redlining and racial covenants. But it does not in the Reparations Task Force. His opinion equate to the the devastating racial trauma that’s intergenerational , that was experienced by those people who not only experienced the trauma , but also led the movement in response to the trauma , to get America to get one step closer to living up to the ideals set forth in the Constitution. And that was the civil rights movement that was led by those African Americans , the African American descendants of slavery. Mhm.
S3: Mhm.
S1: And you mentioned that there will be a state agency that will help families prove their eligibility.
S2: People believe that the records are not there , and that could not be the farthest from the truth. In many cases , the records are there. There are baptisms. These people were baptized. These people had insurance policies taken out on their lives. They were commodities. And whenever there’s a commodity , you pay taxes on commodities , you receive benefits related to commodities. And believe me , slave owners , uh , were on point with their records. And so to prove through census records and other data , that isn’t the challenge. The biggest challenge is going to be public opinion. The biggest challenge is going to be for them. I believe the majority of Americans , the 68% of Americans who do not believe that reparations is a viable public policy options for many , many reasons , some which are rooted in a misunderstanding of history , some which are rooted in not knowing history , and some which are rooted in the legitimate feeling that despite the history , Black Americans should not receive reparations. And so that debate in that educational process is going to take a lot to get people in California fully on board. And I think that part of the Reparations Task Force’s focus was to go through that process and get educated themselves. And they put together over the three year period , an 1100 page report that is devastatingly sad. Jade. I mean , it really , no matter where you stand on this issue , the history cannot be disputed. There should be not one person , whether they’re Republican , whether they’re Democrat. There shouldn’t be people disagreeing with the history because the history is what it is , and it’s exhaustive and the citations are all there. Um , and you just can’t dispute what happened with the system of white supremacy in America. And that is really , really difficult to swallow. And that is going to be the hardest part as well , I think , for the public to accept the truth about what has happened and what this country did to people of color.
S1: You know the report , it doesn’t recommend a specific amount for compensation.
S2: And there have been numbers thrown out. There was a number thrown out by a commission in San Francisco that was a whopping $5 million. Jade and Senator Bradford and the members of the task force that I interviewed , they were passionate , if not self-righteous , about making sure that the $5 million figure was not their number because they don’t want these exorbitant numbers or numbers that could be seen to be just unrealistic to torpedo the policy. I think that they stayed away from mentioning a number , uh , because they really wanted to first establish the history and the need for rectifying this situation that has affected so many generations of people. And when numbers start to get thrown out , it really becomes then about the number and not about the actual substantive issues that would lead to any reparations payment.
S1: So , you know , when we’re talking about history and influencing public opinion , I know that was really key for the Japanese redress movement , for example , educating the public and educating legislators on what internment was and what the experience was for Japanese Americans. But with education really being attacked now , academia being attacked by the far right , book bans , curricula being banned. I mean , do you think there’s a larger strategy here to suppress this type of history and information in order to influence public opinion about reparations ? Yes.
S2: I think that right now in this country , there is a battle in a culture war over American history. The truth of the matter is we as a country have yet to accept our truth , you know ? The Founding Fathers understood that the original sin was created and it was perpetuated through generations. And that isn’t something that is a political statement. To say that for all but 60 years of America’s existence , it has been a country of legal white supremacy in which whites were supreme , codified under the law. And that is not a political statement. That is a fact. And no matter where you stand on the political spectrum , you can’t dispute that. And I think that that is really hard because we’ve been irresponsible with our understanding of patriotism in this country. We have to be more responsible about what patriotism means and what the truth of the country means in terms of the meritocracy. There are many people who really believed at their core , that they grew up in an America that wasn’t a meritocracy , where everyone had the equal opportunity and everybody had liberty and justice for all. But the truth of that is , 20% of the population at any given time before 1964 , could not compete on fair footing with white people in this country. And what incentive do people have to accept that it takes a person of incredible high character to accept that for generations , their families had or did not have a disadvantage ? I won’t even say had an advantage. I’ll just say did not have a disadvantage. But not having a disadvantage is an advantage , right ? And so and once again , that’s just a fact. I mean , if one person can vote and one person can’t , then that’s an advantage. If one person can apply for this job and one person can’t , that’s an advantage. If one person could live in the in this neighborhood and one person can’t , that’s an advantage , okay. And a lot of those advantages go far beyond the lynchings and the killings and the dragons and the stabbings and the people who were disappeared and never to be heard again , to a level of economic violence that has affected African American families for generations , according to the Reparations Commission. And so that’s really hard history , Jade , for America to accept. Hmm.
