San Francisco | VivirLatino

Archive for the ‘San Francisco’ Category

Bay Area Community Members to Hold Vigil and Release Statement about Murders in Maryland and Puerto Rico

20 Nov 2009

PRESS RELEASE

TIME: Sunday, November 22, 3:30pm
LOCATION: Mac Arthur and Grand Ave. at Lake Merritt

CONTACT: Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Liz Latty
PHONE: (510) 282-5223
EMAIL: morethanavigil@gmail.com

BAY AREA COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO HOLD VIGIL FOR QUEER/TRANS TEENS MURDERED IN MARYLAND AND PUERTO RICO

OAKLAND, CA – Outraged at the murders of two queer and trans teenagers last week, Bay Area queers and allies will gather at Lake Merritt this Sunday for a candlelight vigil and open mic to mourn and brainstorm ways to keep their community safer from violence.

Last Friday, 19-year-old Jorge Steven López-Mercado got into a car with Juan Martinez-Matos, 26, who later said he had been “searching for a prostitute.” Martinez-Matos murdered, beheaded and dismembered López-Mercado after, he said, he discovered that López-Mercado had male genitalia and was wearing feminine clothing. Martinez-Matos then set fire to Lopez-Mercado’s remains and left them on the side of a road. Martinez -Matos is now in custody and has confessed to the murder. His bail is set at $4 million.

The same week, in Baltimore, Maryland, queer fifteen-year-old Jason Mattison, Jr., was raped and stabbed to death in his aunt’s home by an adult male, a family friend with whom, according to a Baltimore police spokesperson, Mattison allegedly had a “forced sexual relationship.”

Queer activists say they worry that López-Mercado’s murderer will successfully invoke the defense of “gay or trans-panic” to justify the brutal killing. “The fact that Martinez -Matos is saying that López-Mercado was ‘wearing women’s clothing’ indicates that he might try to say he was ‘fooled’ and therefore ‘forced’ to kill López-Mercado for their gender identity,” Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, one of the organizers of the Oakland vigil said.

“This is completely inexcusable,” Liz Latty, another organizer of the rally this Sunday, said. “It’s blaming the victim. We unequivocally denounce the way that the lives of queer and transgendered people, sex workers, people of color, women and low-income people are devalued and seen as disposable. We especially denounce the ways in which femme-presenting sex workers of color are incredibly targetted for violence.”

Referring to López-Mercado’s murder, police investigator Ángel Rodríguez Colón told Univisión, “These types of people, when they enter this lifestyle and go out into the streets, know that this could happen.”

“We are outraged at the murders of López-Mercado and Mattison,” Oakland vigil organizer Latty said. “We, queer and transgendered people in Oakland, are mourning these senseless deaths. Yet we are also a resilient community. We wish to stand in solidarity with those in Puerto Rico and Baltimore who are surviving despite this invisibility and injustice.”

Bay Area organizers of the vigil have been in contact with friends of López-Mercado and are hoping to coordinate memorial events and future actions with the Puerto Rican and Baltimore queer communities.

Harry Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the FBI in Puetro Rico, said that the agency will monitor the investigation since federal statutes regarding hate crimes are implicated. Puerto Rican lawmaker, Charlie Hernandez, who authored the Hate Crimes Act of 2002, has been asking officials to consider charging Matos under that law. It would be the first time in Puerto Rico that a murder would be classified as a hate crime. According to the National Lesbian and Gay Task Force, López-Mercado is the tenth murder victim of a hate crime in Puerto Rico in the last seven years.

But Oakland vigil organizers say they want a different kind of justice that doesn’t rely on increased policing or punishment. They say that the prison system has not made life safer for victims of violence, especially those who are queer and transgendered people of color. Organizers say that violence against queer youth of color is only exacerbated by increased police enforcement, which disproportionally targets and locks up low-income people, people of color, sex workers, and gender non-conforming people.

“Hate crimes legislation and more police patrols would not make our communities safer. It would not have prevented the murders, and no punishment will bring these two men back,” organizer Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha said. “Systemic homophobia and transphobia killed López-Mercado and Mattison, who like other queer or gender non-comforming youth of color, faced barriers like street harassment and discrimination in every facet of life. What could’ve actually saved the two young men are things like free or affordable public transportation, an end to housing and employment discrimination against people of color, queer and trans folks, and the decriminalization of sex work.”

“We don’t know how Lopez-Mercado identified, gender-wise, right now,” added Piepzna-Samarasinha. ” What we do know is that transphobia is a huge part of why they were murdered. As we continue to receive information from Lopez-Mercado’s friends and family members about how Lopez-Mercado saw their gender, we will change their pronouns to the ones they preferred. We want to work to create a world where all people are free to live in safety with any gender expression they desire.”

