generations. he sponsored his brother-in-law to become a supreme court justice who wrote the dread scott decision and says african americans can never be citizens. so he was fully invested in the business of slavery. monumental reckoning is the first 350 ancestors who came over here on the first boatload of slavery. the business of slavery. when they arrived in 1619, there were 21 on the boat. we will honor the 350 who were stolen from their people and their land, never to return.

when something is a first of that magnitude, it would be the same as if we were sucked up into a space ship and taken to mars. they had no idea what was to befall them and what befell them was terror. my hope for this installation is that you come and commune with the ancestors and listen to them. they have something to say and they have something to do. they will stand here for two years in the space of justice. and in judgment. i hope that youe the

time to recognize that the space that they have created around a man who wanted them all dead is a safe space. it's a safe space to speak to people who don't look like you and share your stories and let them share theirs. if we don't talk to one another, this country will continue to be hateful. it will continue to harm. and there will be no way out.

we are the answer. we are the answer. (applause) we are our ancestors wildest dreams. wildest dreams every day. and it's a responsibility to be that. but it is the least we can give them. the least we can give back to our ancestors is to put forward kindness and love. and stand for justice for our people and all people. systems of oppression have

existed in this country since our people were brought here. they exist in healthcare and they exist in banking and food insecurity and corporate america. and criminal justice. we need a reckoning in the systems of oppression, right? (applause) we also need a reckoning within ourselves. yes, we do. so monumental reckoning stands to do all of that and to support us in our efforts, to become

whole. to cast aside our bigotry, our hate, our divisiveness and join. join together as human beings. our people were not seen as human beings. today we're going to see them in monumental reckoning. i hope that they stand as a reminder of your personal stories and the stories of everyone here. i hope you see yourself in monumental reckoning. i hope to see people in monumental reckoning and i hope you see other people in monumental reckoning. this journey began with the --

from the mayor of the city. mayor london breed. when we brought this to her, she said yes. phil ginsburg, your yes has been extraordinary. it's a federal holiday and his people were here, apprentices in the program that teaches them horticulture and they have been helping us for four days. (applause) ralph remington, our new director of cultural affairs for the san francisco art division. your yes is the beginning of a

reckoning within our system. i'm so grateful you said yes. thank you. (applause) it's pretty exciting today and i have some other work to do. i put a bowl here. i've got all this hair, i can't really see. monumental reckoning is bigger than all of us. and i'm not speaking of the ancestors here. i'm talking about a reckoning in this country. it's time. the time is now. the place that it begins for us is here. (applause) i'm a different person than i

was before i got a call from a man named ben davis who asked me if i would be interested in talking about doing art here in this space. i never thought that -- i won't say that we didn't really get here. i knew once we got on the path we would get here. but i want to thank you for your vision, your creative vision which has provided so much beauty and awe and joy for the people of san francisco from the bay bridge lights to the pink triangle to grace cathedral being lit up, to the beautiful conservetory of flowers. thank you.

thank you for letting me do what i do and giving me the space of your grace to do my work. i'm grateful. i'm grateful. i'm full of love. i'm so full and i'm so grateful you are all here to bring in the ancestors. thank you. thank you so much. (applause) >> we love you dana! >> i love you miss blue. we're a tiny team, tiny but mighty. (reading names)

thank you. thank you. i mentioned january 31st. we started a conversation february 1st. the ancestors were built -- i forgot three people. i have to stop right now. i need to acknowledge alex nolen and john woolworth. rachel arambola. are you here? yes? i heard it.

they agreed to do it in seven weeks. it then went to an incredible neighbor named alonso. is he here? and his business partner ryan. they painted the ancestors. and then the 12 women that i introduced you to, including rachel, we finished the ancestors. seven weeks time. (applause)

we are going to go see the ancestors. are you ready? i'm going to ring this beautiful instrument four times. every ring of this gong, this beautiful bowl represents 100 years of slavery. and after i ring that, we're going to ask the elders if we can proceed. we have elders waiting down at monumental reckoning. and i'm seeing their support.

the elders have given their approval for us to proceed. we will sing as we march down, lift every voice and sing. and if you don't know, look it up on your phone. there we go. we have -- we have it on paper. i hope you received it. there it is. i'm guessing you all know the song though. it's the black national anthem. and it is a song of liberty and justice and it is an uplifting song of inclusion. and it's much different than the song written by the man with the song of war and killing. a song that asks the enslaved be

put to their graves. we intend to bring a new anthem. lift every voice and sing for america. shall we? all right. we will then be led in the procession and pray on the ancestors with my pastor from heart and soul center of life and the choir from heart and soul center of life and choir of grace cathedral is in the house. if you can't sing, stand by them.

that one didn't count.

(singing)

♪♪♪ >> good afternoon.

welcome to the program intersection and act vision in the arts. i am the coordinator of the apa heritage celebration community. the apa community has been faced a tough year. the need to stop racism priorities that are widely recognized. to address racism also requires a diverse, multicultural approach. this is what the program is about. in the next hour, you will hear a number of conversations between artists of diverse ethnic backgrounds talking about issues of cultural identities and sharing how they seek to

advance social justice through art. and now, i would like to introduce san francisco mayor london breed to give opening remarks and share her thought about the impact of art on bringing diverse communities together. let's welcome mayor breed. >> hi, i'm mayor london breed. i want to thank the apa heritage month committee and nonprofit and community partners joining us here today. while many of us think of apa heritage month we think of the incredible celebrations, performances and events that happen throughout the month of may. but this year, in light of the challenges we face, from a global pandemic, to fighting systemic bias and racism, to violent and hateful attacks, we are here, united, committed to working together to build bridges between our cultures and build a brighter future for all

people. we stand up to the hatred and discrimination and say that not only will we not tolerate it, we'll actively work to dismantle it by coming together, supporting one another, celebrating and embracing our differences. thank you to the apa heritage month committee for recognizing the importance of hosting this event because celebrating our diverse cultures and practicing love and compassion for each other is how we build stronger, more resilient communities. take care and stay healthy and safe. >> thank you mayor breed and thank you for inviting me. i'm the executive director of sf films and san francisco international film festival, the longest running in the americas.

i'm honored to introduce the program for intersection and activism in the arts. for the first time, apa heritage month is showcasing artists from diverse, ethnic and racial and cultural backgrounds which is very exciting. with the conversations you're going to hear, certain things bubble up in the most intriguing way, the emergence of art as activism, art as a social impact tool and a way to understand similarities as human beings. to put it simply, art as intersectionalty and unity. tongo eisen-martin is a poet, educator and organizer serving as our current san francisco poet laureate and he was born and raised in san francisco.

he will be in conversation with michael lambert, the first asian american to serve in the role of director of libraries. >> happy asian pacific heritage month. i'm the city librarian for the san francisco public library. today it is my distinct honor and privilege to be in conversation with san francisco's newest poet laureate, tongo eisen-martin. tongo, welcome, we are delighted to have you at the main library at our chinese center and congratulations on your appointment. >> thank you. it is good to be with you. >> right on. poetry and art can seem personal but you seem to enjoy building, empowering and participating in creative communities and endeavors. do you enjoy collaborating

with other poets and artists? >> poetry is kind of a national hermitage -- in a way there's a certain aspect of craft, but really just experience with you. and for yourself. but, you know, renaissance or modernzation of a craft only happens in collaboration, only happens with us bucking up against each other. and so, you know, whether it's intentional or whether we're going to have this workshop or this writing group and bounce off these other organizations, no matter how formal or informal it is, i know that just kind of being around other people has

accelerated my growth or even just -- it's not even necessarily steel sharpens steel but steel reminds you are steel. even just watching -- just being in the front row of one of these geniuses doing their thing. and that's just the selfishness of craft. on the other end, just helping each other as much as possible. this is crucial to the process or to the historical process of art evolution. >> that's a good segue. i know this has been a really big year for you and you had to launch, can you share with us

how you started the own publishing house and the vision behind that? >> i have -- we're going to capture the needs of cultural production. i have that kind of objective. but it really did start with just -- just a way of being of some kind of help. you talk to poets, they will ask me for advice and as i would listen to them, i would just, you know, i'm just in my head thinking, you don't need advice, you need a break, you know. so to just kind of give some of these poets a first step in, it's really very much at the heart of the operation.

