Saturday afternoon on the Civic Center Plaza, there was another nonprofit celebrating a milestone, but the contrast between First Graduate (in the posting below) and The Center for Young Women's Development (click here for their fine website) couldn't have been more pronounced.
For one thing, the organization is staffed and led by young women of color who are disproportionately caught in the labyrinth of the prison industrial complex.
And instead of an upscale jazz combo playing for the crowd's entertainment, there were young male rappers extolling the powers of their sisters.
The event was being held to publicize the recently formulated "Incarcerated Young Mother’s Bill of Rights," which is demanding such basic niceties as: "5. We have the right not to be handcuffed and shackled during labor."
Five blocks south of the Plaza, the Lone Star Saloon was hosting a beer bust for the Bears of San Francisco, who were handing out $1,000 checks to an odd assortment of charities...
...that spanned everything from a transgender law center to a gay-youth-sensitive parole program in Alameda County.
Though I'm not a big fan of AIDS charities, which are mostly a scam...
...it was fun seeing hairy sisters doing it for themselves.
That is the most hairy sister that I've ever seen. Great post, BTW. I love your contrasts between the classes here in SF. I remember when this was a pro-labor union town with a sprinkling of bohemian types. It was a much better place to live without the fancy shops selling what-nots and the fancy types living off their trust funds and making life more difficult for the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteThe hair through the helmet is the perfect touch. Brilliant photography and commentary, as usual.
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