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At Five Star Bank,
community is at the heart
of what we do.
Every day we strive to have
thoughtful solutions for
our customers and help
our communities prosper.
Honest dialogue about the issues
affecting the region
is vitally important
to that prosperity.
We are proud to be a part
of the conversation
and hope you'll join in.
♪♪
We are wrapping up the second
season of Studio Sacramento.
As production
for season 3 begins,
we will continue
to invite policy,
business and community leaders
to join me right here to discuss
the issues and the people
that have an impact
on our region.
But first,
we'd like to share some of
the highlights from this past
season and ask you to join us
for all new episodes beginning
July 12 as we continue
the conversations that matter
right here on Studio Sacramento.
> Well let's talk a little
bit more about bridging gaps
and how we live.
This book All American: 45
Muslim Men on Being Muslim.
You have an essay in this
book and it was
fascinating to read.
In which you talk about the
fact that you grew up
all American kid,
you spent a little bit of
time overseas
but you love baseball,
went to parochial school and
it's a quintessential
American upbringing.
But then 9/11 changed your life.
Tell us about the epiphany
or what happened that
changed your life.
> Well you know
I knew that morning,
you know I think most
American Muslims
knew that morning
our lives changed forever.
But I just thought quickly,
I said look at my background,
born in this Country,
I went to an orthodox
Christian Pre- School,
I went to Catholic School.
So I knew the
challenges we faced,
I knew both sides you know.
I knew how to bridge these
gaps 'cause all my life I
had to be the bridge builder
whether it was at
Catholic School answering
the question about Islam
and so forth.
So I knew that day that I
had to step it up and many
American Muslims realized
that day especially the ones
that were born in this Country,
realized that they had to
step it up and let their
fellow Americans know who we
are, what we stand for.
And I think really a lot of
times we don't blame our
fellow Americans for the
misperceptions that they
have about Muslims.
I mean if they just turn on
the TV they're gonna see an
angry guy with a beard
burning things down.
And so you know I always
tell our community we had
one story, where the FBI
went to a Muslims house.
The guy is a Doctor
has a big beard,
very nice guy very well
respected in his hospital.
But you know one of his
neighbors called the FBI and
said you know all these guys
with beards are going over
to his house.
And so when I talked with
the FBI they said you know
when we get a call we have
to look into it.
But then I turned around and
asked the Muslim,
I said do you ever speak
with your neighbors?
He says I say hi from a
distance, you know.
I said it's your fault.
It's your fault if you don't
reach out to your neighbors,
I told him growing up in San
Francisco we knew our
entire neighborhood,
everyone knew us right.
During the religious holiday
we'd take our sweets.
During their religious
holidays they would bring us
their sweets.
And so I told him the
importance of reaching out.
If your neighbors don't know
who you are right and this
is the image that they see
on TV they're gonna be afraid.
But if you go over there,
give them your sweets,
invite them over they'll say
you know we know these Muslims.
They're good people,
they're family people,
you know they believe in the
same thing that we do.
> Well there seems to be a
difference in
terms of generation,
let me read you something
that recently came out.
Here's a recent study by the
Gallop Organization called
Muslim Americans: Faith,
Freedom and the Future.
Examining US Muslims Beliefs
ten years after Sept. 11th .
And it says here,
"Muslim Americans are unique
in the level of optimism
they express about the future.
Regardless of affiliation
Americans rate their lives
about a seven on a zero to
ten latter scale and expect
to be even more satisfied
five years from now.
No other religious group
however, expects things
to improve as do Muslims".
So while there have been
challenges in the post 9/11 era,
it sounds like the community
is fairly hopeful and that
especially that the younger
generations are really
stepping forward in a way
that hasn't happened
in the past.
Can you tell us a little bit
about that in our final moments.
> American Muslims,
you just look around the
community where they're
building Islamic Centers,
American Islamic Centers
that are catering to the
American Muslim community.
Not catering to you know
a country overseas or folks
that came from overseas.
