Upcoming Events
Hidden San Francisco: A Guide to Lost Landscapes, Unsung Heroes, and Radical Histories
Author Chris Carlsson inaugurates the 2nd edition of his unique historical guidebook to San Francisco's overlooked and forgotten histories. Tonight he will read from the new preface to the 2nd edition, "In the Wake of the Pandemic," which puts the recent pandemic in the context of a long history of public health politics in the city. He also analyzes the long history of tech booms in the city, and how likely the much-touted "doom loop" will reach a climax. In addition, a new chapter featuring unusual ecological hikes through San Francisco on unknown back trails through neighborhoods well off the tourist path will also be revealed.
Chris Carlsson, co-director of the “history from below” project Shaping San Francisco, is a writer, publisher, editor, photographer, public speaker, and occasional professor. He was one of the founders in 1981 of the seminal and infamous underground San Francisco magazine Processed World. In 1992 Carlsson co-founded Critical Mass in San Francisco, which both led to a local bicycling boom and helped to incubate transformative urban movements in hundreds of cities, large and small, worldwide. In 1995 work began on “Shaping San Francisco;” since then the project has morphed into an incomparable archive of San Francisco history at Foundsf.org, award-winning bicycle and walking tours, and almost two decades of Public Talks covering history, politics, ecology, art, and more (see shapingsf.org). Beginning in Spring 2020, Carlsson has hosted Bay Cruises along the San Francisco shoreline.
At the dawn of the pandemic, he published a detailed historical guidebook of the city, Hidden San Francisco: A Guide to Lost Landscapes, Unsung Heroes, and Radical Histories (Pluto Press: 2020), republished in an expanded 2nd edition in April 2025. His full-length nonfiction work Nowtopia (AK Press: 2008) offers a groundbreaking look at class and work while uniquely examining how hard and pleasantly we work when we’re not at our official jobs. His latest novel, When Shells Crumble was published by Spuyten Duyvil in Brooklyn, NY at the end of 2023. He published his first novel in 2004, After The Deluge, a story of post-economic utopian San Francisco in the year 2157. He has edited six books, including three “Reclaiming San Francisco” collections with the venerable City Lights Books. He redesigned and co-authored an expanded Vanished Waters: A History of San Francisco’s Mission Bay after which he joined the board of the Mission Creek Conservancy. He has given hundreds of public presentations based on Shaping San Francisco, Critical Mass, Nowtopia, Vanished Waters, and his “Reclaiming San Francisco” history anthologies since the late 1990s, and has appeared dozens of times in radio, television and on the internet.
Other Dimensions in Sound presents Deciphering Broken Rhythms Collective
Other Dimensions in Sound is our Friday music series curated and hosted by Boohaabian multi reed player extraordinare David Boyce. Each week David will be inviting different musical guests to join him in our galeria for a night of sonic sustenance.
Tonight’s potent musical medicina is being provided by Deciphering Broken Rhythms Collective
From Gaza with Love Art Talk
Join us this afternoon for a powerful Artist Talkback moderated by award-winning Palestinian/Mexican-American Filmmaker Colette Ghunim and featuring Palestinian artists Hussam, Manar Harb, Lara Aburamadan and Ren Allathkani.
The conversation will delve into the collective power of Palestinian art to not only bridge cultural divides, but to preserve an identity that is actively being erased. They will discuss how artists can channel their work to be both a healing tool for themselves and a radical act of revolution for the world.
Tall, Dark, and Healing Book Release
Join us for a special evening of poetry with the one and only Grammy Nominee, Shawn William as we celebrate his new book, "TALL, DARK & HEALING!". Hosted by Rich Oak Events and MC’d by Tino.
Tall, Dark & Healing is a conversation in book form. The topics discussed and the way they are approached feel like a friend that isn’t afraid to hold you accountable while reminding you of your worth and growth.
Shawn William is a Grammy Nominated spoken word artist, published author, storyteller & father hailing from Oakland, California. For over 20 years of dedication & hard work his writing & performance skills have allowed him to performed at the Apollo Theatre, Radio City Music Hall, The Essence Festival, feature on The Arsenio Hall Show and Verses and Flow, while also being one of 5 artist selected to have a residency at The Kennedy Center.
RichOak Events is a spoken word and literary arts organization based in the East Bay region of the SF Bay Area, primarily working in Oakland and Berkeley. We are dedicated to providing equitable platforms for self expression to underserved and intentionally silenced communities both through virtual media and in person interactive engagements. Our top priority at RichOak Events is to facilitate a space to empower people of all genders, sexualities, ethnicities, abilities and ages to tell their own stories in ways that will produce positive change on a local, national, and global level.
Letter Writing and Correspondence hosted by the San Francisco Solidarity Collective
San Francisco Solidarity Collective hosts Letter Writing and Correspondence Night
Our focus is on prison abolitionist work centered on the struggle of people in prison, jails, and immigrant and juvenile detention centers locally and worldwide. Join us for exchanging letters, starting a pen-pal, or just one-time birthday cards. No commitment necessary We will provide statements from incarcerated individuals, addresses, stamps, and envelopes. We got you, come write with us familia.
Colectivo de Solidaridad de San Francisco
Noche de Escritura de Cartas y Correspondencias.
Nuestro enfoque está en el trabajo abolicionista de las prisiones,
centrado en la lucha de las personas en prisiones, cárceles y centros
de detención juvenil y de inmigrantes a nivel local y mundial. Únase con nosotros para intercambiar cartas, iniciar amistades por correspondencia o simplemente escribir tarjetas de cumpleaños. No es necesario comprometerse. Nosotros proveeremos declaraciones de las personas encarceladas, direcciones, sellos y sobres.
¡Estamos para ti! Vengan a escribir con nosotros familia!
Haz tu Plan Familiar / Make your Family Plan
Acompáñanos a hacer un Plan Familiar en caso de ser detenides por ICE. Sabemos que es difícil pero muy necesario el tener un plan claro de emergencia, ven a aprender qué información y documentos necesitarás para protegerte a ti y a los tuyos en caso de un arresto. ¡Juntos estamos a salvo!
Join us to make a Family Plan in case of a detention by ICE. We know it’s difficult but very necessary to have a clear emergency plan, come to learn what information and documentation you will need to have to protect yourself and your loved ones in case of an arrest. Together we are safe!
La Sección de San Francisco/Área de la Bahía del Gremio Nacional de Abogados (NLGSF)ha trabajado por 50 años como una organización legal progresista y de izquierda.Todo el trabajo de la NLG-SFBA se realiza en colaboración con nuestros socios del movimiento, en respuesta a sus necesidades y como brazo legal de los movimientos radicales por la justicia social.
The San Francisco/Bay Area Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLGSF) has worked for 50 years as a progressive, left-leaning legal organization, and all of the NLG-SFBA's work is done in collaboration with our movement partners, in response to their needs and as the legal arm of radical social justice movements.
For more info visit / Para más información visita: www.nlgsf.org
Speaking Axolotl
Come gather and hear decolonized verses, spanglish poesia, Latine spokenword, Pocho poems and neighborhood chisme at Speaking Axolotl, the Bay Area’s long running monthly Latine Reading series.
This month’s feature is Hector son of hector and zooming in from Mexico Jesus de la Garza.
10 slot open mic opens up a las 6;50pm
Jesús de la Garza (Montemorelos, México, 1994). Es autor delos libros de poesía Óxido silvestre (2019), La máquina de Warhol (2022), La máquina de Turing (2024), y Cuaderno de tinta extraña (2024); también de la obra de teatro La pierna(2021). Fue merecedor del Premio Internacional de Poesía Gonzalo Rojas Pizarro (2017) en Chile, finalista del Premio Nacional de Dramaturgia Joven Gerardo Mancebo del Castillo (2020) en México, ganador del premio Punto de Partida de la UNAM en la categoría de cuento (2023) y del Premio Nacional de Poesía Carmen Alardín (2024). Ha sido becario del Centro de Escritores de Nuevo León (2018) y del PECDA de Nuevo León (2020).
hector son of hector is from Long Beach, CA and currently lives in Oakland. He is the child of Mexican immigrants, works in a hospital, dreams of short stories and writes poetry in secret
NOTA; Speaking Axolotl is a BIPOC reading series which means black and brown poets on the mic. Whyte folks are welcome to attend and listen but your presence is not required.
Other Dimensions in Sound presents Jordon Glen/Warren Huegel drum duo
Other Dimensions in Sound is our Friday music series curated and hosted by Boohaabian multi reed player extraordinare David Boyce. Each week David will be inviting different musical guests to join him in our galeria for a night of sonic sustenance.
