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"content": "\u003cp>Here’s a sports history fact: In 2005, Wheaties released their first-ever special-edition box that featured an \u003ca href=\"https://www.alamy.com/wheaties-cereal-has-issued-a-special-edition-commemorative-package-honoring-the-wnba-championship-sacramento-monarchs-following-their-victory-over-the-connecticut-sun-in-the-wnba-finals-in-minneapolis-on-november-5-2005-thjs-package-marks-the-first-wheaties-appearance-for-the-monarchs-and-the-second-time-wheaties-has-honored-wnba-players-in-the-leagues-nine-year-history-upi-photobggeneral-mills-image258290158.html\">entire women’s professional team\u003c/a>. The famous breakfast of champions cereal had established a reputation for celebrating Olympians like Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan, but never a women’s team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The athletes who finally made executives at General Mills change their minds? The Sacramento Monarchs of the WNBA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Monarchs — who played basketball in the state capital as one the league’s founding eight franchises, beginning in 1997 — won a national championship that year, and later went to the White House to meet the President. To date, the Monarchs are the only professional team from Sacramento in any sport to achieve such a feat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989181\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-71779722.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1364\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989181\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-71779722.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-71779722-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-71779722-768x524.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-71779722-1536x1048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ticha Penicheiro of the Sacramento Monarchs throws a pass under the basket against Ruth Riley of the Detroit Shock during Game 3 of the 2006 WNBA Finals September 3, 2006 at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. \u003ccite>(Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Led by Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame stalwarts like Yolanda Griffith, Ruthie Bolton and Ticha Penicheiro, the Monarch squad became an enduring contender in a rugged, nascent era of the “W,” winning two Western Conference championships en route to their coveted league trophy. In their heyday, the Monarchs ranked among the league’s premier units, regularly amassing an army of women’s hoop supporters from across Northern California at Arco Arena. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what happened? Today, with record-breaking attendance for the WNBA and a zealous fanbase for the Golden State Valkyries in San Francisco, why do so few people remember the Monarchs? \u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘A Sacramento that could have been’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Despite disbanding in 2009, the Monarchs’ legacy remains intact in Sacramento, if you know where to look. Step inside Golden 1 Center in downtown Sacramento — home of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, and where the NCAA hosted games for the women’s March Madness tournament this season — and you’ll find Monarchs banners hanging high from otherwise empty rafters. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 1985, when the Kansas City Kings originally migrated to Sacramento to become the city’s first major professional sports team, the area has struggled to maintain credible franchises. They’ve even been the butt of jokes in national sports discourse (see: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13988509/oakland-as-athletics-west-sacramento\">the “West Sacramento” Athletics\u003c/a>). The Monarchs were the city’s defiant exception, reaching the postseason nine times in 13 seasons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989184\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1306px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-592470.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1306\" height=\"2000\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-592470.jpg 1306w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-592470-160x245.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-592470-768x1176.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-592470-1003x1536.jpg 1003w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1306px) 100vw, 1306px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ticha Penicheiro of the Sacramento Monarchs shoots a layup during the game against the Seattle Storm at Key Arena in Seattle, Washington.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, off the court, poor ownership decisions led to the team’s financial unraveling. After threats of moving both the Kings and Monarchs to Seattle or Anaheim, the Maloof family, who took control of both teams in 1998, decided to divest from the Monarchs and focus on their male NBA counterparts. The sudden announcement left a gaping vacuum in Northern California’s professional women’s basketball landscape for the next 15 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the Kings floundered, the Monarchs were largely forgotten by most. But not all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='news_12080384']“I’m a part of various Facebook groups for ‘Bring Back the Monarchs’ campaigns. With the rise of the WNBA and other teams, there’s a lot of chatter here to bring the team back,” says Terra Lopez, 41, a Sacramento-raised musician whose first job was as a Monarchs ball girl at age 15. “Why don’t we have them anymore? That love has never been lost. Around town, there are folks, including myself, who rock our Monarchs gear still. There’s an appreciation for the team.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Daniel Tutupoly, a 35-year-old barista, agrees. Though he first fell in love with basketball through the Kings, he quickly realized that the Monarchs were equally entertaining, not to mention more successful, than their male counterparts. Like Lopez, he has refused to completely relinquish his nostalgia for Sacramento’s bygone WNBA glory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[The loss of the Monarchs] doesn’t make any sense, in hindsight,” says Tutupoly, who grew up in Sacramento. “The owners just treated it like a business, rather than considering any of the cultural value. The team was an afterthought, always secondary to Kings. I know a bunch of people here who are excited about the Valkyries right now and drive out to games regularly. So imagine the support there would be for the Monarchs, compared to 20 years ago.