S3: Hmm. And , you know , learning.
S1: This part of American history is something that is a continuous journey. What really surprised you about California’s history of racism and slavery ? And what did you learn doing this reporting.
S2: This was a wonderful opportunity for me because I’m someone who has studied slavery in my own family now for about ten years in preparation for a book that I have coming out. And even I didn’t know how prevalent slavery was in California , particularly during the gold rush when people were allowed to bring slaves into California , and the fact that there was a fugitive slave law , which also was devastating for people who wanted to seek freedom and were not allowed to. And , you know , all the way up to 1947 , there were all kinds of Jim Crow laws in place in California , and then also the racial covenants that were put into mortgage deeds that allowed people to discriminate and prohibit black people from buying homes in certain neighborhoods. And the redlining and the way that people were redlined out of communities. California to me , is a place that I always love to visit. It’s one of the most diverse places in the country. It has a progressive agenda , and people generally get along kind of like where I live in New York City. But I think that this legacy was buried and it was it was done so well that we believe that slavery and Jim Crow were concentrated just in the South. And the truth of the matter is , is the Jim Crow policies were started in the non slavery states because those were the states where even if black people weren’t in mass and bondage , they wanted to make sure that the opportunities still went primarily to white people. And so I had to really accept that the South was not really the only place that really had concentrated racism. It was all over the country , and California was a big , big , big part of that history.
S1: You know , you mentioned doing your own research on your family. I’m curious to know what that process was like for you , especially emotionally.
S2: Oh thank you , Jade. That’s a very important question that I think that every American needs to be asked when they delve into this history. Delving into family history is something that took America by storm. Starting in about 2013 , when the various different companies started popping up with these DNA testing kits and the framework for being able to set up a family tree online and all of that. And I got kind of pulled in to that by a friend named Katrina Hoskins , who was a former Wall Street Journal staffer. I went and did that testing , and I found out that I was about 18% European , mostly from Wales , and then the rest of my blood was from Ghana , Nigeria and Congo. And of course , I’m very proud of my African heritage , and I was very mystified by the European heritage because I didn’t understand how that possibly could be. I know that sounds ridiculous because of course , colonialism , that’s what it’s all about. But I just couldn’t get my mind around that. And from there , I started a journey that included my father , who was a Jim Crow survivor who was born in Alabama in 1948 , and he had never really talked in any meaningful way about his history in Alabama , because it touched him in too tender of a place to even discuss a lot of things that he went through with his children. But then together we went and did this journey together , and we just uncovered so many things. But the biggest thing , the most difficult thing for me to contend with was when I studied the life of my great great grandmother , Charity Pew , who was enslaved on a plantation in Alabama. And I found out that , yes , she was sexually assaulted as a result of her enslavement and as a result of that rape. I’m 18% European and most of my blood comes from Wales. I was able to contact my cousins who are white , and together we actually went and did this journey and were able to piece more of our history together. But I think the hardest part was for me to understand that I’m not unique , that the majority of African Americans in America have 25.4% European blood on average. So what that tells you is how pervasive sexual assault was in history , in slavery , and how many black women , most black women , were sexually assaulted. And so for the majority of black people , more than 90% of black people to have 25.4% European blood in this country means that more than 90% of black women in this country were raped. And it’s very , very difficult. It was very emotionally taxing for me to piece together the life of my great great grandmother , because my great great grandmother was at first a distant figure to me. And so I think the emotional toll really comes from going deep into this history and actually understanding that our elders and our ancestors , who were people we knew and loved , actually went through all of these things. You know , when people are murdered and people are lynched and people went through so much more than we were taught in school.
