Organizers attempt to move universal healthcare legislation forward despite being held back by Sacramento Democrats.by Barry Hermanson Once again, a universal healthcare bill in Sacramento has failed to move forward. AB 2200 was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and did not advance to the full Assembly for a vote. There is a long legislative history of bills introduced in Sacramento that have failed to move forward. When Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor, the Democratic Party-controlled State Assembly and Senate passed universal healthcare legislation twice. Schwarzeneg ..read more

Sen. Bill Dodd, left, listens to Sen. Steven Bradford, leader of the California Legislature’s push for reparations. – Photo: Antonio Ray Harvey, CBMby Bo Tefu, Lila Brown and Antonio Ray Harvey, California Black Media Last week, the California State Senate voted to advance three landmark reparations bills authored by Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood). The bills aim to redress the economic and social injustices stemming from chattel slavery in the American South and more than a century of state-sanctioned discriminatory practices that followed the Civil War. The package of legislation now move ..read more

by Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice San Francisco – A new report from the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ) titled “Unseen Billions” finds that Public Safety Realignment (AB 109) funding – one of the largest state-level criminal justice disbursements in the nation – is being spent with little oversight or transparency, while deepening California’s investment in its criminal justice system. This paper examines AB 109 funding, including how counties report data, the amount given to law enforcement and strategies for boosting oversight of this critical funding stream.  De ..read more

Support Bay View (Paypal) Support Bay View (Venmo) Support Bay View (CashApp) by Kevin Epps Your SF Bay View stands at a pivotal moment: Only with your support through donations large and small, will we be able to be continue publishing a monthly print edition of our newspaper. As we move forward, we aim to honor the incredible contributions of co-publisher Mary Ratcliff who has served in an editorial role since 1991 and must now retire for the sake of her health. To build on her legacy, our goal is to raise $100,000 and to bring on a dedicated team of professional journalists, ensuring t ..read more

Portrait of Eddie Kittrell, gift of the Kittrell family. by Anna Hennessey Known locally and nationally for his decades of community work in San Francisco and especially for his deep support of Potrero Hill Annex and Terrace Public Housing Development residents, Eddie Lee Kittrell passed away on Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023. He is survived by his daughters Thushaunda, Kim, Karish, Nakina, Deandra and Sharmila, his grandchildren Chariyah, DeAngelo, and Isaiah, and his four sisters, Lucille Kendricks, Piedy Kittrell, Nettie Kittrell and Carlean Kittrell, as well as by his many extended family members ..read more

Demands by Plaza East include transparent redevelopment plans and addressing repairs. Residents won’t be satisfied until the SFHA commits to their verbal promises.by Kevin Epps San Francisco – Against the backdrop of Plaza East, tenants and their allies will gather for a press conference on May 29, 2024, demanding accountability from the San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA). The event, organized by the Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco, aims to shed light on verbal commitments made to Plaza East tenants by top HUD officials during a site visit in March.  Plaza East, situated in ..read more

by Griffin Jones Fire crews enter the home of Carolyn, Luddie and Terry Williams at 11:35 a.m., shortly after a fast-moving fire engulfed the property. At 11:31 a.m. today, flames engulfed a two-story home at Grove and Fillmore Streets, recently the site of racist hate mail sent to Terry Williams, a lifelong figure in the Fillmore and local dog walker.  The one-alarm fire left the home in ruins and uninhabitable for the foreseeable future. Williams’ parents, Carolyn, 79, and Luddie, 82, were rescued by fire crews. Jonathan Baxter, San Francisco Fire Department Chief, said that Williams’ m ..read more

Starting as a competitive rap beef, this feud between two mainstream rappers has turned into a conversation on integrity, Black art and Black music being misused by interlopers within genres.by Kahfre Jay Can you say “low cultural IQ?” In recent Hip Hop exchanges, Kendrick Lamar’s lyrical challenge to Drake regarding his use of the word “nigga” has stirred significant controversy. Kendrick’s critique, however, has been misclassified by many outside the culture as colorism. Instead, it serves as a pointed call to protect Black cultural expressions from superficial appropriation and I will expla ..read more

by Griffin Jones A second racist mailer was sent out to Alamo Square resident Terry Williams in the early hours of May 5. Early this morning, May 5, a second ziplock bag filled with racist caricatures and threats was left at Terry Williams’ door, one block from Alamo Square Park. The bag contained cotton balls, a Ku Klux Klan flag and a printout stating “WE WILL CONTINUE TO EXTERMINATE YOU N— SLAVES” beneath a photo of Williams, who is Black, and racist depictions of Black people from the 1900s.  Williams, a local dog walker, is 49, and grew up in the neighborhood. Today’s racist mailer c ..read more

by Griffin Jones The suspect in the hate crime against Terry Williams walks up the southern side of Grove Street toward Steiner Street and Alamo Square Park. On Friday morning, April 26, a man woke up to take his dogs out for an early walk around Alamo Square park. When he opened his door, he found a bulky ziploc bag sitting just inside the front gate. Inside it was a doll painted black with a noose around its neck. The doll was covered in writing with expletives and racial slurs like “SAMBO” and “MONKEY.” In each of the doll’s hands were balls of cotton and printed out messages to “GO PICK CO ..read more