How Solar Customers Get Paid For Energy; And Efforts To Change It

Speaker 1: 00:01 The effort to change rates for solar energy fizzles in the first trial, Speaker 2: 00:05 You know, who pays for that subsidy? It can't be those who are least likely and able to get solar. Speaker 1: 00:11 I'm Maureen Cavenaugh with Jade Heinemann. This is KPBS midday edition. The county addresses the issue of period poverty. Speaker 3: 00:28 Having a period is a taboo subject. So it's not something that people talk about freely. And certainly women do not want to step up and admit to having this lack of access to menstrual supplies. When it's something they're not even talking about at all to begin with Speaker 1: 00:42 Commentary and what it's like living in San Diego while black and some in-person events highlight the 10th year of the San Diego Arab film festival. That's ahead on midday edition, a state bill that would decrease the electricity. Electricity rates paid to customers who generate solar power did not pass in the California assembly yesterday, but it may survive another vote. The bill AB 1139 has pitted author assemblywoman, Lorena Gonzalez against the rooftop solar industry. And many environmentalist's console is claims that rooftop solar is accessible mainly by upper income people and the amount utilities pay those people for the solar energy generated increases the energy bills paid by the poor. Her bill is surprisingly similar to a plan proposed by utilities to decrease the solar energy rates paid a S a rally took place in Chula Vista yesterday as community and solar advocates gathered to oppose the bill. And joining me is Eric Anderson, KP Ben KPBS environment reporter Eric. Welcome my pleasure, Maureen, when does AB 1139 come up for another vote? Speaker 4: 02:02 Well, the assembly is taking up the issue today, when exactly that happens. Uh, we don't know, um, the assembly would need, uh, 41 yes. Votes for that measure to pass yesterday. It got short of 30, so, uh, still some work to be done, but it was brought up for a reconsideration today. If it passes today, that would be it. Uh, the measure would move forward to the Senate. If it doesn't pass today, uh, assembly member Gonzalez could, uh, take the option of, uh, asking for another vote tomorrow. Um, if it doesn't pass by the end of the day tomorrow though, that would be it for this matter. Speaker 1: 02:40 The white costs are calculated for solar generation is called net metering. Can you explain how it works now? Speaker 4: 02:48 Yeah. Um, net metering is basically the system that the California public utilities commission came up with when foe, when they were first trying to encourage people to put rooftop solar on their homes. What they basically did initially was to, um, you know, force the utilities to buy the electricity at the same price that they sold it to customers. So if it costs you 35 cents a kilowatt hour to buy electricity from the utility, uh, any electricity you generate and send back into the grid will be paid at 35 cents an hour. Now there were some difficulties with that formula as more and more people began, uh, adding solar to their rooftop. The utilities began complaining that it wasn't quite fair. It wasn't equitable, it didn't pay for all of their costs. So there was a revision done back in 2016, in 2016. And that revision basically added a couple of things. Speaker 4: 03:40 There's now a flat connection fee that is supposed to help pay for, uh, uh, utilities, uh, grid maintenance. There's also the introduction of time of use rates. So electricity at different times costs and, and is worth different prices. And the formula for determining what the price of the electricity is that you sell back. Uh, basically shifted a little bit to favor the utilities. In other words, they can sell you electricity at a few pennies, more per kilowatt hour, then you can sell it back to them. So it kind of, uh, ease the financial burden on them that happened back in 2016. And now there's a push to, to renew that, uh, to review that process, uh, because, uh, utilities are saying that, you know, they are, uh, the system is unfair to them and it's cutting into their profits. Yeah, Speaker 1: 04:31 That sounds complicated enough. So how would a, B 1139 change the system that's already in place? Speaker 4: 04:37 Yeah, it would, uh, do some pretty drastic things. It would add flat monthly connection fees for solar users. So you might pay 50 to $80 a month every single month. Uh, if you have a connection to solar and, and it would also slash the fee that the utility would be forced to pay you for any solar that you do generate. So, uh, what that, uh, in essence does is it removes the financial incentive to bill accordingly. This is what solar, uh, industry advocates say. It would remove the financial incentive to build new systems, uh, and it would destroy any financial benefit that people who spent the money to put these systems on their roofs, uh, would get Speaker 1: 05:20 Now assembly woman Gonzalez claims that the money paid to solar rooftop customers is making energy more expensive for lower income people, but there's been a major push from environmentalist in state government in support of rooftop solar over the