S1: Coming up , the conversation continues with marketplace journalist Lee Hawkins on how California’s policy on reparations could impact other states.
S2: I believe that if this policy were to pass in a significant way , every major state that’s looking to actually address this issue would be looking at California.
S1: You’re listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. Welcome back. You’re listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. I’m Jade Hindman. I’m speaking with journalist Lee Hawkins about marketplace’s series Golden Promises , which looks at the state’s reparations movement.
S2: I believe that he started first with his colleagues who have been most on the front lines on social justice and and Black American issues. But I think that the biggest challenge , once again , is going to be to go across the aisle and to get people from the GOP to even consider the educational component of this. If you could get people to read even 100 pages of that 1100 page report , that would be a start. And getting into the minds of those people on the GOP side , particularly , who are already committed to completely annihilating this legislation. I think that a lot of it is going to be building a coalition and to build a coalition that is willing to get educated on this issue , and that even if people oppose the issue , that they have credible arguments that they can put forth to have a constructive conversation and dialogue about reparations and the history of discrimination in California without it becoming something that is divisive and just explodes in everybody’s face. It’s going to be a very , very difficult policy to even discuss , not just to get through , but just to discuss , because in this country we’ve seen a deterioration of dialogue and decorum among our leaders. You’ve seen it , I’m sure , Jade , that if you go back and you look at the debates of , you know , the 1980s , even with Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale and all of these leaders , they were much more conciliatory towards each other. They there was a respect there. And now , even on tough issues like immigration , I would say that race is still one of the most contentious issues in this country as we move to a minority majority , and that is going to bring about a lot of tension. So I think the hard part is to bring everybody to the table and get them to take this issue seriously , and for people to have a peaceful , constructive dialogue on these issues.
S1: You know , some people with that have come up with alternatives to reparations , which you cover in the third part of your series. Can you talk more about some of the solutions they’re proposing ? Yes.
S2: Uh , Richard Rothstein , who wrote a book called The Color of Law and then another book called Just Action , has done some impeccable research on the impact of racial covenants. Racial covenants are actually covenants that were put into mortgage deeds , saying that this house could not be sold to a black person or to a Jewish person , or to marginalized people. And going into those communities , he believes , is the strong part , that the actual thing that could be done is to file lawsuits against municipalities and counties that allowed these policies to thrive. If people can prove that they were discriminated against , for instance , by real estate companies , that would be an opportunity then for them to file lawsuits. Another area that he mentioned were property value assessments. In certain affluent areas , property values are assessed once a year in some of the other urban communities. They could be assessed once every four years or once every five years. Well , that takes away from the value of people’s homes. One thing that could be done right now is that people could put pressure on the leaders in their local municipalities to make sure that property value assessments are done on an annual basis , and that would be a more fair and equitable process that would even help people in urban communities to reap those benefits when they go and sell their homes. Another one that was really , really interesting was credit rating agencies mostly do not look at rental payments and consider those in credit rating establishment. And so what that means is that people could be paying rent for years and years and years on time , and not get credit for those payments. Fannie Mae estimated that if people were to. Have bat taken into account and applied to their credit rating. That would be a 17% increase in qualification for purchases of homes. And so that’s another area that Richard Rothstein believes that social justice activists should target , because he does not believe in. Many people do not believe that reparations will be viable because of the incredibly intense opposition to it. And so these kinds of policies at looking at where there were undisputable amounts of discrimination by real estate companies , by municipalities that can be looked at now and challenged through the courts. One more thing that I wanted to mention , New York Newsday a few years ago did a study in which they found that over 40% of the cases of black people were not treated fairly. In even the process of looking at a home , that there were times in which they weren’t even able to see a home in comparison to white purchasers. And those kinds of racial disparities continue in modern times well into the 21st century. And so Richard Rothstein and other activists believe that there can be a formal effort to to do these kinds of tests all over the country and including in California. And those are the kinds of things that actually need to happen to expose discrimination before any kind of legal measure can be taken. And so there has to be a commitment from the federal , the state and the local government towards eradicating racial discrimination in real estate for any of this to work. Hmm.
S3: Hmm. Well , if.