it's our own little humble slice and there's not much of a physical reality to poetry, but still for a process of reality to be facilitated by people outside of institutional kind of permission or prescription, i think is crucial to consciousness that wants more control over our reality. so i would say those are the basic food groups of the press. >> as one of the stewards of the institution now, as the poet laureate, we have 376,000 square feet here to serve as a stage for some of these poets. so i look forward to packing the

chinese center, the african american center, all the spaces in the library. it is going to be exciting. you have spoken with a high level of excitement about san francisco's 8th poet laureate and how you feel the opportunity can allow you to connect with the people of san francisco. can you share more about your vision for serving as the poet laureate to advance racial equity and social justice? >> i think one path really towards it is the healing of our eternal contradictions, the nurturing and growth of our consciousness and poetry is beautiful cultural tool for helping facilitate that

evolution. just a heavy emphasis on education programs as well as kind of public cultural works. to push poetry to the imaginations, these are the efforts i'm most looking forward to. it's actually like a beautiful almost collective, this position. really like a collective imagining of what can be done. >> we are so excited to partner with you and throw the full weight of the san francisco public library behind you as your platform. >> this is my favorite pirate ship so far. >> that's great. so recently, i also heard you mention that you feel like meditating when you are reciting

poetry. i'm intrigued by this concept of consuming poetry akin to meditation. and it comes across as musical at times. can you elaborate on your approach? >> the objective is to not protect yourself. you know, one of our first kind of instincts or skills or just nature is to create a representative to present to the world. so that instinct only gets amplified with the terror of public speaking. so, you know, the trick is to kind of dissolve per sona or dissolve the persona you want

that protects you. so much of the goof is just kind of figuring out what somebody like me would say next. so it's really all i'm doing -- similar to a meditation where you just kind of like, the trigger is to know when you're leaving. it's the same thing. i feel myself going into an ego cleanse or however you want to say it. really in a way you let the poetry play you. if you are writing really from a political practice, your poems

are really, not to be grandiose but your poems are representatives of the world, of all this reality. so, you know, in at least kind of in a subtle way, it's the world playing you. >> uh-huh. >> right? that's the opportunity and that's all i'm looking for poem to poem performance to performance. >> well, with what's going on in the world, the tragic waves of violence against the apa community locally and the george floyd trial underway, can you speak of the intersectionalty of

marginalized and oppressed communities and the arts to bring people together? >> i'm blanking on who said it, but the phrase, they come for you in the morning, they'll come for me tonight. whether we're monsters or objects, you know, they don't intend any humanity for us. not just for our survival but to help evolve the human journey, you know, kind of politics and

unity and healing is necessary or we're in deep, deep trouble. >> truth. thank you. you have written that poetry has the power of naming the world, can nature the eternal life of someone to find a way to foster positive powers lost behind a wall, especially the power to name yourself. how can we give power to those without a voice, especially our undocumented and immigrant communities? >> i was really like, you know, kind of beyond heartbroken with the kids in the cages with the children of the asylum seekers torn from their families.

like what's cultural going on in the united states. what people seem to be capable of. even before the kids went in the cages when there were ice checkpoints in new york subways and all of these raids, and having to talk to friends of mine, if they take you, i'll take your kids. these were the types of conversations we had to have and i noticed everybody was just still sipping their coffees and too much going on -- just trying to stick to their regular scheduled programming. it's the flavor of attitude

toward all of our immigrant communities. so i would like to say, in answer to the question, i actually think it's time for us to put the coffee down. we can't have -- i don't know why we got out of the streets. we can't participate in a status quo as long as any people are basically suffering acts of genocide. if you look at the u.n. definition of genocide, you know, the united states -- the united states is guilty my brother. and you know -- i think what we have to be clearer on, no matter

what the tide of it is, no matter the manifestation of it, no matter what the scales of violence and areas of violence, it's the same tendency that therefore has the same potential to ramp up at any moment. >> yeah. that just really affirms the power of this conversation and the fact that we are in the public library, the most democratic of institutions and it just really brings home this quote from one of the civil rights leaders the progress of the world will require the best that we all have to give. i know you have worked with incarcerated youth and adults. how has your work with these folks shaped your view of poetry

and art? >> you know, one of the first things that struck me when i started working with the incarcerated youth was how in a cell block of 50 kids, only maybe one, two, three at most actually needed a time out. you know? the rest of the kids were just part of a liquefied working class.

it's interesting to basically see jail world which is just where this kind of surplus population is flushed to. when people are imprisoned, they become a symbol. even if they keep their humanity, they become abstract. some kind of unnecessary metaphor. that's not the case. they don't go into suspended animation. life is back there. >> we have a jail and reentree services, the acronym is jars and we have a couple of librarians in the jails providing access to collections, reference, information services, so we'll have to work with you

at some point and introduce you to those individuals. i know they would love to meet you. >> absolutely. >> well, i know our audience would love to hear your work. do you have a poem you would like to share with us today? >> i got you. >> all right. from a two floor skyline an abandoned house once talked to me. it said young man, you are heroic and 10 years-old. among 20 generations of friends, your friend will freefall away, they will freefall up. they will freefall the walls

with fifth grade speed to industrial paint use quick knife tones. be brass, you always leaving, always want to change the clothes from the door, life an escape. two floor skyline to guide the dodge in the middle, defend more blues than skin. place with the 90 mile per hour right eyes, two feet high and roaming and repeating and hanging your opinion though, tagging along, whistling two shot songs, you will be useful, from a $20 family -- around walls except these walls may suggest you may rise out of highs and currency. young man, you will come to a myth that sometimes suicide is

power. because some people live stronger as ghosts and sometimes the after life is empty. like playground bullets and abandon door frames, even broken glass proves it has a voice. look over your shoulder, can you hear it. the sound of piano parts learning between the fascination attempts. be invincible again. professional finger tips. be here the first month of probation, look behind you again. be invincible again. never look away. the after life empty and walk you home. >> wow. bravo. tongo, thank you so much for joining us here today at the san francisco public library.

happy asian pacific american heritage month. we're so glad everybody could join us for the special program. thank you sir. >> we now move to conversation with the executive director and co-founder of the american indian district in san francisco. >> hi everybody, i'm director of cultural affairs for the san francisco arts commission in the city and county of san francisco and i'm here with... >> i'm the executive director and co-founder of the american indian cultural district. great to be here with you. >> so great to be here with you as well. and you know, we're in quite a

time right now with what just happened with the chauvin trial and all of the things happening. we just lived through the last four years of horror with the presidency. and hopefully we're at the beginning of a new period. we work in the area of arts and culture and cultural expression and i know we talked some off line about how do you deal with art and culture that is created for white consumption or the white gaze and arts and cultural experiences created for the community they come from. what are your thoughts around that? >> interview: i think the way i see us doing it at least as a city right now is we're coming together strong, we're coming

together as people. we're moving up the chain to our leadership. i think how we deal with it is we take that voice back and we take that power back together through our work, through how we elevate each other. i think we really start doing that by looking at our similarities. i think that, you know, what i keep hearing from folks over and over again and being completely valid is hey, can we have this moment but we're not going to have this moment forever. we're in it right now but may not be tomorrow. the way we take it back is we talk about how can we strengthen each other and build each other up. this is an amazing and important times is black lives matter and they always should matter, talking about stopping asian hate, the only way it is

sustainable, when we look to our brothers and sisters and say how do we make sure it continues. how do we make sure we're all sitting at the table and once it is a bigger issue, we take into our own hands, then i think it starts to sustain itself. when it goes away it's political and media level, we're still as relatives as brothers and sisters elevating each other's voices. >> how do you think we can authentically show up for each other in each other's communities? admittedly there may be certain ignorance that people have about each other's communities, whether you are native, whether you are african american or

asian -- >> let's have good conversations about acknowledging our own harms. you just brought up a great point. the trial with chauvin, i know there's tensions between the communities, do we talk about the fact that he also shot two american indian men and is that okay? is that going to create conflict talking about that. and we're not just talking about those sort of things, do we talk about where it happened, in minneapolis. it's also the home of where the red power movement for indian power movement again and it again because of police brutality. it's okay to acknowledge that too and we have way more in common than we have apart from each other. and when we start those real conversations with each other, hey brother, hey sister, hey

relative, i see you, i hear you. then we are not creating battles amongst each other. the political battles, we're strengthening and having the real conversations and i'll be honest, for me, the folks who have reached out to me are our brothers and sisters in those communities. how can we help you? when we're at the events, i feel it's us at that level having the conversations. i think that's where the healing needs to start, be real with each other to see where we intersect and get along and show up in each other's neighborhoods. i love when i'm invited out to the mission or what we're doing right now, bayview, african american arts district, organizing a walk for the youth. that's where we show up, let's start to get together with each other and start to see each other at that level for our kids, our youth and start the healing conversations early and at a community level.

not just the mayor's office or the press releases. let's get our children together, our people together and have a barbecue. i think one of my other relatives was talking about let's have a weekly fire pit at the beach. we'll bring our communities together. things like that, we're doing it here and continuing to create that foundation, even if it -- >> i look at art from a position of director of cultural affairs and i look back in my life and look at art as something that saved my life. my father was a visual artist and grew up in west philadelphia and i saw a lot of despair around me. people dying and getting shot. for me, i never just connected art from social change.

