Upcoming Events
Paseo Artistico featuring Arlene Eisen in conversation with Nadya R. Tannous
For this month’s Paseo Artistico, in keeping with the theme “Women Are the Heart of Our Culture” we are featuring Arlene Eisen, whose new book “In The Worldwide Family of Militant Women” was released this year by Iskra Books. Arlene will read from her new book and also be in conversation with Nadya R. Tannous.
Inspired by the Black and Vietnamese liberation movements, Arlene Eisen has been a militant in the struggles against Empire since the 1960’s. She edited The Movement newspaper and was a leading voice in the anti-imperialist women’s movement of the 1970’s. For the next half century, she joined the anti-apartheid movement, the movement for justice in Palestine, including the olive harvest in the West Bank, the struggle for the right to return to New Orleans after Katrina, the movements against U.S. fascist police and their deputized militias and against the holocaust in Gaza-- always standing in solidarity with national liberation struggles both inside and outside the U.S. Empire.
Arlene Eisen is the author of the influential study, Operation Ghetto Storm—the report that first documented and analyzed the extrajudicial killing by police of Black people in the US. Her analysis of the U.S. war on Black people documented, for the first time, that US police and their surrogates kill a Black person every 28 hours. From Chicago to Oakland, from New York to New Orleans, the hashtag #Every28Hours fueled campaigns that challenged police power. The US Human Rights Network presented the report at the 2014 Review of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Geneva. She also wrote, Women of Viet Nam (revised). That book so resonated with popular opinion, that even with no commercial advertising, or social media, it sold more than 50,000 copies in English and editions in Spanish, French, Danish and Farsi were published. Eisen’s Women and Revolution in Viet Nam was the first book to be published in the West about women in Viet Nam after the War. Her book, In the Worldwide Family of Militant Women, a hybrid social history/memoir was released in January 2026. Eisen’s journalism has appeared in Telesur, The Root, Counterpunch, San Francisco Bayview, She produced and hosted Nina Viva, a monthly radio show on KPOO-FM that featured voices of international women analysts. Based in Caracas, she was a staff writer for Venezuelanalysis.com, an independent English-language daily news service. Her latest book “Women Are the Heart of Our Culture” was published this year by Iskra Books.
Nadya R. Tannous, author of the book’s Foreword and other articles. Nadya is a longtime organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement.The Palestinian Youth Movement is a transnational, independent, grassroots movement of young Palestinians in Palestine and in the diaspora. PYM plays an active role in their national struggle for the liberation of their homeland and people to end the ongoing Zionist colonization and occupation of their homeland, and genocidal campaign to destroy all Palestinian life. Nadya also has a Master’s degree from Oxford University in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies.
Counter-Pedagogies of Forgetting: Book/Photo Event and Discussion on Human Rights with Karen Pacheco and Gisela Ortiz
Pervuvian writer, anthropologist, and editor Karina Pacheco will discuss her books The Year of the Wind and Niños del pájaro azul and will be joined by Gisela Ortiz, human rights activist and former Secretary of Culture of Peru.
The event will also feature a photography exhibit by Percy Rojas related to human rights and justice.The book/photo event is part of “Counter-Pedagogies of Forgetting: An Itinerant Gathering of Literature, Documentary Film, and Photography on Memory and Justice in Peru” a project to foster public conversations about memory and justice regarding the political violence Peru experienced between the 1980s and 2000s.
Karina Pacheco: Peruvian writer, anthropologist, and editor. Author of The Year of the Wind and Niños del pájaro azul. Her fiction explores memory, violence, and everyday life in the Andes and the Amazon, and her novels consistently interweave memory, human rights, and gender, linking intimate experiences with collective conflicts.
Gisela Ortiz: Longtime Peruvian human rights activist and Director of Operations of the Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team (EPAF), with decades of work alongside families searching for the disappeared. She is also a former Secretary of Culture of Peru and hosts the podcast Diálogos on Radio Harawi.Percy Rojas: Historian and photographer. Works with the Department of Justice on human rights. He previously worked with EPAF and has contributed to documentation and training initiatives related to transitional justice and the search for missing persons in Ayacucho.
Architecture of Genocide closing/Presentation with PYM
Join us on March 15 at 4pm for a closing reception of the exhibition Architecture of Genocide: Gaza Before and After October 2023. Come learn about the Palestinian struggle for liberation through revolutionary songs with the Palestinian Youth Ensemble as they perform “Mawtini" (My Homeland), the Palestinian National Anthem that discusses the immense unconditional love and loyalty we hold for our land, and "Salam Li Gaza" (Salute to Gaza) which serves as a tribute to Gaza. It discusses the deep resilience Palestinians in Gaza (and the land itself) hold that have allowed them to remain steadfast amidst the death and destruction they endure and survive. Stick around for a powerful presentation that goes through a timeline of events after October 2023, highlighting the occupation’s intentional targeting and destruction of necessary civil infrastructure in order to commit genocide in Gaza. Together we document both the occupation’s crimes against humanity, but also the steadfastness of the people of Gaza who have persevered through the unimaginable.
Organization: The Palestinian Youth Movement is an independent, grassroots movement that organizes Palestinian and Arab youth to struggle for Palestinian liberation. PYM draws from Palestinian revolutionary history, where the participation of youth in the national struggle has been central in leading and sustaining our struggle. We believe that Palestinian youth have a right and responsibility, even in the far diaspora, to be active participants in working to liberate our people and land from the river to the sea.
Noche Bohemia XV
Now in its 15th year, Noche Bohemia continues to honor the power of poetry and community. Since its inception in 2010, this free Poetry Night has welcomed local poets, writers, and educators to share their voices as we celebrate the legacy of Rubén Darío and other Latin American poets. Year after year, Noche Bohemia remains our longest-running annual tradition, a beloved gathering that uplifts creativity, connection, and cultural pride. Participants for this year’s Noche Bohemia are Albert Felipe, Connie Mae Oliver, Roque Baron, Fausto Ravel, Rosalilia M. Mendoza, Efraín Escobar, Paul Flores, and Carlos Mejía Godoy.
BIOS
Connie Mae Concepción Oliver: Connie Mae Concepción Oliver is a poet and artist, her third collection of poems is titled "dormilona."