years, there's been subsidies and incentives. So is this the first time the issue of equity has entered the discussion? I don't think it's the first Speaker 4: 05:44 Time that the issue of equity has entered the discussion, but it's kind of a unique way to present the issue. Uh, it's an argument that the, that the utility industry makes frequently, which is that non rooftop, solar customers are somehow subsidizing the rooftop solar customers who are selling electricity back into the grid. Uh, you know, what your, where you're coming at from a starting position, kind of determines whether or not you see that as acceptable. Uh, uh, and what Lorena Gonzalez has added on top of that is the fact that, um, many people in, uh, many of her, uh, brown and black constituents who live in poor neighborhoods don't have the same access, uh, to, to this, uh, this subsidy. Uh, and so it's not fair to them, uh, because they can't afford this, but, uh, interestingly her measure, uh, which included, uh, money for low-income housing initially, um, had that written out of the bill in a subsequent amendment. And, and it would take away any financial incentive, uh, that people in lower income neighborhoods would have to install solar and would actually make it more difficult, uh, for people, uh, to put solar on their rooftops if they lived in a disadvantaged neighborhood or they're, uh, not as, uh, as financially robust as some of the people who can afford solar. Now, Speaker 1: 07:05 Now this controversy has in a sense aligned Lorena Gonzalez with the utility industry, which is unusual given her reputation as a progressive leader in the assembly. So is her bill very much in line with what the industry wants? I believe that the industry is going to present something to this CP UC. It that's very similar to this bill. Speaker 4: 07:29 Absolutely. It makes the same talking points. It takes the same positions. Um, uh, but, uh, I think that, uh, Lorena Gonzalez supports it. Not for the reason you might think it's not because she thinks that utilities are right on this. I think she is supporting this measure because it's supported by the IBW, uh, IBW, the international brotherhood of electrical worker, electrical workers, union workers at utilities, um, who are worried about the future of their jobs. Um, and so, uh, and they frequently side with the utilities, uh, on these positions. Uh, and that's why she's supporting it. So in an odd sense, um, maybe not an odd sense, but in one sense, she's supporting the utility workers whose jobs may be at risk down the road at the expense of the solar workers whose jobs would be at risk. Um, if this measure passes, Speaker 1: 08:18 As I said, very, very complicated. I've been speaking with Eric Anderson KPBS environment, reporter Eric, thank you. My pleasure Speaker 5: 08:33 As part of a new initiative to boost menstrual equity across the county, San Diego will begin taking steps to address the issue of period poverty. The free form menstrual equity program will install dozens of free vendor dispensers of menstrual products and facilities across the region. The initiative looks to address an issue that has long disproportionately affected people, homelessness, transgender people, youth, and low income individuals joining me to discuss the issue is Dr. Kelly. Modelle the county's child health officer, Dr. Modell. Welcome, Speaker 3: 09:08 Thank you so much for having me. So Speaker 5: 09:10 First pervasive is the issue of period poverty in San Diego county. Well, Speaker 3: 09:15 In reality, anyone who has experienced the, uh, opportunity where they've been out in public and not had access to menstrual supplies has experienced at least one episode of period poverty. But as you said, it is disproportionately impacting in vulnerable communities and rural Speaker 5: 09:31 Have physicians such as yourself played in trying to boost menstrual equity within the community. Speaker 3: 09:36 You know, for my health issue, we really need to help educate our youth and our administrators about the risks of using alternative products or rationing their supplies, because this can actually cause real health issues. So as physicians, it's important that we talk to our patients about these risks, such as skin irritation from wet or non absorbent materials, and also the increased risk of urinary tract infections, or in fact, an infection known as bacterial vaginosis, which can actually put our patients at higher risk for other infections as well. Tell Speaker 5: 10:08 Us a bit about how menstrual equity at its core is a public health issue. Speaker 3: 10:13 Absolutely public health issue, because there are so many individuals that are facing the lack of access to menstrual products, and it can cause these health issues that I mentioned, but it also can cause emotional distress that is not insignificant. We know that there are studies that have shown that those who have been caught without menstrual supplies or have not had access, do have higher levels of anxiety and depression. You Speaker 5: 10:37 Know, this might be an issue that many people think affects the third world or something, but why is this happening here? Speaker 3: 10:43 No, this is not just happening in the third world. Any