Vigils mourning López-Mercado and Mattison will also take place this Sunday in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Amherst, MA, Tara Haute, Abilene, TX, Atlanta, and Durham.

The National Queer Arts Festival and Mangos with Chili presents: QPOCALYPSE NOW

1:30 pm By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Culture| Events| San Francisco| Women · Comments Off

18 Jun 2009

Mala always knew that mangos with chile were the bomb pero this brings the tastiness to a whole new level. If you are in the Bay Area support!

The 2009 National Queer Arts Festival and MANGOS WITH CHILI
the floating cabaret of queer and trans people of color bliss, dreams,
sweat, sweets & nightmares proudly present:

QPOCalypse NOW!

June 20 – One night only
SOMArts, 934 Brannan St, SF
Doors at 7:30, Show at 8pm
Tickets: $13 – $20
No one turned away for lack of funds
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/66089

The end times. 2012. The revolution. Terror. The chosen people.
Disaster. Militarism. Revelations. Plague. The dawn of the 5th World.
Space colonization. Making new homes and surviving new worlds.

In this highly anticipated divine new Mangos With Chili performance
spectacular, come see the Bay Area’s noted and notorious QTPOC
performance ensemble present an evening of all new collaborative work
and hybrid performance exploring our visions of the end of the world
and what comes afterwards.

From growing up in the apocalyptic worlds of Brooklyn, Scranton,
Oakland, and Beirut, to the myths of the end times our ancestors told
us, to the last crazy QTPOC dance party before The End, to living
Octavia Butler’s dreams now, the Mangos With Chili crew will give you
dreams and nightmares about revolution and our changing world through
our high-intensity theater, dance, spoken word, drag, song, and more.

Featuring:
Charleston Chu
Nico Dacumos
Maceo Cabrera Estévez
Ms. Cherry Galette
Zuleikha Mahmood
Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
Amir Rabiyah
Yosimar Reyes
Thisway/Thatway
King TuffNStuff
and TBA

PLUS: a live score mixed by DJ Emancipacion, video by Alexis Pauline
Gumbs, Ami Puri, and TBA, an interactive altar, the Four Gay Unicorns
of the Apocalypse, and other surprises!!!

Mangos With Chili: the floating cabaret of QTPOC bliss, dreams,
sweats, sweets and nightmares is a Bay Area based arts organization
committed to showcasing high quality work of life saving importance by
queer and trans artists of color to audiences in the Bay Area and
beyond. Founded by writer and spoken word artist Leah Lakshmi
Piepzna-Samarasinha and dancer, choreographer, and burlesque artist Ms
Cherry Galette, Mangos with Chili began as an annual touring cabaret
of queer and trans people of color performance artists, and now
presents year round productions in the Bay Area in addition to our
annual touring cabaret.

The troupe has performed to sold out houses across North America,
wowing audiences in world class theaters, underground performance
spaces, bars, community venues and campus halls with their hot, high
intensity, and breathtaking performance, politics, and craft,
reflecting the lives and stories of queer and trans people of color
and speaking out in resistance to the daily struggles around silence,
isolation, homophobia, and violence that QTPOC face.

Mangos with Chili is a fiscally sponsored project of CounterPulse.
Production of QPOCalypse Now! is made possible by the generous support
of the Horizons Foundation, the Queer Cultural Center, the San
Francisco Foundation, the San Francisco Arts Commission, and the
generous support of our community of donors.

For more information: http://mangoswithchili.wordpress.com

Latinos the Target of Kidnappings in San Francisco

11:05 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Cities| Immigration| San Francisco| crime| society · Comments Off

5 Jun 2009

20mission583span

Some disturbing news out of San Francisco. In the city’s Mission District, Latino neighborhood par excellence, Latinos are reportedly being forced into cars and kidnapped. SFist has the frightening story:

Mission Loc@l reports that there have been three documented cases this month of Latinos being forced into a vehicle with the intent of mugging them, while walking in isolated parts of the Mission late at night. Police speculate that day laborers might be the target both because they carry cash and are often undocumented and are afraid to go to the police for fear of being deported.

The most recent attack occurred on Friday around 1 a.m., in which a 27-year-old Latino male was picked up near 20th and Bryant streets. He refused to give the assailant’s money, was hit over the head with a blunt object, and dropped off at 25th and Vermont Streets. Instead of going to the police, the victim went to San Francisco General Hospital, where a staff member then reported it to the police. Luckily, his injuries were not life-threatening.