People realize,
many of the immigrants
realize that maybe after
five years oh you know
eventually we'll go back
home right.
And then after awhile some
people try to go back to their
home Countries and then they
realize that you know
we're actually American.
Our children are American,
we're so use to America and
we're so use to the
religious freedom of America
that you know we
can't live here.
And many of them came back
to America because in
this Country, I would say
that you can practice
your Faith better
than any other so-called
Muslim country in the world.
when you say experiencing
life in society give us one
vivid lesson that
you took from there.
>> I think that she took
a moment in time
to explain to me that
I had the advantage of being
in an outstanding school system
and that I had advantages
in life that a lot
of other kids didn't have.
And as a blond,
blue eyed little girl I had
advantages just by virtue of
being white in our society.
And she shared that
information with me in a way
that I had never thought
about before.
And she taught me a really
important lesson.
And that is that society is
willing to throw away some kids.
And in that moment,
that's when I got that core
value of social justice of
the responsibility that we
have to each other and to
especially the most
vulnerable among us.
>> How does that
drive you today?
>> I think my entire career
is driven by this concept
of social justice.
This concept of the
responsibility that we have
to the vulnerable that we
cannot be satisfied with our
lives until we know that
we've reached out
to the vulnerable.
And that the greatness of a
society is defined by how we
treat the vulnerable,
and so when I understood
that society is willing to
throw away some kids,
I said I'm gonna fight for
the people that society
doesn't fight for.
And that's what I've done
throughout my career.
>> And how did you get from
there to where you are today?
>> It's been a great journey.
After I aged out of the
foster care system I went to
the local university which
was the University of Michigan,
in a six year pre-med
med program.
For me school and education
was always a really safe place.
It was a place where if you
did what was expected then
you could excel and so I
always enjoyed school.
So it was a logical
transition for me to go into
this special program and it
was a great opportunity.
Right away I got to
understand things like the
social determinants of
health and the opportunities
that you have as a physician,
the trust that patients place
in you by virtue
of being a physician.
So it was the perfect career
for me to go to medical school.
>> So let's go back in history.
Let's go back 50 years and
when you and John Cole and
Gino Gladden and Mrs. Lee
all got together and founded
this institution,
what were you thinking?
What were you trying
to accomplish?
>>Well it's amazing,
we never would have thought
that, from a kitchen table
in which we worked the
first edition on,
>>Really?
>> From that beginning,
that initiation,
that we'd end up here 50
years later to talk talking
about an outstanding paper
that has been this nation's
number one African American
newspaper a number of times.
So we had no idea.
The key there is that we wanted
to serve though, Scott.
That was our main intent.
There was very little
information we feel now, there
was no marketplace of where a
person could go and find out
events in the African American
community and so our intent was
really to provide that
kind of information.
Information from events that
were occurring.
Information about groups that
might be forming.
Some of the deaths and births if
you will of our community.
That type of thing.
>>Well give us a sense of
the time Dr. Lee, ok,
because this happened
as part of an era.
>>Yes.
>>Tell us about what was going
on at that moment.
What was meaningful and
relevant to you?
>>Well you know the culture
of the times,
is that we really had
very few African Americans in
key positions and any positions
and so forth, there were no
black judges as an example.
No blacks on television.
No blacks if you will on our
city council, or board of
supervisors, very few in
the capitol.
In fact, we were looking at
it the other day and we felt in
when we formed the Observer in
'62, that there actually was
only three African Americans
staffers working in
the state capitol.
>>You're kidding.
>>Can you imagine that?
You know, so, so, from that very
first beginning we were able to
serve really kinda as a
catalyst for form, for many
of these job opportunities,
for many of the
announcements that were
occurring for many actually
the appointments that were
being made.
And we were consulted
frequently, by those who are
in positions to make some of
those appointments.
>>Incidentally,
and being a catalyst in
breaking down doors,
you didn't just do that in
the African American community.