so for me they work together. and just seeing what you think about that and what brought you to want to be a cultural worker and work with this arts and culture community. >> definitely. whether you see a fist or something, there's art to go along with it. the intersectionalty between the

two, it's how we create that visual representation of each movement that has been so important. i wanted to do cultural resource protection and i'm blessed to be in a role today where what we do is incorporate all of it, art and cultural resource protection and the way we're using it in the cultural district is create visibility. we're talking about creating the san francisco arts commission did something, it was indigenous project where they took photos called the continuous thread of all our communities. we're trying to continue the

continuous thread by taking the images of american indian folks, that's one of the biggest issues we face, visibility. we're showing people we are still here and strong. we're the only community who has to say we're still here. where folks think you're dead. so we get to use that art -- thing of the past. we get to use art as sort of in partnership with you all to continue the narrative of activism to show up and show what we look like today. we don't all wear feathers in our hair or all live in teepees or things like that. so i think art is the way of that activism, is taking back the visibility. >> yeah. i just recently read there are more native americans in california than anywhere else in the united states and i don't think anybody knows that. i didn't know it. not that i'm an expert but i consider myself somewhat

knowledgeable and i didn't know that. and i think our idea -- when i say our, the mainstream culture of the united states of america, the idea is to always keep native culture relegated to the 1700s or 1600s and the natives wore feathers in their hair and live in teepees. while it's nostalgic for some people in some weird way, it has no bearing on the truth. it would be like relegating african americans in the country to how we were on the planation. that's ridiculous. i can't imagine how that feels in every day life. >> yeah. it's definitely hard. i just looked -- there's an organization and they did a study and found that 76% of

folks across the united states didn't know anything about american indians or thought we were a thing of the past. 76%. a lot of people didn't know we didn't have the right to vote until the 60s or the census counted us as white or other and that still happens today. it's not accurate that -- just like black relatives, we have been here a really long time and our numbers are closer to 1%. a lot of us are diverse, we're mixed. i identify with my indigenous roots but i also have spanish roots as well, but the messed up part, if i checked spanish and american indian, i might be categorized as other. i think that's where we tieback into art. we get to have the photographs of folks. i had a conversation with the ymca on something they just did

with an artist with a woman in a headdress talking about representation. we get to use the art to show what we look like today and the diversity in our communities. most people don't know, there's over 150 tribes in california and over 500 nations across the united states. >> our ideas about race and culture in america are so archaic in the first place and nonsensical. we're mixed with each other, certainly a lot of african american culture has indigenous blood within our culture. that was a natural part of our living and being part of american culture as it were, even when we weren't really considered americans. it's been a part of it. and that i often tell, particularly talked about this

with african american and latinx brothers and sisters and say hey, there's not a lot of difference between latinx culture and african american culture. the blood lines are very similar, it's just the language of our colonizer is different. european, white came over here and f-ed things up and that's where we are. we're a part of a product of that and it includes all of us and it shows how ridiculous the racial lines are and the fear of a dark planet. the fear of us all being one. there's a big fear in that, which is why interracial laws

were set up for interracial marriages, except for the marriage of pocahontas. that story is wild. you're familiar with that? >> a 10-year-old girl, 13-year-old woman and how disney really just took that and tried to make this a glamour story about a native woman needing saved by a white man to bring peace. the story itself was real nice, i get if you have no idea what went on, but to know the brutal truth of where they took it from is disturbing. i would love to touch on something you brought up. the one thing i don't care if you're latinx or black, if you have been here long enough and that's what you'll hear from american indians, no matter

where you're from, if you have been brought here for a while, stolen bodies on stolen land. if you have been brought here for a while, one thing that is lost is a lot of them don't know where they came from and don't know their indigenous language and cultures and original foods. that's one thing that can't be gotten back. if you don't know your roots and don't know where to start, you have been like so grateful for american indian folks that have that to go back to. i can go home and walk my lands and learn our language and our ceremonies. i can't imagine the pain and trauma. especially latinx where some folks are ashamed to acknowledge their indigenous roots. i'm mexican american, they don't have that, they lose their

language and songs and that pride. that's a form of colonization. i have friends who live here and say i didn't learn how to speak mandarin and it's a shame. this is the first time i have been proud to be chinese, i don't have to like blend in with the crowd. people are coming out and celebrating who they are and stepping out of the box. for a long time i went by a shortened name because i grew up in a town that was 98% white and i was tired of having my name butchered. i wanted to blend in. i didn't want to be the girl whose family came here to open a restaurant. i wanted to fit in. i think what's so beautiful in this moment and diversity, we

can step up and be like this is me, whoever this is. some of us are reinventing that for ourselves, as long as we do it together. this is such a beautiful moment to step up and say this is my heritage and i'm proud and stand together and do it together and come together and be unique and different and still be the intersection between each other. >> absolutely. it is so important. and that shows the fact that you felt you had to hide or not bring your whole self to your every day life and of course many of us, if not most of us in marginalized communities feel we can't bring our whole selfs the work, we can't bring our whole selves to waking up and walking down the street and interacting with people. and it just shows the white

supremacy and how it works and how it is so topic and eraser culture, to bring people over here. that's why we had to create another culture apart from the tribal alliances, because we don't know them. we created a thing called african american culture. we had to build that from scratch as being a culture that was part of the thing that didn't exist before but for america and the horror we faced coming over here and it's cellular and passed down through generation and generation. and that trauma lives with us today. high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke.

how do you get it out? one of the ways is creating art, especially in culture, finding community in all of those things. speaking of culture, i mean, and i see a lot of people buy a lot of native jewelry. how do you wear anything native or should you wear anything native. if you do, how do you do it respectfully. >> i think that's a beautiful and strong talk, i approached somebody at one point wearing a flesh color dress during halloween, wearing a large head dress and i approached her and just said, this is hurtful. this is hurtful. you're sexlizing native women in

our cultures and it wasn't appropriate. this was a younger person of color actually and her response was f you and f your culture and threw a water glass in my face and you know who got kicked out? i did for approaching her. those are the instances that it's not okay. buying stuff from folks or buying things on amazon ore bay that are native looking to wear in inappropriate context. it's not okay to paint on black face and it's not okay to go to football games and paint on red face and sit there and make war chants. i think in the appropriate use of native stuff is buy native jewellery from native people where they're selling it. ask them the purpose, what does

it represent to you. and wear it respectfully. don't show up at burning man in a head dress and put on big native ear rings and necklaces and show up where folks are taking substances and wear it with something provocative. when we make our art, our jewellery and medicine, whatever you are painting or doing, part of you goes into that. if you're not happy or upset, it goes in your jewellery. i beaded one time, i was hurting and i wanted to get something out for a relative and one of the beads on there was broken and it was like because you were creating that during that time. for me, if i'm going out or to an event with alcohol, i don't typically wear my jewelry. i ask folks if you're go to wear

something, buy it from a native person. don't try to wear it in a sense where you are painting on your face a certain way or wearing a head dress or something like that. understand what you're wearing. these represent missing and murdered indigenous women. and only 16 were logged into the system. art is activism and visibility. >> thank you. i know i find myself going through the same kind of anger and processing it when i see people having 70s parties and dressing up in afros and black

face and black panther and it's like do you know what that means. or putting on fake dreadlocks. do you know what it means? is it just fashion for you or does it mean something. and in any case you shouldn't wear it. yeah, it's a lot. it's a lot. i tell you. well, is there anything you want to leave us with as we wrap up our conversation? >> just remember each other and reach out to each other and love each other. this isn't a time where it's one over the other. this is a time where we as people of color need to reach

out and say i see you, i hear you, i love you. keep it simple. we're going to continue to work together and elevate you. and what can i do to elevate you. i need to do better. what can i do to elevate you aside from just show up. how can we do it together and bring it together. i hope in addition to the amazing solidarity events, i want to see more art work across the city. i would love for a statue taken down, let's honor our diverse women leadership. i'm about women, less than 10% of statues are women. black women started the blm movement and native american have done amazing things, our asian communities. let's have the statues where we have -- maybe we put a bunch of

women's faces. i don't know. elevate each other and keep it genuine to keep the movement going even when the support might fade in the media or policy. >> absolutely. so well said. i can double down on that statement for sure. thank you for that. it's been a pleasure talking to you today. it's going to be part of our ongoing conversation over the next years i'm sure. thank you for spending this time with us and thank you for having this dialogue and everyone have a great day and better year ahead. >> thank you. take care everyone. ♪♪♪ >> we close our program today with the multidisciplinary artist and film maker hosting the conversation, the festival and exhibitions director for

cam. which puts on the largest festival celebrating asian american stories. please enjoy. >> hello and welcome to the very special program. i'm the festival and exhibitions director at cam. and i want to thank so much to apa heritage month planning committee. for letting me part of this cureration for this special event. i have been speaking with you for a few months about creating an event that can be inclusive and bring different diverse community members together. this is a tricky time in the world. having artists who can inspire different communities is really

important. i'm the festival director of cam fest, the largest asian american film festival starting in a week, may 13th through 23rd. we'll have in person screenings at fort mason drive-ins and so many live virtual events and over 80 films on our on demand website. today i'm thrilled to have with us an artist i have only known recently but i have been so blown away and i'll talk about what impresses me about her. a queer filipino cultural producer, creating work and performing professionally throughout the bay area and touring nationally and