anybody who has been in this situation could have had to decide between using, uh, using their money for food or menstrual products. And of course they would then choose it for food. And 86% of respondents to some surveys have shown that they've had an experience where they've been in public without a supply. So this is not simply happening with our world. This is happening right here, not only in the U S but in San Diego, how has the Speaker 5: 11:12 Pandemic exacerbated this issue? One Speaker 3: 11:15 Of the things that was raised that was brought to our attention was that with the pandemic and schools closed, um, this was one place that many young, uh, mentors were accessing their menstrual products. And so without that access to their school campuses, they were having an increased, um, experience with period poverty Speaker 5: 11:35 To my next question, how does this issue then affect children in particular? Speaker 3: 11:39 Well, one in five have missed school because of getting their period. We know that that that can be the case, but also as I mentioned, that emotional distress can be caused levels of depression that will impact their schooling and their education, but also them stress at school. If they're there and find themselves in this vulnerable situation and where Speaker 5: 11:59 In our community do we see a lack of menstrual equity mode, Speaker 3: 12:03 It's really in our vulnerable community. So as you mentioned in our transgender communities and those along income lines, we see this as well. Um, anybody who, um, has experienced homelessness has had this issue. So again, these vulnerable groups in particular, my concern, this will wage administrators. And Speaker 5: 12:23 Do you think are some of the reasons that access to menstrual products has not been made a priority here until now? Speaker 3: 12:29 You know, oftentimes having a period is a taboo subject. So it's not something that people talk about freely. And certainly women do not want to step up or minster Raiders do not want to step up and admit to having this lack of access to menstrual supplies when it's something they're not even talking about at all to begin with, Speaker 5: 12:47 Can people access the county's vending machines with free menstrual products? Speaker 3: 12:51 So right now, in a pilot phase of our, um, initiatives, so we have 57 dispensers at 23 of our facilities. Those might be in our family resource centers are liberal centers, the public health centers, library, community centers. And we hope in the longterm that we'll be able to have them throughout all county public facing facilities. Speaker 5: 13:09 I've been speaking with San Diego counties, child health officer, Dr. Kelly. Modelle Dr. Modelle. Thank you so much for joining. Thank you so much for having me. Speaker 1: 13:33 This is KPBS day edition. I'm Maureen Cavenaugh with Jade Heinemann. As more asylum seekers are let into the United States by the Biden administration. Those who have waited months in desperate conditions in Mexico are finally seeing their dreams come true. KPBS reporter max Rivlin nether joined one Honduran family as they started their new life in the United States. Speaker 6: 13:59 It's early March at the migrant encampment and El Chapo or a Plaza in Tijuana. There, hundreds of asylum seekers are looking for information, any sign that they'll be allowed into the U S under the new Biden administration. Braden Latinas is one of those asylum seekers. He has a six month old son strapped to his chest. He and his partner had been waiting in Mexico for a year and a half to declare asylum in the U S fleeing as Honduras deteriorates, amidst political violence and social instability. Latinas pulls a flag. He's carrying with him out of a backpack. It's a Biden for president flag and Latinas waves it in front of him. To him. It represents a new chance, a possible reversal of fortune after a brutal few years, sitting in mission bay park in San Diego this past Tuesday, Latinas cheers up thinking about what his family has had to go through to get here. His son is now nine months old and on the verge of walking Speaker 7: 15:10 [inaudible], Speaker 6: 15:10 He said he had plans just to give up. He had come so far already just to be stopped at the border first. So long Lainez shows off scars on his arm from a machete attack in Honduras, which he says was politically motivated. Speaker 7: 15:25 I'm in Memphis. I don't [inaudible] laziness Speaker 6: 15:28 That he thought he was going to be killed in the attack, but God must've put a guardian angel in his path when he defended him, because he has no idea how he was able to escape. He left the country with his clothes, still wet. His mother had just done laundry that escape led them to Mexico, but then Diana's and his partner URISA, Razo encountered a Trump era policy known as title 42, which has put a near total hall to the processing of all asylum seekers at the border. In recent weeks in agreement hammered out by the Biden administration and the American civil liberties union has allowed vulnerable asylum seekers to enter the United States. Razo describes just how bad things were in the migrant and camp men, where they moved to after a year already spent in shelters in Tijuana