Lili of the Valley: Born and raised in the San Fernando Valley/Tataviam lands, Rosalilia M. Mendoza is the eldest daughter of six. Her parents migrated from Zacatecas and Michoacan. As a former therapist, teacher, and community & political activist, Rosalilia shares her healing journey facing sexism, colonialism, intergenerational wounds, and discrimination through poetry. She writes in hopes of transforming thorns into roses. Currently, Rosalilia enjoys reading, writing, researching her family tree, raising awareness of social and political issues impacting Indigenous peoples from all continents, and both envisioning and creating a better world for her sun, Chalchihuitl.
Fausto: Víctor, Augusto, Nathanael, Eusebio de las tres Marías, Morazán, Huayta. Nace en Lima— Perú en el año 1960. Sus primeros encuentros con la literatura universal se dan a muy corta edad, ya que tuvo la fortuna de vivir dentro de una universidad local que lo marcó para siempre. Luego y siguiendo su designio ingresa a la universidad, "Nacional Mayor de San Marcos" . Casa de estudios de los más prestigiados escritores nacionales. Estudia, Filosofía y letras, especializado en Filosofía Clásica griega. Publicó su primer libro de prosa poética y cuentos el año, 2016, siendo bien recepcionado por el público lector. Casado con, Zela Blanco, doctora en medicina y obstetricia, de nacionalidad nicaragüense; acercó y motivó aún más su investigación sobre, el príncipe de las letras castellanas y el modernismo poético hasta nuestros días.
La complejidad de la temática dariana, lo atrapó y desde entonces, no deja de leerlo como libros de cabezera.
Paul Flores: https://paulsflores.art/about
Roque Baron: TBA
Albert: TBA
Efraín: TBA
Carlos Mejía Godoy: TBA
The Hologram: Distributed long term peer support for the revolution (that is here, that is coming)
The Hologram is a lightweight, replicable, autonomous protocol for human cooperation which produces a rare form of de-institutionalized stability. In this non-expert web of support, 3 people (the triangle) ask questions to a 4th one (the hologram) in a structured ritual. The hologram doesn't give back, instead their job is to ensure that each of their triangle members also have support from another three people, growing the rhizome of care. By making this form of viral communal stability, we believe that hologrammers and their communities may be able to survive differently, and produce new ways of living that don't rely on or reproduce the toxic systems that are killing us.
This workshop offers "incomers" new to The Hologram practice a chance to learn about the history and reasoning behind The Hologram. So what is The Hologram? What is it used for? And how can The Hologram be applied to your particular context? We will talk about care as revolutionary practice, and based on that discussion we will practice The Hologram. You will leave with new friends and a practice you can use for yourself and your community. The workshop will be facilitated by Dheya and Cassie. The entire event will be in Spanish and English. If other accomodations are needed, please get in touch.
The Holographic mission is to will a world into being where all caregivers are cared for. More than a demand, we are producing a world where this ‘idea’ is actually true, group by group. This is not impractical magic– we do so by teaching anti-capitalist skill building workshops and courses, facilitating small group sessions, and hosting community of practice meetings to discuss and hack away at the issues that come alongside giving and receiving care. All of our offerings are free to any participants who join us, though we are happy for our work to be financially supported by institutions as long as there is no influence on or interference in our work. As we share this particular method for receiving and distributing support differently, we want to demonstrate that collective transformation is possible using tools and relationships we already have. We are a distributed and dissident group of facilitators and organizers around the world who first use and secondly share the practice of The Hologram with anyone who seeks support for surviving and collectively thriving in the apocalypse.
Dheya is a mother, originally from Ecuador, and has lived in San Francisco for over 20 years. She is a garden educator and community health worker in the Mission District. She empowers her community through ancestral wisdom, permaculture, and herbalism, and serves on the SFUSD Latinx Parent Advisory Council and the Mission Latinx Moms Committee. She came to The Hologram in 2020 during the pandemic and is convinced it’s a powerful tool for social health and wellbeing. She wants to bring this practice to Spanish-speaking communities.
Cassie is an artist, organizer, and is part coyote. She comes from a prairie swamp in Illinois but has lived in NYC, San Francisco, Northern Canada, Germany, and other confused places. She started The Hologram in 2016 and has been practicing it ever since. After many years of being a part of this network of anti-capitalist and non-hierarchical support, she is herself a member of the feral class and slightly unemployable.
El Holograma es un protocolo ligero, replicable y autónomo para la cooperación humana que genera una forma poco común de estabilidad desinstitucionalizada. En esta red de apoyo no experta, tres personas (el triángulo) hacen preguntas a una cuarta (el holograma) mediante un ritual estructurado. El holograma no devuelve nada a cambio; su función es asegurarse de que cada integrante de su triángulo también cuente con el apoyo de otras tres personas, expandiendo así el rizoma del cuidado. Al generar esta forma de estabilidad comunitaria viral, creemos que quienes practican el holograma y sus comunidades podrán sobrevivir de otra manera y crear nuevas formas de vida que no dependan ni reproduzcan los sistemas tóxicos que nos están matando.
Este taller ofrece a las personas recién llegadas—"incomers"—la oportunidad de conocer la historia y el fundamento del Holograma. ¿Qué es el Holograma? ¿Para qué sirve? ¿Y cómo puede aplicarse a tu contexto particular? Hablaremos sobre el cuidado como práctica revolucionaria y, a partir de esa conversación, practicaremos el Holograma. Te irás con nuevas amistades y con una práctica que podrás usar para ti y para tu comunidad.
Todo el evento será en español e inglés. Si se necesitan otros ajustes, por favor ponte en contacto.
Dheya es madre, originaria de Ecuador y vive en San Francisco desde hace más de 20 años. Es educadora de jardinería y trabajadora de salud comunitaria en el Distrito Mission. Fortalece a su comunidad a través de la sabiduría ancestral, la permacultura y la herbolaria, y forma parte del Concejo Asesor de Padres Latinos del SFUSD y del Comité de Mamás Latinas del Mission. Llegó a El Holograma en 2020 durante la pandemia y está convencida de que es una herramienta poderosa para la salud social y el bienestar. Quiere llevar esta práctica a comunidades hispanohablantes
Cassie es artista, organizadora y es medio coyote. Viene de una pradera pantanosa en Illinois, pero ha vivido en Nueva York, San Francisco, el norte de Canadá, Alemania y otros lugares desconcertantes. Comenzó El Holograma en 2016 y lo ha practicado desde entonces. Después de muchos años siendo parte de esta red de apoyo anticapitalista y no jerárquico, es ella misma: miembro de la clase feral y ligeramente inempleable.
