booker t. and the wonderful service they provide the community. i myself have been mentoring a child for six years from big brother, big sister who lives in a very at-risk neighborhood. so i really appreciate the compromise that's been brokered by supervisor farrell, and i appreciate, also, the spirit of the community to come together and find something that will work for all. i do like -- i would like to see the commetion of the -- the completion of the project in due time. the building needs to go and would love to see something appreciative by all and provides services to the community and falls within the height limitation for the zone as it is. i would like to see further reduction in size and scale. please bear in mind we're adding 41 units where there are zero housing units. the impasse on the traffic is already evident by the coming and going with the youth gymnasium and will become a little bit more of an increase, we all understand that but do believe there is further room to find a s

also, the booker t. is, of course, the oldest neighbor of the neighborhood represented in this commission, so just keep in mind they are the oldest neighbor here represented. [applause] >> lastly but not, laura heights, if you see it topographically, it's elevated from presidio avenue and would be impacted the least from a viewpoint in the change in elevation as the percentage goes down by your change in elevation. thank you. >> hello, my name is lauren tom and i live on the corner of washington and presidio. i've lived in the neighborhood for over 20 years. i'm a third generation san franciscoian. i went to public school in the city, went to cal, graduated from hastings. i'm the mother of a high school student that goes to school in the city and we love the booker t. my niece worked as a summer camp counselor there and want to speak in support of the project as it is. it's a beautiful site, a beautiful building. we think this is going to be an exciting addition to the neighborhood that will enhance the

booker t. is going to be there and hope that they continue. [applause] >> my name is robert crispin. i've been a resident of san francisco since 1948. i am now a retired college professor, editor and chief publisher and co-founder of the black scholar, journal of black studies and research which is now in its 41st year. san francisco has seen a drastic decline in its black population from 1948 on to the present as a consequence of the california redevelopment act of 1945. in the fillmore, 4,729 businesses were forced to close. 2,500 households were pushed out and 883 victorian houses were demolished, destruction was huge business. with the destruction of the fillmore, a powerful matrix of black arts and leadership also perished and indigenous jazz scene, blues, maya angelou, danny glover, johnny mathis all have their routes -- roots in the western addition. the major vestige is the booker t. washington community center which has been in san francisco since 1917. the rec and services communities

booker t. washington development represents a small but significant contribution to the stay -- city's planned goal of 400 units by 2015 but each unit reps a significant investment in preventing the emergence of a new generation of homeless adults and families. thank you. >> thank you. >> hi, committee and staff. my name is richard wu. i'm the executive director of tech skills center, a nonprofit state wide to help people that want to transition to the i. trves world and give them job placement. the reason i'm here and passionate about booker t. is that i am one of the examples who grew up in san francisco as a native. my family and i came to the city pretty poor and went through booker t. and automatic the other programs. i went to school, went to lowe, u.c. berkeley and today i'm a senior software engineer for a company called nimbus, a global company. we will be working with booker t. to help them even the challenge if given the opportunity with more housing, afterschool programs and jobs. t

booker t. washington project. providing housing and structure for the youth. but i just feel like the project is misplaced. it makes no sense in this location. i mean i'm a little annoyed that the other speakers have said that project sponsors have compromised in bringing the building down. the current zoning in this area is low density residential, 40 feet high. why would you even conceive a project that way in this location if you were envisioning such a large building and up needed such a large building? there's plenty of abandoned buildings in san francisco that could house this program. other speakers have talked about the muni barn and it being on a dense street, i mean a busy street as being a reason to put it here. i say that's not a reason to put it here. it's already very impacted by the muni barn. the muni barn is a very bad neighbor. the employees come early, it starts up early. they idle. coming home in the evening they honk at people trying to pass them as they are idling. there i

he grew up in bookie t., -- booker t., i didn't. but he can talk a bit about what booker t. has meant to people. >> good morning, i'm a native san franciscan and native to the district. some of minimum earliest memories were back around 1962, 1963 whether i attended the center not necessarily as a participant but i got dragged along by my father who was coaching basketball there. he spent a lot of his own volunteer time coaching basketball there. it was a very important part of my youth growing up in the western addition and this project would only make that a richer environment for the residents of the district and the neighborhood now. i wanted to point out one that -- thing. it's been described as a project for african-american youth. that's true, but many of the new residents of the neighborhood, including people of middle eastern descent, people of mix -- mexican and russian and chinese descent, are now also participants in that project -- project or in that center so it's a very, very important center not only just to that area but to the life blood of san francisco. t