There's a story that I recently
heard about how publications
like Time and Newsweek couldn't
participate in the coverage of
the Capitol and the Observer
broke down the door that allowed
them, to be able to be a
part of the bureau.
Tell us, tell us that story.
>>Actually, we could not be, we
could not be credentialed, if
you will, because we were not
essentially, we met the rules
committee requirement at that
time was that you had to be a
daily newspaper as an example in
order to have a credential, so
you couldn't get up, so
magazines like Time magazine who
was not obviously
a daily publication,
nor were the Observer,
could not be credentialed.
So we in a sense we challenged
that credentialing
rule and was able to change
the rules committee
requirements at the time and
we were able then to open up the
doors for many of the
publications who were weeklies
and other publications as well.
So we pioneered many of those
kinds of efforts and actually
assisted the rules committee in
rewriting the rules as it
applied to credentialed
publications.
>>So back in that era, you, you
have encountered over your time,
and you have as well Larry,
just a plethora
of historical figures.
>>Yes.
>>Who among them really stands
out in your mind
that were folks
that you to this day you
remember and you say wow,
that was really a
person worth remembering?
>>Well you know it's,
it's so interesting Cruz we had
opportunities obviously to meet
during that time
everyone from the political
leaders actually the
celebrities that were traveling
with them at that -
>>Political leaders like who?
>>Political leaders like you
know of course all of our
governors essentially
beginning at that time
from Pat Brown,
my wife even went to work for
Pat Brown for a short time
as an example.
Through Governor Reagan,
through, Deukmejian,
through young Brown, the
current governor of our state.
>>Incidentally, Governor Reagan,
President Reagan, used to come
by the office in Oak Park?
>>Yes, well we established a
real personal relationship
at that time when he was
governor of our state
with him because not only
were our kids going to the same
school, Brookfield School
together, we were able to go to,
establish a working
relationship with him and
as a result, when he got ready
to name several appointments,
he would come by and
we would chat about some
African Americans that were
worthy of being named.
>>President Reagan in Oak Park?
>> Now what is Mingi?
>> Mingi is the name of what
the tribes in the South Oma
believe their children
can be born with.
And in some cases a couple
are not married their
children is declared during
pregnancy to be mingiet - it
loosely translates as unclean.
It means they're cursed.
Sometimes their top teeth
come in before their bottom
and then or...
>> And that's a big deal?
>> That's a big deal.
So there are different reasons,
sometimes the couple is
married but they did not
announce at an elaborate
ceremony to the elders
that they were
trying to conceive.
So once a child is declared
mingi they are executed.
Many of them at birth
and some when they're older,
sometimes their second teeth
are coming in and those
children are aware of what's
about to happen.
>> Now Preston you've worked
in these orphanages and been
back to Ethiopia,
what is the belief system
that drives these tribe
members to engage
in this practice?
One would think that in this
day and age that such
practices would be
a thing of the past.
>> That's true but with
these villages or tribes
they're really in
the middle of nowhere,
in the heart of Africa.
These tribes have been there
for a long time.
There's one in particular
they've been in this area
by the Omo River
for about a hundred years.
So there's lots of
superstitions that have
kinda crept in into their
culture and they really want
to preserve their culture.
So when these things come in
they don't like to change
that much so if someone from
the outside comes in and
wants to say hey you should
stop doing this - they don't
wanna listen to it.
So somewhere along the way
they believe that a curse
came upon their land when
these things happen
with these children.
So when as Candy described
when their upper teeth would
come in before their bottom
teeth they kinda held the
children there until there
was a drought or they had
bad crops and they said
okay, this child needs
to be the sacrifice
to help alleviate
this curse from the land.
>> Now you actually,
have you negotiated with
these tribesmen before
to rescue these children?
>> Yeah, I was a part
of some of the rescues.
We worked with the Ethiopian
staff there and one of them
was a tribal leaders' son so
he was very involved with
the negotiations.
>> Well give us a sense of
that type of what happens
how these children are
identified how the team goes
in and rescues them.