La misión holográfica es querer un mundo donde todas las personas cuidadoras sean cuidadas. Más que una demanda, estamos produciendo un mundo donde esta «idea» sea realmente cierta, grupo por grupo. No se trata de magia impráctica—lo hacemos enseñando talleres y cursos para el desarrollo de habilidades anticapitalistas, facilitando sesiones en grupos pequeños y organizando encuentros de práctica comunitaria para discutir y encontrar soluciones a los problemas que surgen al dar y recibir cuidado. Todas nuestras ofertas son gratuitas para quienes participen con nosotras, aunque agradecemos que nuestro trabajo reciba apoyo financiero de instituciones siempre que no haya influencia ni interferencia en nuestra labor. Al compartir este método particular para recibir y distribuir el apoyo de otra manera, queremos demostrar que la transformación colectiva es posible usando las herramientas y relaciones que ya tenemos. Somos un grupo distribuido y disidente de facilitadores y organizadores alrededor del mundo que primero usan y luego comparten la práctica de El Holograma con cualquier persona que busque apoyo para sobrevivir y prosperar colectivamente en el apocalipsis.
Brenda Navarro reads from her new book Eating Ashes/In conversation with Megan McDowell
Join us for a very special evening with Brenda Navarro, one of the most critically acclaimed authors in the Spanish language. Brenda will be reading from her new book Eating Ashes which won the Cálamo and CEGAL prizes and was a finalist for the Mario Vargas Llosa Biennial Novel Prize. Brenda will also be in conversation with her book’s english translator Megan Mcdowell.
Megan McDowell has translated work by many of the most important contemporary Latin American writers, including Samanta Schweblin, Alejandro Zambra, Mariana Enriquez, Carlos Fonseca, and Lina Meruane. Her translations have won the National Book Award, the English PEN award for Writing in Translation, the Premio Valle-Inclán, the Shirley Jackson Prize, and two O. Henry Prizes, and have been short- or long-listed four times for the International Booker Prize, and shortlisted once for the Kirkus Prize. In 2020 she won an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her short story translations have been featured in The New Yorker, Harper's, The Paris Review, Tin House, McSweeney’s, and Granta, among others. She is from Richmond, KY and lives in Santiago, Chile.Joi
About Eating Ashes;
Alone and adrift in Barcelona, an unnamed narrator is haunted by the death of her teenage brother, Diego. Diego, the little boy she helped raise in Mexico while their mother struggled to make a living in Spain. Diego, who loved Vampire Weekend and dreamed of becoming a pilot. Diego, who hated Madrid as much as she did.
Now, his ashes in hand, she must return to Mexico. Plagued by memories, she recounts their young lives leading up to tragedy in blistering detail: the acute loneliness that accompanied their emigration; the siblings’ first separation, when she left for Barcelona to make her own way in the world; her activism against labor abuses, which is threatened by her tumultuous relationship with an entitled lover; and the final, heavyhearted confrontation with her brother. Caught between rage and heartbreak over the loss of Diego, she pieces together a story of alienation, but also of surprising courage and hope.
Masterfully translated by National Book Award winner Megan McDowell, and shot through with flashes of dark humor, Eating Ashes boldly confronts both the intimate and systemic struggles faced by migrants striving to build a life worth living. Already an international sensation across Europe, this novel cements Brenda Navarro as a breathtakingly unique and vital voice in literature.
Speaking Axolotl presents Ivan Salinas and Maestro Gamin
TONIGHT come hear decolonized verses, spanglish poesia, Latine spokenword, Pocho poemas and neighborhood chisme at Speaking Axolotl, the Bay Area’s long running monthly Latine Reading series. 10 slot open mic goes up a las 6:50PM. Open mic poets have 7 minutes to read.
This month we welcome quierido LA poetas Maestro and Ivan Salinas, whose new libro of poesia “Dealer” was published this year
Maestro is a poet and the event coordinator for Highland Island, Le Boule (2011-2012) and worked as an assistant editor for Resurrection Magazine. He is published in Still Water's Anthology, Drifter Zine, Resurrection Press, and The Coachella Review. He rides bikes and destroys spin classes when not singing salsa to himself in East Los Angeles.
Iván Salinas is a chilango poet and zinester based in the SFV. He's the co-founder of Drifter Zine a publication highlighting artists from LA and beyond. His chapbook Dealer: Poesía Carcacha is a bilingual collection published by There's Only Peace in Death Press in 2026. His writings have been published in The Acentos Review, Mobile Data Mag, Broken Lens Journal, and Razorcake.
Other Dimensions in Sound presents Spring
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 musical medicina.
Tonight’s dose of musical medicina is being provided by Spring (Bruce Ackley-saxophones, Fred Lonberg-Holm-cello, and Zachary Watkins-electronics)
Libertarian Noir: Tech-bros, Trump, and the Privatization of the State
Recent commentaries have tended to wonder at the alliances forged between self-professed libertarians of Silicon Valley and the Trump regime. A longer historical view and a more skeptical analysis of US libertarianism suggests that such alliances should come as no surprise. They are the logical merger of entities driven by profit, hubris, and a desire to create a world governed solely by contract and patent. Craib will discuss both the historical evidence drawn from his recent book, Adventure Capitalism (PM Press, 2022), and more recent material from new research.
Raymond Craib is the Marie Underhill Noll Professor of History at Cornell University and the author of The Cry of the Renegade: Politics and Poetry in Interwar Chile, Cartographic Mexico: A History of State Fixations and Fugitive Landscapes, and with Barry Maxwell, co-editor of No Gods No Masters No Peripheries: Global Anarchisms. His most recent book is Adventure Capitalism: A History of Libertarian Exit, from the Era of Decolonization to the Digital Age (PM Press).
From The Bay a La Bahia
"From the Bay a La Bahia" is a cultural project that aims to bridge two Pacific coast cities, San Francisco, California and Acapulco, Guerrero. This project seeks to create meaningful artistic exchanges between communities that, while geographically distant, share deep connections through migration, displacement, economic violence, resilience and a coastal identity.
Join us as we host the screening of “Voices from the Abyss / Las Voces del Despeñadero” AAn intimate look at the La Quebrada Cliff Divers in Acapulco, Guerrero, who earn their living diving 100 feet into the sea from a dangerous cliff as part of a thrilling show, featuring an original poem recited by them and testimonies on faith, life, and death. Directed by Irving Serrano and Víctor Rejón.
This event is co-hosted by Demina Laboratorio de Artes, based in Acapulco, Guerro, Mexico.
