Category: Social Justice
Posted inEnvironment, Health, Social Justice

Toxic Waste Cleanups Take Longer in Marginalized Communities

Avatar photo by Audrey Mei Yi Brown

Toxic site cleanups take longer in marginalized communities, according to a new Public Press analysis of more than 20,000 sites of varying size across the nine-county Bay Area.

In areas that scored high on a national index of socioeconomic vulnerability, the median cleanup took more than 450 days longer than in the least vulnerable areas.

Many factors, including the type of toxin, the nature of the site and the complexity of the cleanup, could affect how long a remediation takes and explain some of the differences. But in a subset of more than 12,000 cleanups of comparable complexity, the disparities were even more pronounced.

Experts warn that prolonged exposure to contamination as a result of slow cleanups can increase the risk of illness for nearby residents.

Posted inGovernment & Politics, Reparations, Social Justice

With Reparations Office in Limbo, Advocates Urge Action to Help Black Residents

Avatar photoAvatar photo by Madison Alvarado and Zhe Wu

In June, Mayor London Breed agreed to set aside $4 million over two years to set up an Office of Reparations. But that has not happened yet, and pressure is mounting within San Francisco’s Black community to act expeditiously on a months-old plan to redress the effects of decades racism with an array of policy solutions.

Posted inCity Hall, From the Newsroom, Social Justice

Madison Alvarado Discusses SF Reparations Plan on KALW Radio’s ‘Crosscurrents’

by Public Press staff

KALW News Editor Sunni Khaled interviewed Public Press reporter Madison Alvarado about her reporting on San Francisco’s reparations plan for KALW’s “Crosscurrents.” Listen to their conversation and read Alvarado’s story about the San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee’s final recommendations, which it submitted to the Board of Supervisors last month.

Posted in“Civic” Podcast, City Hall, Community, History, Land use, Neighborhoods, Reparations, Social Justice

SF Reparations Plan Nears Submission, but Funding Not Yet Secure

Avatar photo by Madison Alvarado

After 2½ years of meetings, community discussions, historical deep dives and policy generation, a panel tasked with proposing how San Francisco might atone for decades of discrimination against Black residents is ready to ask the city to step up and support equity rhetoric with action.

San Francisco’s African American Reparations Advisory Committee is aiming to submit its final recommendations to the city by June 30, according to Brittni Chicuata, director of economic rights at the city’s Human Rights Commission. In the meantime, the city’s annual budget process is in full swing, which may affect funding and the timeline for whatever reparations policies the board decides to pursue.

Posted inReparations, Social Justice

Without Dropping Cash Reparations Idea, SF Investigates New Housing Reforms

Avatar photo by Madison Alvarado

San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors will review and discuss dozens of policy recommendations beyond a proposed $5 million payment to each qualifying Black resident — the option that captured national media attention and inspired a handwringing frenzy — when it meets March 14 to discuss the city’s draft Reparations Plan.

Its proposals are non-binding, with the committee noting in the plan that “it will be up to the community to create the momentum to ultimately get these recommendations officially codified into San Francisco law.”

Posted inCity Hall, Community, History, Housing, Land use, Reparations, Social Justice

Housing Program to Redress Urban Renewal Could Get Boost From SF Reparations Plan

Avatar photo by Madison Alvarado

Urban renewal was a publicly and privately funded effort across the U.S. wherein local governments acquired land in areas deemed “blighted” — often using a racially biased lens — through eminent domain, forcibly displacing residents and demolishing existing buildings with promises to rebuild. In San Francisco, urban renewal targeted Black cultural centers and neighborhoods, uprooting thousands of families and destroying lively, well-established communities.

Now, San Francisco is giving renewed attention to a program that aims to bring displaced residents and their descendants back to the city as the Board of Supervisors prepares to review a draft Reparations Plan to address historic harms against Black San Franciscans at a meeting March 14.

Posted in“Civic” Podcast, California, Environment, History, Land use, Parks & Open Space, Social Justice

John Muir, Racial Politics and the Restoration of Indigenous Lands in Yosemite

Avatar photo by Mel Baker

John Muir has been honored extensively, with his name on many sites and institutions, including 28 schools, a college, a number of mountains, several trails, a glacier, a forest, a beach, a medical center, a highway and Muir Woods National Monument, one of the most visited destinations in the Bay Area. But in the time since the Sierra Club issued a nuanced statement in 2020 acknowledging some racist language in his early writings, some have come to believe that Muir’s legacy should be diminished, despite his contributions to the preservation of wilderness and later writings praising native tribes. 

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