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!

Join us this Father’s Day for an interactive book reading of Shawn D Taylor’s, “The Alphabet for New and Expecting Fathers.” Guests should be prepared to participate. The Alphabet for New and Expecting Fathers by Shawn D. Taylor is a heartfelt and humorous collection of 26 essays—each tied to a letter of the alphabet—that offers a fresh perspective on fatherhood. With wit, wisdom, and striking vulnerability, Taylor reflects on the joys, fears, challenges, and unexpected lessons of becoming a dad. From A to Z, this book is a unique guide and companion for new and soon-to-be fathers, blending personal stories with insights that are both deeply relatable and emotionally resonant.

Bio: Shawn D. Taylor is a writer, educator, public speaker, and culture cartographer whose work bridges the worlds of storytelling, philosophy, performance art, and folklore. An Oakland Slam champion and winner of a The Moth StorySLAM, Shawn's storytelling prowess extends to his acclaimed book, The Alphabet for New and Expecting Fathers, a collection of 26 essays offering heartfelt and humorous insights into fatherhood. His writings have been featured in Rad Dad, The New York Times, and Ebony Magazine.​

Shawn is a Senior Fellow with the Pop Culture Collaborative, where he explores how fandoms can drive social change.His research delves into the transformative power of fandoms, emphasizing their potential to foster empathy, activism, and community-building . He is also a co-founder of The Nerds of Color, a leading platform celebrating people of color in geek culture.

Shawn holds degrees in philosophy, religious studies, and digital humanities. He and his family live in the Bay Are, a wee bit too close to the water. 

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 Ferren+Rodvien.(Andrew Ferren-saxophone, flute, and electronics. Brian Rodvien-drums, percussion, and electronics)

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!

Medicina Para Pesadillas is keeping the very special Mission tradition of poets reading on the street alive and well with this literary series. Come hang and enjoy poets reading their work to Calle Veinte Cuatro.

This month’’s features are Sara Borjas, Zander Moreno Lozano, Mimi Tempestt and Josiah Luis Alderete.

SARA BORJAS is a Xicanx pocha and a Fresno poet. Her debut collection of poetry, Heart Like a Window, Mouth Like a Cliff was published by Noemi Press in 2019. Sara was named one of Poets & Writers 2019 Debut Poets, is a 2017 CantoMundo Fellow, and the recipient of a 2020 American Book Award. She teaches innovative undergraduates at UC Riverside, lives in Los Angeles, and stays rooted in Fresno. Find her @saraborhaz or at www.saraborjas.com.

Mimi Tempestt (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist, poet, and daughter of California. She has an MA in Literature from Mills College, and is currently a doctoral student in the Creative/Critical PhD in Literature at UC Santa Cruz. Her debut collection of poems, the monumental misrememberings, was published by Co-Conspirator Press in 2020. In 2021, she was selected for participation in the Lambda Literary Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices & writers, and was a Creative Fellow at The Ruby in San Francisco. She is the 2023 recipient of the SFF/Nomadic Press Literary Prize in Poetry. Her second book, the delicacy of embracing spirals, was published by City Lights in 2024.. Her works can be found in Foglifter, Interim Poetics, and The Studio Museum in Harlem.

Zander Moreno Lozano is an Indigenous Mexican, transgender, poet born from the soil of Mexico City, Mexico. At 2 years old, he and his family immigrated to the United States to escape patriarchal abuse. Zander has been awarded fellowships with Brooklyn Poets, Queer Ancestor’s Project, Seventh Wave, and Genderfail. Zander’s poetry focuses on the intersection of identities, state violence, immigration, being transgender, and ancestral veneration. His poems have been previously published in The Hanging Lantern Review, ARTFAG, and The Ana.

Josiah Luis Alderete is a full blooded Spanglish speaking Pocho y left handed callejero de Aztlán who has been part of La Area Bahia’s spoken word scene for over twenty years. He is the curator and host of the long running Latinx reading series Speaking Axolotl and is the author of two books of poetry “Baby Axolotls & Old Pochos(Black Freighter Press 2021) and the chapbook “Fuchi Faces de los Estados Jodidos”(For The Pueblo 2023). In 2023 he was the Poetry Center’s Mazza Writer in Residence at San Francisco State. This year he is being published in Mexico by the Universidad Autonomy de Nuevo Leonin in an anthology of Mexican and Chicano poets called Hablando en Lenguas  Along with his bookstore sister Tân Khanh Cao  Josiah  tends the portal known as Medicina Para Pesadillas Bookstore y Galeria on 24th street in La Mision.

