Unsettlers

Writer

I write about the long history of the Mission District of San Francisco, and contemporary oral histories of peoples who live in the gentrified Mission District, and who for the most part are descendants of original peoples of the Americas or peoples with origin in Latin America and the Caribbean.

I also consider myself a community journalist, and write about issues with deep impact upon working class people of color in the City of San Francisco. As of late, this includes policing and the spread of the coronavirus among essential workers.

Interviews

Publications

  • Unsettled in the Mission/ Inquietos en la Misión. A series of essays published periodically in the bilingual El Tecolote newspapers. The series will run October 2017 through January 2019. Supported with a 2017 Creative Work Fund grant.
  • “Witness to Grief: Love and Justice for Alex Nieto” in Rebellious Mourning: The Collective Work of Grief, Cindy Milstein (editor), AK Press (2017)
  • “This Merits A Response”, Culturestrike online magazine (July 2016). Essay commissioned by YBCA Take This Hammer.
  • “The Geography of the Unseen” in Rebecca Solnit, INFINITE CITY: A San Francisco Atlas, UC Press, (2010)
  • “Street Food” originally published in  “n+1” literary magazine, (Summer, 2012). Reprinted as an excerpt in the Utne Reader (March/April 2013) and in Volume 3 Bohemian Bridges: California as a Superstructure for Social and Cultural Change, Guardian Stewardships Editions (2016)
  • “The Blind Spot” in Shift Happens: Critical Mass at 20, eds. Chris Carlsson, LisaRuth Elliott & Adriana Camarena, Full Enjoyment Books (2012)

Public presentations and readings

Storytelling circles

  • November 2, 2015. Restorative circle. Facilitation and filming of a “Restorative Circle” with families and friends of loved ones killed by police, as part of “Altar para mi barrio: Art, Poetry, Food & Live Music for Day of the Dead @ 6:00 pm -10:00 pm. This circle was carried out in collaboration with Florencia Rojo (Justice 4 Amilcar Perez Lopez) and Sofia Elias (Red Poppy Art House). Participants included family and friends of Matt Chang, Alex Nieto, Idriss Stelley, and Amilcar Perez Lopez.
    • Note: I filmed the Restorative Circle in collaboration with Karla Gallardo. We later asked same questions to Elvira and Refugio Nieto. We have a raw cut and once Spanish/English subtitles are concluded that video will be posted on this website under the Unsettlers Project.
  • August 2, 2014. Storytelling circle.  My Mission Blood: Tales from the Hood, with participation of Antoinette Rios, Oscar Salinas, Henry Murillo Jimenez, and Ray Ysaguirre (all Mission District natives) presented during #wheredoyoubelong as part of MAPP night. (A second storytelling circle was held during the March-April 2014, “Eviction Scene Investigation”, Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, 27th Anniversary of Solo Mujeres Exhibition.
  • January, 17, 2014. “Campfire: Eviction Ghost Stories and Other Housing Horrors.” Opening prayer by Catherine Herrera, Ohlone descendent. Storytelling by fourteen evictees. Closing prayer by Roberto Hernandez, ‘the mayor of the Mission.’ Co-partnered with the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project and Shaping San Francisco. Silvertop Café patio. The event was filmed and is a series of publicly available “Campfire: Eviction Community Stories” video clips.
  • June 1, 2013. “La Llorona: A Public Lamentation on Ellis Act Evictions.” A procession to sites of Ellis Act Evictions in the Mission. Featuring Mission poets, artists, and residents. We walked the night regretfully asking: “Where are my Mission children?/ ¿Dónde están mis hijos de la Misión?” in likeness of La Llorona (the Weeping Woman.) The event was filmed and is a publicly available video “La Llorona.” Co-hosted with Shaping San Francisco.