internationally. thank you for being here. >> thank you for the warm welcome. that was wonderful. >> first, i knew about you when you submitted your film that we'll talk about in a minute. when i watched your film, i was blown away by the performance and passion in it and i reached out to not only my staff but others within the community and the first person people said, how do you not know how she is. you're so well respected. i feel guilty for not knowing you earlier, but i know your art is dinner, toter. can you talk about yourself as an artist? >> that's right. that's so beautiful. i'm thinking of our mutual

connections and community exchanges. that's really my goal is to be -- to find the ways that the mediums and gifts that i embody can find really gin rated for a while. that's how most folks know my work in the community and film is something that i kind of took upon myself because i wanted to reach more of my audience. all of our loved ones beyond the bay area and it really encapsulateds the various mediums and brings together things in a cohesive way that i

don't think any of us in the cast and crew knew what was going on in my mind even. i don't know if i knew what was going on. i have to shout out the director of photography and editor and designer and composer, the way we worked together to manifest through prayer and deep intentionalty has been amazing. >> we're going to watch a clip soon. so you'll all get to see a snapshot of the film. i should mention, it will be playing at cam fest. police come to our festival and check out this film and there will be q&a as part of that as well. when i think about you as an artist, we talk about all the

different types of art forms from dance to performance, this film has it all. and i know you do them all also at times individually. i'm curious when you are approaching a project, are you thinking about how to present that and what's the best way or is it more natural in having -- whether it is a ritual, figuring out does it come naturally or do you think the about form? >> interview: i fli r think first and foremost, i grab into the body. it is rare i will do a spoken word piece and just read it. that is really rare for me. i believe in so much the idea of

being connected to the body and being able to express ourselves through the body. i think that's first and for most. so often times that will start with a dance or movement or freestyle and then from there, i think i start to image and seeing what other electricses can inform the work or give it more fuel. how can i impact the audience. how ki impact them in a way that touches on body, mind and spirit. that's how the process starts out. >> that's wonderful. as a local artist, how does the bay area inspire your work? >> getting me emotionle.

i'm not from the bay area. i grew up in l.a. county. i really chose to be an artist here. i went to cal and i thought i would move down to l.a. and kind of pursue industry work, but i knew if i was going to pursue, it was rooted in activism and social justice in that level, i had to be in the bay. every day i give thanks to be part of the cultural heritage district and all of our relatives because the legacy in the bay is out of this world. i have traveled, i have been here, there, not every where but

here and there and there's no place like the bay. there's no community like the bay. that's what it is. >> that's wonderful. i want to echo that. myself being from the bay area, seeing how vibrant not only the asian american community but something that really recently has inspired me is all the vibrant, not only the arts, the restaurants, there's so much happening there, so much culture. entrepreneurship. i don't know, i'm just -- when i put the festival together it's easy in some ways because i'm so inspired by the artists who live here, the communities so excited to celebrate it together. i want to have everyone watch a clip so they can see a little

bit more about your artistry. let's play that now. >> hinga. ♪♪♪ >> hinga.

>> so you all got to see the clip. it is such a fabulous film. you know, to your point earlier, i watched it a few times. and in the programming process, usually i'll watch one film and have to make that decision but with your film, there's so much complexity and it being very much a local film, so many neighborhoods, so many references in there that i wanted to watch it multiple times. you mentioned working with great collaborators to make the film come to life. can you talk about your team and how you made the film happen? >> certainly. thank you for that question. yes, i truly believe team work makes the dream work and i am blessed and fortunate that throughout my years of making

art, i've gotten to work with the best, the best beings in the community. and for this film, this is actually supposed to be a live performance, it was supposed to take place on stage and when it wasn't possible, it felt kind of natural, since i was already exploring film to create this work. the one collaborator i knew i had to work with from the vision was amehan, the program manager at the cultural heritage district, born and raised in the city, artist and she is of the next generation. i'll never forget seeing her perform for the first time.

you know when you see an artist you're blown away with and you're like i'm going to work with you one day. that was the immediate charge when i first saw her. she knows what she is saying. she really has the intellect and creative area to really put those things together, art and activism. both of us were in a pretty deep creative process for a few months and that's when we found out that a young activist in our community passed away, who is also her cousin. that grief, you know, that story, that wanting to honor her, slowly but surely became kind of a main part, point of

the film. gosh, the team is- -- we are in -- we're all philippine crew and within our cast, of course our amazing brothers who i had the incredible honor of getting to have been a company member with. every person in that cast, from cast to crew, there's really deep relations there, from either past works or collaborations. there were a couple of folks that were more so new but even hearing them speak to the power that production and the process had on their process and i think

the whole filming really affirmed just the way we do our work and how that's not normal. i think i'm also reminding myself, that's right. what you get -- what we all, including myself, get from the process when we are rooted in our ways in wanting to look at the myriad of ways in which spirituality and culture and activism can intersect and should, it is so fulfilling. >> yeah. and i think that's -- it's fabulous. those are all such ambitious things to tackle in a project, but in a film as well. i have to say, your film does

that. what i love about it, the performances themselves are breath taking and i can definitely see this as a live performance piece. and as you talk about collaborating, i hope our relationship together continues on because i can see this on big stages. i think it's fabulous. what i love about the film though as well, there's so many things in there that feel so natural, not constructed but as you talk about, i guess the kind of honoring the kind of generations of artists and also having this space for new artists to come together to perform. what i love about the film, you touch on all these thicks in a way that's not overwhelming for the audience. you're getting the sense that you would get from a live

performance through a lens. that's hard to do. i have seen a lot of live performance pieces. it is tricky to capture that. i hope everyone here in the cam fest or in the future please find this film and learn more. this event that we're here together, this conversation is part of apa heritage month. i wanted to take a minute to talk through heritage month. this is a time not only for the asian american communities but communities in general to celebrate our legacy, our story. can you talk about why it's important for us to come together to celebrate all of the things you're talking about right now. >> i think doing community and cultural work, we're often siloed and maybe not always intentional but just the way

institutions are set up and even capitalism, we don't always get the opportunities to see one another and i think my goal is really bridge these threads of activism through cultural heritage. all of those things i think are really the pathways. we're in a time where there's violence against the asian community, black lives matter, still always every day, just the amount of grief we have experienced in the past year has i think for me as an artist and cultural worker made everything that i do that much more important, that much more poignant, that much more urgent. i think there's an urgency that i'm feeling. so, you know, i think this film

helps us to kind of push that urgency a bit more whereas with a live performance, maybe it will go and maybe it won't. the way in which this film, you just spoke to it, we can take it to this place and this place -- i'm really hoping that it inspires us all to look at our stories more deeply. to look at our own lives more deeply and how it is connected with the many relatives here on earth. >> right. we are out of time, so i do want to thank you so much. i think what a perfect way to not only kind of wrap up the goal of your film but i think heritage month in general, all of what you're saying is so true

and such a vital time right now. i want to thank you for making this film, again, please everyone check it out. through heritage month and beyond, it's not really just one month, let's find ways to connect with each other and have solidarity and so i want to thank you once again. ♪♪♪ >> that it is. thank you for being part of our program today. an incredibly inspired by the three activists spotlighted for unique perspectives and desire to recognize and celebrate other diverse artists, arts and culture. the belief that we have not only the fortitude but the pathways to connect with each other, to find our commonalties and fight for justice and visibility for 0 ourselves and each other. we heard about the importance of being seen and seeing each

other. i want to thank all of our guests and our host today for sharing their art and their time and giving voice to ideas that fill us with hope and reignite our passion to create the change in society we wish to see. on behalf of apa heritage month, thank you for being part of the conversation today and i wish you all well. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ >> thank you all for joining us

today, and happy pride. [applause] >> my name is joseph sweiss, and i'm the chair of the human rights commission. first, we're going to do a land acknowledge from commissioner pellegrini, then, i'll do rapid fire acknowledgements, and we'll get the show on the road. >> we acknowledge that we're on the unceded ancestral homelands of the ramaytush ohlone. in accordance with their traditions, the ramaytush ohlone have never ceded, lost, or forget -- forgotten about the responsibilities of this place. we wish to pay our respects by

acknowledging the ancestors, elders, and the relatives of the ramaytush community and by acknowledging their sovereign rights as first peoples. >> thank you, commissioner. so before we get started, i'd like to do some acknowledgements of everyone who's up on the stage, and i'll be quick. michael lack better, karen roy, jeff jaw, jeff tumlin, grant colfax. manu raju, supervisors ahsha safai and rafael mandelman, commissioner mark keller,

disability and aging services martha knudson, we have chief nicholson, h.r.c. director sheryl davis, director of the office of transgender initiatives, clair farley, and jason pellegrini, who just gave our land acknowledgement. thank you. [applause] >> we are all extremely excited to join mayor breed to officiate this new relaunch of the lgbtq + launch. i see amazing leadership in front of me, i see amazing

