Break Silence
Demetria Gigante
Demetria Gigante
October 22, 2019
Did you know that less than 3% of the city of San Francisco is Black? As a part of that 3% that fills out the census, when I see the double decker buses in the Tenderloin (red light district), I wonder what the riders are thinking, “Is this where the Last Black Man in San Francisco lives?”
Did you know that less than 3% of the city of San Francisco is Black? As a part of that 3% that fills out the census, when I see the double decker buses in the Tenderloin (red light district), I wonder what the riders are thinking, “Is this where the Last Black Man in San Francisco lives?”
What went wrong? Why are half the homeless population
African Americans who were born in San Francisco? Did our San Francisco Public
School system fail us? Did our public housing system fail us? I believe that
San Francisco residents who were born here deserve preference on ALL San Francisco housing.
And that 3% population may fall even more. Fentanyl (a
highly-addictive illegal drug) is killing more African Americans – San
Francisco General Hospital has reported that the majority of deaths from this
kind of overdose are Black.
Don’t forget about the often witnessed black-on-black
murders that are rarely solved because we allow our youth to use the community
for target practice. Do you think that may have something to do with it? And we
wonder why the smart ones move away. If we continue, there will be less than
3%.
We must BREAK SILENCE on the disproportionate impacts of
housing costs, drug addiction, and violence felt by the Black community. We
must understand what gentrification and redevelopment have done to our Black
community. And what can we do about it? Let’s take accountability to make sure
that our Black Lives Matter as native San Franciscans.
By Demetria Gigante
Click here to view the trailer for The Last Black Man in San Francisco
