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whatevergreen · 4 months

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“You Can Have Fun Too” poster, created by Mick Hicks for SFAF, 1984

"In 1984, Rick Crane, director of the (San Francisco AIDS Foundation) at the time, hired famed local photographer Mick Hicks to photograph two men for a safe-sex poster to be put in the city’s gay bars, baths, and other locations. Hicks worked for virtually all the LGBTQ newspapers in the Bay Area and had spent a year and a half photographing people with AIDS, chronicling their struggle with the disease. He quickly accepted the commission.

At the same time, a young Black man named Robert Gray, a native San Franciscan raised in the Bayview Hunter’s Point area of the city, and a proud sixth-generation descendant of the Georgetown 272 (a group of 272 African slaves who were sold, in 1838 by the Jesuit priests who ran George University to keep the school afloat), was rather well known in the Castro and Tenderloin areas. “I had started meeting and dating guys in my junior year in high school,” he told me. “I went to high school four or five blocks from the Castro. I would find my way up through the bar scene during that time, sneaking into gay bars and discos.” Of course, he realized that AIDS was rampant through the city.

One day, as 24-year-old Robert wandered down Castro Street, a man approached him and asked if he would pose for a photo for a safe-sex poster for San Francisco AIDS Foundation. “The gentleman advised me that a young photographer named Mick Hicks was looking for two subjects, one Black male and one white male, for the poster. Having seen so many of my personal friends succumb to this deadly virus, I felt it was something I needed to do to help stop the spread of this horrific disease. I asked myself, ‘Why not?’ With AIDS affecting so many of my gay brothers and sisters, I felt it was my responsibility to do something to contribute to AIDS awareness and prevention. I needed to take action, whatever I could do to be a voice of action and help my community.” He agreed on the spot to do the poster.

“You Can Have Fun (and be safe too)” read the final poster. The image that Hicks created featured Robert, shot from the back, embracing a white model (Hicks’ partner Nick Cuccia), his white arm and bubble-butt standing out prominently against Robert’s skin. Even the Chronicle columnist Herb Caen took notice of the photo. The sex-positive message of the poster advocated “mutual masturbation,” “erotic massage,” “imagination and fantasies,” and “limiting social drugs.” The poster portrayed and promoted gay sex as normal, expected behavior, and emphasized the pleasure that could be had while still protecting oneself against transmission of the virus. The poster caused a huge sensation and started appearing in gay bars, discos, and bathhouses from San Francisco to New York. Mr. Gray told me, “As the young kids would say today, ‘it went viral,’ no pun intended!”

(Castro, San Francisco postcard, 1984)

Regrettably, the poster also launched a two-pronged backlash, one prong based in religious prudery, the other in racism.

By asserting that gay sex could be both fun and safe, the poster was the first to portray gay sex as normal, healthy, and fun. Even before AIDS, gay sex had been viewed as aberrant, “unnatural.” As an offshoot of that prejudice, AIDS was thought by many as a visitation of the wrath of God on immoral men who were violating God’s law. How many times did we hear in the early 1980s, “At least AIDS is killing all the right people”? The poster’s sex-positive message was condemned as an affront to decency and family values.

Even more lamentably, the poster inadvertently shone a light on the racial animus within San Francisco’s gay community. As Rick Crane told the Bay Area Reporter in 2014, “Gays as a group were considered second-class citizens and, ironically, gays themselves were treating gay blacks the same way — as second-class citizens.” Although racial tensions had eased somewhat from the flashpoints of the ‘60s and ‘70s, there was still a clear racial divide in the bars in the Castro. The Pendulum was the Castro’s only gay bar where black men and white men went comfortably to meet; the other Castro bars catered primarily to whites. The Trap, located in the Tenderloin district, also catered to interracial couples. Thus, some of the bars and other establishments refused to display the poster, deeming it “unacceptable.” Regarding the response to the poster, Gray said, “I would go into bars, and I would hear the chatter amongst people about the poster. I heard some really positive things, but also some really negative, racially motivated things.

(Below: "Thyrell And Chris Outside The Pendulum Bar SF", 1986 by Jim James aka Photojimsf)

“At the time that I did the poster,” he continued, “I had no idea that it would be so controversial. Honestly, had I known this upfront, I might not have done it. But looking back on it now, I would do it again because it was the right thing to do.” But still, he laments, “Who would have thought that a photo would open my eyes to the racism within the gay community? We are so much more alike as a people than different. One would think we could get along better and come together for a cause greater than us individually. Being a proud Black gay man, I must fight harder than most for myself and for those who come after me.”

