San Francisco | VivirLatino

Archive for the ‘San Francisco’ Category

Super Tuesday: Obama to SF Mayor…Stay Away!

12:20 pm By Maegan La Mala · California|GLBT|Politics|San Francisco|US Presidential Race 2008 · Comments Off

5 Feb 2008

It’s Super Tuesday and here in San Francisco, media is abuzz with the candidate’s recent lightning fast visits to our state, and more locally, our mayor’s hearty endorsement of Hillary Clinton. Early this morning as polls opened, local news showed San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (seen above with Hill) shrugging off predictions that Barack Obama will “win” California, saying that undecided Californians will ultimately prefer Hillary. Gavin counts himself as a Hillary supporter, and our local newspaper gives some insight into one of the possible reasons why; 2 words: gay marriage:

…just four years ago, current Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is said to have declined to have his picture taken in San Francisco with Newsom, who was then at the center of a national uproar over his decision to allow same-sex marriage in San Francisco.

“I gave a fundraiser, at his (Obama’s) request at the Waterfront restaurant,” said former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. “And he said to me, he would really appreciate it if he didn’t get his photo taken with my mayor. He said he would really not like to have his picture taken with Gavin.”

San Francisco to do What NY Couldn’t: IDs for Undocumented

2:25 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Immigration|San Francisco · Comments Off

15 Nov 2007

It’s said that if you can make it in New York, New York you can make it anywhere. Well undocumented residents may want to consider a move to San Francisco, since they approved a law that will allow illegal immigrants who may be unable or unwilling to secure state-issued driver’s licenses to apply for municipal identification cards. This program is modeled after the controversial New Haven, Connecticut program. The program is scheduled to go into effect next August and will charge adults $15 for each card and $5 for children to defray costs, which are expected to run between $423,000 and $1.1 million during the first year.

Via / KSBY

Immigration rallies: the view from SF

8:05 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism|Immigration|San Francisco · Comments Off

1 May 2007

As mainstream media is reporting a much lower turnout for this year’s immigration rallies across the country, I can personally report that this was the case in San Francisco.

While the rally was lively and and attendees very enthusiastic yesterday, San Francisco’s Civic Center square was less than 1/4 full, a sharp contrast from last year, when the crowds stretched from the steps of City Hall and the federal building spilling into the neighboring streets of the Tenderloin.

Yesterday morning Gustavo Arellano was on NPR talking about whether the lower number of attendees (because this was being predicted hours before the rallies actually started) had to more to do with the fact that the rallies last year were so successful that people simply think that the struggle is over.

Immigration rallies in the Bay Area: yes or no?

1:25 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism|Immigration|Internet|San Francisco · Comments Off

1 May 2007

If dueling Google News headlines are to be believed, there are no immigration rallies here in the Bay Area today and there are several immigration rallies here in the Bay Area today:

Picture%2010.jpg

The truth is there are rallies, and following is the logistical info:

San Francisco:

Tuesday, May 1, 12 noon
Gather at Dolores Park, Dolores and 18th Streets
(Mission District, 16th St. BART)
March to Civic Center
More info at IndyBay

More rally information after the jump

Religious leaders call for a stop to immigration raids

1:51 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · California|Controversia|Immigration|Religion|San Francisco · 1 Comment

6 Apr 2007

Leaders of several California religious groups held a press conference earlier this week in San Rafael (near San Francisco) calling for an end of the recent wave of immigration raids, and empathy for the plight of undocumented immigrants:

“I don’t think the way they enforced the law is right, or just, or moral, or tolerable, especially for children,” said San Francisco Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius Wang, who was born in Beijing.

“We all are immigrants some way or another, and why should we treat other immigrants as aliens?” he added. “If the government wants to secure the borders, it is right. But if they treat human beings inhumanly, it’s not right.”

SF blogger becomes longest held journalist

6 Feb 2007

Picture%206.png We get a lot of comments on this blog when people don’t like what we write, saying that “real journalists” would try harder to show both sides, check facts more diligently, not be biased, be more objective, etc. etc. I chuckle when I read these comments because neither Maegan or myself think we are traditional “journalists” and we don’t pretend to objective either.