booker t. performs next. come on back!out quickly. and sprays can be a bit much. that's why there's the set & refresh from febreze. unlike others, it's the only air freshener of its kind designed for small spaces. with 100% scented oils that eliminate odors for 30 days. for freshness from start to finish. the small space odor solution . . . . . hey, your high speed internet here, at home... ...and on the go... ...with some really big news. it's b-i-g -- big. high speed internet from at&t at home... ...includes wi-fi access on the go. whoo-hoo! [ both ] it's an unbelievable deal. [ chuckles ] well, gotta go. but wait -- there's more... [ female announcer ] go to the website below today and get high speed internet for the unbelievably low price of just $14.95 a month for 12 months with a 1-year price guarantee. it's all the speed you need at a great price. you can chill online at a park. here, pidgie, pidgie. [ coos ] and surf the web at your favorite bookstore. our internet at home includes access to the entire at&t nationa

we are particularly enthusiastic about the booker t. washington probably because it will create 24 units of much-needed affordable housing for transitional age youth in san francisco. access to such housing is critical. without support in their transition to adulthood, think face tremendous challenges in employment, housing, education and more. one in five become homeless within 18 months of leaving the foster system. over half experience unemployment in that amount of time and less than half the youths that exit the foster care system have a high school diploma or g.e.d. when they leave and are on their own. last fiscal year, 182 youths aged out of the san francisco youth foster system and given the challenges they face it is critical to provide support so they can work toward their personal goes. we have seen across california that providing supportive, affordable housing can make a difference to transitional youth. last year for example youth that participated in similar programs across the state made substantial gains in educational

booker t. performs next. come on back!heers and applause ] >> jimmy: welcome back, everybody. performing "down in memphis," from his upcoming album "the road to memphis," which i'm making a lot of money off of -- [ light laughter ] please, a little help with the roots. once again, booker t. jones, everybody! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ doin' it in the heat learnin' how to walk the beat layin' it down again takin' it on the chin ♪ ♪ headin' for the darkest club down on beale street ♪ ♪ playin' that funky music drinkin' that funky gin you gotta' be a pistol got to be a gun ♪ ♪ you gotta be one strange phenomenon down in memphis ♪ ♪ memphis, tennessee memphis, tennessee ♪ ♪ gotta see a new woman over in klondike ten minutes in a thunderbird ♪ ♪ runnin' on the turnpike i gotta pay union dues make me wanna sing the blues i can't be a winner now ♪ ♪ 'cause i'm born to lose down in memphis yeah ♪ ♪ memphis, tennessee memphis, tennessee down in memphis yeah ♪ ♪ doin' it doin' it gotta shine shoes down on 4th and walker ♪ ♪ out

it will enable booker t. to expand its role as a community center and provide affordable housing which is desperately needed in this city. this project already represents itself as a respectful compromise and i'm thrilled to back it. for san francisco and for our district, this plan under pot scott's leadership will provide desperately needed housing units for transition-aged youth with a recognized and commended service provider. additionally, with this project, as it's presented to you, booker t. will be able to expand its range of services to its multigenerational, multiracial, and multiethnic communities by providing more education, more childcare, more health and wellness services, career training, and especially with computers, job opportunities for many people currently underserved. i visited the current facility about three to four dozen times a year in my role as a neighbor and my role as an educator. the current facility grossly compromises any educational programs, any outreach through the communit

[ cheers and applause ] once again we have booker t. jones from the legendary booker t.ith the roots tonight. [ cheers and applause ] good to see you, buddy. >> good to see you -- >> jimmy: booker's new album "the road from memphis" will be out may 10th. preorder it now. there are great guests on the record. you've got lou reed, sharon jones, you've got yim yames from my morning jacket. it's a good one. great album, you guys. pick it up. thanks for being here, buddy. >> thank you. [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: we have a really fun show tonight. he's been in tons and tons of great movies and he is the star of "henry's crime," keanu reeves is here! [ cheers and applause ] come on! that's the coolest. i love that dude. from the new movie "soul surfer," lorraine nicholson will be joining us. [ cheers and applause ] plus, music from a legendary punk band from the u.k., wire is with us tonight! [ cheers and applause ] they're awesome. the real deal. ladies and gentlemen, it's time to take a look at the stories making headlines today and weigh the good with the bad. it's ti

now of course, booker t. washington is brought around and as the result of mckinley being killed, theodore roosevelt becomes president and on october 16th, 1901, roosevelt finds out that booker t. washington is going to be in town and advises him to the white house. this is the famous dinner where they go berserk because the fact that a black man is eating at the white house and roosevelt's daughter and wife were there so the black man eating at the white house with white women becomes completely unacceptable, there's editorials across the country denouncing roosevelt the president so roosevelt back souls and initially they try to deny that washington was even there but they had issued a press release. so you couldn't quite put the genie that back in the bottle because you're own evidence says that he was there but it's basically that nobody black is invited to eat at the white house like another 20 years. and if you are going to the white house and the per code you are coming back in the back door if you're