S1: Reparations is passed in California , it could it could very much become a blueprint for other states.
S2: And , you know , let’s face it , it’s a huge state. And people look to California for leadership. I believe that if this policy were to pass in a significant way , every major state that’s looking to actually address this issue would be looking at California and what California did , and they are further down the line than many other places we’ve seen reparations , different kinds of reparations , and pockets of the country , such as Evanston , Illinois. And there have been things that have happened , but not on the scale that California is trying to do it at in terms of establishing a reparations package that would end an agency that would pay out reparations for people who have been in the state before 1900. I mean , that’s millions of people. And so , yes , California would be looked at as sort of a bellwether or a national model that other states could look to , to see how they would design their agency and how they would structure their payments. And also looking at the format of the 1100 page report that was done to see how they could apply , take the same approach to their states in various states , including in New York , where where slavery was present right there down on Wall Street. And so the nation is watching California. And I think that’s why Senator Bradford felt he needed to tell me how difficult this process has been and how difficult this process is going to be , because he wants to get it right in California’s legislature. If they’re able to pass this , will want to get this right , because they’ll know that they’re going to be heavily scrutinized in terms of the decision that they make. Mhm.
S3: Mhm. Lee , thank you so.
S1: Much for your reporting , your insight and your own personal story and family history. I know that it very much parallels that of my own. I really appreciate you taking the time today.
S2: Thank you so much , Jade , and I hope that you’ll continue to follow this as I follow this. We have so much more reporting to do.
S1: Indeed , I’ve been speaking with Lee Hawkins , special correspondent with American Public Media , and author of the upcoming book , Nobody’s Slave How Uncovering My Family’s History Set Me Free. You can listen to the rest of this series. Golden Promises on marketplace.org. Lee , thanks for joining us.
S2: Thank you so much.
S1: Coming up , a new San Diego County program is helping small nonprofits working in the social and racial justice field.
S4: Those folks are in the communities doing that work , and they just need the county a lot of times to give them the funding and potentially some capacity support , and then get out of the way and let them do the work.
S1: You’re listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. Welcome back. You’re listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. I’m Jade Hindman. Last December , the San Diego Office of Equity and Racial Justice launched the Equity Impact Grant. Through the program , the county will invest $2 million in 20 small local nonprofits over the next two years , with a focus on social and racial justice organizations. The goal is to help Bipoc led grassroots organizations who are really making an impact in the community. Andrew Strong is the director of the Office of Equity and Racial Justice , here to talk about the grant program. Andrew , welcome.
S4: Thank you. Thank you. Excited to be here.
S1: Well , we’re glad you’re here.
S4: And I think a lot of it has been because , um , you know , just because of the systems and structure that in place have prevented us from from doing that because we’re trying to , you know , contract typically with established nonprofits who are who might have a track record of , you know , having a lot of success in whatever discipline that they’re , they’re working in. And , and unfortunately , what that does is exclude small nonprofits and small businesses , you know , out of the contracting process and out of the funding process. Um , so , so when I noticed that , I realized , you know what ? There’s an opportunity here for us to really change our paradigm of how we invest in our small nonprofits and , and realize come to a realization as an organization , that we have a social responsibility to really invest in small nonprofits in a different type of way.
S1: And , you know , one of the program’s goals is to root out systemic racism in San Diego.
S4: I think one , it’ll help us as a county change some of our systemic and structural racist systems. Right ? Like like what I just said to you about how the grant process and the contracting process has worked over the years. That said , that is a systemically in structural racist system because it automatically excludes out typically small and nonprofits and small businesses. And typically , you know that those small businesses are minority and women owned , veteran owned businesses. So , you know , but just by the way , the structure and the system is set up , you know , um , it excludes those , those types of businesses. So one way it could help is going to help is that we’re going to intentionally invest in those small businesses. And the equity piece is by not investing in those larger businesses , right , because they already are getting that funding. And then I think the second way , um , is that it’s actually going to be investing into the folks that’s actually doing that work by trying to tear down the structures and systems that are that are racist in our communities or inequitable , right , or creating disparities in our communities. Those folks are in the communities doing that work , and they just need the county a lot of times to give them the funding and potentially some capacity support and then get out of the way and let them do the work. So I think those are the two main ways that this grant will help. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Well , it also help in advancing economic justice in the region.