These days, Robert Gray is still that proud Black gay man who changed the face of safe-sex advocacy. Sixty-two years old now, nearly forty years since he posed for the SFAF poster, he is semi-retired and lives in Vallejo, California. He is now a widower, having lost his partner of 42 years (his husband since 2013). He remains quite proud of the poster to this day, even if that pride is somewhat tempered by what he considers a lack of recognition for his work. “I thought over time I would see the poster in the gay pride parades or that I would be given some special honor from major players in the movement, like GLAAD. There is still a lot of racism in the gay community.”

Adapted from a February 18, 2022 article by Hank Trout:

https://www.sfaf.org/collections/status/why-did-a-safe-sex-poster-spark-controversy-in-1984/

#lgbtq #lgbt+#race #blm #san francisco #aids #hiv

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goodblacknews · 3 years

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San Francisco Mayor London Breed Redirects $3.75 Million from Law Enforcement to Black Businesses as Part of Dream Keeper Initiative

San Francisco Mayor London N. Breed announced yesterday the awarding of $3.75 million to serve San Francisco’s Black and African American small business community. This investment by the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) and the San Francisco Human Rights Commission (HRC) is part of the Dream Keeper Initiative, which is reinvesting $120 million from law enforcement into San…

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seccamsla · 2 years

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Sea level rise could threaten hundreds of toxic sites in California

What worries him most are the three power plants looming over the Oxnard coast, and the toxic waste site that has languished there for decades. There are also two naval bases, unknown military dumps and a smog-spewing port. Just one flood could unleash a flow of industrial chemicals and overwhelm his working-class, mostly Latino community.

“The coast of California is marked by massive inequality. People don’t realize that because they go to Malibu, they go to Santa Barbara. Those are the beaches that people see and are familiar with,” said Zucker, a longtime advocate for environmental justice. “They don’t think of places like Wilmington, West Long Beach, Barrio Logan, West Oakland, Richmond, Bayview-Hunters Point. You can name all these communities, and it’s the same story.”

These predominately Black and brown communities, in fact, are five times more likely than the general population to live within half a mile of a toxic site that could flood by 2050, according to a new statewide mapping project led by environmental health professors at UC Berkeley and UCLA. All told, the ocean could inundate more than 400 hazardous facilities by the end of the century — exposing nearby residents to dangerous chemicals and polluted water.

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rjzimmerman · 6 years

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For decades, the residents of San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood have sounded the alarm that industry emissions and pollution in their backyard are making them sick.

Located right off the Bay in the southeastern corner of the city, the historically black neighborhood has played host to a number of pollution sources over the years. “Bayview-Hunters Point is a picture postcard of environmental racism and injustice,” says Bradley Angel, executive director of Greenaction, a grassroots health and environmental group based in San Francisco.

But with so many polluters in this neighborhood, there has been little accountability, notes Michelle Pierce, a longtime resident and executive director of Bayview Hunters Point Community Advocates. In response to the community’s health complaints, she says local government tended to stick to the same line: “We can’t place blame on any one factor.”

Now it can at least assign some responsibility to a now-closed industrial facility. Two recent studies have assessed the effects on reproductive outcomes caused by a single local polluter: a Pacific Gas & Electric power plant that had operated in the neighborhood from 1929 to 2006. More than a decade since the PG&E plant closed in Bayview-Hunters Point, the new research lends credence to residents’ long-espoused health concerns. A study published in May in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that after eight coal or oil-fired power plants closed between 2001 and 2011 in California — including the PG&E facility in Bayview-Hunters Point — fewer babies were born preterm in surrounding communities.

#air pollution #public health #environmental justice #California #San Francisco #fetal health #premature births

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architectnews · 3 years

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Ten architecture projects from students at the Academy of Art University

An aquarium designed to protect marine biodiversity and a healing centre using horticultural techniques to help treat mental illness are included in our latest school show by architecture students at the Academy of Art University.

Other projects include a "public living room" that blends neighbourhood life with areas for privacy and a residential hub designed to enable economic self-sufficiency for residents.