How does that happen?
>> Well, so some of
the babies are left
stranded in the bush
when it's deemed a baby mingi
and that's one where
the father and mother maybe
didn't announce that
they wanted to try
and have a child.
So those children are
killed very early on.
The older ones,
there's something called the
mingi gate that when you go
to one of these villages
it's this wooden frame just
kind of arch way that you
walk through and there's
different passages.
One passage is for a wedding
so a husband and bride will
pass through before they go
through the ceremony.
And the mingi gate is just
to the side of that and they
pass the child through this
doorway as part of the
ceremony before they kill
the child either by
throwing them into the river
or leaving them out
in the wilderness.
>> It just seems so cruel
and heartless and this is
just sort of - you make
it sound like this
administrative procedure
that is thought of
without any emotion
attached to it.
>> Yeah, it's difficult
I think a lot of
the people in the tribe
do not like it and obviously
the parents don't want to
harm their children but
there's a lot of
so much superstition
and kind of just
a power that the
eldership has over the
village that they keep these
people in a lot of fear in
saying if this does not
happen then you're harming
all of these people
not just your child.
So it's kind of for the sake
of the community
that they do this.
And there's disagreements,
the elders want to keep the
tradition and that going on
and continuing it but the
families and the parents try
to fight against it but they
just can't really,
so it's a very sad thing and
emotional thing.
>> What were you trying
to achieve in the design,
I mean what was kind of the
thought process in how this
design.. one, takes care of its
functional needs but
also integrates into
this neighborhood?
>> It's very complicated process
to be honest and there isn't
a straight, simple way
to answer it.
>> that's ok, we like complexity
on this show.
>> We've thrown a few
curve balls at him too, so..
>> It's really the convergence
of a lot of different ideas
and a lot of different desires.
Sort of being then being
exhibited in one building design
so it's a challenge.
We.. I think they came
to my office and me in
particular because of my long
commitment to the central city
and to the midtown neighborhood
in general.
For 20 years I've lived
and worked in the neighborhood
so I know it pretty well.
You name an intersection,
I can visualize it in my mind.
I'm not going anywhere..
my office is on Capitol Avenue
and the theatre will be on
Capitol Avenue and so it's
a neighbor to me.
Both in terms of home
and work.
>> Well I'll just jump in
and say Scott..
it became increasingly important
to us around..
as the recession started
settling in and all
of that stuff..
to really bring this project
home and really get
a local team put together.
One because it seemed like
the right thing to do.
We're a local community project,
we should really be working with
local architects and builders
and contractors as much
as possible and you know..
and Ron's knowledge of midtown
and we looked around
and pretty quickly got to him
as a candidate.
>> Yeah, he has a wholistic
vision of midtown where as
one architect, one highly
talented architect might
come in and say
"Here's a gorgeous building"
but he sees all of midtown
as one landscape and how to
integrate it in there so it's..
>> Well that's the thing
that's remarkable in that
when I looked at the drawings
for the project,
what struck me was how..
one it was strikingly
and singularly beautiful..
but also how it sort of just
flowed into the rest of that
street and I walk those streets
myself.. you know,
to the restaurant..
Bernardo is close by and
some of the other amenities
in the area..
but that it flowed and seemed
to seamlessly integrate while
still maintaining
its own character.
>> Well, and I have to say..
it's a remarkable opportunity
to design something like this
in one's own community so we
embraced it wholeheartedly
and took great care in terms
of what the form would
ultimately become and it..
in my mind, it really evolved
and grew out of the work we did
with the B Street team and also
with our understanding of
the central city and
the neighborhood surrounding
the B Street site, so..
You are known as a guy
who does heavy lifting
on big issues and one
of the things that's happened
most recently is we had
the tragedy in Newtown
and that affected
you profoundly.
What did you learn
from that experience that you
brought back to the work
that's going on
in the legislature?
>> Well, as you know I've been
committed to this issue
of improving the mental health
system in California
for many many years.