Tonight’s polyrhythmic medicina is being provided by the Jordon Glen/Warren Huegel drum duo
Forum Magazine Launch Party!
Please join us for the launch of the spring edition of Forum Magazine! We’ll celebrate the new magazines with readings from contributing poets, fiction writers, non-fiction writers, and visual artists! Copies of our new spring issue will be available for purchase! Established in 1937, Forum Magazine is a student-run literary and visual arts magazine that serves the City College of San Francisco community, greater Bay Area, and beyond. Dedicated to providing a platform for the contemporary, urban voices of our institution, Forum collects, edits and publishes quality works of literature and the visual arts as produced by the CCSF family.
War of the Flea Documentary Screening and Discussion with Director Dr. Ernesto Mireles
War of the Flea: The Fight for Xicano Studies is a real-life David v. Goliath story of Xicano students at Michigan State. Through their involvement with Movimiento Estudiantil Xicano de Aztlan (MEXA), agitation, and grassroots community organizing they forced a major university to establish a Xicano/Latino Studies program. These students and their small and increasingly marginalized community were barraged by attack after attack. This documentary chronicles the main events that changed the trajectory of their lives. Join the director in this screening and opportunity for discussion of the film and how it relates to organizing the struggle now.
Ernesto Todd Mireles, MSW. Ph.D. is a filmmaker and award-winning author, a three-decade student, community, union, and electoral organizer. Mireles is currently faculty in Northern Arizona University’s Ethnic Studies department. He holds an MSW in organizational and community practice and a PhD in American Studies from Michigan State University. His book Insurgent Aztlan was awarded a 2020 International Latino Book Award in the Best Political/Current Affairs category. Mireles does a weekly podcast called The Reality Dysfunction and has completed his first documentary about Xicana/o/x student organizing titled War of the Flea: Fight for Xicano Studies. He has recently started writing short screenplays and filming them.
Letter Writing and Correspondence hosted by the San Francisco Solidarity Collective
San Francisco Solidarity Collective hosts Letter Writing and Correspondence Night
Our focus is on prison abolitionist work centered on the struggle of people in prison, jails, and immigrant and juvenile detention centers locally and worldwide. Join us for exchanging letters, starting a pen-pal, or just one-time birthday cards. No commitment necessary We will provide statements from incarcerated individuals, addresses, stamps, and envelopes. We got you, come write with us familia.
Colectivo de Solidaridad de San Francisco
Noche de Escritura de Cartas y Correspondencias.
Nuestro enfoque está en el trabajo abolicionista de las prisiones,
centrado en la lucha de las personas en prisiones, cárceles y centros
de detención juvenil y de inmigrantes a nivel local y mundial. Únase con nosotros para intercambiar cartas, iniciar amistades por correspondencia o simplemente escribir tarjetas de cumpleaños. No es necesario comprometerse. Nosotros proveeremos declaraciones de las personas encarceladas, direcciones, sellos y sobres.
¡Estamos para ti! Vengan a escribir con nosotros familia!
"Lost Letters from Gaza" in association with Gallery Habibi
This experimental performance is an improvised blend of music and choreography, incorporating testimonies from children and residents of Gaza about their dreams. In times of war, even the smallest dreams, desires and memories of everyday life — such as the simple wish of eating a banana again — become monumental and invaluable. The performance is interactive, with the audience receiving letters from the dancer, who will read and interpret them. These letters explore themes of curiosity and the dreamy aspects of life under occupation. The piece is a collaboration between Multimedia Artist and Musician Asma Ghanem and Choreographer/Poet Stephanie Sherman.
Asma Ghanem is a Palestinian artist, experimental musician and film director. She was born in Damascus, Syria in 1991. Asma has two degrees in audio-visual arts from the International Academy of Arts in Palestine in 2013 (BA) and a Master's Degree (MA) from the University of Fine Arts in Toulouse-France (ISDAT) in 2016. The works of Asma are inspired by the imaginative nature of narrating the personal experience of the occupation in Palestine. Her artistic and musical works are connected to her childhood and are centered around essential components such as the concept of homeland, the sonic experience under occupation, the world of imagination, and love stories in an occupied place. She currently lives and works in Oakland, CA.
Stephanie Sherman (She/her) is a queer anti-Zionist Jew, choreographer, dancer, bilingual poet, visual artist, and activist, committed to social justice and challenging borders of identity. With 25 years of experience working between the US, Ecuador, and Mexico, her artistic practice is shaped by her activism, and queer feminism. She holds a PhD in Performance Studies from UC Berkeley, an MFA in Dance from NYU, and is a two-time Fulbright Award grantee (Mexico & Ecuador). Stephanie is a professor at California College of the Arts and San Jose State University. Her work, a fusion of dance, poetry, and surrealist visual art, engages cultural identity, gender, disability, and national borders. Drawing influence from Prometheus Dance Company, Teatro Ciego (where she was a resident choreographer), and mentors like Guillermo Gómez Peña and Kathleen Hermesdorf, her practice is collaborative, accessible, and ever-evolving. In addition to her performance work, Stephanie is a scholar and educator, with a focus on Mexican visual art and queer activism. Her video-dance project Manifiesta with her queer and female students contributed to Mexico’s first institutional gender protocols in national dance education.
PERUVIAN IMMIGRANTS IN THE U.S.
Carlos Villacorta and Oswaldo Estrada will present their most recent fiction, ALICIA ESTO ES EL CAPITALISMO (Miami: Suburbano, 2025) and DREAMS IN TIMES OF WAR / SOÑAR EN TIEMPOS DE GUERRA (Albuquerque: U of New Mexico Press, 2025). Reading and discussion in Spanish and Spanglish
Oswaldo Estrada (Santa Ana, California, 1976) is a Peruvian-American writer. He is the author of a children’s book, El secreto de los trenes (2018), and of three collections of short stories, Luces de emergencia (2019), Las locas ilusiones y otros relatos de migración (2020), and Las guerras perdidas (2021). He has edited the volume Incurables. Relatos de dolencias y males (2020) with twenty Latin American authors who live in the US. In 2020, he won two International Latino Book Awards, as well as the International Latino and Latin American Book Fair Prize from Tufts University. In 2021, he was a finalist for the Doris Betts Fiction Prize. His book Las guerras perdidas won a Gold Medal (First Place) for Best Collection of Short Stories in Spanish at the International Latino Book Awards 2022. He is the author of the novel Tus pequeñas huellas (2023), and a professor of Latin American Literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His most recent book is Dreams in Times of War / Soñar en tiempos de guerra (2025).
OSWALDO ESTRADA is a Peruvian-American writer and teaches Latin American Literature at UNC Chapel Hill. He has published several books of literary and cultural criticism, three collections of short stories and the novel Tus pequeñas huellas (Suburbano, 2023). He has received awards from the International Latino Book Awards, the International Latino and Latin American Book Fair, the North American Academy of the Spanish Language, and the Fulbright Foundation.
ROCIO FERREIRA is the head of the Department of Women's and Gender Studies and Associate Professor of Latin American Literature, Culture and Cinema at DePaul University in Chicago; she is also co-director of the international poetry festival, Poesía en Abril of Chicago. She specializes in 19th-century and contemporary literary and visual culture created by women and is now working on the representation of the Peruvian armed conflict in literature written by women.
Other Dimensions in Sound presents Johnston/Mezzacappa/Ochs/Kjell/Bruckman
Other Dimensions in Sound is our Friday music series curated and hosted by Boohaabian multi reed player extraordinare David Boyce. Each week David will be inviting different musical guests to join him in our galeria for a night of sonic sustenance.
Tonight’s we have a potent dose of musical medicina being provided by Johnston/Mezzacappa/Ochs/Kjell/Bruckman
Origins of Critical Race Theory; People and Ideas That Formed a Movement
Critical race theory (CRT), a vital movement and discipline in American legal scholarship, has transformed our understanding of systemic racism. Yet despite insightful analysis revealing the threads of racism embedded in American institutions and society, it has been demonized by opponents at every turn, with numerous state legislators now seeking to ban its use in the classroom. The Origins of Critical Race Theory weaves together the many sources of critical race theory, recounting the origin story for one of the most insightful and controversial academic movements in U.S. history. In addition to introducing readers to the tenets and key insights of critical race theory, Martinez and Smith explore the lives and intellectual influences of the movement’s founders, shedding light on how the many components of critical race theory eventually formed into a movement. Through archival research and interviews with scholars like Derrick Bell, Richard Delgado, and Jean Stefancic, Aja Y. Martinez and Robert O. Smith provide the personal side of critical race theory. They reveal that despite the Marxist menace it has recently been made out to be, critical race theory is an organic extension of the Civil Rights movement, a deeply human and deeply American response to ongoing systemic injustice and inequity. An insightful exploration into the story of a movement, The Origins of Critical Race Theory narrates the hidden influences, fascinating characters, and intellectual struggles that informed critical race theory’s inception.