Bay Area Queer Open Mic
A welcoming space for queer musicians and songwriters to share their work, connect, and build community. Performers can sign up online in advance, join as walk-ins, or be featured as a monthly Featured Artist.
Featured Artist Bio:
Xoan is an indigenous multidisciplinary artist who resides in Oakland. He blends sequenced drum beats with dreamy synth progressions and vocals.
Books Not Bans Poetry Jam!
TONIGHT come enjoy some good old fashioned poetry games and an open mic hosted by Boks Not Bans! The one and only Kevin Dublin will be our featured speaker and lead the games of poetry. Open mic starts at 7pm, sign ups are first come first served. Read original poetry or poems you’ve just made at our poetry game station!
Kevin Dublin is an educator, advocate, and writer of poetry, prose, scripts, and code from Smithfield, NC. “To me, literature is a conversation amongst writers where the world gets to hear the best parts. To join the conversation, all a writer needs to do is read, understand the traditions at play, and respond.” You can learn more about Kevin Dublin on his website kevindublin.com
Books Not Bans is a tiny nonprofit dedicated to building literary community by throwing events and sending free banned and LGBT books to communities across America. We’ve sent 7100+ books to over 25 orgs in 16 states. Follow us on instagram @booksnotbans and check out our website, booksnotbans.org
Books Not Bans donates books to queer orgs, and throws literature-themed parties.
Donate a book from our registry and we'll ship it to folks who need it.
Organizations in need of books can request them here.
Follow us on Instagram
2747 books donated since April 2023
As seen in the LA Times, Guardian UK and Asahi Shimbun
For a list of our past events click here.
We are fiscally sponsored by Independent Arts and Media Foundation (EIN 94-3355076) , a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.
Classical Indian 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 sets are:
Nishit Rawat
Ujjaini Mukhopadhyay
Krishna Parthasarathy
Parag Chordia
$10 suggested donations
Book Release for Debris: Stories, Daniel S.C. Sutter in conversation with Zach Williams
A reading event celebrating the release of Daniel Sutter’s new book Debris: Stories, followed by a brief conversation with author Zach Williams.
Daniel S.C. Sutter:
A 2025-27 Stegner Fellow at Stanford, Daniel S.C. Sutter's story collection Debris has won the Press 53 Short Fiction Award and is now available. His work has appeared in The Georgia Review, The Greensboro Review, Mississippi Review, and elsewhere, and has been awarded the Robert Watson Literary Prize in Fiction. He holds a Ph.D. from Florida State University and an M.F.A. from the University of New Orleans Creative Writing Workshop. He is from Tampa, FL.
Zach Williams:
Zach Williams’s debut short story collection, Beautiful Days, was a New Yorker Best Book of 2024, a finalist for the 2025 California Book Award for First Fiction, and longlisted for the 2025 PEN / Robert W. Bingham Prize. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern. Williams is a Jones Lecturer in Fiction at Stanford, where he previously held a Wallace Stegner Fellowship.
Other Dimensions in Sound presents Funkonya
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 musical medicina.
Tonight we have an industrial size dose of old fashioned funk for you with the one and only Funkonya.
Clothing & Book Swap+’Zine Making Station
The folks who "Swap in the Park" are coming to 24th St! The collective of friends and fashionistas on a budget will be hosting their 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 Sand Ghost
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 musical medicina.
Tonight’s musical medicina is being provided by Sand Ghost(Nore Free-saxophone/efx, Cassandra Firmin-drums, and Melissa Mohlenhoff-bass)
Drop-in Block Block Printing with Fernando Martí / Clase Abierta de Grabado con Fernando Martí
Block printing workshop for community activists. We'll have tools, paper, tinta, and small blocks, and start off with a conversation about printmaking as cultural and political expression. Second Wednesdays in March, April, and May. Suggested donation $20 for artist and book store.
Clase de grabado para activistas de la comunidad / Tendremos herramientas, papel, tinta, y pequeños bloques, y empezamos con una conversación sobre el grabado como expresión cultural y política. Segundo Miercoles en marzo, abril, y mayo. Donación sugerida $20 para artista y librería.
Fernando Martí (he/him) is an artist, poet, community architect and housing activist, originally from Ecuador, based in San Francisco, Ramaytush Ohlone land.
Fernando Martí (el) es un artista, poeta, arquitecto comunitario y activista de vivienda, originario del Ecuador, y basado en San Francisco, tierra Ramaytush Ohlone.
VOCES FEMINISTAS con NAKA Dance Theater
Este 8 de marzo Frente al retroceso de nuestros derechos, elegimos encontrarnos, abrazarnos y reflexionar.
Conmemoramos el día Internacional de la Mujer
Nos reunimos para alzar la voz.
Para nombrar lo que arde.
Para bordar la memoria en nuestros cuerpos.
Para cantar lo que quisieron silenciar.
Celebramos nuestras luchas,
nuestras ancestras,
nuestras rebeldías vivas.
¡Vivas nos queremos!
Habrá poesía que incomoda y abraza.
Música que despierta.
Bordados que resisten.
Apapachos que sostienen.
Porque nuestras voces no piden permiso.
Se tejen.
Se cuidan.
Se levantan.
Founded in 2001 by José Ome Mazatl and Debby Kajiyama, NAKA Dance Theater creates experimental performance works using dance, storytelling, multimedia installations and site-specific environments. They are honored to continue celebrating their 25th Anniversary year by presenting work at Medicine for Nightmares. NAKA cultivates partnerships with communities, engages people’s histories and folklore and expresses experiences through accessible performances that challenge the viewer to think critically about social justice issues. Recent collaborations include Ja weya ob’aj wij, ex weya nchemaj (My Story, My Weaving), a devised installation-performance work created with Indigenous Maya Mam Women weavers living in Oakland, and Dismantling Tactic X: Fugitivity, a creative response to xenophobia and the threat of mass deportations. In addition to their performance work, NAKA co-produces Live Arts in Resistance (LAIR) in partnership with EastSide Arts Alliance. LAIR is a dynamic series of performance showcases, artist residencies, and community town halls that address racial inequity and white supremacy in popular culture. @nakadancetheater
Estela, Undrowning Book Launch
Join YA author René Peña-Govea in launching her debut, Estela, Undrowning, a novel that follows teenage poet, Estela Morales as she navigates racism, eviction, and first love as one of the only Latinas at San Francisco's most exclusive public high school. René will be in conversation with her sister, La Doña, and accompanied with music from La Familia Peña-Govea and other friends. Q+A and signing to follow.
