Happy New Year... a belated post

Holy cow, how long has it been?!

I've only been on a soft hiatus.

In the interim of publishing I've been trying to get new collaborations going, new connections established, maintaining relationships, and repairing strained ones - all with varying degrees of success.

There's a long list on paper of items in the queue to be blogged about...

Thanks for re-joining me.

Pasko! Pasko! Pasko!

Happy Holidays... 

I've been a terrible blogger on this site as of recent, but I hope to redeem myself with this entry.

This year has brought about a lot of learning, thankfully. 

I learned that no matter what, people will lay their lives on their homes.  Outside of family, and our health, it's often all we have.  With support and love from family, friends, and community members, a home will ALWAYS be a home, no matter the critique -- shortsighted, unfounded, and conflated as it is.

Unfortunately, I've missed out on a lot of events since October, ranging from the Planning Commission Hearings on the final steps of the Eastern Neighborhoods Plan, to the United Playaz Thanksgiving Celebrations.  I've a backlog of footage that still needs to be edited, interviews that need to be wrapped up, photos to still take... tick tock tick tock!

No matter, the SOMA is still there, residents still dance in the streets, stay warm behind their homes, smile with each other, laugh before they go to bed, persevere and dream in slumber.

On December 19th, SOMCAN ran their annual Pasko event at the Bayanihan community center on 6th and Mission. Festivities were full with Lechon (Roast Pig), festive performers young and old alike.  The space bustled, and while I'm glad I was able to get some footage at this gathering, it still wasn't nearly enough to feel the crowd's presence.

Featured on this short video is Marti Dulalas--I confess, I should have done more interviews, but Marti has been the impromptu guide during these events, and she holds it down!  Jazzie Collins, a longtime community advocate and resident provides her jovial input.  Also on this video is Jack De Jesus, aka Kiwi Illafonte, staff member of SOMCAN.  The youth from Galing Bata and Bessie Carmichael filled out the night with a postmodern mix of bilingual carols, hip hop choreography, and redux versions of other classic tunes.

As I managed to be a fly-on-the-wall, I scanned the crowd often from behind the camera.  I always attempt to follow a mental checklist of shots to get.  Sometimes I get through the checklist properly, often times I get caught up in balancing out the anonymity and participation.  On one of these b-roll items on my list I caught sight of this fellow:

After continuing with filming, I realized I needed a quick break outside. I greeted several folks I recognized, but mostly kept to myself, assessing what else I needed from the event. Standing in thought amidst all that is 6th street, I could not resist the charm that the night had... and I think I zoned out for a minute. Unsure of how to reset my thoughts, I started devising more opportunities to appease my need for technical and narrative precision (which I will perpetually work at doing), but these were moot to complete presence without camera, and active emotional involvement, interaction...

Next thing I knew I was smiling... at what? I can't articulate. Oddly.

Shaking myself from the breather, I noticed the same lolo walking towards me, or rather, the exit.  I immediately turned my camera on, attempting to get a more dynamic angle to integrate with the previous footage, as seen above.  As he continued to move towards me, I began to watch his face, and began to remove my face from the camera screen, a technique I employ to assure that I'm seeing the right things.

Making eye contact, we smiled at each other again.

The doors slid open and we were within inches of each other.  

We said nothing.

He placed his hand on my wrist, and not to prevent me from recording.

I placed my other hand on his.

We parted.

I made sure to take pause, if only for a second. If there's anything that I've learned working solo is that I always gotta check-in with myself. Reflect. Reassure. Repeat.

What we did for each other that night, 

that singular moment, is what I've been trying to do everyday, 

with or without camera... 

...and I'm sure it's the same for him.

Thanks for reading, see y'all next year.

Resource: The Mission Anti-Displacement Coalition

The Mission Anti-Displacement Coalition is.... well, just read their blog, they can speak well on their own behalf. They've been a strong group, and an awesome ally to SOMCAN. Their blog is a solid collaborative, it houses pertinent and accessible information of what goes down in the Mission.