Aja Y. Martinez is Associate Professor of Latina/Latino Studies at the University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign and author of the award-winning Counterstory: The Rhetoric and Writing of Critical Race Theory.
Robert O. Smith is Assistant Professor of History at the University of North Texas and Enrolled Citizen of the Chickasaw Nation. He is the author of More Desired than Our Own Salvation: The Roots of Christian Zionism and Comprehending Christian Zionism: Perspectives in Comparison.
Book Release and Encuentro for Dissident Peace: Autonomous Struggles and the State in Colombia
Join us for an in-person presentation and conversation with Anthony Dest about Dissident Peace: Autonomous Struggles and the State in Colombia.
In 2016, the Peace Accords between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia–People's Army (FARC–EP) and the Colombian government promised to bring an end to over fifty years of armed conflict. Yet, despite widespread international acclaim and heavy investments in the peace process, war continued. In this book, Dest provides a rigorous reassessment of the terms of peacebuilding through an exploration of ongoing struggles for autonomy, based on over fifteen years of research and activism in Colombia.
Anthony Dest is currently Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Lehman College, City University of New York (CUNY).
Letter Writing and Correspondence hosted by the San Francisco Solidarity Collective
San Francisco Solidarity Collective hosts Letter Writing and Correspondence Night
Our focus is on prison abolitionist work centered on the struggle of people in prison, jails, and immigrant and juvenile detention centers locally and worldwide. Join us for exchanging letters, starting a pen-pal, or just one-time birthday cards. No commitment necessary We will provide statements from incarcerated individuals, addresses, stamps, and envelopes. We got you, come write with us familia.
Colectivo de Solidaridad de San Francisco
Noche de Escritura de Cartas y Correspondencias.
Nuestro enfoque está en el trabajo abolicionista de las prisiones,
centrado en la lucha de las personas en prisiones, cárceles y centros
de detención juvenil y de inmigrantes a nivel local y mundial. Únase con nosotros para intercambiar cartas, iniciar amistades por correspondencia o simplemente escribir tarjetas de cumpleaños. No es necesario comprometerse. Nosotros proveeremos declaraciones de las personas encarceladas, direcciones, sellos y sobres.
¡Estamos para ti! Vengan a escribir con nosotros familia!
Deep Vellum presnts Best Literary Translations 2025 featuring Wendy Call
Join Best Literary Translations series editor Wendy Call to celebrate the publication of the second annual Best Literary Translations anthology! Guest edited by Pulitzer Prize winner Cristina Rivera Garza, Best Literary Translations 2025 features poetry and prose originally written in twenty three languages, brought into English by some of the most talented translators working today.
Wendy Call is author of No Word for Welcome, winner of the Grub Street National Book Prize for Nonfiction, and the chapbook Tilled Paths Through Wilds of Thought. She is also co-editor of the craft anthology Telling True Stories, translator of three books of poems by Irma Pineda, and co-translator of How to Be a Good Savage and Other Poems, by Mikeas Sánchez. She was a 2015 National Endowment for the Arts Fellow in Poetry Translation, a 2019 Fulbright Faculty Scholar in Colombia, and 2023 Translator in Residence at the University of Iowa. She teaches in the Rainier Writing Workshop MFA Program at Pacific Lutheran University.
Indian Classical Sessions
The SF Indian Classical Session at Medicine for Nightmares is back on May 28th! 7pm show starts, $10 at the door! The Indian Classical Sessions are an informal gathering dedicated to sharing the meditative beauty, ecstatic energy, and sheer majesty of South Asian music. Hosted by percussionist, drumset and tabla player Sameer Gupta this gathering focuses on curating 4 short live sets that represent different influences and traditions surrounding South Asian music. Our goal is to connect, build our raga music loving community, and share South Asian classical music in an impromptu, casual and attentive setting.
Featured sets are:
Anjani Srinivasan veena & Padmanabhan Kumar voice
Rupa Ramanathan voice
Parag Chordia sarode
Shreya Adiraju voice
This month's promotional poster features a painting by Bay Area native Kundan Baidwan
The Secret To Intergenerational Healing with Susan Lieu
When Susan Lieu was 11 years old, she lost her mother to a botched plastic surgery. Her family never spoke about her mother again. Now, two decades later, Susan is on a journey to share what she learned through the pain: the importance of embracing shame, owning your story, loving your body, and accepting yourself when no one else will. Join us at Medicine for Nightmares on May 29th at 7:00pm to be in conversation with Susan and moderator, Melanie Elvena. She will present a reading from her memoir, followed by a moderated conversation, audience Q&A, and book signing. Books will be available for purchase.
Susan Lieu is a Vietnamese-American author, playwright, and performer who tells stories that refuse to be forgotten. She took her award-winning autobiographical solo show, “140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother” on a ten-city national tour, with sold-out premieres and accolades from the Los Angeles Times, NPR, and American Theatre. Her debut memoir, The Manicurist’s Daughter (Celadon), is an Apple Book of the Month, a 2024 Best Book of The Smithsonian, NPR, and Elle Magazine, and has received accolades from The New York Times and The Washington Post. She was recently named one of Seattle Magazine’s Most Influential People of 2024. Creator of The Vagina Monologues, V (formerly Eve Ensler) calls The Manicurist’s Daughter “a stunning, raw, brave memoir that wouldn’t let me go.” Lieu is a proud alumnus of Harvard College, Yale School of Management, TEDx, Coro, Hedgebrook, and Vashon Artist Residency. She is also the co-founder of Socola Chocolatier, an artisanal chocolate company based in San Francisco. Susan lives with her husband and son in Seattle, where they enjoy mushroom hunting, croissants, and big family gatherings. The Manicurist’s Daughter is her first book.
An emotionally raw memoir about the crumbling of the American Dream and a daughter of refugees who searches for answers after her mother dies during plastic surgery.
Susan Lieu has long been searching for answers. About her family’s past and about her own future. Refugees from the Vietnam War, Susan’s family escaped to California in the 1980s after five failed attempts. Upon arrival, Susan’s mother was their savvy, charismatic North Star, setting up two successful nail salons and orchestrating every success―until Susan was eleven. That year, her mother died from a botched tummy tuck. After the funeral, no one was ever allowed to talk about her or what had happened. For the next twenty years, Susan navigated a series of cascading questions alone―why did the most perfect person in her life want to change her body? Why would no one tell her about her mother’s life in Vietnam? And how did this surgeon, who preyed on Vietnamese immigrants, go on operating after her mother’s death? Sifting through depositions, tracking down the surgeon’s family, and enlisting the help of spirit channelers, Susan uncovers the painful truth of her mother, herself, and the impossible ideal of beauty.The Manicurist’s Daughter is much more than a memoir about grief, trauma, and body image. It is a story of fierce determination, strength in shared culture, and finding your place in the world.
Melanie Elvena (she/her) is an arts producer, community organizer, and artist, making an impact in the San Francisco Bay Area for the last 12 years. She serves as Artistic Director at Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center, Programs & Communications Manager at Asian American Women Artists Association, and Arts Advisory Group Member for SOMA Pilipinas Cultural Heritage District. She holds a B.A. in Art History from the University of California - Irvine with a specialty in Modern/Contemporary Art. When not making waves in Asian American & Pacific Islander arts communities, you can find her singing women's four-part a cappella harmony for San Francisco Soundwave Chorus where she recently came on as Assistant Director and is also a member of affiliated quartet, Voice Squad. This year, she started learning indigenous Filipino cultural practices with Parangal Dance Company. Melanie also moonlights as owner and head pastry chef of Marahuyo Confections, a mobile bakery and dessert shop inspired by the tropical flavors of the Philippines. But at the end of the day, all she wants to do is cuddle with her beloved dog, Winnie.
Other Dimensions in Sound presents Francis Wong/Nora Free/David Boyce tenor sax trio
Other Dimensions in Sound is our Friday music series curated and hosted by Boohaabian multi reed player extraordinare David Boyce. Each week David will be inviting different musical guests to join him in our galeria for a night of sonic sustenance.