Speaker 7: 16:21 [inaudible] it Speaker 6: 16:21 Was all very difficult. She said, the children cried from the cold. They gave us blankets. It was very sad, but we try humph. And here we are. Thank God. They got help from the group El otro lado, which has assisted thousands of vulnerable asylum seekers in Tijuana. After crossing the border last week, they stayed in a hotel room, paid for by the state until travel could be arranged on Tuesday, Aidan pellet, from the Jewish family service of San Diego, help the family get ready to move to New York where their sponsor awaits. The group helped more than 3,600 migrants entering the U S during the month of may. He showed the young family how to navigate San Diego international airport. It's, Speaker 8: 17:06 We're really excited that that we're separated. We never seeing arrivals again, and we're seeing the rivals. And there was a VR because we know these are all people that are really in desperate need of help. But I think what we're doing is it's showing that we can both protect public health and afford filter the access or the right to seek asylum. Speaker 6: 17:25 Lena says he got comments about the flag. He flew with the president's name on it. Speaker 7: 17:31 [inaudible] [inaudible]. Speaker 6: 17:35 He says, people try to insult him, bring him down, but he was holding onto it, not out of support for a politician, but because it gave him hope of someday getting into the U S on Tuesday, Latinas Rozzo and their son walked down the jetway to a plane they'll face years of uncertainty about their status in the U S but for the first time in two years, their lives are no longer in immediate danger. Joining Speaker 1: 18:01 Me is KPBS reporter max Revlin Nadler, and max, welcome. Good to be here. This was obviously a deeply moving experience for that family, max, how is it that they were picked out among so many to cross? The border Speaker 6: 18:18 Process is a bit opaque right now, ups legal service providers in Tijuana and other border cities pick families that seem to be in especially vulnerable situations. I feel like with this family, they had problems with the police in Mexico. They were living in this migrant and Cameron and their child is really young, you know, moved to the camp when he was six months old now is nine months old. Uh, so this obviously became a priority. But once these legal service providers send a list of the ACLU and the ACLU sends the list to the Biden administration and the department of Homeland security, it's really unclear how the decision is made as who gets to come in. They're pre-screening these families, but we really don't know the criteria. So all we know is that they got in Speaker 1: 19:00 And why is this family going to New York? Do they have family there? Speaker 6: 19:05 So it's interesting around 70% of asylum seekers have family, uh, living in the United States, this family doesn't. So they're going to a sponsor in New York, part of a nonprofit organization where they'll begin their, their life in New York Speaker 1: 19:22 And of the asylum seekers who are finally crossing the border into San Diego. Do most of the people stay here or do they leave for other parts of the country? Speaker 6: 19:32 The vast, vast majority leave for other parts of the country, Los Angeles. Um, but as far away as I I've met people who are going to Minnesota, Wyoming, it's really where people have settled in, in immigrant communities across the country. And oftentimes these are rural areas that need labor. So people are often on the move. San Diego is not the cheapest place to live, and it doesn't have an especially large community of, uh, non-Mexican of Latinos. So, uh, people just end up going elsewhere. Speaker 1: 20:03 There was a us Supreme court ruling on asylum seekers this week, telling courts not to rely exclusively on the asylum seekers, personal stories of persecution, but also consider conflicting evidence gathered by fact-finders. How big a change is that for people facing asylum hearings? Speaker 6: 20:23 Yeah, you got to remember, it's always an incredibly uphill battle for people to win asylum in the U S and it's almost impossible to do so without a lawyer, having a lawyer changes that and having a lawyer would be able to kind of, um, go against this conflicting evidence that would be gathered by fact, that would be gathered by ice or the government, the department of justice. So helping having a lawyer would help people in this, this just stacks the deck against them even further, because again, the vast majority of people are not represented in their asylum hearings. They're not represented in their possible removal hearings. So, um, you know, this just makes, it, makes it more, Speaker 1: 21:02 We heard from Mr. [inaudible] about the machete attack he suffered in Honduras. How would he go about proving that story to authorities? Speaker 6: 21:12 Well, first off, I mean, he showed me the scars on his face and on his arm on top of that, he said, he's in touch with his mom who has photo evidence of immediately after the attack. Uh, things like text messages can be used to, um, prove somebody's, uh, persecution and other, you know, corroborating evidence. If, if the country conditions have sewn