René Peña-Govea and Cecilia Peña-Govea (La Doña) are Chicanas born and raised in San Francisco. René is a writer, musician and educator who released her first album and published her first poem at age fifteen, winning the Isabel Allende-sponsored Paula Award for poetry. She has been named a Publishers Weekly Spring 2026 Writer to Watch as well as a YBCA-100 Honoree, a Brown-Handler Fellow, a Las Musas Hermana, and a creative-in-residence and The Ruby, The North Coast Project. Her debut has garnered three starred reviews, and coverage in Cosmpolitan, People Magazine, and KQED Forum.
Cecilia Peña-Govea, or La Doña, is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist, composer, singer, and educator. She was selected as one of YouTube Foundry's Artists in 2019, and her song, "Quién me la paga" was included as one of the New York Times "19 Songs That Matter Now." Two of her albums have been named by the SF Chronicle as the best album of their years, respectively, and Barack Obama included her song "Penas con pan" on his playlist. She also serves as the governor for the San Francisco chapter of the Recording Academy (the Grammy's).
La Familia Peña-Govea also includes the sisters' parents, Susan Peña and Miguel Govea, educators and musicians who have played in the Bay Area for forty years. Miguel led salsa band Los Compas and Susan joined René in an all-women's conjunto Café con leche as well as the family band. They are joined by Enrique Ramirez and Jamon Balberan, who, along with Antonio Ramirez, are founding members of Los Peludos.
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 musical medicina.
Tonight we have an extra special heavy dose of musical medicina as Red Fast Triple Luck(David Boyce-reeds and efxs, Francis Wong-saxophones, Chris Trinidad-guitar, and PC Munoz-percussion,boom stick, and intergalactic hook rug) enters the Portal to celebrate the release of their new CD.
Fierce Care: Defense of Territory and Care for Life CareNotes collective, Tierras Milperas, CCRA
Against the multiple violences of the current capitalist conjuncture, what the Zapatistas have named The Fourth World War, an autonomous energy surges to collectivize and communalize everyday life and reclaim vernacular values. From a network of autonomous health practices and projects in Greece that confront the dominant biomedical industry, to families and communities organizing transterritorially to reclaim subsistence practices, including milpa, from the extractivist agroindustry in Pajaro Valley, to autonomous learning spaces across the Bay Area that issue a call to relearn the habits of assembly, we invite comrades and collectives to join us for an instantiation of the Counter Counterinsurgency Lab, conspiring with CareNotes collective, Tierras Milpas, and the Center for Convivial Research and Autonomy (CCRA) to ask, how might we proliferate fierce care? Can we initiate a collective cartography in the present of the ways we are already confronting dominant industrial systems, imagining new collective ways of being, building a life in common, and collectivizing and politicizing suffering, organized as a Defense of Territory and Care for Life?
CareNotes is a collective of care workers who are organizing for health autonomy.
Tierras Milperas is an autonomous community of families, migrants and campesinos organized around milpa and assembly in the Pajaro Valley.
Center for Convivial Research and Autonomy (CCRA) is a collective knowledge production project committed to recovering vernacular knowledges and subsistence practices in service of autonomy.
No Queens No Kings Chess Club
No Kings, No Queens Chess Club 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.
Xicanxfuturism: Gritos for Tomorrow, Codex I ¡Northern California Blast!
The Mission has long been ground zero for memory, struggle, and imagination. We gather there for the Northern California Blast of Xicanxfuturism: Gritos for Tomorrow, Codex I at Medicine for Nightmares.
Xicanxfuturism: Gritos for Tomorrow, Codex I is a living codex of speculative futurist thought, art, comics, novellas, short stories, flash fiction, poetry, and essays. The anthology looks forward from the conditions we live in now, imagining Xicanx futures as something actively forming as our numbers, memory, and cultura continue to grow.
This is not a standard literary reading, but is an evening of collective presence, imagination, and futurity with Project:MASA visuals, a demo of an in-development Xicanxfuturist video game, and live readings from contributors working across forms and disciplines.
Featuring work by: MM Olivas, EC Dukes, Ronnie Dukes, Natalia Rivas, Patrick Fontes, Joel Flores, Salvador Ayala, and Scótt Russell Dúncan
Other Dimensions in Sound
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 dose of musical medicina is being provided by David Boyce(reeds/efxs), Scott Foster(guitar), and PC Munoz(percussion, boom stick, and intergalactic hookrug)
Bay Area Queer Open Mic
A welcoming space for queer musicians and songwriters to share their work, connect, and build community. Performers can sign up online in advance, join as walk-ins, or be featured as a monthly Featured Artist.
Featured Artist Bio:
Ananda (they/them), also known as Sapphic Boi, is a Bay Area–based singer-songwriter performing original music.
Kinam y Sabiduría Tolteca
KINAM es una práctica de entrenamiento psicofísico basada en la filosofía Tolteca/Anawaka (Mesoamerica antes de la colonización) y en sus antiguas posturas de equilibrio y de poder, creada a partir de diversas técnicas de movimiento funcional, meditación, y "posturas de poder toltecas". En esta clase buscamos recuperar las raíces culturales de América Prehispánica a través de la exploración de nuestra atención y consciencia y el balance de nuestros centros perceptuales: cuerpo físico, mente, emociones y energía vital.
Materiales a traer: Un mat de yoga o un tapete, ropa cómoda
*Apto para todas las edades
KINAM is a psychophysical training practice based on Toltec/Anawak (Mesoamerica before colonization) philosophy and its ancient postures of balance and power, created from various techniques of functional movement, meditation, and “Toltec power postures.” In this class, we seek to recover the cultural roots of Pre-Hispanic America through the exploration of our awareness and consciousness while balancing our perceptual centers: physical body, mind, emotions, and vital energy.
Materials needed: Yoga mat and comfortable clothes
*All ages are welcomed
A Thousand Voices Whispering sf book release party for Arlene Biala
TONIGHT SF book release party for Arlene Biala's "a thousand voices whispering" from Sampaguita Press! Arlene will be joined by guest poetas Josiah Luis Alderete, Elsa Valmidiano, Lorenz Dumuk, Ellie Lopez, Norman Zelaya, and musicians Jimmy Biala and Chris Trinidad. Books will be available for sale & signing. Rumor is THERE WILL BE LUMPIA for pesos donations, all proceeds to Medicine for Nightmares.