Assailants are reportedly also using tasers to attack victims and steal their valuables. What pathetic excuse for a person preys on vulnerable people too afraid to report the crime to police? I’d like to know.

Via / SFist

San Francisco Saves 185 Youths from Deportation, Critics Rage

3 Apr 2009

480676564_918c063f8c The effects, both good and bad, of San Francisco’s policy of being a “sanctuary city” for undocumented immigrants are emerging, one year to date after it was instated. The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

As many as 185 undocumented youths held on felony criminal charges in San Francisco were shielded from deportation between 2005 and last summer, when the controversial policy came to light, according to juvenile probation statistics obtained by The Chronicle.

City officials had previously said they had no way of telling how many youths had benefited from the policy. But a new preliminary report prepared by the Juvenile Probation Department at the request of Supervisor David Campos shows the number is much higher than previously suspected.

The report shows that between Jan. 1, 2005, and Feb. 28 of this year, 252 undocumented youths had cases in the juvenile probation system.

As you might expect, this data is not making some of the mayor’s enemies happy, and his opponents maintain that in its attempt to protect undocumented immigrants, San Francisco is instead harbouring drug dealers and other criminals. The Chronicle reports that 88% of the 180 were from Honduras and 83% were arrested on drug-related offenses, leading some to suspect a link to Honduran drug-related organizations.
Read more…

MTV to Air Pedro Zamora Movie

5 Mar 2009

Some of you might be a tad too young to remember, but back in 1994, MTV’s The Real World actually retained some element of real, and was actually a pretty engaging show (note: there were actually people with brains in the house). The San Francisco edition was one of its highest points, mainly due to the groundbreaking things that were going on on the show: 21 year old Cubano Pedro Zamora emerged as the first openly gay HIV-positive man to appear on American television, and in following Pedro’s life and death, U.S. TV viewers finally got to know someone living with HIV.

Alex Loynaz stars as earnest Real World cast-member Pedro Zamora in this intimate biopic tracing the HIV-positive immigrant’s rise from humble roots to becoming one of the most instantly recognizable HIV/AIDS activists in the United States as a result of his high profile role on MTV’s pioneering reality… television series. In 1992, The Real World made it’s debut on MTV, forever altering the definition of the term “celebrity,” and providing a sympathetic face to the growing AIDS crisis for the millions of Americans who had yet to meet someone suffering from the devastating autoimmune disorder.

While the show was great, what MTV has got up its sleeve now doesn’t look like it’s going to do it much justice. “Pedro: The Movie” actually looks pretty terrible if the trailers are to be believed (check them out here). MTV movies are infamously bad, so I guess you can’t expect much more, but I would have preferred Pedro’s story be told by a good filmmaker with…a budget. When you check out the trailer, you’ll know what I mean. But before that, check out the clip above of The Real World San Francisco to get a sense of who Pedro was.

Pedro: The Movie is set to air on MTV on April 1st.

Via / SF Citizen

Prop 8 Vigils Across California

5 Mar 2009

ba-samesex05_0499868478 “When all else fails, pray!” is what comes to mind upon reading about the multiple candlelight vigils that were held throughout my state on the eve of the hearing that will make or break California’s most discriminatory law against LGBT citizens. Last night San Franciscans, like Californians in other cities big and small, held vigils and marched. What else can you do at this point? The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

The crowd, bundled against the chill, carried signs reading, “We All Deserve the Freedom To Marry,” and “Down with Prop. 8!” as they marched along Market Street. The peaceful protest stretched for two city blocks past stopped Muni street cars while police held back traffic at the intersections.

The group made their way to City Hall, where a pianist and singer entertained the crowd with love songs. Some of the participants planned to camp out in the Civic Center Plaza to be there for the hearing.

It will be shown on a JumboTron for those who don’t have access to viewing rooms set up in the San Francisco Public Library.

Will the great State of California overturn what has been called “the will of the people”? Or will it let thousands of gay families remain together? I am pessimistic, but we’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is reportedly all booked up…the media is just clamoring to get his take. Check out an interview with Mayor Newsom and hear his thoughts after the jump.
Read more…

Bush Street Becomes Obama Street

29 Jan 2009

Bush Street in San Francisco is one of my favorite thoroughfares — in spite of the name. In this, the dawn of the Obama age and the end of the Bush era, a few concerned San Franciscans thought it only fitting to change the name of that street to reflect our current political reality:

The San Francisco-based organization Concerned Republicans Assaulting Posterity (C.R.A.P.) is claiming full and complete responsibility for the street sign changing of Bush Street to Obama Street the morning of Tuesday, January 20. A small but mighty group of about 40 fairly intelligent individuals joined together Monday evening and distributed the signs amongst C.R.A.P. members and loyalists in an unusual moment of solidarity with Barack Obama supporters.
The group began changing the signs shortly after midnight. “Even though at first we thought Bush Street was named for our beloved Bush family, we realized that wasn’t true after we did some reading,” said one shirtless and bearded group member, who called himself Molotov II. “We wanted to show people that even we and our world renown organization, vehement supporters of the Republican party — we believe 92 percent of all Democrats are dirty — we are all still Americans, just like Mexico said on 9/11.

