Landmark Town Hall Meeting in Bay View Hunter's Point

Very first Town Hall Meeting hosted by the Asian Pacific Islander Community in Bay View Hunter's Point

A Community that was once separated by religion, district, and color has come together. No one is untouched.

Bay View Opera House (3rd Street @ Oakdale)

July 16, 2009

"I think the Bay View has great needs, especially when it comes to it's economic needs. Bay View has a very rich history. Home to people who migrated to California from the south. They were part of an industry that was flourishing at the time.
There is some of the highest home ownership in the entire city, right in the Bay View. There are families who have been there for generations. Unfortunately as certain industries closed, the economic base of the community deteriorated. For a community to thrive it needs to have an economy that sustains income and revenue.
Every community needs to have a grocery store and a dry cleaners a family doctor and local physician. In San Francisco, we pride ourselves on being able to walk everywhere we need to go. In Bay View, you could be walking for a very long time in order to maintain a healthy, productive life. Bay View should be a focus for the entire city in terms of what we should be doing in order to achieve job prosperity." ~ District Attorney Kamala Harris, July 2009



On my way to the weekly townhall meetings that take place in the BayView Hunter's Point I walked through the scene of a drive by. There were cop cars surrounding the car that had the front door open and the side window shot out. I asked one of the brothers, " what happened?" He told me that another brother was shot while two kids sat in the back seat. I wondered where was all of the love behind this hood tragedy.

The BayView is plagued by a high murder rate and gang activity. Just recently has it gained access to a super market that sold fresh and healthy foods.

The townhall meetings offer hope to community that is in need. This specific townhall meeting was sponsored by the Pacific Islander community. The reception was very welcoming and I was quite happy to see so many black and Samoan people in the same place, having dialogue about how they can come together and make their community better. For so long the powers that be have divided people of color, tonight proved that the fact is no longer true.

Pastor Alex Toeaina started the meeting by stating, "Our Communities are Suffering."

Minister Christopher Muhammad touched on the issues of gentrification and how the "greedy corporate entities" are not focused on communities of color and their family but instead on the single, urban professional. He focused on the fact that the city does not want to clean up the BayView Shipyard for the sake of the current residents but will clean it up for new development.

JT the Bigga Figga, a well-known bay area rapper stated his concern for his community by stating that children are at the center of his movement. He wants children to realize their God given talent. He says through the cohesiveness of community children will be given the love and attention that they need.

It was great to see the number of young adults in attendance. I could see the hurt in these young scholars eyes but I also saw the glimmer of hope and that they are willing to fight for justice and equality. They brought up the fact that the number of women (the bearers of life) being incarcerated is rising. They were aware that the system works against them. They understood the fact the drugs might be cut in the community but the people in the community do not bring them there. They understood the ethnocentric educational system.

Willie Ratcliff, editor of the BayView Hunters Point Newspaper, remembered when people in the BayView didn't have to lock their doors. He urged the point to support locally owned black businesses and to understand the importance of economic sustainability.

Another woman from the audience stated that when she took her daughter to the doctor the doctor suggested that she move out of BVHP because the air is toxic. She wants to know why don't they move the poison out.

According the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Lennar, a housing development agency, was cited by the city because they were not monitoring asbestos containing dust correctly. Instead of going to court, Lennar paid the BVHP community $515,000 to pretend that nothing happened. There is still a debate going on about what should be done with the money that the community was given. A great suggestion would be to set up a clinic that will assess the impact that the asbestos containing dust had on the community.


BayView has some of the most beautiful views in the city of San Francisco but at the same time it is home to one of the most toxic waste sites in the country. I am amazed and inspired by the fighting spirit of the people in BVHP. They are exposed to toxins that make them more susceptible to cancer, asthma, still births, bloody eyes and nose bleeds on a daily basis and they are thoroughly concerned. How can this be justified and why isn't the government doing something about it? They are fighting for their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of land and they are not giving up.