Tonight’s heavy doasge of sonic sustenance is being provided by the Francis Wong/Nora Free/David Boyce tenor sax trio
Much Ado About Keanu: A Drag Reading
Join two San Francisco drag legends Lysol Tony-Romeo and Kafka X as they put on a happening of monumental proportions in a unique drag reading of Oakland author Sezin Devi Koehler's Much Ado About Keanu: A Critical Reeves Theory. Come for the nerdy book talk, stay for the glamour and lip synching. Wear your best Keanu-themed outfit for a chance to win special prizes!
Reverent Father Lysol Tony-Romeo is the main creative force behind the First Church of the Sacred Silversexual, a Bowie worship band that puts on yearly birthday church services every January at Great American Music Hall. Winner of an SFBG Best Of The Bay Editor's Pick in 2013, the First Church has spread the Love Of Bowie to audiences in Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle and New Orleans.
Kafka X is a genderfluid performer & drag king who has been celebrating transmasculine identity through drag for over six years. In addition to being the first ever "Mx. Mosswood Meltdown" crowned by John Waters himself, they are a lead producer of Media Meltdown, a queer event production collective based in San Francisco. Check out their "Movie Madhouse" at the 4-Star Theater in the Richmond district of San Francisco every 3rd Sunday of the month, and follow them on IG for shenanigans: @kafka.drag @mediameltdownsf
Sezin Devi Koehler is a multiracial Sri Lankan/Lithuanian American and the author of Much Ado About Keanu: A Critical Reeves Theory (Chicago Review Press), a sociocultural deep dive into the wonder that is the one and only Keanu Reeves. As a pop-culture journalist her bylines include Entertainment Weekly, Scalawag Magazine, Tasteful Rude, Black Girl Nerds, Certified Forgotten, Teen Vogue, and many more. Sezin lives and writes in an Oakland historic landmark that looks uncannily like the house from Practical Magic, where she can see the San Francisco Bay from her bedroom window.
Letter Writing and Correspondence hosted by the San Francisco Solidarity Collective
San Francisco Solidarity Collective hosts Letter Writing and Correspondence Night
Our focus is on prison abolitionist work centered on the struggle of people in prison, jails, and immigrant and juvenile detention centers locally and worldwide. Join us for exchanging letters, starting a pen-pal, or just one-time birthday cards. No commitment necessary We will provide statements from incarcerated individuals, addresses, stamps, and envelopes. We got you, come write with us familia.
Colectivo de Solidaridad de San Francisco
Noche de Escritura de Cartas y Correspondencias.
Nuestro enfoque está en el trabajo abolicionista de las prisiones,
centrado en la lucha de las personas en prisiones, cárceles y centros
de detención juvenil y de inmigrantes a nivel local y mundial. Únase con nosotros para intercambiar cartas, iniciar amistades por correspondencia o simplemente escribir tarjetas de cumpleaños. No es necesario comprometerse. Nosotros proveeremos declaraciones de las personas encarceladas, direcciones, sellos y sobres.
¡Estamos para ti! Vengan a escribir con nosotros familia!
No Kings! No Queens! Chess Club
No Kings! No Queens! is the super-chill community chess club that gathers the 1st Sunday of every month in the galeria. Hosted by Danny Cao, all ages and skill levels are encouraged to come. Never played chess? We'll teach you! Come hang out, talk chess and play a few games.
In the Presence of Absence: Poets in Response to Carcerality
Tony Koji Wallin-Sato and Jeff Knorr’s recent publications are in the intimate dance and response to the effects of mass incarceration. Between lived experience with the carceral system and having a loved one experiencing incarceration, their work interweaves through the broken criminal justice system and how far reaching carcerality is beyond physical walls.
Tony Koji Wallin-Sato is a multicultural Nisei writer who works with currently and formerly incarcerated students in higher education through Project Rebound. He is a lecturer in the Critical Race Gender and Sexuality Studies department at Cal Poly Humboldt and an in-prison teaching artist with the William James Association. His chapbook, Hyouhakusha: Desolate Travels of a Junkie on the Road, was published through Cold River Press and his first book of poems, Bamboo on the Tracks: Sakura Snow and Colt Peacemaker (2024, Finishing Line Press) was selected by John Yau for the 2022 Robert Creeley Memorial Award. His second book of poems, Okaerinasai, was published in October 2024 through Wet Cement Press. His poetry, photography, fiction, and non-fiction have appeared in Another Chicago Magazine, The Brooklyn Rail, Asian American Writer's Workshop, Yellow Medicine Review, LIT Magazine, New Delta Review, and everyone’s favorite socialist publication Haymarket Book's Asian American and Pacific Islander Anthology We the Gathered Heat. He is a graduate of Sacramento City College, Humboldt State, and CSU Long Beach. In September he begins a PhD program at UW in Seattle. All he wants is to see his community's thoughts, ideas, and emotions freely shared and expressed.
Jeff Knorr is a Professor of literature and creative writing at Sacramento City College. He is the author of five books of poetry, most recently Fire Season (Flowersong Press,) The Color of a New Country (Mammoth Books), The Third Body (Cherry Grove Collections), Keeper (Mammoth Books), and Standing Up to the Day (Pecan Grove Press). His other works include Mooring Against the Tide: Writing Poetry and Fiction (Prentice Hall); the anthology, A Writer's Country (Prentice Hall); and The River Sings: An Introduction to Poetry (Prentice Hall). His poetry and essays have appeared widely in literary journals and anthologies including Chelsea, Poetry Northwest, New Ohio Review, The Journal, North American Review, Hamilton Stone Review, Barrow Street, and Like Thunder: Poets Respond to Violence in America. Jeff was the Poet Laureate for the city and county of Sacramento from 2012-2016.
Other Dimensions in Sound presents Low Grade Infection
Other Dimensions in Sound is our Friday music series curated and hosted by Boohaabian multi reed player extraordinare David Boyce. Each week David will be inviting different musical guests to join him in our galeria for a night of sonic sustenance.
Tonight’s potent musical medicina is being provided by Low Grade Infection(Ron Kukan-Guitar, Duane Andrews-Guitar, Matt Simon-Bass, and Carl Goldberg-Drums)
“A Year of Deep Listening” Book release Concert
The Cornelius Cardew Choir, Thingamajigs Ensemble and Pet the Tiger Instrument Inventors Collective celebrate the life and work of composer Pauline Oliveros and the release of the new book of text scores inspired by her “deep listening”. Several of the artists have scores published in this volume which will be performed alongside works by Oliveros. Audience participation in the “sonic meditations” is encouraged.
Founded in Berkeley on Mayday 2001, the Cardew Choir sings at the intersection of inclusive community and experimental music, strongly influenced by Cornelius Cardew and his circle in the 1960’s and ‘70’s in England. We draw inspiration from the experimental music tradition and musicians such as Pauline Oliveros and John Cage. We recognize our music-making as enacting healthy political economy, with respect for individual contributions and high regard for the community as a whole and we intend our mutually supportive work to be compassionate, joyful and liberating political action. We invite you to our audience participation performance of Pauline Oliveros’ The Heart Chant 5-9 pm on 21 June at the Garden of Memory event at the Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland. https://www.facebook.com/cardewchoir
Thingamajigs Performance Group (TPG) is a sound-based ensemble working co-creatively in a variety of mediums and with a wide array of local and international artists. Formed in 2008, TPG focuses on durational performance, alternate tuning, group and open compositional formats, interdisciplinary and intercultural collaboration, and site-specific work. Their fields of institutional study, performance practice, and instrumentation are directly informed by Japanese noh and gagaku, Korean pansori, sijo and sinawi, formal training in both Western and Eastern art practices, and a commitment to experimental art. Their proximity to issues of intercultural performance is acute. They navigate relationships with traditional artists and idioms as an integrated part of their work. Current Members : Keith Evans, Rae Diamond, Suki O'Kane and Edward Schocker
Pet the Tiger is an SF Bay Area inventors collective led by David Samas that plays in a wide variety of idioms exploring new timbral dimensions through extended techniques, new instruments, xenharmonics and fringe acoustic phenomena. Pet the Tiger also hosts workshops teaching instrument building and a popular “Instrument Petting Zoo”. They have performed new commissions for at the Asian Art Museum of SF, SF Conservatory of Flowers, Oakland Museum of California, Soundwave and the Market Street Prototyping Festival.PTT is the standing ensemble for Psychobotanikon, the Harmonic Series Gamelan and the house band at the Turquoise Yantra Grotto. We will performing tonight with Kevin Corcoran (percussion), Dan Gottwald (invented instruments), Stephen Parris (guitar), and David Samas (voice). https://publiceyesore.bandcamp.com/album/gaze-emanations
Indian Classical Sessions
The Indian Classical Sessions are an informal gathering dedicated to sharing the meditative beauty, ecstatic energy, and sheer majesty of South Asian music. Hosted by percussionist, drumset and tabla player Sameer Gupta this gathering focuses on curating 4 short live sets that represent different influences and traditions surrounding South Asian music. Our goal is to connect, build our raga music loving community, and share South Asian classical music in an impromptu, casual and attentive setting.