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989186\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Monarchs7.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1321\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989186\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Monarchs7.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Monarchs7-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Monarchs7-768x507.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Monarchs7-1536x1015.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Long Live the Monarchs,’ a special issue of Daniel Tutupoly’s Late Pass zine. \u003ccite>(Daniel Tutupoly)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In April, Tutupoly released “Long Live The Monarchs,” a DIY zine dedicated solely to memories of the Monarchs. Inspired by old school issues of \u003ci>Sports Illustrated for Kids\u003c/i>, the Monarchs-edition zine — part of a larger series,\u003ci> Latepass\u003c/i>, that Tutupoly began making during the pandemic — includes crossword puzzles, digital collages, individual player statistics, stickers and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a physical vestige of the city’s pride and pain, of having lost despite winning, of everything that Sacramento was and no longer is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Monarchs represent a Sacramento that could have been, in sports but also in every sector of the city,” says Lopez, who played basketball at Sacramento High School as a teenager and recalls the team’s social and cultural impact early on. “[The Monarchs] really took the time outside of their games to connect with younger players in the city. That meant everything to me and all of my teammates, and Sacramento in general. It gave us something to embody and envision in a future that we didn’t have before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Queens on and off the court \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2020, Lopez launched \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/17eCJqKWuWejH6qKPFRrH5\">\u003ci>The WNBA History Club\u003c/i>,\u003c/a> a podcast that briefly looks at the league’s founding and figures (Lopez later hosted the NPR-syndicated podcast, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/1199077847/this-is-what-it-feels-like\">\u003ci>This is What It Feels Like\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, in 2023). Through it all, she has maintained a vociferous fandom of the Monarchs, having attended the inaugural Monarchs game in 1997 and participated in early community events hosted by the team in local parking lots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989183\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1495px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-55731316.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1495\" height=\"2000\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989183\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-55731316.jpg 1495w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-55731316-160x214.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-55731316-768x1027.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-55731316-1148x1536.jpg 1148w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1495px) 100vw, 1495px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yolanda Griffith of the Sacramento Monarchs celebrates after defeating the Connecticut Sun during Game 4 to win the WNBA Finals September 20, 2005 at Arco Arena in Sacramento, California. \u003ccite>(Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In addition to the larger-than-life players, an essential element of the Monarchs’ social contributions to Sacramento came from the fans themselves, many of whom were openly queer. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As a queer person, that was my first representation of seeing queer elders,” Lopez says. “That was out in the open for me for the first time. Queer, older people experiencing joy. That was powerful for me, to know I could have that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It all ended far too quickly. In an interview on \u003ci>Knuckleheads\u003c/i>, a reputable NBA player podcast, Monarchs’ All-Star point guard Ticha Penicheir said that “the team folded in 2009 and it was kind of out of nowhere, nobody expected it. We never really had a chance to say goodbye to our fans. To thank them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a commonly held sentiment by local fans. The way in which the team’s demise came out of thin air is particularly Sacramentan, according to Lopez, who says the city has constantly fumbled good opportunities due to a conservative mindset. Perhaps that has been the hardest part of it all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989180\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-57625648.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1463\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989180\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-57625648.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-57625648-160x117.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-57625648-768x562.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-57625648-1536x1124.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">President George W. Bush looks at a jersey as Yolanda Griffith, from the 2005 WNBA Champion Sacramento Monarchs, presents it to him at the White House May 16, 2006 in Washington, DC. \u003ccite>(Win McNamee/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“You had to be there to really understand the significance of it for Sacramento: historically, culturally, not only in sports,” Lopez says. “From a fan’s perspective, we had so much going. There was so much more potential left. But as tragic as losing the Monarchs was, the people who were in the building at Arco [have] a love and pride for the team that is so palpable. That still exists in Sacramento, too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As it turns out, the most important words that Monarchs fans would ever hear came from the in-game announcer during the 2005 WNBA Finals, who enthusiastically called out for the first and last time in Sacramento’s tormented sporting existence: “Rejoice, capital city, rejoice!”