Academy of Art University

School: Academy of Art University, School of Architecture Courses: M.Arch M.Arch2 B.Arch MA and BA Tutor: Mark Mueckenheim, David Gill, Nicole Lambrou, Sameena Sitabkhan, Eoanna Harrison, Philip Ra and Mini Chu

School statement:

"We are a progressive design laboratory of highly passionate students and a distinguished faculty of practising architects who work together to explore the boundaries of architecture. Our interactive onsite and online studio experience harnesses digital tools to mentor students throughout our rigorous curriculum.

"We offer an excellent design education by developing each student's capacity to synthesise critical thought, architectural vision, and technical comprehension. Our programmes engage with current global issues, empowering students to be change-makers and leaders advocating for social equity. Our diverse international community enables us to propagate a unique cultural response to build a better world."

Outer Mission Ramp Library - a knowledge connector for rapidly changing communities by Yi Hsien Rachel Wang

"The typology of library buildings has evolved throughout history, reflecting the changes in information systems and learning activities. By combining social, functional and environmental benefits, the thesis is projecting a new sustainable library typology as a prototype for a public learning infrastructure.

"The main conceptual idea is to design the library as a continuous ramp, connecting previously separated areas in the diverse local city fabric. The architectural intervention shortens the neighbourhood's physical and social distances by combining pedestrian bridges, casual and formal learning infrastructure as a public living room for residents to gather, work, exercise and entertain."

Student: Yi Hsien Rachel Wang Course: Master of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Mark Mueckenheim

Self-generating Architecture: Pier 28 by Valeryia Haletskaya

"The design for a hybrid aquarium and research-development centre at Pier 28 on the San Francisco waterfront employs organic, metabolic and self-generating materials. Artificial organisms – protocells that in time grow into artificial limestone – help to decrease levels of carbon dioxide while reinforcing the existing structure and building its sea-wall reef, skeleton, and envelope.

"Researchers, students and visitors share spaces for learning, interaction, and collaboration. The scheme offers protection for marine species and enhances biodiversity. The living architectural intervention is aimed as a long-term solution for coastal cities and other areas at risk from storms surges due to climate change."

Student: Valeryia Haletskaya Course: Master of Architecture Thesis M.Arch Tutor: Mark Mueckenheim

Outer Mix Investigating mixed-use development as a means to fostering a healthy year-round community on the Outer Cape by Christian Fish

"A lack of affordable, year-round housing has become an urgent crisis on Cape Cod, afflicting low and middle-income families depending on a largely seasonal economy. Outer Mix imagines a new residential, social and economic hub on a 10-acre area in the Eastham Corridor Special District.

"Organised into four blocks repeated throughout the site, 95 residential units are combined with nearly 30,000 square feet of economic and social programming. This includes artist studios, co-working spaces, cafes, a library, daycare and community greenhouse. This programme mix enables economic and sustainable self-sufficiency and a community for residents."

Student: Christian Fish Course: Master of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Nicole Lambrou

Eco-Tecture - Unifying Ecology with Architecture by Kevin Brady

"How can architecture enhance, improve and support educational and public awareness of the conservation and preservation of our local natural resources? Exposure and access to the elements of nature enliven the spirit, inspire curiosity, and encourages a 'critical thinking' response while promoting a healthy interactive lifestyle.

"This thesis seeks to determine how architecture could positively impact an ecological setting that strengthens community health, productivity, conservation and ecological awareness. This design approach engages user groups with the natural environment while preserving the ecological habitat."

Student: Kevin Brady Course: Master of Architecture Thesis Tutor: David Gill

A Living Architecture by Aishwarya Naidu Bobbili

"This project is a healing centre incorporating earth and plants into its form and structure to create a holistic, sustainable space for wellness and rehabilitation. Farming, nature and architecture form a dialectic relationship. Horticultural techniques such as pleaching aid in the treatment of mental illness and serve as a therapeutic strategy.

"Located in Bakersfield, near Oil City in Kern County, California, the site is near the highest polluted city in the United States. The project aims to aid in healing people with a tranquil environment that incorporates sustainable and biophilic design."

Student: Aishwarya Naidu Bobbili Course: Master of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Mark Mueckenheim

Unity Pavilion for Northridge Cooperative Housing by Naomi Rojas, Shunyi Yang, Dylan Ingle, Rhonuel Domingcil, Fabio Lemos, Corona Xiaohuan Gao, Malak Bellajdel, Kenta Oye, Jacob Delaney, Harikrishna Patel and Daniel Cervantes

"A design-build project by the B.Lab group, the pavilion fosters cooking, eating and storytelling within a community garden in the Hunters Point neighbourhood of San Francisco.