Letter Writing and Correspondence hosted by the San Francisco Solidarity Collective
San Francisco Solidarity Collective hosts Letter Writing and Correspondence Night
Our focus is on prison abolitionist work centered on the struggle of people in prison, jails, and immigrant and juvenile detention centers locally and worldwide. Join us for exchanging letters, starting a pen-pal, or just one-time birthday cards. No commitment necessary We will provide statements from incarcerated individuals, addresses, stamps, and envelopes. We got you, come write with us familia.
Colectivo de Solidaridad de San Francisco
Noche de Escritura de Cartas y Correspondencias.
Nuestro enfoque está en el trabajo abolicionista de las prisiones,
centrado en la lucha de las personas en prisiones, cárceles y centros
de detención juvenil y de inmigrantes a nivel local y mundial. Únase con nosotros para intercambiar cartas, iniciar amistades por correspondencia o simplemente escribir tarjetas de cumpleaños. No es necesario comprometerse. Nosotros proveeremos declaraciones de las personas encarceladas, direcciones, sellos y sobres.
¡Estamos para ti! Vengan a escribir con nosotros familia!
Life over Lithium
Join the People of Red Mountain in screening their documentary, People of Red Mountain: Life over Lithium. Detailing how their ancestral lands have been marred and threatened by Genocide and now the Destructive Lithium mining practices that threaten to destroy their access to clean air, water and their ancetral traditions. After the film screening, join us for a Q&A with members of People of Red Mountain or learn more about their struggle and how we can all support and uplift their struggle and those of all indigenous and oppressed people in the world today.
People of Red Mountain (Atsa Koodakuh wyh Nuwu, in Paiute) is a committee of traditional knowledge keepers and descendants of the Fort McDermitt Paiute, Shoshone and Bannock Tribes working in coalition with allies to protect our ancestral homelands. We have seen the immense impact that mining projects inflict on the land. The destruction of our cultural resources, wildlife habitat, and the contamination of our ground water are unacceptable consequences of these projects. We oppose the extraction of mineral resources from our homelands because we recognize that there is no benefit great enough to outweigh the cost. While offers made by mining interests can be tempting in a small community with limited economic resources, there is nothing in the material world that can replace our clean drinking water, our first foods, or our reciprocal relationship with the land. We know that the land carries our ancestors as well as generations yet unborn. We know that what we do to the land we do to ourselves.Gary Mckinney is a leader of Protect Mcdermitt Caldera
Sendero Gráfico; printmaking tour project with Daniel Gonzalez and Pável Acevedo,
Sendero Gráfico is a printmaking tour projects between Daniel Gonzalez and Pável Acevedo, where we share our prints with the public, having a variation of Linocuts, woodcuts, serigraphs, etc and an interaction with the community with community through live screen print, creating alternatives of a support network with the public besides the outlets creating traditionally thought the arts.
Daniel González is a printmaker and graphic designer from Boyle Heights, Los Angeles. His early childhood was shared between Mexico and the United States. Daniel's work carries strong ideals of social justice and community. Although his work seeks to preserve narratives, histories and memories, he also has a strong contemporary social commentary using the time honored technique of relief printmaking and letterpress. After spending six years working on over 35 group mural projects through a free public art program, Daniel began his formal studies at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland and San Francisco where he was introduced to printmaking and letterpress. Through volunteering at the San Francisco Center for the Book and the Mission Cultural Center, he was able to expand his practice in printmaking. He returned to Los Angeles where he continued to work with printmaking through Self Help Graphics & Art, a community art space. Daniel completed his studies at UCLA's School of Art & Architecture's Design Media Arts program with Latin Honors. Daniel is now based in Los Angeles where he maintains a print and design studio in Highland Park. His works have been exhibited internationally and has recently completed his first public art project, the artwork for the Metro Expo Line La Cienega Station titled Engraved in Memory. His work is housed in several special collections, including the Mexican Museum of Chicago, UC Irvine, UC Santa Cruz, Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley, Stanford University, San Francisco Public Library and the Carnegie Museum. Although Daniel specializes in printmaking, he is constantly experimenting and working with different media. From 3D modeling software, laser cutters, and game coding, Daniel always brings a sincere perspective and shares a facet of his rich cultural experience with strong social justice under currents. He constantly travels to Mexico and throughout the United States, visiting printmaking studios and working with artists on a variety of projects.
Pável Acevedo, is from Oaxaca, Mexico and moved to California in 2010. Much of Acevedo’s art incorporates themes and imagery depicting the migratory experience in California. As a relief printmaker, utilizing plywood and linoleum surfaces, he creates portraits of friends, the pre-hispanic codex, and other images that depict the diverse multitudes found in the city. Through the use of portraits and imagery, both new and old, he is able to invent a conversation that is neither Mexican nor American, but rather a contemporary reality that reflects his unique life. Acevedo attended the School of Fine Arts Oaxaca (Escuela de Bellas Artes) and participated in different art workshops at the “Rufino Tamayo workshop.” In 2010 he moved to California, where he continues to live and work today. Although his art has led him to many locations across the country, his studio, Urge Palette Art Supplies, is in Riverside, and he tends to create most of his art in East Los Angeles. Many of his pieces can be seen in murals and streets around Riverside, as well as in the Riverside Art Museum.
Other Dimensions in Sound presents Melange
Other Dimensions in Sound is our Friday music series curated and hosted by Boohaabian multi reed player extraordinare David Boyce. Each week David will be inviting different musical guests to join him in our galeria for a night of sonic sustenance.
Tonight’s potent musical medicina is being provided by Pete Schmitt(bass) JC O’Donnel(guitar), David Brandt(drums)
A Southern Panther; Conversations with Malik Rahim
Join us this evening for the book release celebration of A Southern Panther; Conversations with Malik Rahim(AK Press 2025). Malik will be discussing his book and will also be in conversation with editor James Tracy.
Malik Rahim served as the chair of the New Orleans chapter of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense. Since then, he remained in the fray, active in the struggles for the rights of political prisoners, housing, environmental justice and international concerns. He is the cofounder of Common Ground, which conducted grassroots relief campaigns to rebuild New Orleans after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. His wealth of experience provides valuable lessons for today's organizers fighting against climate disaster and for racial justice.
Letter Writing and Correspondence hosted by the San Francisco Solidarity Collective
San Francisco Solidarity Collective hosts Letter Writing and Correspondence Night
Our focus is on prison abolitionist work centered on the struggle of people in prison, jails, and immigrant and juvenile detention centers locally and worldwide. Join us for exchanging letters, starting a pen-pal, or just one-time birthday cards. No commitment necessary We will provide statements from incarcerated individuals, addresses, stamps, and envelopes. We got you, come write with us familia.
Colectivo de Solidaridad de San Francisco
Noche de Escritura de Cartas y Correspondencias.
Nuestro enfoque está en el trabajo abolicionista de las prisiones,
centrado en la lucha de las personas en prisiones, cárceles y centros
de detención juvenil y de inmigrantes a nivel local y mundial. Únase con nosotros para intercambiar cartas, iniciar amistades por correspondencia o simplemente escribir tarjetas de cumpleaños. No es necesario comprometerse. Nosotros proveeremos declaraciones de las personas encarceladas, direcciones, sellos y sobres.
¡Estamos para ti! Vengan a escribir con nosotros familia!
To Gaza with Love art opening
Join us this evening for the opening celebration of “To Gaza with Love” a collective art show featuring local and international Palestinian artists Alan Farah Morcos, Hussam, Asma Ghanem, Muftah Elsheref, Manar Harb, Ibrahim Isam, Asil Alkabariti, Lara Aburamadan,Chris Gazaleh, and Ren Allathkani,
Alan Farah Morcos. Inspired by his father’s stories of Jaffa and a deep love for art, envisioned a place where the rich narratives of the Middle East and its diaspora could shine. Gallery Habibi was born from this vision, aiming to bridge cultural divides and foster meaningful dialogue through compelling exhibitions and shared experiences. Our mission is simple yet profound: to celebrate the diversity of voices and talents from the region while making art accessible and engaging for all.