Arlene Biala is a Pinay writer from the San Francisco Bay Area who has been participating in poetry performances and workshops for over 30 years. She is a 2023-2026 Lucas Artist Residency Fellow in Literary Arts at the Montalvo Arts Center and was Poet Laureate of Santa Clara County for 2016 and 2017. She is the author of continental drift, one inch punch, and her beckoning hands, which won the 2015 American Book Award. Her latest book is a thousand voices whispering from Sampaguita Press, November 2025. Her poems are prayer flags offered to those whose stories have been silenced, hidden, and ignored. Arlene’s work centers on stories of family, of generations who have left their native lands to live in diaspora, particularly those from the Philippines. She writes poetry to serve as witness, to create space for recognition and dialogue toward healing.
Josiah Luis Alderete is a full blooded pocho left handed callejero de Aztlan. He is the curator and host of the long running Latine reading series Speaking Axolotl and currently co-tends the Portal on 24th street known as Medicine For Nightmares. His poesia has appeared in the past present and future and is currently available to anyone with smoking mirror pay per view.
Elsa Valmidiano is an Ilocana-American essayist and poet, Philippine-born and LA-raised, and a long-time resident of the San Francisco Bay Area.Elsa’s debut essay collection from New Rivers Press, We Are No Longer Babaylan, was an Editors’ Choice selection from their Many Voices Project competition in Prose and was a finalist for the Big Other Book Award for Nonfiction. Her second essay collection, The Beginning of Leaving, was published by Querencia Press, and was recognized as part of the American Writers Museum’s Filipino American History Month Reading List for Memoirs. Her essay collections have been featured and reviewed in RHINO, Rain Taxi, Pacific Daily News, Women Who Submit, Tiny Spoon, Anti-Heroin Chic, Marías at Sampaguitas, Halo-Halo Review, and HOME MADE.
Lorenz Mazon Dumuk is a poet, spoken word artist, and curator. He is a VONA alumni, and a MALI (Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute) alumni. His book collections of poetry are Ay Nako: Writing Through the Struggle, Think in Poetry, and Held (Sampaguita Press, 2025) Lorenz has curated various events such as ReWrite Open Mic, Glowing with the Moon, and the Eastridge Open Mic. His wish to create a nourishing experience at his events pushes his desire to connect communities and their people.
Ellie Lopez (she/her) is a photographer & storyteller from the 209. She is a community college dropout and failed music journalist. When she’s not ear hustling for the best chismes she writes poetry about grief, pop culture, family chismes. Her work has been published in Sin Cesar (formally DRYLAND), Marías at Sampaguitas, and CWAA Fresno Flies, Cockroaches & Poets. Ellie’s chapbook BuiLit Zine “While in Mourning” was released in August 2024. CHILLONA, her first full-length book, was published by Sampaguita Press, 2025.
Norman Antonio Zelaya is the author of two collections of short fiction, Orlando & Other Stories (Pochino Press, 2017), and Gente/Folks (Black Freighter Press, 2022). His work has appeared in ZYZZYVA, Apogee Journal, NY Tyrant, 14 Hills, Cipactli, and was a finalist for the Zoetrope: All-Story fiction contest in 2015. Also, he curates and hosts the Lunada Literary Lounge at Galería de la raza. All My Cholo Saints is forthcoming from El Martillo Press. Norman lives and writes in the MIssion District, San Francisco.
Jimmy Biala is a professional music educator, performing and recording artist. He teaches specialized programs in Cuban and Brazilian percussion in the south bay area including classes at the School of Arts and Culture in the Mexican Heritage Plaza, elementary schools in San Jose Unified and Evergreen Unified school districts and at Santa Clara University. He is a faculty member of the California Brazil Camp. Aside from teaching, Jimmy performs playing drum set and percussion with several music ensembles in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is the founder of the group Bloco do Sol San José, a percussion and dance ensemble dedicated to the development and performance of samba from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Jimmy has paraded with the Portela and Beija-Flor Samba schools and is an official ritmista da bateria member of the Beija-Flor escola de samba in Nilópolis, Rio de Janeiro.
Chris Trinidad is a Filipino-Canadian musician, teacher, multi-instrumentalist and scholar. Co-presenting a regular Asian-American jazz showcase in South San Francisco’s Sky Café with tenor saxophonist Francis Wong, Trinidad seeks to build community through music. In recent years he’s collaborated with an illustrious array of improvisers, from Spanish pianist Alex Condé, saxophonist Charlie Gurke, Grammy Award-winning pianist Christian Tumalan and veteran drummer David Rokeach. Whether he’s playing drums, bass guitar, keyboards, or singing, Trinidad creates music that sparks the imagination and soothes the soul.
Other Dimensions in Sound presents Rainbow Eclipse
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 musical medicina.
Tonight we have a heavy duty electro dose of sonic sustenance with a solo set by Nader(synth) and a second set with Rainbow Eclipse(Boyce-reeds and efxs and Nadar-synth).
Speaking Axolotl presents A Celebration Of Queer Poetics
TONIGHT come hear decolonized verses, spanglish poesia, Latine spokenword, Pocho poemas and neighborhood chisme at Speaking Axolotl, the Bay Area’s long running monthly Latine Reading series. 10 slot open mic goes up a las 6:50PM. Open mic poets have 7 minutes to read.
This month we are over la luna excited to be featuring poets from the new anthology A Celebration of Queer Poetics Anthology Vol. 1: The Magnolia Tree Gazing.
Featuring poets from the anthology:
María Esquinca is a Xicana poet, educator and journalist. A fronteriza, she was born in Ciudad, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico and grew up in El Paso, TX. Her debut collection “Where Heaven Sinks” was the winner of the 2024 Andrés Montoya Prize, and was selected by Juan Felipe Herrera. She currently teaches English language learners in San Francisco.
Maribel Martínez (no pronoun, use name) is a Queer Chicanx brainanc, storyteller, and dream warrior from East San José, CA. Maribel shapeshifts between public policy, higher education, and the arts—performing and writing short stories, poems, plays, and napkin memoirs(and may even serenade you with a Mexican bolero). Maribel is a recipient of the inaugural Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA) Cultura Fellowship and the California Arts Council Emerging Artist Award. Maribel’s play Becoming (MAR) premiered atTeatro Visión in 2022 and was broadcast on CreaTV. Its sequel, Mar in the Middle, had a staged reading in 2023.
