The ‘Last Black Man in San Francisco’ Is A Ceremonial Ode to Blackness
At first sight, The Last Black Man in San Francisco exposed the oppressive relationship between the modern day technological utopia and its Black residents; an interwoven lineage among the two entities birthed from The Great Migration. Viewed through the focal point of a young Black girl, viewers witnessed the sins of San Francisco towards Hunter’s Point, a predominantly Black neighborhood, subjected to decades of environmental racism by those in positions of power. Amplified by the local pastor’s preachings about “purification”, it’s evident that San Francisco refuses to atone for its sins against the Black community; despite its implementation of “urban renewal”, targeted policy decisions to remove one of the city’s first communities from its perimeter. The chosen few elected to stay in defiance of the capitalist forces lustful for the acquisition of their homes and communities; because of a familial ideology associated to San Francisco, a birthright to lay claim to this gilded utopia, their ancestors built.
Juxtaposed by Jimmie Fails (played by Jimmie Fails IV) and Montgomery Allen (played by Jonathan Majors) venture into the city from Hunter’s Point — the city’s most isolated neighborhood- their presence is unwelcome by the emergent community of white gentrifiers, whose existence contributed to the erasure of San Francisco’s Black roots. The sinister consequence of displacement is the power to rewrite history, and therefore remove legacies of traditions, beliefs, and communal practices in favor to assimilate into the ideologies of the oppressor. An oppressor who fears for the return of communities who can trace their lineage from The Great Migration to San Francisco (occupied Ohlone Land), because they would be endowed with unalienable rights to resist those seek to destroy their sacred homes.
“Black people are essential to the history of San Francisco. Period. We’re not going to be looked over like we didn’t help build this shit. It’s very important”, Fails says.
For Fails, his grandfather’s house (named the First Black Man in San Francisco) in the Filmore, Harlem of the West, which birthed community based activist who founded the nation’s first Ethnic Studies program, and supported the Black Panther Party in Oakland, possessed a spirituality that laid the foundation for his love towards San Francisco. Yet, decades of racially based socio economic policies resulted in the loss of Fails’ childhood home, along with the majority of Black owned households in areas, such as West Oakland and the Mission.
“Me and Jimmie met in Precita Park as kids, and a big part of friendship wasn’t unique to that area. There are different kinds of different people hanging out, Filipino kids, Samoan kids, it just felt. It’s hard to believe now. Precita was gang terrority. People died in that park, and now there’s labradoodles. The weird thing is that it was what it was. It’s where our friendship formed”, Joe Talbot (director and writer of The Last Black Man in San Francisco) said.
Talbot and Fails, third-generation San Franciscans, have witnessed the horrors enacted upon their communities by the development of Silicon Valley. As their neighbors and families sought refuge into the outer suburbs of Antioch and Pittsburg, gentrifiers transformed their Victorian homes into a minimalist idol; an omnipresent reminder of what’s to come as tech giants migrate towards Austin, Detroit, and metropolitan areas of the Midwest and South. Despite communal based efforts to implement rent control policies, and ensure the next generation of San Franciscans can contribute into their familial lineage; their efforts are measured from depictions of the city in popular media.
The Last Black Man in San Francisco is an act of love, an archival memorial that honors generations of individuals hidden in plain sight, who woke up at the crack of dawn to work the docks, to ensure the continuation of the city’s aquatic bloodline. It’s the first film for San Franciscians by San Franciscans, and it’s evident in the shared love embedded throughout the film’s roster of diverse characters.
As Fails sails away from San Francisco in the closing scene, viewers are allowed to see him mourn the closure of San Francisco’s relationship to Blackness. Underneath the Golden Gate Bridge, the grandson of the First Black Man in San Francisco, migrates into the unknown with the oral traditions of his people and the magic they brought to the City By The Bay. It’s a love letter to Black communities experiencing gentrification throughout the United States, because they are not allowed the privileges to mourn in public; an invitation to release emotion and feelings, and a blessing to soldier on into a Black future.