Hussam (he/him/they/them) is Palestinian American born and raised in the Bay Area. Their work can center around Palestinian culture and activism, to stunning fine nude photography, to surreal digital paintings. Hussam continues to explore with their signature style marked by elaborate motifs, dark contrasts and provocative imagery centering Palestinian identity, culture and spirituality.
Asma Ghanem is a Palestinian artist, experimental musician, and writer. She was born in Damascus, Syria in 1991. Asma has two degrees in audio-visual arts from the International Academy of Arts in Palestine (2013 - BA) and a Master’s Degree (M.A) from the University of Fine Arts in Toulouse-France (ISDAT), 2016. She has participated in numerous exhibitions, art residencies, and workshops worldwide. She won a Special Mention in The Palestine; & Out competition in Paris for her photography project “Bodies with notes” in 2015. She also won the 3rd prize in The Young Artist Award/The Hassan Al-Hourani Prize in 2016 for her experimental music project. In 2024, she gave lectures at Cornell University in New York and CalArts University in California on her life and art practice as a Palestinian artist and art from the Arab World. The works of Asma are inspired by the imaginative nature of narrating the personal experience of the occupation in Palestine. Her artistic and musical works are connected to her childhood and are centered around essential components such as the concept of homeland, the sonic experience under occupation, the world of imagination, and love stories in an occupied place. Asma employs research and content using different artistic techniques such as painting, experimental music, writing, photography, and video art. She currently lives and works in Oakland, California.
Muftah grew up and currently lives in Libya. He has a Bachelor of Arts from Omar Al-Mukhtar University in Darnah, a Master of Oil Painting from Tripoli University and a PHD in Oil Painting from Libyan Academy in Tripoli. He is currently a lecturer at OmarAl-Muktar University. His style encompasses oil, acrylic, pen & ink and mixed media. He has done 9 group exhibitions and 3 solo exhibitions.
Manar grew up in Ramallah, Palestine amid the life-draining viciousness of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and its apartheid state regime. Her paintings place us in a surging and calming state of being that sees the sinews of our bodies as close-ups of plants, as abstract aerial visions of earth and water, as sound waveforms and letter shapes spiritually embodied. Manar obtained an MFA in Book Art & Creative Writing from Mills College. She is also an Arabic teacher and currently lives in Oakland. In 2024, she had a solo exhibition at Round Weather Gallery in Oakland.
Ibrahim was born in the Shati Palestinian refugee camp near the Gaza Sea. He is the father of 5 children. He finished high school education in Gaza then traveled to Ukraine to join the Institute of International Relations. After four years he returned to Gaza to practice his passion in film making to become a film maker. He was able to develop his own approach to making short films which he compiled in a book entitled “A Window on Short Film.” He then started training programs in the production of short films and cartoon films, which were specifically designed for children and young adults. He finished equipping his own film laboratory in a section of his house but when the war broke out in Gaza his family fled to the south and a group of local thieves looted his house and all of his filmmaking, editing and lighting equipment. He was able to salvage several of his cameras and has designed a special program for the psychological support of through photography. He is currently capturing many candid shots of children at sunrise and sunset on the shore of the Gaza Sea.
Asil Alkabariti a visual artist and storyteller, is originally from Gaza City and is now based in the US. Her journey with photography started back home in Gaza, where she would take countless walks through the city with her camera, Eve, exploring new ways to heal and discover herself. During this time, she was deeply inspired by the vibrant energy and diversity of her hometown. Her photography from those days is a reflection of her intimate relationship with Gaza—its streets, its people, its contradictions, and its beauty. She believes in unfiltered storytelling, so she keeps her photos lightly edited to preserve the authenticity of the scenes she captures. Through her lens, her hope is to offer a fresh and honest perspective of Gaza, showing its resilience, humanity, and the complexity of life there.
Lara Aburamadan is a Palestinian multidisciplinary artist, singer and founder of Refugee Eye. Born and raised in Gaza City, Lara is now based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her photographs and writings have been published in Time Magazine, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and elsewhere.
Amani Zacharia Rodriguez is an artist, farmer and educator of Palestinian, Mexican and Colombian descent. Her work is guided by the storytellers and story-keepers in her life, and explores connection to land, the more-than-human world and diasporic remembrance. Amani’s prints are informed by her food sovereignty work, as well as her family’s relationship to land through the Nakba. She has worked in print and paper making studios with the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Women’s Studio Workshop and the Lower East Side Printshop.
Chris “C” Gazaleh is a visual artist, musician, writer, organizer and educator from San Francisco. Gazaleh has come a long way on his mission dedicated to promoting cultural, political, and social awareness about the history, people and struggle for freedom in Palestine. Reigning from an upbringing submerged in hip hop culture, he was dedicated to creating his style from a young age, starting with graffiti letters, then characters. When Gazaleh was about 19 living in Detroit at the time he started to learn to read and write in Arabic, being the language of his ancestors he picked it up within months. At 21 Gazaleh decided to move back to San Francisco where he joined GUPS at SFSU and helped put up the Edward Said mural. After this Gazaleh began painting murals in the community eventually finding his own walls, one wall in Clarion Alley has been Gazaleh’s practice wall since 2012, the wall was given to him by the late graffiti legend CUBA. Since then Gazaleh has been working to spread awareness throughout the community and working with the youth in San Francisco with a hope to spread knowledge and love, and to combat the negative stereotypes affecting peoples perspectives of Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians worldwide. Gazaleh uses many mediums to create his art, from ink to paint, digital illustration to spray paint.
Ren Allathkani, a Palestinian artist born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1998, grew up in Texas, Colorado, California, and Jordan, where much of her family lives. Her roots are in Jaffa and Nablus, Palestine, before her family was displaced to Amman. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Art Studio from UC Davis in 2021 and received the Gary Pruner Scholarship in 2019. Ren’s work incorporates traditional Palestinian tatreez embroidery and natural materials, aiming to reconnect with her spirituality and cultural heritage. Through her art, she explores themes of identity, displacement, and belonging, navigating the complexities of being Palestinian in a politicized context.
SF Bay Area Tatreez Circle
Join us for an afternoon of tatreez, Palestinian embroidery, as we come together in community to stitch. A tatreez circle is a gathering of tatreez artists who stitch together while sharing stories and learning from each other. All levels of experience are welcome but this is not meant to be a workshop. Bring your own projects and your own supplies. If you’re new to this, we’ll help you get started! Register for free here.
What is Tatreez? Tatreez is the art of Palestinian embroidery that has been practiced in Palestine for centuries. A practice passed down generationally from mother to daughter. Taking inspiration from the land and everyday life, Palestinian women hand stitched motifs and patterns directly onto their thobe that represented their social status, the villages/regions from which they hailed and their individuality.
Can I join if I'm not Palestinian? YES! This is a space for Palestinians and non-Palestinians who share a love of tatreez. Regardless of who practices tatreez, it is important to always remember the history of this beautiful art and the role it plays today in the Palestinian resistance movement, both in Palestine and within the diaspora. These circles are a safe space for Palestinians and our allies.
Organized by the SF Bay Area Tatreez Circle, a volunteer group of Bay Area diaspora Palestinians and non-Palestinian allies. If you’re new to tatreez and have questions please reach out to sfbaytatreez@gmail.com.
The SF Bay Area Tatreez Circle wholeheartedly stands for Palestinian liberation and in support of Palestinian resistance. This is not a space or an art practice for anyone who does not hold these values.
We stitch in community to feel connect to each other, our ancestors, and our homeland. We stitch together here in preparation to stitch together in a free Palestine - from the river to the sea!
Other Dimensions in Sound presents B-Side Galaxy
Other Dimensions in Sound is our Friday music series curated and hosted by Boohaabian multi reed player extraordinare David Boyce. Each week David will be inviting different musical guests to join him in our galeria for a night of sonic sustenance.
Tonight’s musical medicina is being provided by B-Side Galaxy
Speaking Axolotl
Come gather and hear decolonized verses, spanglish poesia, Latine spokenword, Pocho poems and neighborhood chisme at Speaking Axolotl, the Bay Area’s long running monthly Latine Reading series.
This month’s feature is Lourdes Figueroa.