I think it is one of the
forgotten issues of our time
and that it is inextricably
connected to every other social
and educational problem
that we have in this society
but because of stigma,
because we don't like
to talk about it,
it tends to not get
the attention and it certainly,
usually falls to the bottom
of the budget priority list when
it comes to state
and federal budgets.
But a couple things have
happened over the last year.
There was the Newtown tragedy
where everybody asked,
"Why didn't somebody see
the signs in this guy Adam Lanza
from Connecticut do something
to intervene further?"
but it wasn't just
that incident Scott,
but it was also what happened
in Sacramento of the terrible
story of Nevada bussing
a mental health patient
to California and leaving him
essentially for the cops
to pick him up..
>> Why is that important?
>> Because it shows that Nevada
for one has substituted
for a decent, cost-effective
compassionate
mental health system,
putting people
on a Greyhound bus and dumping
them on another state
and I think that speaks
to the gravity of this issue
and why more attention,
public policy attention,
must be paid to building
a better mental health system.
>> Well, let me give you sort of
the devil's advocate position
on this.
That bussing of that patient
in part, some might say
was driven by the fact that we
provide a better safety net
in California than Nevada does
and you're the father of prop 64
which was..
>> 63.
>> 63, which is
the millionaire's tax and which
provided a new floor
for providing community
mental healthcare services.
So in fact some may say that
in fact we're becoming a magnet
now because of the fact that
we're providing more services.
>> Absolutely no excuse
for what Nevada did.
Every state needs to have
a mental health system
and when we back off
on providing services because
they choose to act in that way,
never.
Not as long as I'm around.
But our work is not done here,
so Newtown.. the Nevada story..
compelled me to..
in my last 2 years
in the legislature with
a slight budget surplus,
not much but a little bit
to say if we can invest
a little bit of money,
where should it be?
Now you said I authored prop 63.
I'm very proud of it.
It generates a billion
dollars a year.
For the kind of system
that we want..
What.. just a quick association,
what are the things that you
leave behind that you've done
that you're most proud of?
>> Well, it's a long list for me
so if I had to just winnow..
the San Francisco bay trail,
it's almost 500 miles
of recreation opportunity
opened up around the bay..
consumer protection things
that weren't.. no special
interest really cared about,
but things like if you're going
to get called for a jury, don't
keep people there endlessly.
You know, call them for one day
or if they get onto a panel
for a child, one trial.
If you're expecting people
to wait at home for
the cable TV guy or the phone
or furniture delivery,
tell them when you're going to
be there within a 4 hour window.
So there are things like that.
>> It's interesting that you
would go there because those are
sort of Joe lunchbox,
bread and butter type of issues,
we're not talking about some
grand, multi-billion dollar
thing, that's actually
surprising.
>> Well, they're practical
and you know I spent a lot
of time working on social
insurance things because
health insurance and things like
unemployment and disability
and child care impact people's
lives in ways that these sort of
grand schemes don't and I always
thought that that was worth
my labor.
>> You know, after 46 years
and when you retire
out of this office is it at all
scary to think about waking up
the next day and not having
an elective office to go to?
>> Uhh, well.. I don't know what
I'm going to do next and so
there is this sort of cliff
effect feeling but I..
you know, I'm ready for that.
It's whatever it is,
it will be fine.
And that's our show.
Thanks to all of the guests
who have joined me at this table
over the past two seasons
and thanks to you for watching.
We'll be back on July 12
with a brand new episode.
For Studio Sacramento,
I'm Scott Syphax.
See you next time
right here on KVIE.
♪♪
At Five Star Bank,
community is at the heart
of what we do.
Every day we strive to have
thoughtful solutions for
our customers and help
our communities prosper.
Honest dialogue about the issues
affecting the region
is vitally important
to that prosperity.
We are proud to be a part
of the conversation
and hope you'll join in.
All episodes
of Studio Sacramento
along with other KVIE programs
are available to watch online
at kvie.org/video