We are a lot of other things, among them blogger, writer, artist, business people, parent, activist and a host of other words can describe us. We’re not journalists in the traditional sense. We are regular people who care enough about something (Latino issues) to post about it every day, and state our opinions. BUT, we are in fact the media. Right?

If a controversy that has unfolded right here in San Francisco is to be a case study on that statement, the government probably doesn’t share that sentiment. Today San Francisco blogger Josh Wolf becomes the journalist (there’s that word again) who has spent the most time in prison for refusing to hand over information to the U.S. Government. While his friends and family held a press conference at our City Hall this afternoon to rally support for his release, Josh sat in a Federal prison in Dublin, California, all because the government doesn’t buy that he deserves the journalist’s right to withhold information.

VL mini review: Julieta Venegas in San Francisco

1:01 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Events|Music|San Francisco · 7 Comments

20 Nov 2006

VL (I) had the opportunity to see Julieta Venegas in concert last night at San Francisco‘s Fillmore Theatre. Since no one invited us as press, I decided to attend the sold-out show as a “civilian” since I adore the Julieta. Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed so I don’t have any great pics. I wouldn’t have anyway, since I am only 5’2″ and the stage was rushed by some of the tallest Latinos I’ve ever seen in my life, impeding my view of what was a really good show. Fortunately, however, a kind reader named Brian has donated his photos, one of which is featured here.

I planned on getting to the place late and deliberately missing the opening band, Los Abandoned from Van Nuys, California. Not because I had heard bad things, but because I just felt like cutting to the chase. That didn’t happen, and I am really glad it didn’t, as I LOVED Los Abandoned. They are a punk/surf/pop (this is what they sounds like to me, no idea what they are supposed to sound like to everyone else) girl-led outfit who sing in both Spanish and English.

Anti-Latino hate crime in Chinatown

11:50 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · race|San Francisco · 3 Comments

12 Jul 2006

I guess those of us who like to think of the City by the Bay as the real City of Brotherly Love and a utopic bubble of tolerance will have to think again, in light of a recent hate crime against a Latino youth. This happened blocks from my home, and the crime is even more disturbing in that it was perpetrated by a group of Asian youths who yelled racial slurs as they beat the kid unconscious.

Back in May we posted that hate crimes against Latinos were on the rise, and that this was tied to the immigration debate. I never thought I’d see it happen in my own backyard, an immigrant enclave par excellence. In the years I’ve been around San Francisco, I’ve seen the number of Latino immigrants working in Chinatown businesses grow significantly, and how suddenly some shops were stocking calling cards for Mexico as a result of this influx. I’m not sure if this particular attack could be linked to immigration, but the irony of this happening in a neighborhood like Chinatown is not lost on me.

Details around this case are sketchy (the media doesn’t tend to cover hate crimes against any group with much willingness) but what is known is that the teens have been arrested and the victim has been released from the hospital.

Via / San Francisco Chronicle

Gloria Trevi: Gay icon?

4:27 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Celebrities|Events|GLBT|San Francisco · 4 Comments

26 Jun 2006

There really shouldn’t be a question mark after that headline. It’s just a fact: Gloria Trevi, along with countless other 80s divas, has gone from washed up to incarcerated to fabulous, as was evidenced at this year’s San Francisco Pride celebration yesterday.

I watched in awe as Gloria rolled by in a convertible as one of the parade’s Celebrity Grand Marshals. At first I thought it was an imitator, but no, it was Gloria herself, writhing about, twisting and shimmying to dance music and waving to hundreds of thousands of people who probably had no idea who she was.

But she was on her way to the Latin Stage at the huge event that is held every year at San Francisco’s City Hall, and there her fame was wasted on no one. It was clear who every gay Latino male in the crowd was there to see, and it wasn’t some hard-bodied hunk (though those were certainly welcomed) but La Trevi, Mexico’s own answer to any focus of an E! True Hollywood Story. Outrageous, then tragic, now adored once again.