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Here’s a sports history fact: In 2005, Wheaties released their first-ever special-edition box that featured an \u003ca href=\"https://www.alamy.com/wheaties-cereal-has-issued-a-special-edition-commemorative-package-honoring-the-wnba-championship-sacramento-monarchs-following-their-victory-over-the-connecticut-sun-in-the-wnba-finals-in-minneapolis-on-november-5-2005-thjs-package-marks-the-first-wheaties-appearance-for-the-monarchs-and-the-second-time-wheaties-has-honored-wnba-players-in-the-leagues-nine-year-history-upi-photobggeneral-mills-image258290158.html\">entire women’s professional team\u003c/a>. The famous breakfast of champions cereal had established a reputation for celebrating Olympians like Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan, but never a women’s team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The athletes who finally made executives at General Mills change their minds? The Sacramento Monarchs of the WNBA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Monarchs — who played basketball in the state capital as one the league’s founding eight franchises, beginning in 1997 — won a national championship that year, and later went to the White House to meet the President. To date, the Monarchs are the only professional team from Sacramento in any sport to achieve such a feat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989181\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-71779722.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1364\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989181\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-71779722.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-71779722-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-71779722-768x524.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-71779722-1536x1048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ticha Penicheiro of the Sacramento Monarchs throws a pass under the basket against Ruth Riley of the Detroit Shock during Game 3 of the 2006 WNBA Finals September 3, 2006 at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. \u003ccite>(Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Led by Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame stalwarts like Yolanda Griffith, Ruthie Bolton and Ticha Penicheiro, the Monarch squad became an enduring contender in a rugged, nascent era of the “W,” winning two Western Conference championships en route to their coveted league trophy. In their heyday, the Monarchs ranked among the league’s premier units, regularly amassing an army of women’s hoop supporters from across Northern California at Arco Arena. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what happened? Today, with record-breaking attendance for the WNBA and a zealous fanbase for the Golden State Valkyries in San Francisco, why do so few people remember the Monarchs? \u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘A Sacramento that could have been’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Despite disbanding in 2009, the Monarchs’ legacy remains intact in Sacramento, if you know where to look. Step inside Golden 1 Center in downtown Sacramento — home of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, and where the NCAA hosted games for the women’s March Madness tournament this season — and you’ll find Monarchs banners hanging high from otherwise empty rafters. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 1985, when the Kansas City Kings originally migrated to Sacramento to become the city’s first major professional sports team, the area has struggled to maintain credible franchises. They’ve even been the butt of jokes in national sports discourse (see: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13988509/oakland-as-athletics-west-sacramento\">the “West Sacramento” Athletics\u003c/a>). The Monarchs were the city’s defiant exception, reaching the postseason nine times in 13 seasons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989184\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1306px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-592470.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1306\" height=\"2000\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-592470.jpg 1306w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-592470-160x245.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-592470-768x1176.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-592470-1003x1536.jpg 1003w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1306px) 100vw, 1306px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ticha Penicheiro of the Sacramento Monarchs shoots a layup during the game against the Seattle Storm at Key Arena in Seattle, Washington.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, off the court, poor ownership decisions led to the team’s financial unraveling. After threats of moving both the Kings and Monarchs to Seattle or Anaheim, the Maloof family, who took control of both teams in 1998, decided to divest from the Monarchs and focus on their male NBA counterparts. The sudden announcement left a gaping vacuum in Northern California’s professional women’s basketball landscape for the next 15 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the Kings floundered, the Monarchs were largely forgotten by most. But not all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I’m a part of various Facebook groups for ‘Bring Back the Monarchs’ campaigns. With the rise of the WNBA and other teams, there’s a lot of chatter here to bring the team back,” says Terra Lopez, 41, a Sacramento-raised musician whose first job was as a Monarchs ball girl at age 15. “Why don’t we have them anymore? That love has never been lost. Around town, there are folks, including myself, who rock our Monarchs gear still. There’s an appreciation for the team.