Black And Chicano Students Fight Injustice Together At San Diego City College

This is KPBS mid-day. I am marring Kavanaugh. Even though African Americans and Latinos often faced the same type of discrimination, traditionally the two groups have not been strong allies. That's changing at San Diego city College. Both Black and Brown students join date is a protest last fall and since that time the Black and Chicano history classes meet together one day a week. Unity between the two groups will be on display again at a four on this window at city College called San Diego police, border patrol and our community, breaking the borders for joining me Wadhwani does the press [Indiscernible], known as the only, a student at San Diego city College and President of the San Diego state college, chapter of [Indiscernible], natural Chicano student organization. Jellico welcome to the program. Welcome. Aaron Harvey is a student at the VA goes to the college and Co-founder for [Indiscernible] SDD 33. Conspiracy charges were dropped against Harvey earlier this year. He was charged under a controversial antigang long. Aaron, welcome back to the show. Thank you. Let's talk about how the borders are breaking at city College between Black and Brown students. Don't recall what started this conversation between the two communities? I believe it started last year when we had the walkout. It brought 43, the missing students. That conversation we are searching for the 43 students in Mexico and the walkout was between that and also Black lives matter. A lot of students there were like, we are here. A lot of clubs we were marching. We walked out of our classrooms. We had a lot of support from the professors, the English department and the Chicano department call you name it. After that, you had a question, what do we do next ask a lot of them are not in the clubs and so they wanted to reach out and they wanted to be part of this bigger movement. After that, this semester, we have [Indiscernible], pillars of the community. We have the social Justice committee working together, along other clubs on campus. Aaron, how does the antigang conspiracy law that you were charged under affect both backs and Latinos? Well, actually, if it's applied I guess, the way they've been using it, it would affect the Latino community more than the Black community. You can only -- you are eligible for Penal Code 182.5 if you are documented as a gang member. There is 4600 Latinos in San Diego documented and others only 1700 Black. It could have devastating effects on the Latino community, greater than the Black community. Interesting. Last I spoke with Dr. Willie Blair. He is Chairman of the Black American political association of California in San Diego. He also spoke about finding common ground between Latinos and African-Americans. And we have a clip. There have been some misunderstandings between these two friends of who is taking whose job and what have you. They both must understand, if one rises up, the other must rise up. There are too many things they both have in common that they need to work together to preserve. Once again, that was Dr. Willie Blair. What are some of the misunderstandings, Aaron, you think have been keeping these two groups apart asked. One, we have to understand that are liberation is tied into one another. But the misconceptions that we are often [Indiscernible] through media or just through, you know, people that you grow up with is, a Latino issues with immigration art tied into the back issues of mass incarceration. When it's all the same firm, again, the detention centers to the prisons and jail population. We are all being charged with the same things but with a dividing, poker tags they use in our communities. It keeps us separated. You hear Dr. Willie Blair talking about jobs and things like that. There are -- they are nobodies jobs to take or give. If you go up there and you work and our looking for a job and go and get it. It's just propaganda that is put out that keeps us separated. Like I said, once we figure out and come to the realization, I believe that we have been so poor at city College that, my liberation, as a Black man, is tied to the liberation and the Latino community and that's how we work it out. Jellico what impact of the back and Takano history classes have had on developing that relationship? I sit in on that class with Professor [Indiscernible] our teaching. It's Chicano 140 B. Which is late 18 hundreds to the present work the professors started teaching the present to the past. We started with Black lives matter and right now we are in the part of what happened during the Treaty of Waterloo Bay and stuff. Both professors give us -- Guadalupe. Both professors give us homework. For example, in the Black studies Department, they get to choose if they want to read Black lives matters stuff, for example or [Indiscernible]. Then we come together and they would discuss or we have also the professor [Indiscernible], for example, he will teach the whole class. Cap of the segment is on Chicano studies and the other is Black studies by Professor [Indiscernible] Spearman. Today, they are doing something different. Professor [Indiscernible] will teach Black studies to students and vice-versa. We are getting perspectives from both professors at the same type got different types and we are coming together to have this bigger discussion and the similarities are very strong. What kind of a joint message do you think we will be hearing from Black and Latino speakers at the forum on Wednesday. Joe? Police brutality. It's the same, that, and also racial profiling that happens in our communities. And Darren? I know one thing, I'm going to be spit -- and Erin? I know I'm going to speak on dark bodies must unite. As I say, our struggles and depression is all the same. It's just worded differently. Once we get the language correct, we have to get the language right, and bring the awareness to people who are falling into these misconceptions of our struggles and realize that are identities are the same indigenous, the Latino communities and the Indigenous people of this land. And when Blacks, the Africans, came over there was -- there is Black Latinos. I believe the second President of Mexico was a Black man. Once you start seeing the similarities with and our people, you understand that. The only thing that separated us as a people were lines and language, that we are the same. We are one people. I will be pressing that more. Okay. And jelly? We are also going to be discussing the border. Border patrol issues like you said, was separated us was the border. Something interesting, as Harvey mentioned, the Mexican -- second Mexican than -- second Mexican President was African. He banned slavery before the U.S. banned slavery. Once students learn that part of history that will bring another perspective. That's fascinating. This forum, breaking the borders will take place on Wednesday at city College starting at 11:00 a.m. and I have been speaking at Jodie Lopez IU a lot and Alan Harvey and you are listening too tran-twenty.