Lourdes Figueroa is an oral poet. Her poems are a dialogue of her lived experience when her family worked in el azadón in Yolo County. The words el azadón are used by the ones who work in the fields – the work of tilling the soil under the blistering sun. She is the author of the chapbooks yolotl and Ruidos = To Learn Speak, completed during her Alley Cat Books Residency. She received her MFA in Poetry at the University of San Francisco. She is a recipient of the 2021 Nomadic Press Literary Award in Poetry selected by emeritus poet Laureate Kim Shuck. She works and lives in Oakland with her wife, filmmaker, Peggy Peralta. Together in July of 2020 they launched Bilbil Projects, a space where poem & film come together. Lourdes is a native of limbo nation. Lourdes continues to believe in your lung and your throat.
10 slot open mic list goes up a las 6:50pm
NOTA; Speaking Axolotl is a BIPOC reading series which means black and brown poets only on the mic. Whyte folks are more than welcome to attend and listen but their presence is not required.
Beyond the Ocean of Nazım Hikmet: Hydro-futurity and the Kurdo-Anatolian Poetics of Ahmed Arif
Jason Rodriguez Vivrette and Ali Yağız Şen are finalizing the first complete English translation of Ahmed Arif's seminal 1968 poetry collection, Hasretinden Prangalar Eskittim (‘Longing for You Have I Worn Through Shackles’). This event will offer a talk about the work, a poetry reading, and musical performances. The talk will first contextualize Ahmed Arif and his Turkish-language work, particularly in relation to the dominant 'coastal voices' of Nazım Hikmet and Orhan Veli. While Ahmed Arif is widely known for his celebration of the mountainous eastern regions of Anatolia, the presentation will also explore how Arif legitimized such a shift away from the sea: adapting water discourses associated with the Mediterranean West to create an alternative 'hydro-poetics' of the land-locked East. In addition, the talk will touch on some of the challenges of translating the hyper-local, Kurdo-Anatolian terrain of Ahmed Arif's poetry into English. The talk will be followed by a reading of a sample of the translated poems in English, and musical performances of well-known song versions of some of Ahmed Arif’s poems.
Jason Rodriguez Vivrette is a third-generation Oakland-native and a PhD candidate in the Department of Comparative Literature at UC Berkeley, specializing in Ottoman and Modern Turkish, Arabic, and Italian literatures. His dissertation project explores questions of hydropoetics and hydropower in the management of the peripheries of the Ottoman Empire, with a comparative focus on the frontier zones of Kurdistan and North Africa (including intersections with Sicily and the Italian Mezzogiorno). Since 2013, Jason has served as Lecturer in Turkish in the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures at UC Berkeley, where he teaches all levels of Modern Turkish language, along with advanced courses in Ottoman, Turkish and Azeri literature and film. He holds an MA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, as well as BA degrees in both Film and Italian Studies from the University of Southern California. In addition to his academic accomplishments, Jason is an established musician (electric bass, piano, guitar, vocals). He is also the English translator of literary and scholarly works from Italian, Arabic, Modern Greek, French, and Ottoman and Modern Turkish.
Ali Yağız Şen is an Istanbul-born linguist, multi-instrumentalist, educator, and scholar, deeply engaged in the language and musical traditions of the Balkans. With a Master's degree in Linguistics from Boğaziçi University, he has over a decade of experience teaching Turkish at prestigious institutions like Boğaziçi University, the University of Pittsburgh, and The Turkish Program under the Halbuki Linguist Cooperative, of which he is a co-founder and the current director. Passionate about multilingualism and historical linguistics, Yağız dedicates much of his time to improving access to high quality education in less commonly taught languages, while supporting linguist livelihoods, linguistic justice, and revitalization of endangered languages at Halbuki. Fluent in Turkish, English, and German, he is also studying Russian and Quechua, and is an experienced translator, activist and researcher; his translation work includes the Turkish publication of Cities for People, not for Profit (2011). As a musician, Yağız is proficient in bouzouki, guitar, percussion, bass, and vocals. He leads The Metanastys, a San Francisco-based musical ensemble, fostering a communal approach to music through workshops and performances. Yağız has taught makam theory at the legendary Eastern European Folklife Center (‘Balkan Camp’) in Mendocino, CA.
Letter Writing and Correspondence hosted by the San Francisco Solidarity Collective
San Francisco Solidarity Collective hosts Letter Writing and Correspondence Night
Our focus is on prison abolitionist work centered on the struggle of people in prison, jails, and immigrant and juvenile detention centers locally and worldwide. Join us for exchanging letters, starting a pen-pal, or just one-time birthday cards. No commitment necessary We will provide statements from incarcerated individuals, addresses, stamps, and envelopes. We got you, come write with us familia.
Colectivo de Solidaridad de San Francisco
Noche de Escritura de Cartas y Correspondencias.
Nuestro enfoque está en el trabajo abolicionista de las prisiones,
centrado en la lucha de las personas en prisiones, cárceles y centros
de detención juvenil y de inmigrantes a nivel local y mundial. Únase con nosotros para intercambiar cartas, iniciar amistades por correspondencia o simplemente escribir tarjetas de cumpleaños. No es necesario comprometerse. Nosotros proveeremos declaraciones de las personas encarceladas, direcciones, sellos y sobres.
¡Estamos para ti! Vengan a escribir con nosotros familia!
Salo Salo: stories, music, community
Salo salo is a Filipino term for “party, gathering, banquet.” Especially now, we invite folks who hunger for community nourishment: Come! Join us ‘around the table’ for restorative & joy-filled kinship via stories from Subo and Baon: A Memoir in Bites, live music, and with-nessing one another.
In Subo and Baon: A Memoir in Bites, Ella deCastro Baron invites us to a communal meal, a roundtable collection of creative nonfiction. The subo (handfed bites) and baon (food to go) she serves are kitchen counter-stories marinated in Filipino American identity, faith, family, chronic illness, and the complex fullness of being, becoming. Here, ancestors and more-than-human kin conspire, too. This is kapwa, deep interconnection. May those who partake in Ella’s generous offerings savor, metabolize, and be fed by core Filipino values that infuse flavor and sustenance into American culture.
Ella deCastro Baron (she/siya/we) is a second generation Filipina American from Coastal Miwok lands (Vallejo, California). She teaches English and Creative Writing at San Diego City and Mesa Colleges as well as in the Zoom-verse with Urban Haiku. Ella's books are Subo and Baon: a Memoir in Bites (2024) and Itchy, Brown Girl Seeks Employment (2009). She conspires with art-ivists to produce workshops and kapwa (deep interconnection) gatherings that stir love and justice via writing, art, joy, grief-tending, movement, food and community. Her favorite pronoun, more than ever, is We. Find some of Ella’s offerings at elladecastrobaron.com.
Dr. Jeannie Estella Celestial, PhD, MSW (she/her/siya) is a licensed psychologist and leadership coach who specializes in trauma recovery and posttraumatic growth among AAPI women. Dr. Celestial is a bestselling co-author of “The Filipino Instant Pot Cookbook” and co-editor/co-author of “Clinical Interventions for Internalized Oppression”. Her ancestry is from Cebu and Cavite, Philippines by way of Guam. Dr. Celestial serves at Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc. (RAMS) as the Trauma, Grief, & Loss Counselor in San Francisco public high schools. She is a founding member of Filipino/x Mental Health Initiative (FMHI) in San Francisco & Solano/Napa. Connect with her at drcelestial.com.
Sheilani Alix (she/her) sings and plays jazz first influenced by her mother constantly playing records by Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and more since she was a little girl. She currently performs as a vocalist with two main groups, and has also performed with other local artists trios, including those of Dan Damon and Kurt Ribak. They can be enjoyed around the Bay Area at private events and venues that include The Boom Boom Room and Yoshi’s. Sheilani also records original music and has released acclaimed solo albums, When Night Falls and Lovesong. Find more at https://sheilanialix.com/
Other Dimensions in Sound presents Fred Moten + Sora Han + Fumi Okiji To:
Other Dimensions in Sound is our Friday music series curated and hosted by Boohaabian multi reed player extraordinare David Boyce. Each week David will be inviting different musical guests to join him in our galeria for a night of sonic sustenance.
Tonight’s sonic sustenance is being provided by Fumi Davis(vocalist and audio processing), Sora Han and Fred Moten(poets)
Pulp Fiction from India presentd by Blaft Publications
At the time of India's independence in 1947, only about 12% of the population was literate. Today that figure is over 80%. To satisfy this hungry population of one billion new readers, there's been an explosion of crime novels, horror writing, science fiction stories, kitschy romance, noir, and supernatural thrillers--in nearly every one of the country's 22 official languages. Blaft Publications, an independent publishing house from Chennai, has been hunting down the wildest & craziest of these stories and translating them into English for a local and global audience. Join editors Rakesh Khanna and Rashmi Ruth Devadasan for a discussion of Tamil-language detective duos, Urdu-language supervillains, and their latest release, The Blaft Anthology of Gujarati Pulp Fiction. There will also be a slideshow of incredibly wacky pulp cover art from all over the country!