leadership beside me, and without further adieu, i'd like to introduce karen clopton to introduce the mayor. >> i'm going to ask our vice chair, joseph sweiss, to stand by me, in response to all of his amazing work, maturity, consulting the elders in how to do things and how to go about things because he's one of those that knows he doesn't know everything. we love you, we appreciate you and we want to give you this present. >> oh, thank you. thank you so much. frz frz [applause] . >> i also want to acknowledge commissioner amhon for all of

her work on this revitalization. >> me, too? >> not yet. >> and commissioner kelleher. [applause] >> for providing institutional and historic knowledge. i am so honored to introduce someone who, frankly, in this crowd needs no introduction, but yet, i feel compelled in the words of lin manuel miranda, love is love is love is love. this city is amazing because we have amazing leadership. our mayor, london breed, epitomizes so much that we

aspire. she is not only beautiful, she is beautiful on the inside, and that radiates out. she is educated, she is radiant, she is eloquent. most importantly, she empathetic. she is also a loving granddaughter, daughter, sister, friend, and she has provided love in her leadership, the leadership of valuing everyone. all residents of the city and county of san francisco are her constituents. i am so proud that, ten years ago, on the centennial of the women's right to vote in the state of california, as president of the league of women voters here, we acknowledged her as a rising

star. well, her star is fully implanted in the universe, and we are fully blessed and fortunate to have her as our beloved leader. with no more adieu, mayor madam, london breed. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: thank you, karen. i so appreciate your kind words, and it is so great to be here with members of the human rights commission to reconstitute a committee that is so vital to the protection of lgbtqi rights here in san francisco. in fact, this commission, constituted in the 1970s, has really shaped policies in this city around domestic partnerships, around same sex marriages, around all of the policies that have really put san francisco on the map as a

leader for lgbtq rights in this country. and the fact is people look to us for what we're doing pushing forth similar policies. i'm so honored to be a mayor of a city that prides itself on being inclusive, on putting forward ideas that people don't always feel comfortable with. like when i talk about guaranteed income because people need money in their pockets in order to take care of themselves and their families, and in san francisco, not only did we push this policy for guaranteed income for expectant mothers of african american and pacific

islander descent, we are pushing for universal basic incomes. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: and it has a lot to do with the office led by clare farley and the office of transgender initiatives, the first office of transgender initiatives in the country specifically. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: a lot of this work has so much to do with so many of you, continuing to come up with ideas that make the most sense based on our history. when i think about the compton cafeteria riots, and when i think about harvey milk and his breakthrough, becoming the first gay supervisor in this city and all of the milestones that people continue to talk about and point to when describing the history of this community, one of the things that was important to me and important to supervisor

mandelman is how do we talk about this history, how do we remind the next generation of this history, how do we protect this history? and together, we worked together to make sure there was $12 million in the upcoming budget to have the first ever lgbtq museum in the city and county of san francisco. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: martha, we've come a long way, haven't we? [applause] >> the hon. london breed: we've come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. there is still a need for change, and that's why this committee, which has such an incredible history in san francisco, that's why it's so important to reconstitute this committee. i want to thank sheryl davis and all the commissioners who thought about the need to do

this, rather than working with the supervisors and making all of the decisions and the directors and making all of these decisions. they said this advisory committee will be representative of the arts, it will be representative of the challenges around mental health. it will provide input to us so that all of the investments that the city is making are going to the right places, and more importantly, all of the local policies that we need to create are coming from the people who understand the impact the most. so today is a day to celebrate. yes, it's a swearing in, but you know what? it's the first time we've had anything on the mayor's balcony since -- since covid! [applause] >> the hon. london breed: so that's why everybody showed up. they're like i don't know what it is, but we're here.

so before we swear in our advisory committee, i want to introduce supervisor rafael mandelman. so i'm so grateful for his work, his advocacy. sometimes he's the loan supervisor, fighting for the things necessary to support this community, and i'm appreciative of his colleagues who just support him and go along with the things that we know are important. so supervisor mandelman, we have work to do, but i know that you'll handle it, so come on up and say a few words. [applause] >> supervisor mandelman: i'll handle it. you know, one of the things that i love about pride and being able to have pride here on the mayor's balcony is the opportunity to have amazing, phenomenal, and diverse leadership, and i see the folks who are leading in city government, and i see the folk

london breed in the summer of 2021 is everyone is falling all over themselves to say nice things about her, but they are deserved because she did get us through this pandemic. [applause] >> supervisor mandelman: with an assistance from our gay public health director, grant colfax. thank you, director colfax, but she has also been from the beginning and before she was mayor, but definitely, i have

seen her since before she was mayor, being a friend to the gay community, and the people she has lifted up in her administration that you see here, some of whom are doing great work, to the investments in lgbtq housing, in the museum, in universal basic income for trans folks, it's truly extraordinary, and each year around budget time, she comes up with amazing things to do for the gay community. so thank you, madam mayor. that's an applause line. [applause] >> supervisor mandelman: and just yesterday, we approved at the board of supervisors to collect soji data. in the 80s, you would not have

asked. if you asked, there was something wrong. why did you ask if the person was queer? that is not information that the community wanted gathered in the 80s. today, we know it's information that we want gathered and that is the work around same sex marriage and seniors and youth and looking around at the factors of discrimination in our community, and we have now gotten to the place where we have federal, state, and local protections, and where we need to know to better serve the most vulnerable folks in the queer community to get the folks in city government to have this data. that's just the tremendous mark of the a.c., and i want to thank everyone for all their work over the year. i want to thank vice chair sweiss and campon and kelleher,

and all the folks that are stepping up on the a.c. to go forward. we know the world is not where we want it to be. we know that there is tremendous unfairness, that it is hitting black, latinx, and trans folks, and we're seeing it in violence and poverty, and i know that folks signing on for the a.c. are going to do that, and happy pride again. >> the hon. london breed: happy pride. >> thank you, mayor breed, and thank you, supervisor mandelman. one of the exciting things about, one of the great things is we're giving seats, united nations style, to people who come. i want to acknowledge nancy pelosi's office and senator

scott wiener's office, and i do want to acknowledge with us, luis zamora and we wouldn't be more without the hard, hard work of the human rights commission director and staff. yes. stephen and cass, and everyone, thank you for all of your hard work, but none of it would have been able to be done without you. >> i'm sheryl davis, director of the human rights commission. [applause] >> first, i was going to ask commissioner clopton if she was looking at me when she said the

elders. i just want to first and foremost thank daquan harrison from the human rights commission. daquan will be working with the department and i just want to thank him for his hard work with commissioner kelleher and commissioner sweiss. there was a lot of reading of the bylaws and a lot of rewriting of the bylaws. when i first came onto the human rights commission in 2011, then commissioner chung and commissioner pappas were there, and one of the things that i said i wanted to focus on was intersectionality, that when we talk about the layers of who we are and the complexity of that. so when we start talking about lgbtq + and anything else, it

becomes that much more challenging to navigate through things, so i'm grateful for this advisory committee to be able to call it out, whether that is age, whether that is race, whether that is gender, but understanding to be poor and lgbtq + is not the same as just being poor, and when we do the work to create these policies, we're very intentional. i'm grateful for all of you who have signed up to work with us, but more than that, i'm grateful for the partnership of mayor breed, supervisor mandelman, and supervisor safai because they're willing to standup and actually make the policies and make things better. so it may not be easy, it may be challenging, and it's going to take some work. we appreciate your work, and we appreciate the effort made to

make things better not just for one folk but for all folks, so thank you so much for your work. [applause] >> thank you, director davis, and before we get started to the swearing in, i'd like to also invite martha knutson, who was also on the committee of aging and disability services. >> the committee was the first of governmental bodies in the nation to advocate for will go. [ -- for lgbtq rights when it

was created in the 1970s. mayor feinstein believed that the lgbtq commission laid the groundwork for change by documenting our history through hearings, writing policy recommendations that ultimately became legislation and focused nonprofits to better serve our needs, all of which is on the lgbtq today. during the 1980s, they had conducted hearings on the first ever domestic partner laws, same sex marriage, and rights and problems faced by the community. during my time, we held hearings on issues facing our young people, surfaced the economic issues facing most members of our community, wrote regulations facing transgender people, and held hearings on

issues facing intersex people, we broke ground on issues facing lgbtq seniors. i urge you to raise new issues, take risks, and be bold. thanks for playing your part in expanding our rights and protecting our future. [applause] >> thank you, martha, and of course a special thank you to michael pappas, as well, who was on the commission and is now on the interfaith council. between the two of you, at every meeting and stakeholder engagement. before we get there to the swearing in, i want to welcome joejoe thai.