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 dosage of sonic sustenance is being provided by Present/Past/Quartet(Beth Schenk-alto sax, Kris Tiner-trumpet/fluegelhorn, Matt Wrobel-guitar, Lisa Mezzacappa-bass)

Presentation of traditional kulintang pieces from Mindanao and traditional/non-traditional kulintang pieces from the Bay Area paired with discussion. Donations will be accepted for Medicine for Nightmares Bookstore.

We perform the traditional kulintang music passed down by the late Master Danongan Kalanduyan with fidelity, while also exploring with joy and courage how this music can express itself in new ways that are nourished by our own specific context on this American soil.

Kulintang Dialect is a traditional five instrument kulintang band that performs kulintang classics mostly from the Kalanduyan line as well as Conrad Benedicto’s original compositions. Kulintang Dialect has released multiple albums available on all platforms via Gongs Away Music. 

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!

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.

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

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.

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:

Rupa Ramanathan voice & & Varunika Raja dance

Anjani Srinivasan veena & Padmanabhan Kumar voice

Parag Chordia sarode

Shreya Adiraju voice

This month's promotional poster features a painting by Bay Area native Kundan Baidwan

Join Deep Vellum and the Center for the Art of Translation in celebrating 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. Series co-edited Wendy Call will be joined in conversation by writer and critic Britta Stromeyer for a lively discussion about reading and promoting translated literature.

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.

Britta Stromeyer is a member of the National Book Critics Circle. Her writing appears in Flash Fiction Magazine, Bending Genres Journal, Necessary Fiction, OCWW’s About Write, Marin Independent Journal and other publications. Britta holds an MFA from Dominican University, CA, an M.A. from American University, and a Certificate in Novel Writing from Stanford University.

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!

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).

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.

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.

Un espacio íntimo para compartir lecturas latinoamericanas, recorrer paisajes y voces únicas de la región, y abrir conversaciones que nos atraviesan y nos invitan a pensar juntxs.

An intimate space to share Latin American literature, explore the region’s unique voices and landscapes, and open up conversations that move us and invite us to think together.

Líneas del Sur is a book membership program designed to connect passionate Spanish-speaking readers with the rich literary landscape of Latin America. Members explore fresh voices from the region through carefully curated books, contextual articles, and editorial notes. The experience is enriched by lively conversations in both online and in-person book clubs, fostering a vibrant community of literary enthusiasts.

This month’s book is Maria Elena Moran’s “Los Continentes del Adentro”. Copies are available at Medicina Para Pesadillas.

This special evening celebrates the work of renowned Gazan choreographer and dancer Mohanad Smama, who has shared two dance films and additional videos with us. It marks the first time his work is being shown in California. We strongly encourage donations to Mohanad’s family in Gaza—100% of proceeds from this event will go directly to them. The evening will include an audience discussion of his work, led by dance scholar and choreographer Stephanie Sherman, as well as an experimental performance with Stephanie and musician and visual artist Asma Ghanem exploring the possibilities of sisterhood across Jewish/Palestinian identity.

Mohanad Smama is a Palestinian dancer, choreographer, and director living in Marseille. He is considered one of the pioneers of contemporary dance in Palestine. In his hometown of Gaza, he founded the Hai Team for Contemporary Arts — the first contemporary dance school in the city. There, he teaches dance classes for both children and adults. He is known for his extensive experience in developing training methodologies and techniques in Palestinian dance and dabke. He has produced numerous performances, films, exhibitions, and even a contemporary dance festival in Gaza in 2023. His work has been shared globally, and he has continued his artistic practice even during wartime, using art as a means of life and a form of resistance

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 is a queer anti-Zionist Jew, choreographer, dancer, published bilingual poet, and visual artist, who is committed to social justice. With 25 years of experience working between the US, Ecuador, and Mexico, her artistic practice is shaped by her activism. 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). She 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. Her practice is collaborative, accessible, and ever-evolving. Stephanie is also a scholar and educator with a focus on choreographies of resistance in Mexican art.

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!

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. 

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.

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

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.

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!

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.