this Honduras right now, again, is, is a really dangerous place for people that the president is currently was an unnamed co-conspirator in a drug case in federal court, in New York this past spring. So, uh, it's, it's not out of the ordinary that somebody would have these unfortunately would have this type of attack on them. Speaker 1: 21:54 We often hear about how backlog the immigration court system is and determining asylum cases. Has there been any improvement in that? Speaker 6: 22:03 Well, glad you asked the Biden administration has actually proposed a new, uh, expedited docket just for asylum seekers who cross at the Southwest border, you know, otherwise known as a rocket docket because it moves really fast. Um, that might be seen as an improvement from the administration side, but for advocates of asylum seekers, they really don't see that as an improvement because it, instead of getting a months to prepare their cases, some people might only have a matter of weeks. And as we know, because they have so much trouble finding lawyers, if they're unable to put together a strong case themselves in, in a matter of weeks, they'll most likely not have an affirmative asylum finding and be subject to removal. Speaker 1: 22:48 Now, max, you often report on the terrible experiences of people being stuck in Mexico, waiting to get into the U S yet. This report also expressed concerns for the family. Now that they're here, is it a difficult road that lies ahead for them? Speaker 6: 23:05 Yeah, it's difficult because they're, they're showing up they're they're asylum seekers. They don't have family in the west, they don't speak English. Um, but there is a lot of support for them. I think the very fact that they are going to be met with a sponsor says that somebody is looking out for them. Hopefully, uh, if they want to get asylum, there'll be able to find a lawyer. Um, but these are all things that take money and time and effort. Um, so while they're no longer in immediate danger, just the very nature of no longer having any official status in this country makes it really difficult to kind of, uh, establish a life here. And that uncertainty will haunt over them forever. Seeing as though their son who was born in Mexico is Mexican they're Honduran. Uh, obviously the son might have status as a Honduran, but it's just going to complicate matters even further. Speaker 1: 23:59 I've been speaking with KPBS reporter, max Rivlin, Nadler, and max. Thank you very much. Thank you Speaker 5: 24:16 Today. A board of California's agency in charge of protecting workers from health and safety hazards is meeting to decide whether to continue mask mandates in the workplace. After June 15th, four years, Cal OSHA as it's known has been understaffed, but the problem got worse during the pandemic crippling Cal OSHA's ability to protect millions of workers who face new risks from COVID-19. Now as the head of Cal OSHA and the state's labor secretary are in line for top positions in the Biden administration, the agency's performance is facing new scrutiny, KQ EDS for Rita jump Villa Ramiro reports Speaker 9: 24:54 Last summer. [inaudible] a coworker at an Oakland fast food restaurant filed a complaint with CalOSHA saying their boss. Didn't tell them when colleagues were diagnosed with COVID 19 and didn't require everyone to wear masks. She wanted state inspectors to investigate quickly. She's a mom of three, and she worried about bringing home the virus to her family. But for months the violations continued. She says, and when the agency finally responded to her, nine months later, officials said their inspection had found no problems at the restaurant says they didn't listen to her and they didn't interview her. And they took too long. A recent report by a state Senate committee says CalOSHA enforcement during the pandemic has been quote minimal to non-existent because the agency is seriously understaffed over the past two years, the vacancy rate for field inspectors at CalOSHA doubled with one in four positions unfilled as of late February, since then the agency has hired some inspectors, but more than 50 of those positions remain vacant, kind Speaker 3: 26:05 Of a very sad situation has never been this Speaker 9: 26:08 Garrett brown worked for more than two decades at CalOSHA. Most of it as a field inspector, he's been tracking vacancies at the agency for years, Speaker 3: 26:16 And it has just tremendously adverse harmful impact on the health, safety and rights of workers. I spokeswoman with Speaker 9: 26:24 The department of industrial relations, which oversees CalOSHA chef says they've been working hard to find qualified candidates, but for most of the last two years, the process slowed because after a scandal involving a former director, they needed pre-approval from the state's human resources department for hiring Garrett. Brown says collage has chief Doug Parker, and especially the state's labor secretary, Julie SU could have done more to solve the hiring this function, but the officials could soon be leaving Parker to had federal OSHA and sued to become deputy secretary at the U S department of labor. It's very Speaker 3: 27:02 Disappointing as well. I can say Julie Sue had quite a successful record