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Daniel Tutupoly, a 35-year-old barista, agrees. Though he first fell in love with basketball through the Kings, he quickly realized that the Monarchs were equally entertaining, not to mention more successful, than their male counterparts. Like Lopez, he has refused to completely relinquish his nostalgia for Sacramento’s bygone WNBA glory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[The loss of the Monarchs] doesn’t make any sense, in hindsight,” says Tutupoly, who grew up in Sacramento. “The owners just treated it like a business, rather than considering any of the cultural value. The team was an afterthought, always secondary to Kings. I know a bunch of people here who are excited about the Valkyries right now and drive out to games regularly. So imagine the support there would be for the Monarchs, compared to 20 years ago.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989186\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Monarchs7.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1321\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989186\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Monarchs7.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Monarchs7-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Monarchs7-768x507.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Monarchs7-1536x1015.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Long Live the Monarchs,’ a special issue of Daniel Tutupoly’s Late Pass zine. \u003ccite>(Daniel Tutupoly)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In April, Tutupoly released “Long Live The Monarchs,” a DIY zine dedicated solely to memories of the Monarchs. Inspired by old school issues of \u003ci>Sports Illustrated for Kids\u003c/i>, the Monarchs-edition zine — part of a larger series,\u003ci> Latepass\u003c/i>, that Tutupoly began making during the pandemic — includes crossword puzzles, digital collages, individual player statistics, stickers and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a physical vestige of the city’s pride and pain, of having lost despite winning, of everything that Sacramento was and no longer is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Monarchs represent a Sacramento that could have been, in sports but also in every sector of the city,” says Lopez, who played basketball at Sacramento High School as a teenager and recalls the team’s social and cultural impact early on. “[The Monarchs] really took the time outside of their games to connect with younger players in the city. That meant everything to me and all of my teammates, and Sacramento in general. It gave us something to embody and envision in a future that we didn’t have before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Queens on and off the court \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2020, Lopez launched \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/17eCJqKWuWejH6qKPFRrH5\">\u003ci>The WNBA History Club\u003c/i>,\u003c/a> a podcast that briefly looks at the league’s founding and figures (Lopez later hosted the NPR-syndicated podcast, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/1199077847/this-is-what-it-feels-like\">\u003ci>This is What It Feels Like\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, in 2023). Through it all, she has maintained a vociferous fandom of the Monarchs, having attended the inaugural Monarchs game in 1997 and participated in early community events hosted by the team in local parking lots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989183\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1495px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-55731316.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1495\" height=\"2000\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989183\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-55731316.jpg 1495w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-55731316-160x214.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-55731316-768x1027.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-55731316-1148x1536.jpg 1148w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1495px) 100vw, 1495px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yolanda Griffith of the Sacramento Monarchs celebrates after defeating the Connecticut Sun during Game 4 to win the WNBA Finals September 20, 2005 at Arco Arena in Sacramento, California. \u003ccite>(Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In addition to the larger-than-life players, an essential element of the Monarchs’ social contributions to Sacramento came from the fans themselves, many of whom were openly queer. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As a queer person, that was my first representation of seeing queer elders,” Lopez says. “That was out in the open for me for the first time. Queer, older people experiencing joy. That was powerful for me, to know I could have that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It all ended far too quickly. In an interview on \u003ci>Knuckleheads\u003c/i>, a reputable NBA player podcast, Monarchs’ All-Star point guard Ticha Penicheir said that “the team folded in 2009 and it was kind of out of nowhere, nobody expected it. We never really had a chance to say goodbye to our fans. To thank them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a commonly held sentiment by local fans. The way in which the team’s demise came out of thin air is particularly Sacramentan, according to Lopez, who says the city has constantly fumbled good opportunities due to a conservative mindset. Perhaps that has been the hardest part of it all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989180\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-57625648.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1463\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989180\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-57625648.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-57625648-160x117.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-57625648-768x562.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/GettyImages-57625648-1536x1124.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">President George W. Bush looks at a jersey as Yolanda Griffith, from the 2005 WNBA Champion Sacramento Monarchs, presents it to him at the White House May 16, 2006 in Washington, DC. \u003ccite>(Win McNamee/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“You had to be there to really understand the significance of it for Sacramento: historically, culturally, not only in sports,” Lopez says. “From a fan’s perspective, we had so much going. There was so much more potential left. But as tragic as losing the Monarchs was, the people who were in the building at Arco [have] a love and pride for the team that is so palpable. That still exists in Sacramento, too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As it turns out, the most important words that Monarchs fans would ever hear came from the in-game announcer during the 2005 WNBA Finals, who enthusiastically called out for the first and last time in Sacramento’s tormented sporting existence: “Rejoice, capital city, rejoice!”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "etruscan-art-legion-of-honor-review-ancient-italy-roman",
