Local News & Views

Colin Logan describes the detention of Afro-Brazilian drummer and cultural educator Leo Oliveira Xavier after a routine ICE check-in in San Francisco. The interview calls for his release and directs readers to support the campaign led by immigrant-rights organizers.

The Cuban Embassy's First Secretary, Sulia Paez and Second Secretary, Gabriela Castillo, spent four days in the San Francisco Bay Area building solidarity, meeting activists and exploring the region’s revolutionary art. The San Francisco Bayview's Leah Harmony shares her experience and its impact.

An unsecured SFPD drone link exposed livestreams, thermal video and location data, offering an unplanned view of how aerial surveillance reaches into daily life. Tabari Morris examines the data-security breach and the unanswered questions about oversight, civil liberties and police drone expansion.

Black August was especially impactful this year supercharged by First Secretary Sulia Paez and Second Secretary Gabriela Castillo of the Cuban Embassy visiting Oakland and San Francisco , speaking about the impact of U.S. blockades on Cuba. The Bay Area tour included events with local activists, artists and community organizations.

Drawing on the Black Panther Party’s legacy of responding to children’s needs, Ty-Licia Hooker calls for deeper investment in Oakland and Bay Area students. She urges families, educators, funders and leaders to listen directly to young people and build support around what they need to thrive.

Willie Sundiata Tate reflects on the racism, incarceration and political education that shaped his path from the California Youth Authority to the San Quentin Six era. In an unfinished phone conversation, he recalls George Jackson, Black August and the lasting emotional weight of prison movement history.

Bay Area attorney Adante Pointer discusses OPD’s release from federal oversight, the department’s history and questions of police accountability in Oakland. He also addresses SFPD’s raid on the Black Panther apartment building and the allocation of police resources in recent cases.

JR Valrey interviews Anti-Police Terror Project activist Lance Wilson about a fatal Oakland police shooting, the possible end of federal oversight and accountability within OPD. Wilson also addresses the policing of Black unhoused Oaklanders and calls for housing- and care-based responses to crisis.

JR Valrey reports on two planned surveillance data centers near Bayview Hunters Point and Vis Valley, raising concerns about pollution, water use and neighborhood impacts. Supervisor Shamann Walton says the projects moved forward without community input and may prompt legislative action.

How history repeats itself! Just as in the past with the 400,000 sailors and low-market-rate and homeless San Franciscans, not one of the prospective residents currently buying into Treasure and Yerba Buena Islands’ glitzy high-rises and condos on the redeveloped islands is informed about the radioactive and chemical contamination the Navy can never completely clean out of the soil, groundwater and air.

Caption 1: View of Gashouse Cove from Fort Mason photo provided by Maggie Hallahan Caption 2: Map of active maritime refueling stations in the San Francisco Bay Area photo provided by HSC Working Group In August 2025, SF Bay View published “Rotting from the coast in: Sea Scouts displaced, waterfront in decline,” an...

Plainclothes ICE agents arrested Chantal Morales Rojas as she boarded an Oakland-bound flight – but did they have the right to take her? Her lawyer says Rojas followed the rules and was legally authorized to live and work in the U.S.

After more than 30 years behind bars, acclaimed prison artist Donald "C-Note" Hooker has won parole after a California Parole Board acknowledged that his claim of innocence was "highly plausible." In this Black August feature, C-Note reflects on his fight for freedom, the legacy of Black August, and how art became both his resistance and his voice.

As the San Francisco Bay View enters its 50th anniversary year, a new editorial leadership team is building on the newspaper’s legacy while preparing it for the future through community-centered journalism, multimedia storytelling and unwavering accountability. Editor in Chief JR Valrey, Manager of Production Leah Harmony and Managing Editor Tabari Morris each bring distinct experiences, united by a shared commitment to amplifying Black voices, documenting all of what makes up a community and ensuring the people themselves have a place for their own stories.

Glenridge: Broken promises on the hill examines how a housing cooperative once envisioned as a model of resident control and long-term affordability has become mired in deferred maintenance, governance disputes, financial questions and growing uncertainty. Through interviews with residents, co-founder Fred Butler and current management, the SF Bay View investigates whether Glenridge’s struggles reflect isolated failures—or a broader pattern that threatens Black and working-class communities across San Francisco.

Artificial intelligence isn’t just changing how we work—it is reshaping how we’re watched. In this analysis, Leah Harmony examines the rise of the modern surveillance state, from AI-powered school buses and predictive policing to data architecture and “smart city” technology. As governments and tech companies build increasingly interconnected systems, she asks a fundamental question: Who controls the tools that increasingly control us—and what happens to freedom when every movement becomes data?

Acclaimed filmmaker Raoul Peck says authoritarianism did not suddenly arrive with Donald Trump — it has been decades in the making. In this exclusive conversation with the SF Bay View, the director of Orwell 2+2=5 explains why George Orwell remains essential reading, how propaganda and historical amnesia fuel modern power, and why neutrality is itself a political choice. Peck argues that democracy demands more than voting; it demands action.

by Tabari Morris Proposed city policy would gut privacy protections and open the door to federal data sharing San Francisco’s controversial citywide employee drone policy is...

The Y encourages people to recognize their value as individuals, have a sense of belonging and to become the best version of themselves.

Bounce Back Generation (BBG) is an organization making an impact in the lives of youth based in the Potrero Hill and Bayview Hunters Point communities.