Event bridges gap between communities
Supervisor Shamann Walton and Rex Tabora, executive director of the Asian Pacific American Community Center, stood shoulder to shoulder in a Visitacion Valley park Saturday morning, both wearing S.F. Giants hats.
The two men, residents of nearby neighborhoods in the city’s southeast, also shared a goal: Building solidarity between the Black and Asian communities.
For the second year, Walton’s office organized the event to celebrate both Lunar New Year and Black History Month, bringing together a dozen city and community agencies for an information fair, speeches by elected and community leaders and performances including a Chinese lion dance, Asian female dance troupe and African drumming.
“We wanted to dispel myths that the Black community and the Asian community don’t get along and don’t speak to each other,” Walton said, when asked why it was important to celebrate the events together. “It’s important that we do this together to show our young people that our races come together, work together, enjoy each other’s company. Obviously the more time you spend with people, the more you get to know and understand the culture, the more you like each other and get along.”
Visitacion Valley is a diverse area that in 2021 was roughly 59 percent Asian, 15 percent white, 13 percent other, 6 percent Black and 5 percent one or more race, according to American Community Survey data. Walton noted that over the past 10 years, the Asian population has increased, while the Black population has continued to decline, as it has done for decades.
“This neighborhood has always been separated,” Tabora said. “People unfortunately, it’s not just in this neighborhood, keep to themselves. We want them to get to know the neighbors so we can promote and have a healthier and better neighborhood for the community.”
Stetson Hines, who lives down the street from the park, staffed a booth at the event for Black to the Future, where he works as a family support coordinator. The organization provides education and employment support, food and housing assistance, free therapy and violence prevention. Black Future is a special initiative of San Francisco nonprofit Young Community Developers.
When asked about the relationship between communities in the neighborhood, Hines said he does notice division, but not like it’s often portrayed in the media.
“It continues to be strengthened,” he said, pointing to grassroots initiatives building up both groups.
Tabora said he looked forward to more resources and attention in Visitacion Valley, such as developing a merchants association to build up business corridors, but he praised the city and Walton for already advocating to hire more bilingual police officers and community ambassadors.
Marlene Tran, a longtime neighborhood resident, educator and community activist, said support for the Asian American community has dramatically improved over 30 years. That includes information provided in four languages from the city, language access on 911 and community ambassadors that speak multiple languages, she said.
“We need to have more opportunities for our community, especially when things are translated,” she said.
Saturday’s event was one of those opportunities. Sun poured over a diverse crowd of Asian, Black, white and Latino families as children pushed on swings and parents listened to bilingual messages from Sheriff Paul Miyamoto, state Sen. Scott Wiener, the city’s head librarian, four school board members and leaders from a group called Visitacion Valley Community Unity.
Sarah Zhang was one neighborhood resident there who said Mandarin was her first language.
The in-home care worker said she likes living in the neighborhood, her home for 10 years, where she feels relatively safe. She came to the event to be a part of the community and to see if she could find an after school or summer program for her three kids.
But she also lucked out in the celebration of another, lesserknown occasion also commemorated at the event: the Feb. 27 celebration of National Pokémon Day. Zhang was delighted to be the winner of a pair of Pikachu sunglasses in the San Francisco public library’s raffle.