Tag: Diane Gray

Dear Mayor Breed – The signatories to this letter are members of MegaBlack SF, a collective of Black-led organizations and Black individuals fighting for visibility, sovereignty, dignity and justice for Black San Franciscans.

As San Francisco Public Utilities Commission officials focus on developing a new property at Evans Avenue and Third Street in the Bayview, its facility at 1800 Oakdale Ave. sits in virtual suspense, putting in jeopardy the hard-won benefits intended to compensate for expanding sewage treatment facilities in the neighborhood since the 1970s. The handsome building at 1800 Oakdale, opened in 1987, exists only because community leaders demanded it be built in exchange for the community’s reluctant agreement to the City’s plan to treat 80 percent of San Francisco’s sewage in its Blackest neighborhood.

When students at Malcolm X Academy returned to their elementary school in the Bayview in August to begin a new year, they came back to a changed environment. Over the summer, part of their school building had been taken over by KIPP Bayview Elementary, a charter school operated by Knowledge is Power Program, the largest charter network in the country and in San Francisco.

It is with great sadness that I write about the passing of one of San Francisco’s daughters. Milan Rose Ardoin, 28 – and her mother, Valinda Rose Scott, 55 – was fatally shot at her home in Antioch, Calif., at 4:20 a.m. on the morning of July 5, 2018. Milan leaves behind a 4-year-old son, Mason Rome, who she often referred to as “the love of my life,” her beloved grandmother, numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, former students, mentees, friends and coworkers.

The San Francisco Alliance of Black School Educators (SFABSE) is sponsoring the Second Annual “Black Family Cradle to College and Career Resource Fair” Saturday, Sept. 19, at San Francisco Unified School District’s Mission High School. Attendees can look forward to workshops on Early Education, STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics), Discipline and Criminal Justice, College and Career, and Parent-Guardian Involvement.

For students in Bayview Hunters Point, life can be a challenge. There are territories to know not to wander into, there are people out there who don’t want youth to make it, there are temptations everywhere, but through all of this, community organizations by neighborhood residents still emerge. 100% College Prep’s 16th Annual Musical Showcase is next weekend, March 14-16, at Thurgood Marshall High School