"Due to a lack of access to healthy, affordable food in the area, the pavilion integrates counters, benches, and a movable kitchen table for cooking demonstrations using produce directly from the garden, while a series of frames offer shade and a vista of the bay.

"The design was derived from several communities and youth workshops together with feedback from garden volunteers, and the pavilion was measured and tested on full-scale prototypes before construction."

Student: Naomi Rojas, Shunyi Yang, Dylan Ingle, Rhonuel Domingcil, Fabio Lemos, Corona Xiaohuan Gao, Malak Bellajdel, Kenta Oye, Jacob Delaney, Harikrishna Patel and Daniel Cervantes Course: B Arch Collaborative Project / Building Lab - b.Lab / ARH 498 Tutor: Sameena Sitabkhan, NOMA and Eoanna Harrison, AIA

Sign-Up Sheet by Daniel Joonhee Lee

"The project investigates the relationship between the sacred and the political, and the role of the autonomous citizen therein. Sign-up sheets are simple yet contractual.

"Where public services are exchanged, they are activating devices bringing citizens together to achieve common goals. Sacred architecture has been a beacon of alternative governance by becoming places of refuge and political action.

"This thesis frames those events as distinct from the economic agenda of neoliberalism. Sign-Up Sheet reimagines the site with an urban sanctuary in San Francisco's Tenderloin where non-profit staffs and community members live and work in a hub of collective activity."

Student: Daniel Joonhee Lee Course: Bachelor of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Philip Ra and Mini Chu

Kid of Parts for the Bayview Commons Apartments by Adam Nuru, Markish Siojo, Dylan Ingle, Fabio Lemos, Xiaohuan Corona Gao

"Through a series of community events at the Bayview Commons Apartments, an affordable housing community in San Francisco, we learned that residents wanted an active, intergenerational, and flexible space that allowed for relaxation, interactive play and community events.

"Our final design incorporates a set of flexible, movable furniture that can be set up in different configurations. Intergenerational play, imagination, and socializing are emphasized through the design of different panels on the modular pieces. The colourful groundscape is coded to give clues for spatial use and provide a vibrant surface that complements the colours of the wall mural."

Student: Adam Nuru, Markish Siojo, Dylan Ingle, Fabio Lemos, Xiaohuan Corona Gao Course: B Arch Collaborative Project / Building Lab b.Lab / ARH 498 Tutor: Sameena Sitabkhan, NOMA

Infilling the Void by Kenta Oye

"Urban planning in San Francisco has conﬁned ethnic neighbourhoods to inhuman spaces. My ancestral heritage includes the repeated displacement of the Japanese community to unwanted or forgotten territories.

"The design reveals the lost layers of the site – where the ﬁrst Japan town took root in 1900 – by activating the alleys, offering a cultural centre that borrows from museum and immigration centre programmes.

"The act of making was the catharsis that enabled this community to cope creatively. Ceramic, wood, and sewing galleries are paired with adjacent workshops, providing spaces to congregate, exchange ideas and share experiences through craft."

Student: Kenta Oye Course: Bachelor of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Philip Ra and Mini Chu

Urban Living Room by Zoe Qiaoyu Zheng

"The project brings neighbourhood life into public space while blurring boundaries and creating conditions of privacy. Public programmes and varied open spaces blend traditional library and private spaces with adjacent buildings.

"The design responds to natural light, wind, and views but also create opportunities to block visual contact with adjacent residences. People are welcome to celebrate their time here, and the architecture makes invisible boundaries to protect their personal space as needed.

"This is not just a library or another place to hang out; the proposal also provides opportunities for people to safely interact in acceptable proximities."

Student: Zoe Qiaoyu Zheng Course: Bachelor of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Philip Ra and Mini Chu

Partnership content

This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and the Academy of Art University. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

The post Ten architecture projects from students at the Academy of Art University appeared first on Dezeen.

#Architecture – Dezeen

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cprokansascity · 6 years

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Environmental cleanup contractor says Hunters Point work was done by the book

Tetra Tech Inc., the environmental remediation company hired by the Navy to oversee the cleanup of nuclear contaminants at the Hunters Point Shipyard, says its work was done by the book and it will pay for an independent retest to prove it.

The Pasadena-based corporation has been accused of fraud by the Navy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bayview Hunters Point Community Advocates, Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice and the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.…