S4: Oh , absolutely. And I really appreciate you highlighting that , um , economic justice and economic inclusion. Um , it absolutely will and help to invest in those organizations that struggle trying to get those grants and trying to get that funding right and help them , hopefully help them to build some capacity to to apply for additional funding and get larger contracts , um , with this seed funding. So , absolutely.
S1: And , and this program or this grant , it is for Bipoc led organizations.
S4: And one thing I want to be really clear about , because we can’t say that this grant focuses on Bipoc organizations. Right. And unfortunately , that’s or indigenous organizations. And unfortunately that’s because of laws like proposition 209. Right. Um , that prevents discrimination in those types of things. But what we what we did say , right , which is really important in this grant , is that we want folks with lived experience , right , that lived experience in all these areas in which they’re making , they’re providing services. So that could be everything from , uh , justice involved , our justice involved population. That could be everything from our food insecure populations , folks who’ve been living in food deserts their entire lives , or we’re part of the juvenile justice system for years. Um , and the reason why we did that is because we also know. That , unfortunately , is typically Bipoc and indigenous folks who are suffering from all those ills of society. So , so by nature of saying lived experiences , we want to focus on organizations with lived experiences. We are going to capture that. We’re going to capture our Bipoc and indigenous folks regardless in a in a much more intentional way. And also , you know , we want to make sure that the organizations are also providing services for those same populations , right. So that’s those are the two things that we’re we’re trying to hit on by really leaning into having lived organizations with a lived experience. Right , but also providing those services for those Bipoc communities and indigenous communities.
S1: And so this is for small nonprofits.
S4:
S1: So what challenges do small nonprofits face compared to larger organizations ? You talked about it before , but I want to get into that a bit more.
S4: So small nonprofits typically face , um , actually having resources for for the back office functions that that are sometimes required or , you know , mainly , mostly required to really sustain and grow an organization or even to apply for grants in some cases. Right. So typically those small organizations are out there actually doing the work , right ? They’re actually boots on the ground. They’re in the communities , they’re working with people , um , and they’re experts in that space. And they may actually be experts in the space of doing administration as well. But they’re so busy actually doing the work , they don’t have the time , or they don’t have the additional staff to actually do the work to go try to find those grants and to track the outcomes to , you know , even have a system to be able to to create the measures that that a government organization or , or some type of agency or funding organizations need , right , to help show that they’re being successful. And so a lot of times , you know , those organizations , they they do great work in the community , but they have a hard time even having a time to do that additional work to help them get additional funding , to continue to do the work.
S1:
S4: Right ? So the amount of red tape and , you know , the amount of , you know , maybe insurance that you might have to carry to even apply for , for some of these contracts , um , and the navigation of these systems and um , and local government agencies and other funding organizations , I think has been very difficult for those small nonprofits. So one of the things we did for our grant is that we took our grant agreement , and we work with the nonprofit institute , and we try to streamline it as much as possible , take out as much red tape as possible. Now , there’s still some , you know , requirements legally that we have to have in this grant agreement. But , you know , just take for instance , um , you know , how folks will show their outcomes. How will they show that they’ve been successful , where we actually were able to turn that on its head in some in some way and say , um , that we are actually , as a county , uh , responsible for helping those organizations to show those outcomes. So what does that mean ? We co-create that with them , right ? We help them , we give them capacity. And it’s also a part of our responsibility to help them create and develop some of those outcomes. Right. Instead of just putting it all in the nonprofit to do. And so in addition to the work that they’re doing , well.
S1: I’m curious to really know , like , what have their experiences been because this , that that type of work is really it’s it’s a marathon. It takes a lot of commitment.