"title": "Forget the Roman Empire — Think About the Etruscans Instead",
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"headTitle": "Forget the Roman Empire — Think About the Etruscans Instead | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Empires get all the credit. And yet it was the Etruscans, the people who lived in present-day Tuscany between 900 and 100 B.C., who taught the Romans about viticulture, urban planning and complex hydraulic works. Without the Etruscans there would be no toga, or what we now call Roman numerals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For too long, as curator Renée Dreyfus argues in her Legion of Honor exhibition \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.famsf.org/exhibitions/etruscans-heart-ancient-italy\">The Etruscans: From the Heart of Ancient Italy\u003c/a>\u003c/i>, Etruscan culture has been overshadowed by the Greeks and Romans. The Etruscans are considered “mysterious” or “unknowable,” but as the show’s introductory video says, we just need to dig deeper — literally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Etruscans\u003c/i> gathers the latest scholarship and over 150 objects for the largest-ever presentation of Etruscan art and artifacts outside of Italy. An international roster of over two dozen institutions has loaned what are clearly treasures to this show; some have left their host museums for the first time since they were discovered. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989112\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/0589-Legion-Etruscans-Sexton_2000.jpg\" alt=\"curved display with objects in vitrines, show title in black on wall\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989112\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/0589-Legion-Etruscans-Sexton_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/0589-Legion-Etruscans-Sexton_2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/0589-Legion-Etruscans-Sexton_2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/0589-Legion-Etruscans-Sexton_2000-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Installation view of ‘The Etruscans: From The Heart of Ancient Italy’ at the Legion of Honor. \u003ccite>(Photo by Gary Sexton; courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Much of what we see at the Legion of Honor comes from the tombs of the elite: finely wrought jewelry, delicately painted pottery, everything needed to live well in the afterlife. (This includes eating and partying — the Etruscans were devoted to their banquets.) \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the show also contains objects made for the living: a model for the study of divination, votive figures of the Etruscans’ many gods, and small bronzes found in the thermal waters of San Casciano dei Bagni. That model, the “Liver of Piacenza,” is one of the most remarkable objects on display. The life-sized bronze replica of a sheep’s liver is inscribed with the names of Etruscan deities; it acted as a guide to reading the entrails of sacrificed animals, which in turn determined the will of the gods. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989115\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/MS_310311_20201118-01_2000.jpg\" alt=\"bronze object covered in inscriptions\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989115\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/MS_310311_20201118-01_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/MS_310311_20201118-01_2000-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/MS_310311_20201118-01_2000-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/MS_310311_20201118-01_2000-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Etruscan model of a sheep’s liver, found in Piacenza, second century B.C. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the Musei Civici di Palazzo Farnese, Piacenza)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While the Etruscans used the Greek alphabet, generally read right to left, their language was a unique non-Indo-European tongue with no known antecedents or modern descendants. Most of the Etruscan writing that exists now is funerary inscriptions on objects, short phrases of ownership or dedication. But at the Legion of Honor — incredibly rare thing alert! — we also get to see the longest example of Etruscan writing: a wide, framed display on strips of linen that has its own incredible backstory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ci>Liber linteus zagrabiensis\u003c/i> (Linen book of Zagreb) is the longest-surviving Etruscan text (aka Europe’s oldest book). Believed to be a calendar of ritual sacrifices and prayers, it dates back to the mid-third century B.C. The text exists \u003ci>only\u003c/i> because the manuscript was cut into strips and used to wrap an Egyptian mummy. Preserved by Egypt’s dry climate, the deconstructed book was identified as Etruscian writing in 1892, nearly 50 years after it was purchased in Alexandria.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989116\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/0391-Legion-Etruscans-Sexton_2000.jpg\" alt=\"person stands in front of wide frame holding strips of linen\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989116\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/0391-Legion-Etruscans-Sexton_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/0391-Legion-Etruscans-Sexton_2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/0391-Legion-Etruscans-Sexton_2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/0391-Legion-Etruscans-Sexton_2000-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Installation view of ‘Liber linteus zagrabiensis’ in ‘The Etruscans: From The Heart of Ancient Italy’ at the Legion of Honor. \u003ccite>(Photo by Gary Sexton; courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That may seem oh so long ago, but scholars and archeologists are still making new discoveries about the Etruscans today. The small sculptures excavated from the mud of San Casciano dei Bagni, on display in the exhibition’s final gallery, were found just two years ago. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s hard to make an ancient civilization come alive for modern audiences. It helps that so many of the objects on view are playful, animated: a handle made from a bent-backwards body, a wonderfully elongated figure, a cup in the shape of a leg. \u003ci>The Etruscans\u003c/i> also stresses again and again just what made these people unique, especially in comparison to the empire that eventually subsumed them. (Etruscans became Roman citizens in 89 B.C.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989119\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/DIGITAL-26-etruscans-web-image-R1-V8-cinerary-urn_2000.jpg\" alt=\"terracotta sculpture of man and woman lounging together\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989119\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/DIGITAL-26-etruscans-web-image-R1-V8-cinerary-urn_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/DIGITAL-26-etruscans-web-image-R1-V8-cinerary-urn_2000-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/DIGITAL-26-etruscans-web-image-R1-V8-cinerary-urn_2000-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/DIGITAL-26-etruscans-web-image-R1-V8-cinerary-urn_2000-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/DIGITAL-26-etruscans-web-image-R1-V8-cinerary-urn_2000-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cinerary urn of the spouses, Etruscan, Caere, 520–500 B.C. \u003ccite>(Musée du Louvre)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Women, in particular, enjoyed an elevated status in Etruscan society. They were highly literate, could inherit property, kept their maiden names and participated in public life. A reproduction of a painting in the Tomb of the Leopards spreads across one wall of the exhibition, showing both men and women lounging, conversing and generally enjoying themselves at a banquet. Greek symposia, in contrast, were the sole domain of aristocratic men.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The society that emerges through this exhibition is one of great wealth (the fine detail on the jewelry, holy moly) and great joy. Only people with a sense of delight would carve a toiletries box in the shape of a fawn. Or put such enigmatic and peaceful smiles on their renderings of the dead. You may emerge from the subterranean depths of the Legion of Honor wishing a bit more of Etruscan culture seeped its way into the Roman world, and, eventually, Western civilization.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.famsf.org/exhibitions/etruscans-heart-ancient-italy\">The Etruscans: From the Heart of Ancient Italy\u003c/a>’ is on view at the Legion of Honor (100 34th Ave., San Francisco) May 2–Sept. 20, 2026.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "‘Etruscans’ at Legion of Honor: Ancient Culture Gets its Due | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Empires get all the credit. And yet it was the Etruscans, the people who lived in present-day Tuscany between 900 and 100 B.C., who taught the Romans about viticulture, urban planning and complex hydraulic works. Without the Etruscans there would be no toga, or what we now call Roman numerals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For too long, as curator Renée Dreyfus argues in her Legion of Honor exhibition \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.famsf.org/exhibitions/etruscans-heart-ancient-italy\">The Etruscans: From the Heart of Ancient Italy\u003c/a>\u003c/i>, Etruscan culture has been overshadowed by the Greeks and Romans. The Etruscans are considered “mysterious” or “unknowable,” but as the show’s introductory video says, we just need to dig deeper — literally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Etruscans\u003c/i> gathers the latest scholarship and over 150 objects for the largest-ever presentation of Etruscan art and artifacts outside of Italy. An international roster of over two dozen institutions has loaned what are clearly treasures to this show; some have left their host museums for the first time since they were discovered. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989112\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/0589-Legion-Etruscans-Sexton_2000.jpg\" alt=\"curved display with objects in vitrines, show title in black on wall\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989112\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/0589-Legion-Etruscans-Sexton_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/0589-Legion-Etruscans-Sexton_2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/0589-Legion-Etruscans-Sexton_2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/0589-Legion-Etruscans-Sexton_2000-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Installation view of ‘The Etruscans: From The Heart of Ancient Italy’ at the Legion of Honor. \u003ccite>(Photo by Gary Sexton; courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Much of what we see at the Legion of Honor comes from the tombs of the elite: finely wrought jewelry, delicately painted pottery, everything needed to live well in the afterlife. (This includes eating and partying — the Etruscans were devoted to their banquets.) \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the show also contains objects made for the living: a model for the study of divination, votive figures of the Etruscans’ many gods, and small bronzes found in the thermal waters of San Casciano dei Bagni. That model, the “Liver of Piacenza,” is one of the most remarkable objects on display. The life-sized bronze replica of a sheep’s liver is inscribed with the names of Etruscan deities; it acted as a guide to reading the entrails of sacrificed animals, which in turn determined the will of the gods. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989115\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/MS_310311_20201118-01_2000.jpg\" alt=\"bronze object covered in inscriptions\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989115\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/MS_310311_20201118-01_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/MS_310311_20201118-01_2000-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/MS_310311_20201118-01_2000-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/MS_310311_20201118-01_2000-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Etruscan model of a sheep’s liver, found in Piacenza, second century B.C. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the Musei Civici di Palazzo Farnese, Piacenza)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While the Etruscans used the Greek alphabet, generally read right to left, their language was a unique non-Indo-European tongue with no known antecedents or modern descendants. Most of the Etruscan writing that exists now is funerary inscriptions on objects, short phrases of ownership or dedication. But at the Legion of Honor — incredibly rare thing alert! — we also get to see the longest example of Etruscan writing: a wide, framed display on strips of linen that has its own incredible backstory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ci>Liber linteus zagrabiensis\u003c/i> (Linen book of Zagreb) is the longest-surviving Etruscan text (aka Europe’s oldest book). Believed to be a calendar of ritual sacrifices and prayers, it dates back to the mid-third century B.C. The text exists \u003ci>only\u003c/i> because the manuscript was cut into strips and used to wrap an Egyptian mummy. Preserved by Egypt’s dry climate, the deconstructed book was identified as Etruscian writing in 1892, nearly 50 years after it was purchased in Alexandria.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989116\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/0391-Legion-Etruscans-Sexton_2000.jpg\" alt=\"person stands in front of wide frame holding strips of linen\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989116\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/0391-Legion-Etruscans-Sexton_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/0391-Legion-Etruscans-Sexton_2000-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/0391-Legion-Etruscans-Sexton_2000-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/0391-Legion-Etruscans-Sexton_2000-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Installation view of ‘Liber linteus zagrabiensis’ in ‘The Etruscans: From The Heart of Ancient Italy’ at the Legion of Honor. \u003ccite>(Photo by Gary Sexton; courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That may seem oh so long ago, but scholars and archeologists are still making new discoveries about the Etruscans today. The small sculptures excavated from the mud of San Casciano dei Bagni, on display in the exhibition’s final gallery, were found just two years ago. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s hard to make an ancient civilization come alive for modern audiences. It helps that so many of the objects on view are playful, animated: a handle made from a bent-backwards body, a wonderfully elongated figure, a cup in the shape of a leg. \u003ci>The Etruscans\u003c/i> also stresses again and again just what made these people unique, especially in comparison to the empire that eventually subsumed them. (Etruscans became Roman citizens in 89 B.C.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989119\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/DIGITAL-26-etruscans-web-image-R1-V8-cinerary-urn_2000.jpg\" alt=\"terracotta sculpture of man and woman lounging together\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989119\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/DIGITAL-26-etruscans-web-image-R1-V8-cinerary-urn_2000.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/DIGITAL-26-etruscans-web-image-R1-V8-cinerary-urn_2000-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/DIGITAL-26-etruscans-web-image-R1-V8-cinerary-urn_2000-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/DIGITAL-26-etruscans-web-image-R1-V8-cinerary-urn_2000-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/DIGITAL-26-etruscans-web-image-R1-V8-cinerary-urn_2000-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cinerary urn of the spouses, Etruscan, Caere, 520–500 B.C. \u003ccite>(Musée du Louvre)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Women, in particular, enjoyed an elevated status in Etruscan society. They were highly literate, could inherit property, kept their maiden names and participated in public life. A reproduction of a painting in the Tomb of the Leopards spreads across one wall of the exhibition, showing both men and women lounging, conversing and generally enjoying themselves at a banquet. Greek symposia, in contrast, were the sole domain of aristocratic men.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The society that emerges through this exhibition is one of great wealth (the fine detail on the jewelry, holy moly) and great joy. Only people with a sense of delight would carve a toiletries box in the shape of a fawn. Or put such enigmatic and peaceful smiles on their renderings of the dead. You may emerge from the subterranean depths of the Legion of Honor wishing a bit more of Etruscan culture seeped its way into the Roman world, and, eventually, Western civilization.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.famsf.org/exhibitions/etruscans-heart-ancient-italy\">The Etruscans: From the Heart of Ancient Italy\u003c/a>’ is on view at the Legion of Honor (100 34th Ave., San Francisco) May 2–Sept. 20, 2026.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "aids-memorial-quilt-photography-redigitization-san-leandro",
"title": "How a Small Team Is Bringing the AIDS Memorial Quilt into Sharp Focus",