so booker t. washington is going around, and he's telling this story, and as a result of mckinley being killed, theodore roosevelt becomes president. and then on october 16, 1901, roosevelt finds out that booker t. washington is going to be in town and invites him to the white house for dinner. and this is the famous dinner where the -- [inaudible] goes berserk because the fact that a black man is eating at the white house, and roosevelt's wife and daughter were there. so a black man eating at the white house with white women becomes completely unacceptable. there's editorials across the country denouncing roosevelt, the new president. l so roosevelt backs off. initially, they try to deny that washington was even there, but they had issued a press release. so you couldn't quite put the genie back in the bottle after that because all the evidence said that he was there. but it, basically, means that nobody black is invited to eat at the white house for, like, another 20 years. and if you are going

for the proposed booker t. washington community center services project case 2006.0868e. and this e.i.r. analyzes the existing 12,000 square foot community center at 800 presidio avenue, construction of a community center, gym naz igymn and 50 units of affordable housing and below rate units for youth transitions from the foster system and 24 below market rates to households earning 60% of the area's median income as well as two areas for onsite building manageers and a garage for 21 automobiles. a copy of the draft e.i.r. certification motion is before you. the draft e.i.r. was published on june 23, 2010. the public hearing on the draft was held on august 5, 2010. and the public comment period closed on august 10, 2010. the comments and response documents was published april 14, 2011. as stated in the e.i.r., staff reports, and on today's agenda t proposed project of the height of 55 feet will not comply with the site's existing height district and would require recommendation on the board of zoning and the bo

only two names were in the encyclopedia, and that was booker t. washington and george washington carver, but she lectured about the contribution of frederick douglass, w.e.b. dubois, and how jackie robinson had broken the baseball barrier. and we remembered the opera singer who was not allowed to sing in the hall and had to sing in lincoln center. all the discrimination and the local in justices. like, everything was separate and unequal. the school was inadequate. we could not go to the hospitals. they built a house adjacent to the main hospital. the white people were not supposed to be in the same room with an n-person. you know the n-word? i said to myself at the end of the day that i love my country and i'm glad that that day, i took a stand. i saw through the supreme court that the flaws that america had tried to correct them by removing those horrible signs -- "white" and "colored." i said when i testified at the trial, i went through how we were treated, and the lady dramatize it, so i do not have to go through that, but it is the whole sys

we have another transitional youth house in the booker t. washington center over by the muniart close to the old mervyn's builting, sears building. all i will say, we are working very hard with the mayor's office of housing to do outreach to the community now to see if that's even a project the community will support. i will tell you that the community ultimately will have my support in that. what i would ask is that everyone has open eyes and open ears about it. i do think we need to do this. we need to provide these housing projects. however -- and we need to do them throughout san francisco. however, i'm open to the fact that king edward ii may not be the right oneful. as our told -- as i told our mayor's office of housing who i am working closely with and respect a great deal, it has gone so far down the road where the community may be past the point of no return in terms of support. i want to let that process play itself out. i know it's been a big deal. it's not necessarily a budget issue right now. i'm happy to take it offline. >> [in

before i began the research, i didn't realize this, but booker t. washington 100 years ago complained about the images of black men and women in the media, and the 1st grade novellest, charles chesnut and his two novels and the newspaper man who gets a guy lynched and in the second novel a newspaper editor who gets a -- pulled in for civil disturbance in north carolina. >> host: in your most recent nonfiction book, "barak obama and the jim crow media," what do you mean? >> guest: richard prince who -- i don't know how he does it -- but he puts out a blog every day from maynard institute, and his daughter, dori, carries out his work and puts out the blog under the institute's name and talks about the disappearance of african-american and hispanic points of view in the media over the last few years. there's firings, npr was in the news recently, and there was a big hubbub about npr firing african-americans who had been there for many years, so what we did was a disappearance of african-american reporters and journalists in the media, and what we are l

before i began this research, i didn't realize booker t. washington, 100 years ago complained about the images of black men and black women in the media and the first great novelist, charles chestnut, and his two novels both villains are media people. first a newspaper people who get a guy lynched and a second novel a newspaper editor who get -- who foments civil disturbance in north carolina. >> host: in your most recent nonfiction book, "barack obama and the jim crow media," what do you mean by the jim crow media? >> guest: i followed a media watcher named media prince -- i don't know how he does it. but he puts out a blog every day from the maynard institute which is named after the late publisher of the oakland tribune. he carries on his work and he puts out this blog under the institute's name and he talks about the -- sort of like disappearance of african-american and hispanic points of view in the media over the last few years. there have been buyoffs, firings. npr was in the news recently and there was a big hubbub about npr firing

