Optimism in the Face of Defeat in the BayviewText and Photos by Umayyah Cable
Having just left the HQ of the F is for Fairness campaign in the Bayview, I must report that the vibe was generally optimistic despite the fact that Prop F was decidedly dragging it's feet through the election mud. Members of the campaign were staying positive as they gathered in a rented space on 3rd street, eagerly refreshing the SF Departments of Elections results page. Here's a glimpse of the evening:
As I was uploading these images I now find that Prop F has officially failed. Which makes the above pictures out dated and bittersweet.
While talking with members of the campaign, many of whom happen to also be members of the Grace Tabernacle Church in the Bayview, I was struck by a specific emotional aspect of Prop F that I hadn't previously considered. In speaking with Jesse, a congregation member who wore a "YES on F" T shirt in Spanish, and a windbreaker jacket proudly emblazoned with an "I voted!' sticker, I really got a sense of what this decision could actually mean for this community. Jesse spoke of raising his 9 children in the neighborhood (who are now raising his 27 grandchildren), coaching baseball, and looked on with pride and affection at the group of teenagers sitting across the hall from us.
If Lennar has its way with the Bayview and Hunter's point neighborhoods of San Francisco, all those things which Jesse and many others hold dearest to them: children, family, and fostering a tight knit community, will be replaced by an overpriced playground for yuppies. Lennar will take its mountain of paper money and replace children and community with materialism and greed. And what's a city without children? Futureless, directionless and growthless.
I must say, the results are somewhat disheartening. But given the optimism I witnessed this evening, I have some renewed faith that this community wont give up without a fight.
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Comments (5)
So, where do we go from here and what can I do? This is an honest question, I didn't really pay attention to this until the last week or so.
Posted by David | June 4, 2008 08:23 AM
OMG - the Guardian actually had pictures of BLACK PEOPLE on its pages! The Guardian CARES about BLACK people - which is why it opposed efforts supported by the majority of Bayview to provide local jobs and redevelopment to that community. Too bad the majority of Sophie Maxwell's district and, well, the entire city disagreed with you. Of course coming on the heels of the Guardian's numerous electoral defeats in our city, especially their pathetic endorsement of a challenger to Gavin Newsom who received 14%, the Guardian should be becoming used to that losin' feeling.
Posted by Shane | June 4, 2008 01:44 PM
As Travis (i.e. Robert Deniro) said in Taxi..."someday a real rain will come and wash all the scum away". That is and will be the primary effect of G campaign.
If I lived in the Bayview, you need to negotiate the best deal you can to exit and then leave and turn the keys over to so called Yuppie scum. This is for the best of the entire City.
Posted by Henry | June 4, 2008 04:48 PM
I don't the Guardian would be satisfied with anything less than a gigantic multi-billion-dollar public housing project administered under the auspices of Chris Daly himself.
Posted by SFResident | June 5, 2008 01:58 AM
MORE NEWSCUM LIES AND DOUBLE TALK.
In the aftermath of the election this corrupt political hack was quoted as saying, "..do we want special interests to decide the outcome of elections, or do we want to level the playing field..". At the same time he was celebrating the passage of Prop G thanks to the infusion of over $3.5 million dollars of special interest money. What a duplicitous smirking sack of ****.
Plans are already underway to reintroduce the issue in November. Maybe then the MIA liberals and progressives will get off their butts, support and listen to the folks in the neighborhoods. ACORN, SFLC, Big Labor, etc, are probably too coopted and beholden to the corporate power structure to be of any help or relevance to the peoples needs, but with "friends" like those...!!!
In November VOTE YES on whatever the offspring of F is.
Patrick Monk.RN. Noe Valley
Posted by Patrick Monk.RN. Noe Valley | June 5, 2008 10:59 AM