Juju Martinez (they/them) is a Queer Chicanx poet rooted in Queer community and the love of their chosen family. Writing has been a liberating force in their healing journey, beginning as a way to survive trauma and evolving into a practice of self-discovery and self-love. Poetry allows Juju to move through grief, honor their truth, and embrace joy. Juju writes from the heart—grounded in vulnerability, guided by love, and committed to telling stories that reflect their lived experience. Through their work, Juju aims to create connection, hold space for healing, and celebrate the resilience and beauty of life.
A Celebration of Queer Poetics:
This migrating space embraces love and radical tenderness, celebrating a queer poetics honoring the miraculous tongue of our queer BIPOC communities that have shaped and are beginning to shape our literary linguistic landscape. From the margins of history, we’ve continuously reshaped and redefined poem and her purpose, creating a shared language in our image. This celebrationspace aims to honor and nurture a tender, loving space for our collective voices, cultivating a community of care, remembering and further imagination.
The Celebration of Queer Poetics Anthology Project is a poetry anthology and workshop series reflecting the diverse queer voices forming Bay Area Literary Landscape. The anthology is artisan made book that grew from a six-week generative poetry workshop in the Mission District, focusing on bipocx queer poetics offering a tender space to explore and create poetry. The anthology project is a collaboration b/w A Celebration of Queer Poetics Workshop & Murciélago Prensa/ a.k.a artists Lourdes & Cinthia.
NOTA; Speaking Axolotl is a BIPOC reading series which means Black and Brown folks only on the mic. Whyte folks are welcome to attend and listen but their presence is not required.
LOVE for Gaza artist talk with PYM
As part of Lover’s Lane Medicina is hosting LOVE for Gaza an artist talk with members of PYM, whose exhibit Documenting Genocide: Gaza Before and After October 2023 is currently on view in our galeria.
These large-scale, tactile maps trace the deliberate targeting and destruction of Gaza’s life-stustaining infrastructure before and after October 7th. By documenting the annihilation of Gaza’s education, healthcare, energy, water and food systems, this project confronts zionist lies and exposes the last two years as a calculated campaign of genocide. This exhibit calls us to not only bear witness to these crimes against humanity, but to study and actively organize against them.
Organization: The Palestinian Youth Movement is an independent, grassroots movement that organizes Palestinian and Arab youth to struggle for Palestinian liberation. PYM draws from Palestinian revolutionary history, where the participation of youth in the national struggle has been central in leading and sustaining our struggle. We believe that Palestinian youth have a right and responsibility, even in the far diaspora, to be active participants in working to liberate our people and land from the river to the sea.
REPRESSION & RESISTANCE: Conversations with the Front Lines
Join the Bay Area Demonstrations Legal Support Collaborative for a conversation on the history of political repression in the United States and how the federal government's crackdown on recent political organizing is a continuation of COINTELPR0. Those on the front lines of the Palestine Solidarity and Puerto Rican independence movements, Anti-Cop City organizing and immigration actions will discuss how they view political repression and how their movements have organized to protect each other against the brutal tactics of the State.
The Bay Area Demonstrations Legal Support Collaborative consists of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund and its project, the Center for Protest Law & Litigation; the National Lawyers Guild, S.F. Bay Area Chapter; the Bay Area Anti-Repression Committee; Legal Solidarity Bay Area; and the Oakland Law Collaborative. To request legal support for a demonstration, go to bayrequest.protestlaw.org
Poesia En Voz Alta con Huracan Gomez, Maria Guerrero, y Louie Guiterrez
!Celebrando el nuevo libro de poesia de Mission Poeta Huracan Gomez! Con poetas Maria Guerrero y Louie El Panadero.
Walter Huracán Gómez, poeta nicaragüense de raíces afro-centroamericanas. Su voz de temática social con frecuencia controvertida, ha dicho que su poesía se inclina por el rescate de nuestras raíces centroamericanas en el exilio, desde su poesía en San Francisco, California donde radica desde los años ochenta.
Genocide: Gaza Before and After October 2023
Join us this afternoon for the opening of Genocide: Gaza Before and After Ocotber 2023.
These large-scale, tactile maps trace the deliberate targeting and destruction of Gaza’s life-stustaining infrastructure before and after October 7th. By documenting the annihilation of Gaza’s education, healthcare, energy, water and food systems, this project confronts zionist lies and exposes the last two years as a calculated campaign of genocide. This exhibit calls us to not only bear witness to these crimes against humanity, but to study and actively organize against them.
Organization: The Palestinian Youth Movement is an independent, grassroots movement that organizes Palestinian and Arab youth to struggle for Palestinian liberation. PYM draws from Palestinian revolutionary history, where the participation of youth in the national struggle has been central in leading and sustaining our struggle. We believe that Palestinian youth have a right and responsibility, even in the far diaspora, to be active participants in working to liberate our people and land from the river to the sea.
Artist Talk/Presentation 2pm
Other Dimensions in Sound presents Angel Idrovo
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 come vibe out to some wavy spontaneous guitar pedal stuff and original songs with Angelo Idrovo.
No Kings, No Queens Chess Club
No Kings, No Queens Chess Club 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.
Una Visita de Calle Soledad Presa
Enjoy an evening of experimental rasquache sensibility with a visit from Calle Soledad Presa, a small artist-run press from San Antonio, Texas. Exhibiting a small collection of codex libros, poetry books, photography artist books, visual broadsides, journals, y mas. There will be a showcase of numerous projects such as Type Letters are Molecules, Llanuras Mares Y Tiempos, and the latest edition of the poetry book ROSARIO.
The night will also include an intimate poetry reading with artist Diana Lizette Rodriguez, Hilary Cruz Meija, and Raul Ruiz
CALLE SOLEDAD PRESA (San Antonio, Texas) is an artist-run experimental rasquache press, founded by Diana Lizette Rodriguez. The press is created from the landscape, location-time meditations inside the Central Public Library which is located on Soledad Street. Calle Soledad es Rasquache. Trabajando con lo que tenemos. Lo visible y invisible. We work with what we have in hand and publish everything by hand. We work with the ephemeral. Ungraspable conditions of images & words. The press works on multiple projects, physical objects such as poetry books, art books/prints, Códex/Códices, Recording Tapes, journals & notebooks. Everything we make is one of one. The press focuses on developing relationships with other artists/poets, writers or first time bookmakers to guide them through a process of creative book developing, one-on-one editing, archival consultation, and insightful directing towards their own self-publishing. We engage with concepts of rethinking, reshaping and reimagining what the book can be. We believe the bookmaking process is a spiritual one, being guided by spirit, ancestors, and those with vital force that guide us.