S4: Um , you know , the good thing is , I think there’s been a lot more funding being poured into these type of organizations recently because of what happened in 2020. And , you know , but I but I also know that this work is not for the faint of heart. Right ? And it’s , you know , it’s it’s it’s a fight. It’s a continual fight , I think for a lot of organizations to do the work to , to get funding , to do the work. Um , but they’re also themselves facing community pressures. Um , they’re also themselves working full time jobs in some instances , but also doing this part time work of trying to address these issues that they face in the communities. And , um , and a lot of folks will tell you they don’t want to sit around and wait for the county to come try to save us or the folks to come in and try to save our community , because , you know , we haven’t been doing that for the past centuries. Right. And and acknowledging that. But also , um. Trying to do our best to pour money into those in those folks organizations so they actually do the work. But but I think that I think they’ll tell you their experience is not it’s not easy one. Right. And it’s challenging. But I also think they will tell you that they find a lot of benefit , and they find a lot of joy in actually doing that type of work in their communities.
S1:
S4: And I think with these smaller organizations , when you go into the community , you ask them about the work that they’ve done or if the organization happens to go away. People are devastated , right ? Um , I think what really stands out to me is these the folks who are leading these organizations and working in the communities , they have a significant , significant footprint , significant buy in. They have a significant force in the community that they’re really trying to change. And and the more we invest in those small nonprofits who are actually doing the work , the better.
S1: And so the grant will also provide organizations with coaching and other resources tailored to the organization.
S4: And , um , what they’re going to be , their responsibility is going to be to help us with that. So we’re going to have them , uh , the nonprofits as a , as cohorts , um , one cohort this year , one cohort next year , um , to go through some training and education around , you know , what it takes to , to grow your nonprofit. What does it take to , you know , fill out these grant agreements ? What are some of the the best practices that you might need , but also individually working with the nonprofits to find out what do they need specifically for their organization , you know , knowing that their organizations are each different. So it’s going to be it could be very , um , specific to the organization , but also there’ll be some some trainings where they’re going through together , um , learning about back office functions , if that’s what they need , um , and things of that nature.
S1: And unlike traditional contracts , the county is also involved in making sure that the program is successful. What’s their role in this , and how will they ensure these organizations are getting the resources they need ? Yeah.
S4: And that’s that’s my office’s role. And that’s that’s one of the things that , you know , while we have a dedicated staff member who’s working on this grant with , um , with the USDA and nonprofit institute and , and we’re just going to be making sure that we we monitor , we support , we have multiple touch points throughout the year , um , to make sure the organization’s getting what they’re needed , they need. And , and we’re gonna hold ourselves accountable to that , you know , and it’s something that , that we’re dedicated to.
S3: And if you’re a small.
S1:
S4: And you can apply directly through our website , online. All right.
S1: And , you know , the Office of Equity and Racial Justice was recently established in many ways. In 2020. You’ve been in this role as director since 2021.
S4: And um , you mentioned we just got started in 2020. The office was created in 2021. I came into the role and and really we’ve really been trying to lay a solid foundation for the work. Um , knowing that , you know , a lot of this stuff , everything that we , we work on trying to change is , has really been built and established over centuries in some instances. So it’s going to take take time to really see some change , but also to um , it’s important to lay a solid foundation. So over the next year , our big goal is really to start implementing some of the , the , the work we’ve been laying foundations for. This is one of them. Right ? Our , um , we’ve been working on this equity impact grant for , for almost two years now to get out and we’re excited to launch it. But we also have an equity impact report that we’re launching , um , hopefully in the next couple of weeks. Um , it’s been a little bit delayed , but we want to get it out and it’s , um , covering , I think , 36 indicators over a multitude of , of disciplines to really highlight some of the disparities , but , but help to galvanize folks in our community , um , around some of the goals , right. Things like education , low birth weight and , uh , high school graduation rates and things of that nature and seeing what those disparities are and , and working with our community partners to , to create that change. And , and and like I mentioned , you know , we have a couple other projects that that we’re looking to really implement. So I see , um , this year really being a year of implementing some of the work that we’ve been working over the past couple of years to lay a solid foundation for.
S1: All right. I’ve been speaking with Andrew Strong , director of the San Diego Office of Equity and Racial Justice. Andrew , thank you very much for joining us.
S4: And thank you so much. I appreciate the time.