Rashmi Ruth Devadasan is a writer with over twenty-five years of experience in indie publishing, feature films, and Indian English theatre. With Blaft she has been part of the selection, editing, design and production of the company's fiction in translation, comic book anthologies, original fiction, and zines. She is the author of Kumari Loves a Monster, a picture book created with the artist Shyam, and co-editor of The Blaft Book of Anti-Caste SF.
Rakesh Khanna grew up in Berkeley, California, of mixed Punjabi and Anglo-American heritage. He is the author of Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India, and the editor of The Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction, Vol. 1 and 2 and The Blaft Anthology of Gujarati Pulp Fiction. Sometimes he edits mathematics textbooks. He is also interested in marine invertebrates, palaeontology, demonology, combinatorics, and banging on things to see what they sound like.
Blaft Publications is an independent publishing house based in Chennai, India. Our list includes Indian, Pakistani, and Nigerian pulp novels in English translation; weird fiction; folktales; ghostlore; graphic novels; zines; speculative fiction by writers from caste-oppressed communities; and picture books about young women who are in love with monsters.
Kulintang Dialogue
Join us for our 3rd installation of our "Kulintang Dialogue" workshop series! Hands-on workshop on kulintang music paired discussion. We will be focusing on a piece called "Binalig." No music experience is needed at all; we will learn by rote(watching and copying patterns & rhythms), and no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Just like our last workshop, all proceeds will benefit an organization. Register for the workshop by scanning the QR code on the flyer, or click the link in the bio!
Letter Writing and Correspondence hosted by the San Francisco Solidarity Collective
San Francisco Solidarity Collective hosts Letter Writing and Correspondence Night
Our focus is on prison abolitionist work centered on the struggle of people in prison, jails, and immigrant and juvenile detention centers locally and worldwide. Join us for exchanging letters, starting a pen-pal, or just one-time birthday cards. No commitment necessary We will provide statements from incarcerated individuals, addresses, stamps, and envelopes. We got you, come write with us familia.
Colectivo de Solidaridad de San Francisco
Noche de Escritura de Cartas y Correspondencias.
Nuestro enfoque está en el trabajo abolicionista de las prisiones,
centrado en la lucha de las personas en prisiones, cárceles y centros
de detención juvenil y de inmigrantes a nivel local y mundial. Únase con nosotros para intercambiar cartas, iniciar amistades por correspondencia o simplemente escribir tarjetas de cumpleaños. No es necesario comprometerse. Nosotros proveeremos declaraciones de las personas encarceladas, direcciones, sellos y sobres.
¡Estamos para ti! Vengan a escribir con nosotros familia!
No Kings! No Queens! Chess Club
No Kings! No Queens! is the super-chill community chess club that gathers the 1st Sunday of every month in the galeria. Hosted by Danny Cao, all ages and skill levels are encouraged to come. Never played chess? We'll teach you! Come hang out, talk chess and play a few games.
Clothing & Book Swap hosted by Swap in the Park
The folks who "Swap in the Park" are coming back to 24th St! The collective of friends and fashionistas on a budget will be hosting their 2nd clothing and book swap in the Medicine for Nightmares gallery. While the clothing swaps were originally inspired by online "no-buy" clubs, this swap encourages us to clean out our closets and come together for an afternoon of sharing and caring. All are welcome to give and take clean and gently used clothes and books. No undergarments please! Only books in the gallery are free to share, please respect business practices in the book store space. If you have no items to give at this time, you are still welcome to hang out and create a mini zine in celebration of community. Templates and art supplies will be provided.
¡La gente "Swap in the Park" viene a 24th St! El colectivo de amigos y amantes de la moda con un presupuesto limitado organizará su intercambio de ropa y libros en la galería: Medicina Para Pesadillas. Si bien los intercambios de ropa se inspiraron originalmente en clubes en línea que "no compran", este intercambio nos anima a limpiar nuestros armarios y reunirnos para pasar una tarde compartiendo y cuidando. Todos son bienvenidos a dar y recibir ropa y libros limpios y en buen estado. ¡Sin ropa interior por favor! Solo los libros de la galería se pueden compartir de forma gratuita; respete las prácticas comerciales en el espacio de la librería. Si no tiene artículos para regalar en este momento, aún puede pasar el rato y crear una mini revista para celebrar la comunidad. Se proporcionarán plantillas y materiales de arte.
Other Dimensions in Sound presents Red Fast Triple Luck
Other Dimensions in Sound is our Friday music series curated and hosted by Boohaabian multi reed player extraordinare David Boyce. Each week David will be inviting different musical guests to join him in our galeria for a night of sonic sustenance.
Tonight’s potent musical medicina is being provided by Red Fast Triple Luck(David Boyce-reeds and electronics, Francis Wong-reeds, Chris Trinidad-bass, synth, and effects, PC Munoz percussion, boomstick, intergalatic hook rug)
Letter Writing and Correspondence hosted by the San Francisco Solidarity Collective
San Francisco Solidarity Collective hosts Letter Writing and Correspondence Night
Our focus is on prison abolitionist work centered on the struggle of people in prison, jails, and immigrant and juvenile detention centers locally and worldwide. Join us for exchanging letters, starting a pen-pal, or just one-time birthday cards. No commitment necessary We will provide statements from incarcerated individuals, addresses, stamps, and envelopes. We got you, come write with us familia.
Colectivo de Solidaridad de San Francisco
Noche de Escritura de Cartas y Correspondencias.
Nuestro enfoque está en el trabajo abolicionista de las prisiones,
centrado en la lucha de las personas en prisiones, cárceles y centros
de detención juvenil y de inmigrantes a nivel local y mundial. Únase con nosotros para intercambiar cartas, iniciar amistades por correspondencia o simplemente escribir tarjetas de cumpleaños. No es necesario comprometerse. Nosotros proveeremos declaraciones de las personas encarceladas, direcciones, sellos y sobres.
¡Estamos para ti! Vengan a escribir con nosotros familia!
Pop-up art show opening “Obsidian Light” by Txutxo Perez
!TONIGHT the chingonest of them all Txutxo Perez is having a pop up art show in our galeria and you’re invited to the pachanga!
“Obsidian Light’ will be up from March 21st to April 9th and will feature new works.
Txutxo Pérez has been a visual artist, printmaker and painter for the last 35 years. He uses oil and water-based materials, different printmaking processes, and gilding. Txutxo’s aesthetics are the result of his growing up in a popular neighborhood in Mexico City, where punk, Surrealism, and Dada walked hand in hand. This vision originated on street life, blending gilding--an old technique introduced in Mexico by the Spaniards and used to show dominance and spiritual alienation—with current events. Before the artist was even able to talk, he was exposed to his own father’s taste for Asian Art and the knowledge of gilding techniques. As an immigrant who carries a full cultural baggage, Txutxo’s visual expression was further enrichened with his arrival in the cosmopolitan SF. Unlike the gilded church altars and religious figures that were part of his father’s trade, the golden surfaces in Txuto’s art become backgrounds to surreal images, where characters display emotions, vices, and virtues. These human components remove any sacred reference, making them mundane. These are ludic, open spaces where diverse ethnic roots, cultural symbols, and everyday stories collide, as often happens in big cities.
Other Dimensions in Sound presents Monolith Majestic
Other Dimensions in Sound is our Friday music series curated and hosted by Boohaabian multi reed player extraordinare David Boyce. Each week David will be inviting different musical guests to join him in our galeria for a night of sonic sustenance.
Tonight’s potent musical medicina is being provided by Monolith Majestic
Indian Classical Sessions
The Indian Classical Sessions are an informal gathering dedicated to sharing the meditative beauty, ecstatic energy, and sheer majesty of South Asian music. Hosted by percussionist, drumset and tabla player Sameer Gupta this gathering focuses on curating 4 short live sets that represent different influences and traditions surrounding South Asian music. Our goal is to connect, build our raga music loving community, and share South Asian classical music in an impromptu, casual and attentive setting.
Featured performers this month:
Ujjaini Mukhopadhyay - Vocal
Rohan Krishnamurthy - Percussion
Lucian Balmer - Violin
Amit Gud - Sarod
$10 suggested donations all proceeds go to the musicians.