Tag: Bayview Hunters Point

Trade unionists joined a rally and press conference on Dec. 24, 2015, on the steps of City Hall for Mario Woods, a young African American worker who was executed by San Francisco police on Dec. 2, 2015, in Bayview Hunters Point. Black San Franciscans are being driven out of San Francisco through gentrification and displacement and a decades-long job lockout, and some unionists are calling for labor action to stop these economic and police assaults.

Hundreds of middle and high school students from Black and Brown low income communities in San Francisco marched together last week in solidarity to protest the execution of Mario Woods. At only 26 years, Mario Woods, a young man with special needs, was gunned down in his own neighborhood by the SFPD. “We are sick and tired of the police killing our homies!” yelled the students as they marched from the corner of 16th and Mission Street to the steps of City Hall.

Mario Woods was a young worker who was killed by the San Francisco police on Dec. 2, 2015, with over 20 bullets. The funeral was held on Dec. 17, at Cornerstone Missionary Baptist Church, Third Street and Paul Avenue, in Bayview Hunters Point, and the family, community, youth and labor members spoke out. Speakers connected the dots between this police murder and the ethnic cleansing and gentrification of Bayview Hunters Point.

The Public Health Organization of Graduate Students at San Francisco State University condemns the actions of the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) in the unjust shooting of Mario Woods, a young African American man who was a resident of Bayview Hunters Point, on Dec. 2, 2015. The current situation in which SFPD officers kill community members with impunity is intolerable.

You are invited to the opening reception on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2-4 p.m., in the African American Center of the San Francisco Main Library of “I Am San Francisco,” a major exhibit that tells the personal stories of Black San Franciscans at a time when the Black population has been almost entirely forced out and includes a display of historic copies of the San Francisco Bay View, back to 1994, with the headline “We Shall Not Be Moved.”

San Francisco police murdered another African American in Bayview Hunters Point on Dec. 2, 2015. Seven to 10 police surrounded Mario Woods, 26, and then shot him over 10 times, killing him. Community and labor people spoke out at a meeting on Friday, Dec. 4. The San Francisco NAACP is calling a public meeting to discuss the police murder of Mario Woods for Monday, Dec. 7, 6 p.m., at Third Baptist Church, 1399 McAllister St., San Francisco.

The community is outraged at the execution of young brother Mario K. Woods. On Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015, at the young age of 26, Mario Woods was gunned down by SFPD, the largest gang in San Francisco. Chief Greg Suhr didn’t even claim his officers feared for their lives, saying only that Mario “could not be allowed to move away from the scene.” Surrounded by 10 or more officers and shot over 25 times – that is not fearing for your life or safety; that’s overkill, that’s murderous behavior – and the community is demanding the resignation of Chief Greg Suhr!

Regina Douglas was an active participant in her community, and served as a fierce advocate for social change and justice. She passionately championed causes for the elderly as well as for the youth of the Bayview Hunters Point community through a number of organizations. St. James Baptist Church was filled with Regina’s family, friends and fellow activists for her homegoing celebration on Nov. 6.

On Tuesday, Oct. 20, dozens of long time Black San Francisco community residents – many whose families arrived generations ago – took over the Mayor’s Office demanding real solutions. Pastor Yul Dorn, ACCE member and Bayview resident facing eviction, was in attendance and spoke in front of 60-plus protesters crowded into Mayor Ed Lee’s office. ACCE provided a list of demands, also criticizing Ed Lee’s plan to rebuild public housing.

Business owners, property owners and residents of the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood have until Oct. 5 to sign up to receive a street tree in the planting that Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF) is organizing for Nov. 7. People who have eligible sites in front of their properties can save money by participating in FUF’s neighborhood tree planting program; most of the costs are covered by grants, government funding and private donations.

As I go about my travels up and down Third Street, especially frustrated over the Black corridor scene – lack of thriving Black businesses, people hanging on the streets, while other areas of the strip of avenues – Dogpatch, etc., are thriving! WHEN will change happen??? Where are Black investors? So much building going on in Bayview Hunters Point – the NEW FRONTIER AND LAST BASTION FOR BLACK FOLKS!

HOW SWEET IT IS, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS 2015 NBA CHAMPIONS! NOW, THE BATTLE IS ON TO KEEP the team in Oakland and owners from moving WARRIORS TO SAN FRANCISCO Mission Bay and proposed new arena to be built at Third and 16th Street. While talking sports, CANDLESTICK STADIUM IS DOWN! GONE! Nothing left but the TOWER in the parking lot!

Bayview Hunters Point residents are invited to attend the first monthly meeting of the new Bayview Hunters Point Environmental Justice Response Task Force on Wednesday, July 22, 2015. Community members, industry representatives and officials from local, regional, state and federal environmental agencies will be present and will participate in this important task force to remedy pollution problems in the community.

Dr. Vickie M. Mays, a clinical psychologist and professor of health policy and management at UCLA, has published a number of studies showing how experiencing racism contributes to high morbidity and mortality in African Americans. Mays said she is concerned that not enough attention is paid to the lethal consequences of discrimination African American men face every day.

Ms. Verlie Mae Pickens will be celebrating her 99th birthday on June 11, 2015! A resident of San Francisco for 66 years and a community leader in the Bayview and throughout San Francisco, Ms. Pickens serves as an inspiring role model for all of us. Ms. Verlie Mae Pickens, we in Bayview Hunters Point, San Francisco and the nation and world deeply honor you and wish you a happy 99th birthday! We salute you!

THIRD STREET, starting from Mariposa north, IS BUSY! Reigning World Series Champion San Francisco GIANTS are home for another season at AT&T Park – 3rd and King Streets. Crowds gather at The Yard, Third and Terry Francois, and within two blocks of AT&T, the NEW Mission Bay POLICE HEADQUARTERS (beautiful building) and Public Fire Safety Building, exemplified by the LARGE FIRE BELL out front.

Malcolm X Day San Francisco is part of a national effort to declare May 19, the birthday of Malcolm X – El Hajj Malik El Shabazz – an official holiday. Malcolm X Day will be celebrated in San Francisco’s Bayview Hunters Point District on Sunday, May 17, with free outdoor music and guest speakers. Performers include local rappers and poets Selassie, Talia Monet, Jabari Shaw and Ras Ceylon.

Report after report reminds and warns the Black community that AIDS is not yet under control for the Black population. However, when I saw several new 6-foot-by-4-foot billboard ads in the Castro district of San Francisco this past week with the image of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. under the heading, “AIDS is a civil rights issue,” I first thought, “Well, that’s a stretch.”

This is a bigger giant that we all must come together and fight. There’s too many young men warring with each other and not with the real enemy. The true enemy is the one who’s telling your mothers, grandmothers, fathers, baby mothers, kids, friends to pack up their things and move, while the police ride around victimize us because of our skin colors. They even go as far as killing us just because of someone videoing them doing their job in a vicious way.

Leola King brought memorable class and dignity to every business she operated during a 50-year career in San Francisco. Most of the Black people here now know nothing positive of what it was like to walk and live amongst the greatness we had created there on Fillmore Street. Redevelopment viciously undermined and ripped Mrs. King’s fortune away. Her funeral is Friday, Feb. 13, 11 a.m., at Third Baptist Church, 1399 McAllister, the repast 4-7 p.m. at West Bay Conference Center, 1290 Fillmore St., San Francisco.