>> i'm a former youth commissioner for district eight, and i'm a current member of o.t.i.s transadvisory community, and now i'm a new member of the lgbtq advisory committee. thank you, mayor london breed and the san francisco human rights committee. i'd also like to thank commissioner knutson for acknowledging the work of the lgbtq committee. inequities of housing, access to health care and violence, just to make a few of the problems. our communities are experiencing multiple forms of trauma, including covid-19 and racial battle fatigue. while systems and agencies are responding, scores of decisions are made without the input of those most affected. we have the opportunity to

advance leadership and visibility of bipoc, trans, and gender nonforming leaders. once again, san francisco continues to lead in lgbtq plus equity. the new committee consists of mostly bipoc, transgender, and gender nonconforming leaders, making this one of san francisco's most diverse committees. this is an exciting new model for san francisco that will bring us all together, and i can't wait to see what we accomplish for the rest of the nation to see. again, i'd like to thank mayor london breed, the humans rights commission to always serve the community. for the leadership and advocacy serving all lgbtq people in san francisco and beyond. thank you. [applause]

>> the hon. london breed: before we get into the swearing in, i just want to take a moment once more, when we kicked off pride a few weeks ago on the steps of city hall, i acknowledged grant colfax of being this incredible leader and what he did to help us get to this point in the pandemic, and he wasn't even there. he was on vacation, but you know things are looking up when dr. colfax takes a vacation, a well deserved vacation. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: so i want to take this opportunity to recognize him during pride and just to say thank you, dr. colfax, for your leadership. i yelled a lot, and he'd never back down, and i wanted to open, and he's, like, here's the information, and i'm, like,

get that out of my face. i don't want to see it. let me tell you, we are so fortunate to have dr. colfax as the leader of the department of public health. when you tell people what we did here in san francisco, i want you to tell them it was a gay man who lead this effort, so thank you, dr. colfax. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: and one last thing. where's my little bag? this didn't happen with other mayors. i just want you guys to understand, when someone chooses to serve, whether it's a commission or an advisory committee, i take the mission myself as an honor.

i hardly missed a meeting, i always participated in a conversation, and when i first got a city fill pen, it wasn't until, like, way later in my term. well, i as mayor decided that as soon as i swear anything into anything, they're going to know that i swore them in. so this is a city and county of san francisco, this is the city seal pen. my signature is on the inside, so you can remember, and it just talks about the history of this city, and as you take this oath and serve our city proudly, please wear your pin proudly so people know you serve the city and county of san francisco. with that, please stand, all members. you'll get your pin officially after you take the oath. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: all right. no turning back now.

okay. please raise your right hand and state after me. i, state your name, do solemnly swear, to support and defend the constitution of the united states and the constitution of the state of california against all enemies, foreign and domestic. that i bear true faith and allegiance to the same. that i take this obligation freely. without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and i will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which

i am about to enter. and during such time as i serve as a member of the lgbtqi + committee for the city and county of san francisco. congratulations. [applause]

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>> restaurants will be open for take out only, but nonessential stores, like bars and gyms, will close effective midnight tonight. [♪♪♪]

>> my name is sharky laguana. i am a small business owner. i own a company called vandigo van rentals. it rents vans to the music industry. i am also a member of the small business commission as appointed by mayor breed in 2019. i am a musician and have worked as a professional musician and recording artist in the 90s. [♪♪♪] >> we came up in san francisco, so i've played at most of the live venues as a performer, and, of course, i've seen hundreds of shows over the years, and i care very, very deeply about live entertainment.

in fact, when i joined the commission, i said that i was going to make a particular effort to pay attention to the arts and entertainment and make sure that those small businesses receive the level of attention that i think they deserve. >> this is a constantly and rapidly changing situation, and we are working hard to be aggressive to flatten the curve to disrupt the spread of covid-19. >> when the pandemic hit, it was crystal clear to me that this was devastating to the music industry because live venues had to completely shutdown. there was no way for them to open for even a single day or in limited capacity. that hit me emotionally as an artist and hit me professionally, as well as a small business that caters to artists, so i was very deeply concerned about what the city could do to help the

entertainment committee. we knew we needed somebody to introduce some kind of legislation to get the ball rolling, and so we just started texting supervisor haney, just harassing him, saying we need to do something, we need to do something. he said i know we need to do something, but what do we do? we eventually settled on this idea that there would be an independent venue recovery fund. >> clerk: there are 11 ayes. >> president walton: thank you. without objection, this resolution is passed unanimously. >> and we were concerned for these small mom-and-pop businesses that contribute so much to our arts community. >> we are an extremely small venue that has the capacity to

do extremely small shows. most of our staff has been working for us for over ten years. there's very little turnover in the staff, so it felt like family. sharky with the small business commission was crucial in pestering supervisor haney and others to really keep our industry top of mind. we closed down on march 13 of 2020 when need to cancel the show tonight.

>> the fund is for our live music and entertainment venues, and in its first round, it will offer grants of at least $10,000 to qualifying venues. these are venues that offer a signature amount of live entertainment programming before the pandemic and are committed to reopening and offering live entertainment spaces after the pandemic. >> it's going to, you know, just stave off the bleeding for a moment. it's the city contributing to helping make sure these venues are around, to continue to be part of the economic recovery for our city. >> when you think about the venues for events in the city, we're talking about all of them. some have been able to come back adaptively over the last year and have been able to be shape shifters in this pandemic, and that's exciting to see, but i'm really looking forward to the day when events and venues can reopen and help

drive the recovery here in san francisco. >> they have done a study that says for every dollar of ticket sales done in this city, $12 goes to neighboring businesses. from all of our vendors to the restaurants that are next to our ven sues and just so many other things that you can think of, all of which have been so negatively affected by covid. for this industry to fail is unthinkable on so many levels. it's unheard of, like, san francisco without its music scene would be a terribly dismal place. >> i don't know that this needs to be arrest -- that there needs to be art welfare for artists. we just need to live and pay for our food, and things will take care of themselves.

i think that that's not the given situation. what san francisco could do that they don't seem to do very much is really do something to support these clubs and venues that have all of these different artists performing in them. actually, i think precovid, it was, you know, don't have a warehouse party and don't do a gig. don't go outside, and don't do this. there was a lot of don't, don't, don't, and after the pandemic, they realized we're a big industry, and we bring a lot of money into this city, so they need to encourage and hope these venues. and then, you know, as far as people like me, it would be nice if you didn't only get encouraged for only singing opera or playing violin. [♪♪♪] >> entertainment is a huge part of what is going to make this city bounce back, and we're going to need to have live

music coming back, and comedy, and drag shows and everything under the sun that is fun and creative in order to get smiles back on our faces and in order to get the city moving again. [♪♪♪] >> venues serve a really vital function in society. there aren't many places where people from any walk of life, race, religion, sexuality can come together in the same room and experience joy, right? experience love, experience anything that what makes us human, community, our connective tissues between different souls. if we were to lose this, lose this situation, you're going to lose this very vital piece of society, and just coming out of

the pandemic, you know, it's going to help us recover socially? well, yeah, because we need to be in the same room with a bunch of people, and then help people across the country recover financially. >> san francisco art recovery fund, amazing. it opened yesterday on april 21. applications are open through may 5. we're encouraging everyone in the coalition to apply. there's very clear information on what's eligible, but that's basically been what our coalition has been advocating for from the beginning. you know, everyone's been supportive, and they've all been hugely integral to this program getting off the ground. you know, we found our champion with supervisor matt haney from district six who introduced this legislation and pushed this into law. mayor breed dedicated

$1.5 million this fund, and then supervisor haney matched that, so there's $3 million in this fund. this is a huge moment for our coalition. it's what we've been fighting for all along. >> one of the challenges of our business is staying on top of all the opportunities as they come back. at the office of oewd, office of economic and workforce development, if you need to speak to somebody, you can find people who can help you navigate any of the available programs and resources. >> a lot of blind optimism has kept us afloat, you know, and there's been a lot of reason for despair, but this is what keeps me in the business, and this is what keeps me fighting, you know, and continuing to advocate, is that we need this and this is part of our life's blood as much as oxygen and food is.