Also peep their position on the Eastern Neighborhood Plan.

http://missionantidisplacement.blogspot.com/

Getting Work Done: Rally at the Planning Hearing (07/10/2008)

Several housing rights and community organizations gathered on the steps of City Hall on July 10th, 2008 to show support and unity towards the Eastern Neighborhoods Plan. Many are affected with the prospect of zoning changes, and heavy hitting redevelopment corporations/agencies with the interests of a specific kind of growth in mind, that doesn't typically include families that decide to make their homes in the city.

Following support, I was able to take my camera into the hearing room, and document the 15-minute presentation from SOMCAN that broke down more terms of the the Youth and Family Zone (More on the YFZ in another entry).

Here's a short compilation of the rally:



Some of the speakers included: Marti D., Mai D., Eric Quezada, and folks from PODER, POOR represented as well.

I broke down the hearing into components of the presentation (In the queue for upload are both Chris Durazo's, and April Veneracion's part of the presentation):







If you want to watch this particular hearing, or any other hearing for that matter, hit up the San Francisco GOV TV website. Here's a link directly to the City Planning Commission's meetings. As an aside, it's impressive and makes complete sense that these hearings are available online. Granted, transparency in bureaucracy can never get to 100%, at least it's a step in the responsible direction.

So what's next for SOMCAN? Gathering more support for the Youth and Family Zone, and working towards meeting with the City Planning Staff responsible for the EN plan and working it to get the language and terms down on the page for the Planning Commission or the Board of Supervisors to approve and implement.

Estimated time line? Perhaps naively I thought that a final draft of the plans would be set on the tables of the Planning Commission by the end of this month, however, as I've quickly RE-learned, that one can't ever be certain with so many political interests in mind.

Implementation: Silkscreen, Session 2 of 4 - PODER Youth

I jumped into the last hour of the 2nd session of the Silk Screening Class, and right away pulled out the camera to document this weeks progress, and let me say that from the get, these youth didn't mind at all that I was documenting their process, asking them questions about their day, about their process and progress, or as Einar S. so deftly asked, "Isn't our progress our process?"

Mind you, I wasn't giving them the third degree, calling them out, what have you - I suppose it's a guilty pleasure of mine to ask all the youth that I've worked with to explain what it is they're doing, how they're going about it, etc. All with the interests to vindicate any naysayers to public service/civic engagement/youth work. It's damn affirming when any one youth can explicitly articulate the structures that be and how to work said structures in interpersonal relations with no half-steppin' and no slippin'.

PODER (People Organizing to Demand Environment & Economic Rights), is a grassroots organization based in San Francisco's Mission district. In a neighborhood that's continually evolving with/against/forwards/sideways/backwards with gentrification, organizations like PODER and their allies work with the immigrant and low-income residents with the intent to build and foster empowerment through campaigns that serve the interests of many of the folks involved. I could go on and on, with citation after another about their campaigns, but I encourage everyone to peep their website, learn a little. Common Roots is the program that bridges the youth from CPA (Chinese Progressive Association) with the youth from PODER in efforts to solidify their coalition, and build up the next generation's leaders.

I sat with Fabiola R., Ingried S. (who proudly stated that her three brothers were in the mix), Yosei, S., Juan S., Christian S., Fernando M.R., and Einar S., and they broke it down for me. The PODER youth meet weekly at El Centro Del Pueblo, and I was told that the showing to the classes are nothing but a fraction of the youth that gather in their small space in the back of the offices, where they hold educational workshops that speak to their communities and campaigns.

They recently had a block party replete with free burritos, an urban art-faire, and was an overall "positive space," as Fernando affirmed with a charismatic smile.

I asked about their progress/process in the classroom and asked them to break down designing for me:



I dunno about y'all but I was impressed with their forward thinking. A way of working the involves implementing political education and empowerment, in addition to economical education and empowerment. It's certainly one thing to drop knowledge on inequalities, it's another to be able to hustle to keep the coffers full so that you can continually learn and drop that knowledge. Dope.

Keep posted for a vid with the CPA youth....

Oh and if you do read this in time, come out for the rally in front of City Hall today -- see flyer in previous post.