THE THINGS THAT CAN NOT BEEN SEEN BUT ONLY TRANSMITTED IN A SINGLE TIME & SPACE.
Calle Soledad Presa also teaches poetry, visual art & bookbinding workshops across Texas and BEYOND. Calle Soledad Presa honors all bookmakers, specifically the Otomi People who have inspired, given their wisdom and aided the press’s vision. We also honor the artists/theorists like Tomás Ybarra-Frausto who have contributed their years of work for a press like this to exist.
Other Dimensions in Sound presents Karl Evangelista playing the music of Sonny Sharrock.
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 we have a heavy duty double dose of musical medicina as guitarist Karl Evangelista plays the music of Sonny Sharrock.
Alejandro Murguia reading from his new collection The Other Barrio
TONIGHT we are joined by a very special visit from this city’s sixth poet laureate; La Mission’s own Alejandro Murguia! Alejandro will be reading from his new collection of short stories The Other Barrio(2025,Arte Publico Press) Fronteriza poeta Maria Esquinca will open the night reading from their nuevo libro When Heaven Sinks.
Alejandro Murguía is a professor in Latina Latino Studies and the Sixth San Francisco Poet Laureate(2013-2017). He is the author of Southern Front(2009)and This War Called Love(2002)(both winners of the American Book Award)and the poetry collection Stray Poems(2014). His non-fiction book The Medicine of Memory highlights the Mission District in the 1970s during the Nicaraguan Solidarity movement. He is a founding member and the first director of The Mission Cultural Center. He was a founder of The Roque Dalton Cultural Brigade, and co-editor of Volcán: Poetry From Central America.
María Esquinca is a Xicana educator, poet and journalist. A fronteriza, she was born in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico and grew up in El Paso, Texas. She currently teaches newcomers who are recent immigrants at San Francisco International High School. Her debut collection, “Where Heaven Sinks” was the 2024 Andres Montoya Poetry Prize winner, and was selected by Juan Felipe Herrera.
Indian Classical Sessions
The SF Indian Classical Session at Medicine for Nightmares is back! 7pm show starts, $10! 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: Aadi Agrawal - Bansuri, BayRaagis Khayal Ensemble - Vox, Saptarshi Mukherjee - Vox, Subarna Bhattacharyya - Vox
$10 suggested donation
Art Platica with Tortilla Press
Join us for an afternoon art platica with Tortilla Press whose exhibition Familia-r: The Vaquera/x/o Through A Mexican-American Lens is currently on view in our galeria. Tortilla Press will be joined in conversation with poet Maria Esquinca.
Familia-r is a larger reflection of Michael's identity as a Mexican-American Orphan, having been part of the Vaquera/x/o community since his birth until his placement in foster care—Michael has now returned to his familia-r homeland after 15 years of being ripped away (from his culture, language, sombrero) and has worked to not just document, but also build community with the leaders that have continued to keep the sacred practices of Latina/x/o horse riding alive.
As the Latina/x/o diaspora currently fights its way through another horrific chapter of colonial history, this collection highlights the community, adrenaline, and tenderness of the Vaquera/x/o in the colonial landscape——as we swing both arms, all four hooves, and intentionally create with our communities to preserve our knowledges for the next generation of Brown horse riders.
María Esquinca is a Xicana educator, poet and journalist. A fronteriza, she was born in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico and grew up in El Paso, Texas. She currently teaches newcomers who are recent immigrants at San Francisco International High School. Her debut collection, “Where Heaven Sinks” was the 2024 Andres Montoya Poetry Prize winner, and was selected by Juan Felipe Herrera.
Other Dimensions in Sound presents Wall of Fog.
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 musical medicina.
Tonight’s sonic sustenance is an entity of instrumetal noise rock known as Wall of Fog.
!Josiah's Pinche Birthdia Roast!
Has this pinche pocho ever disrepected your poetry? Boo’d you at a reading that you featured at? Prank called you in Spanglish? Misgendered your chihuahua or laughed at your whyte partner? Well now at long last the overly sensitive y chillona Bay Area poetry community will have it’s day of reckoning! Join us tonight as this Pocho Poet is roasted low and slow in front of a live audience featuring severe tongue lashings by Marisol Medina-Cadena, hector son of hector, Maria Esquinca, Rolando Andre Lopez Torres, Kevin Madrigal Galindo, Norman Zelaya, and a very special surprise roaster! This promises to be a desmadre of poetic proportions with some possible violence.
Brough to you by PBS(Pocho Broadcasting Service)
The Story of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers
Tonight Jerome Scott and walda katz-fishman, authors of Motown and the Making of Working-Class Revolutionaries: The Story of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, bring their book tour to the Bay Area. They’ll draw on the dozens of oral histories that make up the book and engage in a conversation covering the rise of the League from 1968 to 1971 in Detroit, the centrality of political education to the project, and the process of transformation through struggle that created working-class revolutionaries.
Jerome Scott is a former autoworker, labor organizer in the auto plants of Detroit in the 1960s and 1970s, and member of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, was the founding director of Project South: Institute for the Elimination of Poverty & Genocide. He is a contributing author and editor of popular education toolkits and books including The United States Social Forum: Perspectives of a Movement, The Roots of Terror, Today's Globalization, and The Critical Classroom.
walda katz-fishman is a scholar activist, popular educator and author, and professor of sociology at Howard University. She was a founding member and former board chair of Project South: Institute for the Elimination of Poverty & Genocide. She is a contributing author and editor of popular education toolkits and books including The United States Social Forum: Perspectives of a Movement, The Roots of Terror, Today's Globalization, and The Critical Classroom.
Film Night: Dispatches from Resistant Mexico, featuring the premiere of Lekil Kujlejal
Dispatches from Resistant Mexico, a series of shorts on Indigenous resistance in Mexico, featuring the premiere of Lekil Kujlejal (40 min). In the mountains of Chiapas, a Tzeltal Mayan community organizes into a Community Government, as part of a movement that seeks to maintain and recover the millennial community practices of Lekil Kujlejal, or “right living”. Lekil Kujlejal seeks a holistic way of living that promotes mutual care and respect for nature and is rooted in the belief that all beings are interdependent. Films by Chiapas Support Committee member Caitlin Manning. Discussion with the filmmaker following the screening.