Culture Aid
SF Artists Celebrate Culture and Belonging
Written by Kavya Palepu
“He builds loopholes, steadfast, to get us/ out of our homes… Endangered species, we are about to be/ out of home.”
(from Out of Home, by Leticia Hernández-Linares)
This lament by bilingual poet and racial justice educator, Leticia Hernández-Linares, rang clear through the outdoor courtyard of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts against the cacophony of San Francisco’s commuter traffic. Her words hit deep. As of 2018, over 10% of low-income households in the San Francisco Bay Area lived in areas at risk of, or currently experiencing, gentrification. Furthermore, roughly 30% of all census tracts in the region are exclusive to low-income households (Urban Displacement Project). Since then, the pandemic has only further exposed and exacerbated our country’s ever-failing infrastructures and disparate economic conditions.
As the city’s tech sector grows, so too does the risk of displacement for many of the city’s artists, service workers, and other marginalized groups — making more apparent the severe lack of arts and culture within the city’s urban planning processes. Starting almost 10 years ago, San Francisco’s cultural districts were formed to curb inequitable practices in land use and allow for better political representation. Although each district is as unique as the people who make it up, they face common challenges of cultural erasure and displacement. But despite these challenges, our communities keep showing up. By continuing to engage in art and discussion, we remain stronger than ever. SF Urban Film Fest’s aptly named Culture Aid program could not have come at a better time, or for better reason — for what better way to resist erasure than by gathering, celebrating, and asserting our presence in the heart of San Francisco’s South of Market?
The night began with a riveting procession by Bateria Batuci, a Brazilian percussion group, followed by a spoken word performance by Chickasaw writer, musician, and queer activist Landa Lakes. Also featured was a Filipino dance performance by Eric Solano and Kim Requesto of the Parangal Dance Company, a lyrical rap by Paloma Flores, and a poetry reading by Killa Heredia.
And at the core of the evening’s program, were, of course, the films.
James Q. Chan’s short film, Leon Sun closely follows the titular artist as he reflects on how art can lead to cross-cultural unity and solidarity. Leon Sun shows us that art is not only a representation of the artist’s own identity and personal struggle, but also a reflection of wider societal issues — and oftentimes, a staunchly political act. It provides an opportunity for us to step out of ourselves and see a larger picture. At one point in the film, Sun turns to the viewer and asks, “How am I going to be American?” In other words: how am I choosing to show up? This seemingly simple question opens up to so many more. How do we choose to identify ourselves? How do we frame our own struggle against the struggles of those around us? And what subsequent, intentional choices do we then make to promote social equity?
Citizen Film’s The Spirit of the Fillmore provided yet another example of how art can help communities retain cultural identity and presence. The collaborative nature of the Rosa Parks Senior Center mural project allowed community elders to reflect and to share stories that might have otherwise been lost, while simultaneously giving the youth an opportunity to actively engage with their community and to understand and appreciate their history more deeply. Another important takeaway by youth activist Widya Batin, who is featured in the short, is that “it’s refreshing to see young leaders that are still here, [where] usually you would see murals with just people that [are] already gone.”
Bringing it all home, Elisha Rochell’s When Did You Fall In Love With Art reminds us all to reflect on the moment we realized the significance of art in their own lives. It shows how art, in its many shapes and forms, serves to inspire change both within us and outside of us.
The second half of the night included an interactive exercise with the audience. The program’s emcee, Isa Nakazawa, brought audiences into the discussion by prompting them to think about what role they had to play in urban development and planning.
“We make urban planning decisions every day, either as a resident or if you work in this city. Everyday you make decisions about how to get around, by car, transit or walk. The complicated part is how you get engaged in how the policies that determine your choices get made. It’s so complex. And whose voices get heard in the policy making process? We wanted to see if artists, filmmakers, and performers could help elevate diverse voices into the process. Could we build a more just and equitable city?”
With this in mind, the audience was split off into small, randomized groups and asked to brainstorm strategies based on the following two questions:
If cultural districts collaborated, what issue would you attack together?
As culture is a living, breathing thing — how can cultural districts respond to their ever-evolving neighborhood?
The groups were made up of a medley of different folks — Cultural District leaders, community culture bearers, artists, representatives from local non-profits, and many generally concerned citizens. Most people echoed a similar thought: the best response to evolution is to lean into change, to embrace diversity, to find commonalities and to celebrate our differences. Most importantly, we need to continue showing up for each other across all socioeconomic, cultural, racial, and ethnic community lines. By continuing to gather, discuss, and tell stories through art, we can create a stronger, more unified presence in a city that seeks to keep us divided.
It didn’t take long for a theme to emerge, and throughout the whole evening the same message kept resurfacing:
We are still here, standing together — and we are here to stay.
This event took place on March 10, 2022 and served as part of the culmination of the work SFUFF has been doing as Artists-In-Residence at YBCA. For more information about the SF Urban Film Fest, visit our website.
