Written by unsettlers on October 9, 2017
Unsettled/ Inquietos: A collaboration with El Tecolote, the bilingual newspaper of the Mission!
Unsettled in the MissionAdriana Camarena is proud to collaborate with Accion Latina to create and distribute “Unsettled/Inquietos,” a series of literary non-fiction essays based on portraits of working class and poor residents of the traditionally Latino Mission District of San Francisco. The essays will be published in English and Spanish in the bilingual El Tecolote newspaper of Acción
Written by unsettlers on October 9, 2017
The problem with quadrupling beat cops—armed with implicit bias and weapons—in the Mission
Accompaniment for families hurt by policeMy encounter at 24th Street Southeast BART Plaza, approximately at 1:30pm, Oct. 9th, 2017, Indigenous People’s Day I had just stepped out of the new Mission coffee house on the Southeast BART plaza, where for about an hour I had been writing up some ideas for my next essay. The moment I walked out of
Written by unsettlers on June 8, 2016
Adriana Camarena responds to YBCA’s “Take This Hammer Exhibit” as part of Ten Bay Area Writers Respond, June 7th, 2016
Non-Fiction Literary Writer . Unsettled in the MissionAn essay by Adriana Camarena about affordable housing, police brutality, homelessness, art and activism. The author was commissioned by the YBCA to write a response to the exhibit “Take This Hammer”, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), March 11th to August 16th, 2016 (Guest Curator: Christian L. Frock) and present work at the event:
Written by unsettlers on June 4, 2016
The Naming of Things
Non-Fiction Literary WriterThe Naming of Things* For Chris Carlsson, and in memory of “Processed World” magazine. I have found the place where making romantic sentences full of pathos and bravado has become factory work. On a plain of paved streets in Sunnyvale, past rows of ticky-tack Spanish-tiled roofs, in a cove of office-warehouses, holding herds of cubicles,
Written by unsettlers on May 8, 2016
Mourning Luis the morning after the Frisco500 rise up
Accompaniment for families hurt by policeMourning a police shooting On April 7, 2016 at 10:04am, two SFPD officers killed Luis Góngora Pat, a Mayan Yucatecan man living unhoused on Shotwell Street. His killing —partially caught on film— was the fourth high profile police officer-involved shooting since 2014. His killing was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Five community members
Written by unsettlers on October 28, 2014
#OctoberTogether, More than just baseball…
Accompaniment for families hurt by police#OctoberTogether, More than just baseball… Dedicated to Bay Area families victims of police brutality and their supporters I. October Spirit II. Twilight III. Tipping the playing field IV. Unaccountable Murders V. Giants for Justice VI. October Together, the new normal… VII. List of Bay Area homicide victims by police I. October Spirit “October Together” is
Written by unsettlers on September 8, 2014
108 Homes
Unsettled in the MissionWork-in-progress/ Extract (updated Sept. 8, 2014) 108 Homes For Mary Brown— My friend —M— gave me a list of 108 homes with listed owners who had not changed in the last 35 years. I went knocking on those address doors wanting to know who lived there. I started with names on my list that did
Written by unsettlers on June 21, 2014
With patada!: Exposing the Eviction of Yolanda M. Lopez (2014 collaborative installation)
InstallationsThis post is a documentation of installation work with Yolanda Lopez related to forced eviction. 1. Meeting A Mission Legend 2. The Context of Ellis Act Evictions in La Mission 3. Home/Studio: Eviction Scene Investigation (Lopez & Camarena, 18th Annual Sólo Mujeres, MCCLA, March 12-April 18, 2014) 4. Eviction Garage Sale (Yolanda Lopez & Rio
Written by unsettlers on May 10, 2014
Matres Dolorosas: A Watershed of Tears
Unsettled in the MissionA Watershed of Tears: Arroyo de los Dolores (extract 1/5) Ocean fog protected the Bay from European discovery, until 1769, when explorer Gaspar de Portolá viewed the body of water from a mountaintop. Six years later, on August 5, 1775, the ship San Carlos sailed through the golden gate under a moonlit sky. The Huimen
Written by unsettlers on May 1, 2014
May Day: The Nieto Family Story
Accompaniment for families hurt by policeRefugio Nieto and Elvira Rodriguez (now Elvira Nieto) were born a year apart in the little town of Tarimoro, Guanajuato, known for its agricultural and handmade brick businesses. Refugio was the eldest child in a family of eight, and Elvira the fourth in a family of nine children. He was born into a family of