he's the driving force of booker t and the mgs and the blues brothers band and the stack records bandypically about people who have a passion for music and sort of being successful at it. >> here's a secret about his biggest hit, doc of the bay. it wasn't about a ship going under the golden gate. >> i watched the ferry come across and as it comes in to park, what do it ferries do, it pushes up a weak and it rolls in and that's what he was talking about. >> he said life today is a far cry when from when he was down so low. >> was there a time you said i'm giving it all up, i don't care? >> not really. i any i would come back to what this is right now and i'm still on my way up. >> it's a benefit which helps musicians who need help. it's at yoshie's in san francisco tomorrow night. and lester chambers there. don sanchez, abc7 news. >> the cowbell really adds something to the piece. thanks to don for that. all right, as we continue, free rides in the bay area. as budgets woes deepen, should a popular trolley continue to offer lifts on the public's dime? that's next. [ dog barking in dist

their very famous photographer and johnston who took pictures of many famous african americans, booker t. washington and people like that. this is from 1898. the easter egg hunt started under president hayes. initially it was the capital. but then they started complaining about the kids tearing up the grass of a devore. they moved it to the white house. it became one of the few venues by 1898 where you had integrated public events. and said that is why we have the black child and the white child together because outside of an easter egg, on the grass, segregation was pretty. this was two years after they ferguson decision which basically said segregation is legal across the country. anywhere anybody wants to implement it. two years before the last black member of congress was going out. there will not be another one for another three decades. any other questions? comments? >> this is a personal question to you. i notice that your wearing your wedding band. how did your family deal with you during the process of gathering all your information? i assume a lot of time was taken out. >> yes.

reaction to race almost unpredictable, and very, very harsh coming after a president who entertained booker t. washington, here comes this intellectual who literally -- how do we explain that? >> guest: woodrow wilson is from virginia in the south and also the governor of new jersey and as you said, president of princeton. but he was sort of -- thought of himself as a virginian gentleman in the context of those times, and was never really interested in ecology. when he was elected there were high hopes for him and the african-american community that he would do things differently. but he didn't. he was sort of swayed by some of mount the southern cabinet members around him and he actually we segregated washington and the government and so on and even again the fundamental contradiction of our ideals and his ideals he was the guy that talked about, you know, equality among nations and about these freedoms around the world he was trying to promote after world war i and at home he just didn't see that there was a tremendous hypocrisy and contradiction to what he was trying to do around the world

coming after a president who entertained booker t. washington here comes this intellectual who literally -- how do you explain that? >> guest: woodrow wilson in virginia in the south he had also the governor of new jersey, so as you see, president of princeton. but he was sort of thought of himself as a virginia gentleman in the context of those times and was never interested in equality. when he was elected there were high hopes for him in the community that he would do some things differently. but he didn't come he was persuaded by this other cabinet members about him and he actually resegregate of washington in the government and so on and in the fundamental contradiction of our ideals and his ideals. he is the guy that talks about equality among nations and the freedoms around the world he was trying to promote after world war i and get at home he didn't see that was a tremendous hypocrisy and contradiction to what he was trying to do around the world, trying to protect small nations. he just didn't understand these things this is

coming after a president who had entertained booker t. washington, here comes this intellectual who literally rigid. how do you explain that? ethnic woodrow wilson's grew up in virginia in the south. he had been governor of new jersey. he was sort of a virginia gentleman in the context of those times. was never interested in equality. when he was elected there was high hopes for him in the african-americans many that he would do something differently, but he did and he was sort of persuaded by some of the southern cabinet members around him and he actually re-segregated washington in the government and so on, and even though again the fundamental contradiction of our ideals and his ideals, he talked about equality among nations and about these freedoms all around the world that he was trying to promote after world war i. and yet at home you just didn't see that was a tremendous hypocrisy and contradiction to what he was trying to do around the world. trying to protect small nations, minority nations. didn't understand these things. and th

. >> host: coming after a president who had entertained booker t.ashington, here comes this intellectual who is literally rigid. how do you explain that? >> guest: well, you know, woodrow wilson's roots were in virginia in the south. he had been governor of new jersey and, as you say, president of princeton. but he sort of thought of himself as a virginia gentleman in the context of those times. and he was never really interested in equality. when he was elected, there was high hopes for him in the african-american community that he would do some things differently. but he didn't. he sort of was swayed by some of his southern cabinet members around him, and he actually recession regated washington -- recession regated washington even though he was the guy who talked about, you know, equality among nations and about these freedoms around the world that he was trying to promote after world war i. and yet at home he just didn't see that that was a tremendous hypocrisy and contradiction to what he was trying to do around the world, trying to protect sma