don't lose heart. look at there for all the various grants that are available to you. some of them might be very slow to unrao, and it might seem like too -- unroll, and it might seem like it's too late, but people are going to fight to keep their beloved venues open, and as a band, you're going to be okay. week. >> ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ the san francisco. the reporter: has many opportunities to get out and placing play a 4 thousand acres of play rec and park has a place win the high sincerely the place

to remove user from the upper life and transform into one of mother nachdz place go into the rec and park camp mather located one hundred and 80 square miles from the bay bridge past the oakland bridge and on and on camp mather the city owned sierra nevada camping facility is outings outside the gate of yosemite park it dates back before the area became is a popular vacation it i sites it was home to indians who made the camp where the coral now stands up and artifacts are found

sometimes arrest this was the tree that the native people calm for the ac accordions that had a high food value the acorns were fatally off the trees in september but they would come up prosecute the foothills and were recipe the same as the people that came to camp camp is celebrating it's 90th year and the indians were up here for 4 thousand we see every day of them in the grinding rocks around the camp we have about 15 grinding sites in came so it was a major summer report area for the 92 hawks. >> through there are signs that prosperity were in the area it

was not until the early part of the century with the 76 began the construction of damn in helpfully a say mill was billed open the left hand of the math for the construction by which lake was used to float logs needed for the project at the same time the yosemite park and company used the other side of the camp to house tourists interesting in seeing the national park and the constructions of damn when the u son damn was completed many of the facilities were not needed then the city of san francisco donated the property it was named camp mather the first director it was named after him

tuesday morning away amongst the pine the giant sequoia is the giants inventories first name if our title is camp means there's going to be dirt and bugs and so long as you can get past that part this place it pretty awesome i see i see. >> with a little taste of freedom from the city life you can soak up the country life with swimming and volley ball and swimming and horseback riding

there you go buddy. >> we do offer and really good amount of programming and give a sample p of san francisco rec and park department has to offer hopefully we've been here 90 years my camp name is falcon i'm a recession he leader i've been leading the bill clinton and anarchy and have had sometimes arts and crafts a lot of our guests have been coming for many years and have almost glutin up, up here he activity or children activity or parent activity here at camp

mather you are experiencing as a family without having to get into a car and drive somewhere fill your day with with what can to back fun at the majestic life the essence of camp mather one thing a that's been interesting i think as it evolves there's no

representation here oh, there's no representation so all the adults are engine i you know disconnected so there's more connection the adults and parents are really friendly but i think in our modern culture i you know everyone's is used to be on their phones and people are eager to engagement and talk they don't have their social media so here they are at camp mather how are i doing. >> how are you doing it has over one hundred hundred cabins those rustic structures gives camp mather the old atmosphere that enhances the total wilderness experience and old woolen dressers and poaches and rug i do lay out people want

to decorate the front of thaifr their cabins and front poefrnz their living room is outside in this awesome environment they're not inviting their guests inside where the berms are people get creative with the latin-american and the bull frogs start the trees grow and camp mather is seen in a different light we're approaching dinner time in the construction of the hetch hetchy damn the yosemite park built jackson diane hauling hall to serve the guests it does was it dbe does best service s serve the food. >> i'm the executive chef i

served over 15 hundred meals a day for the camp mather folks breakfasts are pancakes and french toast and skranld eggs and hash brown's our meal formulate is we have roost lion it's reflecting of the audience we have people love our meals and love the idea they can pick up a meal and do worry about doing the dishes can have a great time at camp mather after camp people indulge

themselves everyone racks go in a place that's crisis that i air after the crackinging of a campfire a campfire. >> the evening is kept up with a tenant show a longed tradition it features music i tried this trick and - this talent show is famous for traditional things but we have new things ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ the first 7, 8, 9 being on stage

and being embarrassed and doing random things >> unlike my anothers twinkling stars are an unforcible memory ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ admission to camp mather is through a lottery it includes meals and camp programs remember all applicant registration on line into a lottery and have a rec and park department family account to register registration typically begins the first week of january and ends the first week in february this hey sierra oasis is a great place to enjoy lifeiest outside of the hustle and bustle and

kickback and enjoy and a half >> everything is so huge and beautiful. >> the children grew up her playing around and riding their bites e bicycles it's a great place to let the children see what's outside of the city common experience is a this unique camp when you get lost in the high sierra wilderness camp mather is waiting and we look forward to city manager's office you here soon ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ >> roughly five years, i was working as a high school teacher, and i decided to take my students on a surfing field trip. the light bulb went off in my head, and i realized i could do much more for my students taking them surfing than i

could as their classroom teacher, and that is when the idea for the city surf project was born. >> working with kids in the ocean that aren't familiar with this space is really special because you're dealing with a lot of fear and apprehension but at the same time, a lot of excitement. >> when i first did it, i was, like, really scared, but then, i did it again, and i liked it. >> we'll get a group of kids who have just never been to the beach, are terrified of the idea, who don't like the beach. it's too cold out, and it's those kid that are impossible to get back out of the water at

the end of the day. >> over the last few years, i think we've had at least 40 of our students participate in the city surf project. >> surfing helped me with, like, how to swim. >> we've start off with about two to four sessions in the pool before actually going out and surfing. >> swimming at the pool just helps us with, like, being, like, comfortable in the water and being calm and not being all -- not being anxious. >> so when we started the city surf project, one of the things we did was to say hey, this is the way to earn your p.e. credits. just getting kids to go try it was one of our initial challenges for the first year or two. but now that we've been doing it three or four years, we have a group of kids that's consistent, and the word has

spread, that it's super fun, that you learn about the ocean. >> starting in the morning, you know, i get the vehicles ready, and then, i get all the gear together, and then, i drive and go get the kids, and we take them to a local beach. >> we usually go to linda mar, and then occasionally ocean beach. we once did a special trip. we were in capitola last year, and it was really fun. >> we get in a circle and group stretch, and we talk about specific safety for the day, and then, we go down to the water. >> once we go to the beach, i don't want to go home. i can't change my circumstances at home, but i can change the way i approach them. >> our program has definitely been a way for our students to find community and build friends. >> i don't really talk to friends, so i guess when i started doing city surf, i

started to, like, get to know people more than i did before, and people that i didn't think i'd like, like, ended up being my best friends. >> it's a group sport the way we do it, and with, like, close camaraderie, but everybody's doing it for themselves. >> it's great, surfing around, finding new people and making new friendships with people throughout surfing. >> it can be highly developmental for students to have this time where they can learn a lot about themselves while negotiating the waves. >> i feel significantly, like, calmer. it definitely helps if i'm, like, feeling really stressed or, like, feeling really anxious about surfing, and i go surfing, and then, i just feel, like, i'm going to be okay. >> it gives them resiliency

skills and helps them build self-confidence. and with that, they can use that in other parts of their lives. >> i went to bring my family to the beach and tell them what i did. >> i saw kids open up in the ocean, and i got to see them connect with other students, and i got to see them fail, you know, and get up and get back on the board and experience success, and really enjoy themselves and make a connection to nature at the same time. >> for some kids that are, like, resistant to, like, being in a mentorship program like this, it's they want to surf, and then later, they'll find out that they've, like, made this community connection. >> i think they provided level playing fields for kids to be themselves in an open environment. >> for kids to feel like i can go for it and take a chance

that i might not have been willing to do on my own is really special. >> we go on 150 surf outings a year. that's year-round programming. we've seen a tremendous amount of youth face their fears through surfing, and that has translated to growth in other facets of their lives. >> i just think the biggest thing is, like, that they feel like that they have something that is really cool, that they're engaged in, and that we, like, care about them and how they're doing, like, in general. >> what i like best is they really care about me, like, i'm not alone, and i have a group of people that i can go to, and, also, surfing is fun. >> we're creating surfers, and we're changing the face of surfing. >> the feeling is definitely akin to being on a roller coaster.

it's definitely faster than i think you expect it to be, but it's definitely fun. >> it leaves you feeling really, really positive about what that kid's going to go out and do. >> i think it's really magical almost. at least it was for me. >> it was really exciting when i caught my first wave. >> i felt like i was, like -- it was, like, magical, really. >> when they catch that first wave, and their first lights up, you know -- their face lights up, you know you have them hooked. >> i was on top of the world. it's amazing. i felt like i was on top of the world even though i was probably going two miles an hour. it was, like, the scariest thing i'd ever done, and i think it was when i got hooked

>> shop and dine in the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges residents to do their business in the 49 square files of san francisco. we help san francisco remain unique, successful and right vi. so where will you shop and dine in the 49? >> i'm one of three owners here in san francisco and we provide mostly live music entertainment and we have food, the type of food that we have a mexican food and it's not a big menu, but we did it with love. like ribeye tacos and

quesadillas and fries. for latinos, it brings families together and if we can bring that family to your business, you're gold. tonight we have russelling for e community. >> we have a ten-person limb elimination match. we have a full-size ring with barside food and drink. we ended up getting wrestling here with puoillo del mar. we're hope og get families to join us. we've done a drag queen bingo and we're trying to be a diverse kind of club, trying different things. this is a great part of town and

there's a bunch of shops, a variety of stores and ethnic restaurants. there's a popular little shop that all of the kids like to hang out at. we have a great breakfast spot call brick fast at tiffanies. some of the older businesses are refurbished and newer businesses are coming in and it's exciting. >> we even have our own brewery for fdr, ferment, drink repeat. it's in the san francisco garden district and four beautiful murals. >> it's important to shop local because it's kind of like a circle of life, if you will. we hire local people. local people spend their money at our businesses and those local people will spend their money as well. i hope people shop locally.

[ ♪♪♪ ]

>> we are providing breakfast, lunch, and supper for the kids. >> say hi. hi. what's your favorite? the carrots. >> the pizza? >> i'm not going to eat the pizza. >> you like the pizza? >> they will eat anything. >> yeah, well, okay. >> sfusd's meal program right now is passing out five days worth of meals for monday through friday. the program came about when the shelter in place order came

about for san francisco. we have a lot of students that depend on school lunches to meet their daily nutritional requirement. we have families that can't take a hit like that because they have to make three meals instead of one meal. >> for the lunch, we have turkey sandwiches. right now, we have spaghetti and meat balls, we have chicken enchiladas, and then, we have cereals and fruits and crackers, and then we have the milk.