of protecting worker rights, labor rights as labor commissioner, but as labor secretary she's presided over really the Halloween out of Cal OSHA, Speaker 9: 27:18 I spokesman said sued declined to comment, but San Jose assemblyman, Ash Kalra who heads the assembly's labor committee is less critical of Sue and Parker. Speaker 3: 27:28 I don't think this falls actually with one individual, including the department heads. I think that this is something that has been long standing. Speaker 9: 27:34 He says the pandemic has made hiring tough for all sorts of employers, but he's hopeful that CalOSHA can begin to do better. Governor Gavin Newsome has proposed to increase funding to create 70 new positions, including 33 inspectors. Speaker 3: 27:49 That's a great sign. That's what the governor's intentions. I had more possessions. Then I think it brings us some momentum to build these positions. He says Speaker 9: 27:56 That as CalOSHA steps up, it should hire inspectors who speak different languages because many of the states, nearly 6 million frontline workers are immigrants. That Speaker 5: 28:08 Was for Rita John Volo Romero reporting for K Q E D. Today we continue our spotlight on the San Diego union Tribune, social justice reporting project with a work entitled while black. It's a deep look at the topic of black identity and eraser and the city of San Diego where only 6% of the population is black through the testimonies of seven black San Diego wins. The project reveals subtle yet seemingly intentional discrimination that the participants have experienced while living in the city. Joining me is the author of this report. Some Moria Moseley, some Moria. Welcome. Hi, thank you for having me glad to have you. Your project looks at various social issues, including gender identity, education, and homelessness. All of it filtered through the lens of black identity in San Diego. What made you want to explore this topic? Speaker 10: 29:06 Moved to San Diego in July of 2019. When I got off the plane, I realized that I was about to go through a culture shock. I had completely forgot that black people were a minority because I was surrounded by them so much. I had just graduated from a historically black college. Even my high school was demographically. I mean pretty mixed, but there were still a lot of black students, black teachers. So between going through the culture shock and all of the political nature that was surrounding black people at the time, I just started to realize that blackness is multifaceted even the lifestyle and everyone doesn't have the same plight of growing up as a Southern black person. So I really wanted to explore that and see what the everyday was like to be the 6% in the city that is just so much more populated than a lot of other places in the county. This report, it Speaker 5: 30:05 Looks into black experience and identity in San Diego compared to your own experience as someone from a Southern city with a much larger black population. Uh, what were your major takeaways in that regard? Speaker 10: 30:17 Wow, a lot of black expression is more accepted in San Diego than in the south. The oppression is just the same, if not crafted a lot differently. When you see that the people who are perpetuating racism and oppression are actually working over time to make it this invisible thing. That just makes you question how attached are the people of America's finest city to oppression and racism. And my biggest takeaway from that is these people have very much so their own style, their own flavor, but it's still very unique to them and it should be appreciated. And I wanted to do that. And I want Speaker 5: 31:01 To dive into something that you said a little bit more about people are working over time to sort of make racism invisible here. If you will, you know, you write about how racism in San Diego can often take the form of something subtle or overlooked at first. Talk a bit more about that. Speaker 10: 31:18 You could see this a lot, right after the murder of George Floyd, when a lot of protests picked up in San Diego, you kind of started to see overnight. A lot of these bumper stickers, a lot of these posters in the windows, a lot of, yes, black lives matter. A lot of t-shirts a lot of tote bags, but simultaneously I would still watch non-black people and non-minorities lock their doors. When black people walk past or still kind of, you know, turn their noses up or speak to them differently. I think it's more so of a thing of not wanting to be called out and not wanting to have to hold accountability for the fact that you have contributed to the prejudices and the oppression that some of these people feel. But to avoid that conversation, a lot of people just wear a t-shirt because then if it's on your chest, why would I say anything to you? A common Speaker 5: 32:12 Thread throughout your project is the importance of education. And many of the people you spoke to express that educational opportunity is lacking for black San Diego. How so Speaker 10: 32:23 Throughout the country, we have people debating things like critical race theory being taught in the classrooms. And if you are only 6% of the population, there's a great chance that you don't have black teachers. You