We caught up with Kiani Mitchell - a magnetic educator, innovator, organizer, and school reform rule breaker.

INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY STETSON HINES

What city did you grow up in?

I grew up all over, but I consider San Francisco to be home.

How long have you lived here?

I moved to San Francisco when I was 14 and moved back to San Francisco last year in 2017.

Can you tell me what it was like growing up being a minority in San Francisco? 

The funny thing is I never felt like a minority growing up here. I went to a multicultural high school in the Portola district, so I saw all types of different people. I never felt isolated at school, but our neighborhood definitely was the only black family in a couple of blocks radius. So that was an interesting dynamic going home and feeling like your a minority at home and feeling more included at school.

What neighborhood did you grow up in? 

We lived in three neighborhoods here in San Francisco. We lived in the Mission, Noe Valley, where I grew up during high school, and over there by San Francisco State.

Was it difficult? 

I don’t feel that it was difficult because growing up, we moved around quite a bit, and I used to adjust and adapt to new environments. Socially I would say I had a more difficult time adapting when I moved here to San Francisco being here in the city because I did not use to having an identity conflict as to whether or not I was inner-city black or suburban black. It was the first time I had encountered identifying which spectrum of my race I fell under.

Were there a lot of blacks in your neighborhood? 

No, not at all. I remember being the only black family on my street. I remember only one other black family, and they lived a few blocks away, and they were an interracial family.

How was the era you grew up in San Francisco? 

It was a lot more diverse than it is now. I was used to seeing people that looked like me, and I was used to seeing more professional people that looked like me around when I would spend my weekends downtown or hit up the Mission. But now, it seems like fewer or far between. I remember growing up seeing a lot more people of color.

How do you feel about San Francisco today? 

San Francisco is always going to be home for me. It just is. But I have felt the shift in not seeing the progression of black people here in San Francisco. I feel like in other places. You see how far black people have progress. Just culturally in other areas but here, I almost feel that we're going backward, not seeing that many black professionals, black-owned businesses, and black couples. It does make you question if this is a good place to be black.

How many of your friends and family have been displaced due to gentrification? 

Virtually theirs no one I went to high school with that still lives in the city. Theirs only three people I know that still live in the city. Most of my family have moved to the east bay and will never come to San Francisco. They say it’s just too expensive.

How does that make you feel? 

It does make me feel that there should be more opportunities for people to live and work here. I see so many people commuting daily and having to spend money on lunch, or whatever the case, may. be

Can we ever go back to the way SF use to be? 

I don’t think so. San Francisco has made a huge mistake losing what makes it a special city which is its diversity and culture.

How can we prevent more displacement? 

I think it’s really about unifying ourselves as a community and coming to a better consensus of what our culture will look like here in San Francisco.

My last question for you how has San Francisco shaped you into the person you are today? 

San Francisco has made me fearless theirs something about growing up in the city that gives you an edge, and that edge is the ability to be around a large group of diverse people and feel at home and comfortable. Growing up here makes it feel that you can go anywhere and be a part of anything. I think that’s the most amazing thing about being from the city.