>> we heard about the school districts, that they didn't know if they were going to be able to provide it, so we've been successful in going to the stores and providing some things. they've been helpful, pointing out making sure everybody is wearing masks, making sure they're staying distant, and everybody is doing their jobs, so that's a great thing when you're working with many kid does. >> the feedback has been really good. everybody seems really appreciative. they do request a little bit more variety, which has been hard, trying to find different types of food, but for the most part, everyone seems appreciative. growing up, i depended on them, as well, so it reminds me of

myself growing up. >> i have kids at home. i have six kids. i'm a mother first, so i'm just so glad to be here. it's so great to be able to help them in such a way because some families have lost their job, some families don't have access to this food, and we're just really glad to be >> after my fire in my apartment and losing everything, the red cross gave us a list of agencies in the city to reach out to and i signed up for the below-market

rate program. i got my certificate and started applying and won the housing lottery. [♪♪♪] >> the current lottery program began in 2016. but there have been lot rows that have happened for affordable housing in the city for much longer than that. it was -- there was no standard practice. for non-profit organizations that were providing affordable housing with low in the city, they all did their lotteries on their own. private developers that include in their buildings affordable units, those are the city we've been monitoring for some time since 1992. we did it with something like this. where people were given circus

tickets. we game into 291st century in 2016 and started doing electronic lotteries. at the same time, we started electronic applications systems. called dalia. the lottery is completely free. you can apply two ways. you can submit a paper application, which you can download from the listing itself. if you apply online, it will take five minutes. you can make it easier creating an account. to get to dalia, you log on to housing.sfgov.org. >> i have lived in san francisco for almost 42 years. i was born here in the hayes valley. >> i applied for the san francisco affordable housing lottery three times. >> since 2016, we've had about

265 electronic lotteries and almost 2,000 people have got their home through the lottery system. if you go into the listing, you can actually just press lottery results and you put in your lottery number and it will tell you exactly how you ranked. >> for some people, signing up for it was going to be a challenge. there is a digital divide here and especially when you are trying to help low and very low income people. so we began providing digital assistance for folks to go in and get help. >> along with the income and the residency requirements, we also required someone who is trying to buy the home to be a first time home buyer and there's also an educational component that consists of an orientation that they need to attend, a first-time home buyer workshop

and a one-on-one counseling session with the housing councilor. >> sometimes we have to go through 10 applicants before they shouldn't be discouraged if they have a low lottery number. they still might get a value for an available, affordable housing unit. >> we have a variety of lottery programs. the four that you will most often see are what we call c.o.p., the certificate of preference program, the dthp which is the displaced penance housing preference program. the neighborhood resident housing program and the live worth preference. >> i moved in my new home february 25th and 2019. the neighborhood preference program really helped me achieve that goal and that dream was with eventually wind up staying in san francisco.

>> the next steps, after finding out how well you did in the lottery and especially if you ranked really well you will be contacted by the leasing agent. you have to submit those document and income and asset qualify and you have to pass the credit and rental screening and the background and when you qualify for the unit, you can chose the unit and hopefully sign that lease. all city sponsored affordable housing comes through the system and has an electronic lottery. every week there's a listing on dalia. something that people can apply for. >> it's a bit hard to predict how long it will take for someone to be able to move into a unit. let's say the lottery has happened. several factors go into that and mainly how many units are in the project, right. and how well you ranked and what preference bucket you were in.

>> this particular building was brand new and really this is the one that i wanted out of everything i applied for. in my mind, i was like how am i going to win this? i did and when you get that notice that you won, it's like at first, it's surreal and you don't believe it and it sinks in, yeah, it happened. >> some of our buildings are pretty spectacular. they have key less entry now. they have a court yard where they play movies during the weekends, they have another master kitchen and space where people can throw parties. >> mayor breed has a plan for over 10,000 new units between now and 2025. we will start construction on about 2,000 new units just in 2020. >> we also have a very big

portfolio like over 25,000 units across the city. and life happens to people. people move. so we have a very large number of rerentals and resales of units every year. >> best thing about working for the affordable housing program is that we know that we're making a difference and we actually see that difference on a day-to-day basis. >> being back in the neighborhood i grew up in, it's a wonderful experience. >> it's a long process to get through. well worth it when you get to the other side. i could not be happier. [♪♪♪]

>> today's special guest is sherisse dorsey smith. she's the director of program grants for the department of children, youth, and families, and she's here to talk about the learning grants, and she's the project lead. miss dorsey smith, well come to the show. >> thank you, chris, for having me. >> can we talk about the learning hubs in general. what it is, who it's designed for, and why it's so important during this pandemic. >> yes, definitely. so the community hub initiative was created to offer support for distance learning. we wanted to ensure that young people, their basic nutrition needs were met, that they had

access to wifi and digital devices, and they were able to engage with their peers in a safe environment. the community hub initiative or c.h.i., as we like to refer to it, supports our most vulnerable youth. our priority population was to focus on youth that lived in public housing, youth in s.r.o.s or in foster care or homeless, and maria su, our director, likes to say to give kids the golden key, but to focus on our african american, pacific islander, latino, and people of color. it's the ones after receiving data on early in the process were identified as the ones needing the most support. a lot of our students, after we went to shelter in place in

spring, in march, by summertime, so many were suffering academically, but they were also suffering from a lack of social interaction and their social and mental support. so we wanted to make sure when we developed these hubs, we offered those needs and supports to the youth. >> how successful have the community hubs been? how many have opened and how many students have been helped? i'm sure there were some challenges, too. issues such as staffing come to mind. >> well, we've been able to open 80 hubs across the city, ranging from one pod, which is about 12 kids, to five pods, which is there's up to 15 kids in a pod, there's 70 kids at a site. we've served about 7,000 kids,

but there's been some challenges. it hasn't been all smooth sailing. right off the bat, we had a huge hurdle that we had to overcome. we knew that there would be a higher demand than we were able to supply, and we needed to figure out a way to meet it as much as possible. so initially, can he designed the hub -- we designed the hubs to serve up to 20 kids in a pod with two adults. but then, here comes the state of california who had much more conservative health and safety ordinance than even what we have locally because typically, d.p.h., our san francisco department of public health was a lot more conservative than the state. they came in and said okay, no more than 12 to 14 youth in a pod, maximum of two adults. so those staffings, and c.b.o.s having to meet the capacity was

a constraint. it's a challenge, it's been rough, but it's been so fulfilling to see the smiles on the faces of our youth, seeing that the staff say we had to make this work no matter what. we were still able to launch successfully in september with, like, opening 42 hubs to start but now, like, we're at 80, and it's hopefully still increasing. i'm bringing on a couple more in a few weeks. >> that's great. now you just mentioned c.b.o.s, community-based organizations, and i understand that the city is partnering with nonprofits and c.b.o.s. do they provide space? how does it work? >> in partnership with rec and parks and the libraries, and that's where we get a lot of

c.b.o.s brick and mortar spaces. we provide the staffing. we have rec and park who are standing up hubs. we have lifeguards and other folks coming in, transition to being able to provide this all day support and care, which is similar to what they do in the summer. they're the ones who, you know, have been able to step in and really stabilize a lot of young people and support families. they bring in -- or they have access to, you know, mental health and behavior services. they bring in their enrichment activities. they bring in just the sense of family and community, which a lot of our youth and families definitely appreciate, so we're in constant communication with each other, we're in constant communication with our city partners, the department of

technology has been superstars in this whole hub initiative. they've gone out and done all the tech assessments on all these sites in addition to our comcast partners. everyone has been phenomenal. i've been in government for 13 years now, and to see how everyone was able to come together, the red tape was gone, all the barriers that we typically have just working in government, that all just, like, went away, and everyone was so focused on making sure that this could be successful, that it just turned out to a beautiful thing. and i think that opened up the door for even stronger partnerships and alignment even beyond this pandemic, so i'm super appreciative of everyone who's been involved in this project. >> finally, how long do you think the hubs will be operating? i know the session ended in february and a new one's

already begun, but do you think they will be expanded during the summer to help kids who had trouble with distance learning during the pandemic? >> yes. i anticipate the learning hubs operating through the summer and even into the fall. they're on going, so even as the school district works to reopen, there's going to be a place for hubs for a while. i think this is a -- an opportunity or a model to change the way we view education and how we educate or kids, and so i definitely see the hubs being a part for a long-term. hopefully not ten years from now, but definitely in the next 18 months, the hubs will be up and running and thriving. >> fantastic. you know, the work you and your team have done on this project has been phenomenal. i want to thank you for coming on the show today. this has been really informative, miss dorsey smith. thank you for your time. >> thank you so much for having

me. >> for more on the learning hubs, visit dcyf.org or dial 311 and speak to an operator. and that's it for this show. we'll be watching with more covid related information shortly. you've been watching coping with covid-19. for sfgovtv, i'm chris manners. thanks for watching. [♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