don't have that many black mentors and the statistics are there. Black children are more likely to get suspended. Black children are more likely to be over policed in their schools, by their school resource officers. So again, like I was saying that acknowledgement of black existence, because even when they're in the classrooms, they're already looking for ways to get them out. They're already aren't enough black teachers. So if majority of the teachers are non-black or whites and they hold some type of prejudice or some type of racism, suddenly it's going to be very hard to not place that onto the children. And the statistics show that most of the times they do Speaker 5: 33:20 In your project. You also describe what some residents call a lack of shared black experience in San Diego, as a result of there being such a relatively small black population compared to other cities. What are some of the ways the people you spoke to try to bridge that gap and create the kinds of safe spaces they hope to see? A lot of people Speaker 10: 33:41 Have been trying to unify through their art. A lot of people have also tried to unify by inserting themselves in spaces that I needed. So an example would be Ebony, who has worked in a child welfare system for almost 20 years. Ebony saw that in order to help black children, there needs to be someone who is black working in the child welfare system. And so I, I see a lot of people using their talents and their passions and what they're good at and inserting themselves as oftentimes one of the only black people in those spaces to speak up for others who would most definitely benefit from that. So I think that a lot of black San Diego office are playing their part by being in spaces that don't otherwise permit them. And it's going to be hard, um, as the, as the only one or maybe one, a few, um, it's not going to be an overnight thing, but I do think people are currently putting their best foot forward. And how do you think Speaker 5: 34:44 Your project clashes with the existing narratives about the city of San Diego and its relationship to diversity and inclusivity? Well, Speaker 10: 34:54 You know, racism has always been argued. Oppression has always been argued, George Floyd smarter had to go to trial. And so I think that we're in a climate where a lot of people are just making the choice to not understand, but simultaneously people like myself and the other people, a part of this project are also choosing to not pretend like you don't understand. So I think that some people in San Diego will take a minute to listen. Others will argue it, but everybody has free will. And you can only hope that people take the time to listen to other people's perspective, especially if it's their neighbor. I've Speaker 5: 35:35 Been speaking with some Moria Mosley author of wild black, which is part of the San Diego union Tribune, social justice reporting project. So Moria, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. Speaker 1: 35:58 This is KPBS midday edition. I'm wearing Kevin Hall with Jade Heineman. The San Diego Arab film festival kicks off with in-person and online events. This Saturday, it opens with a Palestinian drama between heaven and earth and closes with another film from Palestine 200 meters KPBS film critic. Beth Armando speaks with filmmaker Nashwan Natasha who spoke from Palestine and Rebecca Romani, who has covered the festival for cinema junkie for years. Speaker 3: 36:30 Nashua, your film between heaven and earth is going to be opening the Arab film festival this year. How does that feel? Um, especially in the current situations, I think it's, it feels wonderful. I'm really happy that, you know, a film which tackles Palestinians throughout the whole country, something that is very different than what is seen on TV. What is seen in a just news clips, which is just violence, so that we see the real people and how real lives are at stake. And so with everything that's going on now back home, it's I think it's very, very appropriate. I'm very pleased. Well, I think what's really important for American audiences is the fact that we don't really get to see Palestinian films. Very often. There are very few that are ever released and you know, one of the best ways I think to create empathy is through movies. And your film does that through, what's basically a very simple relationship film that plays out against kind of a broader backdrop. So talk a little bit about what the story is. I love story about divorce. It's a story which takes, um, a couple Tamid who is the son of a famous intellectual revolutionary killed in Beirut and send Matt is a Palestinian girl from Nazareth, which is insights, the 48 borders. And they've been married for five years, living in the west bank [inaudible]. Speaker 3: 38:12 And the first time that they are given permission to enter Israel is when they're going to go and straighten up their papers in order to finalize divorce at the court, they discover that his father had a secret and in order to find and finalize the divorce papers, they have to find the father's lover. And that takes them an emotional journey throughout the country. They rediscover themselves and they discover the country as well, that they have