Check out the video after the jump for “The Making of Obama Street”. There’s also a group on Flickr for photos of the urban transition.

Long Lines for SF Immigrant I.D. Card

11:07 am By Maegan La Mala · Cities| Immigration| San Francisco · 1 Comment

16 Jan 2009

In November 2007 Maegan told you that San Francisco had followed New Haven, Connecticut’s lead in approving I.D. cards for immigrants. Today, the reality of such a move manifested itself in long lines to get the cards:

Hundreds of people stood in line for hours at San Francisco City Hall on Thursday to be among the first in the nation to receive municipal identification cards regardless of their immigration status.

The cards, also available in New Haven, Conn., and being considered in other cities, have sparked fury among advocates of stricter immigration laws. They argue cities have no business declaring people residents if they are not in the country legally.

But San Francisco officials and recipients of the cards hailed the new program as a way to connect undocumented immigrants with banks, businesses and city services, such as obtaining health care and checking out library books. They also said it will encourage card holders to report crimes to the police without fear of being arrested or deported.

Alleged Police Brutality Case Rocks San Francisco Bay Area

7:27 am By Maegan La Mala · Controversia| San Francisco| media justice · Comments Off

5 Jan 2009

As New Year’s Eve revellers crammed into the trains of BART — the San Francisco Bay Area’s local rail system — at around 2 a.m. on January 1st, little did they know they would witness one of their fellow passengers be shot down by the gun of a BART police officer and not make it home to his family that morning.

22 year-old Oscar Grant of Oakland was reportedly shot and killed by an unidentified BART officer, after officers broke up a fight on the train platform:

Video footage taken by passengers, first shown by KTVU television, shows officers forcing Grant to the ground and trying to hold him down. The officer who shot Grant appears to try to put cuffs on him before drawing his weapon and firing. In the video, Grant appears to struggle with the officers, though it is unclear exactly what he was doing.

Burris said a single bullet went through Grant’s lower back, hit the ground and ricocheted through his upper body. Grant died at Highland Hospital in Oakland several hours later.

Among other things, BART police are looking into the possibility that the officer who shot Grant thought he was pulling the trigger of a Taser stun gun, according to a person familiar with the investigation.

9-11 ICE Arrests in San Francisco Highlight Disregard for Nuestros Niños y Familias

2:07 pm By Maegan La Mala · Immigration| Justice| San Francisco| children · 3 Comments

15 Sep 2008

On a day when some people were remembering, the exploitation of the ideal of freedom and justice was going down full force in San Francisco. On the night of September 11, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided a San Francisco home, arrested four women and two men while agents searched for an individual who did not reside in the home, according to the city’s Immigrant Rights Commission.

Two supervisors spoke out today against the raid in San Francisco, which a sanctuary city. That status has allowed the city to refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities except in felony cases.
“As a government, we are trying to reduce fear and violence,” said Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, in whose district the raid occurred. “My primary concern is about the families and, in this instance, the young girl whose mother was taken into custody.”
Supervisor Tom Ammiano agreed, saying, “This is yet another example of how ICE operates. There is no humanity in harassing children and leaving them behind.”
School District Superintendent Carlos Garcia’s concern was for the students in his district and commented on possible parental concerns.
“A student came to school today and told teachers that immigration had taken all members of her family,” he said. “I want to assure all of our families that our schools are a safe place for a child to turn for support and we do not ask anyone’s legal status.”

Older Entries

Nelson G.: Did Ruben show up? [...]

Transgender Day of Remembrance and Latin@s | VivirLatino: [...] America still painted as more transphobic than the good old U.S. of A, all we need to do is lo [...]

Maegan La Mala: intellectual jism....ja ja. I love you [...]

Maegan La Mala: Chip, Thanks for the info I will add this above. I don't have any other info about the Sunday vi [...]

dr3373: Please join "Justice for Jorge Steven López - End Hate Crimes" on facebook: http://www.facebook. [...]

VivirLatino