San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood has been hit especially hard by COVID-19, and residents sheltering in place in the area have for years faced elevated levels of air pollution from a variety of nearby sources. Recently, advocates have raised concerns about potentially toxic dust they fear is being generated by a nearby construction project.
Category: Social Justice
Posted inEducation, Law & Justice, Social Justice
Critics Applaud S.F. School District Move to End Police Presence
Parents applauded the San Francisco school board’s recent move to cut ties with the San Francisco Police Department in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests that have highlighted racial bias in policing. The Board of Education voted on June 23 to overhaul the San Francisco Unified School District’s relationship with police. The decision […]
Posted inCoronavirus, Immigration, Law & Justice, Social Justice
S.F. Immigration Lawyers Cut ICE Detention Centers Population by Two-Thirds
In late March, a cell phone video made by detainees was leaked to the public from Mesa Verde Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center in Bakersfield, Calif. Dozens of men in orange jumpsuits walked past the camera while Charles Joseph read a petition. “Many of us have underlying medical issues,” he said. “This turns our […]
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Housing, Immigration, LGBTQ+, Social Justice
LGBTQ Refugee Doc Debuts on Public Television, Streaming
The San Francisco Bay Area has a reputation for being a kind of “queer promised land,” says filmmaker Tom Shepard. In the documentary “Unsettled,” that notion is put to the test. The film follows four LGBT refugees as they try to build new lives in San Francisco after fleeing violence and discrimination in their home countries.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, HIV & AIDS, LGBTQ+, Opinion, Social Justice
Pandemic and Protest: How AIDS and LGBTQ Activism in the ’80s Informs the Present
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” While the remark may or may not have been made by Mark Twain, it certainly rings true as we compare the 1980s with 2020, when an incompetent response to a pandemic and a minority’s call for justice brought people to the streets.
Posted inLaw & Justice, Social Justice
Black Panthers See Echoes in Today’s Protest Movement, With Focus on Cell Phones, Not Guns
What distinguishes the Black Lives Matter movement from the Black Panther Party, which brought national attention to police brutality and racial injustice more than half a century ago, is widespread appeal, said one early member of the Black Panthers. His simple advice for the younger generation: Stick with it.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, City Hall, Government & Politics, Politics, Social Justice
Demonstrators March Through San Francisco to Mark Juneteenth
Hundreds marched through San Francisco on Friday afternoon to mark Juneteenth, protesting police killings and calling for racial justice. The San Francisco Public Press followed the demonstration, which made its way from the Ferry Building to City Hall and then on to the school district building. Read updates from the march below, and hear a […]
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Community, LGBTQ+, Social Justice
LGBTQ Show Returns, Explores Lessons for Activists
As San Francisco marks the 50th Anniversary of the first LGBTQ rights march, the program “Out in the Bay” is returning to the air on KSFP, a radio station created by the San Francisco Public Press. “Out in the Bay” returns after a four-year hiatus. It ran weekly on public radio station KALW from 2004 […]
Posted inEconomy & Business, Social Justice
Community Efforts Raise Nearly $1 Million for Black-Owned Oakland Businesses
As damage from looting and property destruction added to the financial pain of black-owned businesses already hurting from the coronavirus shutdown, Oakland nonprofits, business leaders and community members swung into action, collectively raising almost $1 million to help those businesses recover. Two of the biggest fundraisers were launched by black women – one a business owner and one a community member acting on her own initiative – who together raised almost $400,000.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Public Safety, Social Justice
Protesters Weigh In on Defunding Police
At the demonstrations against police brutality and racism that have brought thousands to San Francisco’s streets in recent weeks, many protesters have carried signs carrying a demand to “defund the police.” The uprising sparked by the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer has turned a spotlight on this proposal, and locally, Mayor […]