Social Justice
Demonstrators link arms in front of the International Hotel at Kearny and Jackson Streets in San Francisco on Aug. 4, 1977.

In Remembering Traumatic Eviction, Community Seeks Inspiration

08.03.2021
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The International Hotel on the corner of Jackson and Kearny in San Francisco is the second of its name. The original was a residential hotel, with small rooms affordable to low-income workers. On Aug. 4, 1977, more than 100 residents were evicted all at once, despite thousands of protesters outside.

Social Justice
Julia Arroyo-Guzman

Peer-Run Center Empowers Young People Affected by Poverty, Violence, Incarceration

07.29.2021
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In the streets, in jails and other detention facilities and at its program sites around the Bay Area, the Young Women’s Freedom Center provides resources and support to girls, women and transgender and gender non-conforming people. It also provides training, internships, fellowships and jobs that pay to help people affected by poverty, exploitation and violence develop their voices.

Social Justice
Maps like this one from the federal Home Owners’ Loan Corporation were meant to guide investment. Red, or “hazardous,” areas were deemed risky investments, and often home to communities of color.

Research Traces Roots of Racial Disparities to Residential Segregation

07.08.2021
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The Othering and Belonging Institute’s Roots of Structural Racism Project found that among U.S. metropolitan regions with more than 200,000 residents, 81% were more segregated in 2019 than they were in 1990. Stephen Menendian, assistant director and director of research at the institute, talks about tracing structural racism to its roots and the importance of addressing segregation.

Pastor: Reparations Are Medicine for ‘Evil’ of Inhumane Treatment

07.02.2021
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The Rev. Amos Brown, senior pastor at Third Baptist Church of San Francisco and president of the San Francisco branch of the NAACP, is on both committees. He discussed with “Civic” California’s legacy of racism and what form reparations could take in this state and city.

Social Justice
View of Alcatraz, approaching by ferry

Return to Alcatraz: 50 Years After Native American Occupation, National Park Service Considers Permanent Cultural Center

06.29.2021
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As California reopens to tourism, Alcatraz is once again drawing visitors from around the world and featuring an exhibit celebrating the 19-month-long Native American occupation of the island 50 years ago. And in a dramatic, if delayed, response to the occupation, the National Park Service is contemplating the installation of a permanent Native American cultural center on Alcatraz in collaboration with a group that formed with that as one of its key objectives more than 50 years ago.

Government & Politics
Courtesy of Free Burma Action Committee.

S.F. Organizer Sees Repetition of Brutal History in Myanmar Military Coup

05.04.2021
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When Ko Ko Lay has managed to speak to his 86-year-old mother living in Myanmar under a military regime, she has told him she cannot sleep through the night. Like many civilians, she fears armed nighttime raids. “They are so worried about one day some security forces will come and will break through their door, and and they’re going to torture, and they’re going to kill,” Lay said. 

On Feb. 1, after a democratic election, Myanmar military forces seized control of the government and declared a year-long state of emergency. Civilians have been protesting that takeover, and the military has responded with deadly use of force, killing hundreds, including at least 40 children.

Anti-Asian Violence Resurfaces Narratives Shaped by White Supremacy

04.16.2021
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Jeff Chang, author of several books including “Who We Be: The Colorization of America and We Gon’ Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation,” has written extensively about this history and talked with “Civic” about the legacy of white supremacy and how it has influenced the discussion of recent anti-Asian violence: quietly rather than overtly.