been in many ways, uh, divorced from. So it's divorced on many levels. It's love under occupation. It's it's our lives in many different ways. So when you say the American audiences usually don't have a chance to see this it's because I think in many ways they've been bombarded with TV, images and stereotypes, which are quite horrific and it's a very much a political kind of efficient. So, um, distributing our movies is very, very difficult. But now with platforms like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and other things, there's a huge movement in order to incorporate it. And the more American CR movies, because there's a fairness that I always found with Americans that once they see it and they understand the other perspective, then there's a change. Nausea is film is going to be opening the festival and there's going to be another Palestinian film closing the festival 200 meters. What's this one about Rebecca Speaker 1: 39:44 With a very interesting film called 200 meters. And the interesting thing about this, which is sort of an overarching theme for many of the Palestinian films in the festival this year is it shows the hurdles that Palestinians encounter every day, especially those who live in the occupied territories and who need to cross into Israel. There are many things that face them, checkpoints, Israeli garden to make decisions on the spot issues of documents. So in this particular film, we're seeing a very interesting, uh, situation. Our lead Mustapha lives on one side of the wall, which divides Israel and the occupied territories and his wife and three children live on the other side of the wall 200 meters apart. And that's really not very far. And he goes every day because in fact he works in Israel, but their son measured is in the hospital because he's had a really serious accident sidewalk courses on one on the Israeli side, Mustafa is on the occupied territory side and he needs to get to the hospital to make sure everything's being taken care of and then measure this. Okay. But he gets a snack when he goes to the checkpoint, in order to cross he's told his entry permit is expired. It's a beautifully shot film. It's very well acted. And I think it's one you're going to enjoy for the end of the film, Speaker 3: 41:12 Not for your film. Do you feel that there's anything American audiences might need to know in advance of seeing it just in terms of giving them a little background or a little, um, information I do actually. And usually I like to do a little introduction. There's two, two parts, which I would like to briefly discuss the one is that this movie that was shot 24 days, we started in the west bank and we shot in Jericho. Um [inaudible] and then we went inside the green line or inside of Israel, which, and we shot in Haifa. Yeah. Uh, Nazareth. We reached the Lebanese border where we shot in a Jewish, uh, Ruston, not order just as it up and an egret where the whole story started. This was a road movie in two separate different conditions and the Palestinian in Ramallah and Jericho. And we could put the camera wherever we wanted. Speaker 3: 42:10 We could put it outside the car. We could shoot, we didn't need permissions. We had the basic permission to do everything. Um, and then the rest was a little bit more complicated, a little bit more difficult, um, which led to four arrests and led to all kinds of permissions being denied and not given. And anyway, it was another process, but that was the road movie that actually took place where they, the, the, the movie, the rogue movie in the movie took place. And the second one takes a sub story, which is the, uh, [inaudible] Jews, which are the Jews that came from the Arab world in 1948, 750,000 Palestinians were forced out of their homes to replace them. There was a whole operation to bring in Jews from the Arab world. And 600,000 Arab Jews were brought in, mostly from Yemen, Iraq, and from Morocco. And most of these people lived in these countries as Jews, just like Christians and Muslims and Jews live together where religion was not the political issue. Speaker 3: 43:19 So these 600,000 Jews Arab Jews that were brought into Israel between 1949 and 1952, according to Israeli statistics that have been coming out recently, 8,000 Arab Jews were kidnapped from the hospitals, the interment camps that they were placed in, where they were treated as subhuman, because they are Arab 8,000 Arab Jews were kidnapped and given to Ashkenazi or European Jews in order for them to be raised as white. So this is quite a big story that is recently coming out in Israel, where people are demanding, they're demanding to, uh, to know where their children were, and this is included in my story. And so that's, um, very much a first and it's, but it is a sub story. It's not the main story. These are two things that American audiences can keep in mind when they're watching the film. I want to thank you both very much for talking about the Arab film festival this year. Speaker 1: 44:22 That was Beth haka, Mondo speaking with Nashwan Nightjar and Rebecca Romani, the San Diego Arab film festival launches its 10th year at the, of photographic arts this Saturday and runs online. And in-person through June 19th. [inaudible].