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"headTitle": "How a Small Team Is Bringing the AIDS Memorial Quilt into Sharp Focus | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>On a recent morning in an unmarked, unfinished San Leandro storefront, Michael Berg and Will Roczkos crouch over a bright blue block of \u003ca href=\"https://www.aidsmemorial.org/quilt\">AIDS Memorial Quilt\u003c/a> panels. Each of the eight panels in the block, made by people to honor their loved ones, contains an impressive array of creative embellishments: spray paint, rhinestones, intricate hand-stitching, and photos — inside plastic sleeves or printed right into the fabric.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berg and Roczkos are the first two volunteers working on a redigitization project with Roddy Williams, the manager of the 54-ton quilt. The process includes photographing every block, entering metadata, and redesigning the current database. Funded by a grant from the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, Williams expects the project to take eight months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In much the same way that the HIV/AIDS pandemic has had a rolling, unending impact on millions worldwide since HIV was identified in 1981, the influence of the 500,000-panel quilt continues to evolve. Conceived by San Francisco activist \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11950268/still-under-threat-on-harvey-milk-day-leading-activist-says-lgbtq-leaders-face-dangers-decades-after-assassination\">Cleve Jones\u003c/a>, the first AIDS Memorial Quilt panels were made in 1987. Each panel measures three by six feet, roughly the size of a human grave. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989055\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-19-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"view into storage space with folded quilts stacked high on shelves\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989055\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-19-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-19-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-19-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-19-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A San Leandro warehouse houses the AIDS Memorial Quilt. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Panels are then sewn into 12-by-12-foot blocks by Gert McMullin, the so-called \u003ca href=\"https://www.aidsmemorial.org/post/gert-mcmullin\">mother of the quilt\u003c/a>, who thoughtfully creates a miniature crazy quilt in every block, joining panels with similar colors and patterns. When publicly displayed, viewers can read panels from any side of the block.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While sections are always loaned out for public displays, most of the quilt is stored in a warehouse a 10-minute drive from the makeshift photography studio. Heavy quilt blocks catalogued and carefully folded sit in stacks on ceiling-high shelves. A few requisite ladders are scattered throughout the skylight-lit space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Survivors continue to make and send new quilt panels to the warehouse all the time. It’s also common for families cleaning out an attic to find a panel made many years ago and to contribute it now, including in the parcel notes and ephemera about the person who died of AIDS. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989060\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-31-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"handwritten note from son to father on part of quilt, red hearts below\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989060\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-31-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-31-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-31-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-31-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A detail on a panel of the AIDS Memorial Quilt before it is photographed for an archiving project at a warehouse in San Leandro on April 15, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Williams notes that some families make multiple panels for their loved one, like John Politano Jr.’s parents. Politano died of AIDS in 1986 at age 25, and his parents made a second panel in the late 1990s to continue his legacy. Currently, details on the second panel appear blurry online. But once new photos are taken and uploaded, anyone will be able to read their open letter to their child, which includes a moving description of the impact of public quilt exhibitions. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Your first panel has faded through constant use, and that is okay. You see, if your panel did not get used, or was not seen by people from all over the country, then the message would not get out,” it reads. “AIDS is real, and real people die from AIDS. This new panel that Ma and I have made for you is different from the first, but the message is the same. \u003cem>You are our son, and we love you!\u003c/em>”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>An unfolding project\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Williams became the quilt’s manager 23 years ago in Atlanta, Georgia, where it was housed from 2001 until it returned to the Bay Area in 2021. The Library of Congress \u003ca href=\"https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2019/11/afc-is-acquiring-the-archival-collections-of-the-names-project-aids-memorial-quilt/\">assumed responsibility\u003c/a> for the over 200,000 photos, letters, news clippings, and other mementos that loved ones included when sending panels to the quilt caretakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the U.S., more than 630,000 individuals have died of AIDS. Globally, the disease has killed 40 million people, with an additional estimated 40 million living with HIV. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the past year, President Trump obliterated major global HIV/AIDS prevention and care programs by \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/07/01/nx-s1-5452513/trump-usaid-foreign-aid-deaths\">shuttering USAID\u003c/a> and freezing foreign aid, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/04/23/g-s1-118221/hiv-aids-pepfar-trump-foreign-aid\">impacts projects like PEPFAR\u003c/a> (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), instituted in 2003. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989053\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-34-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"older white man kneels and reaches across quilt\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989053\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-34-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-34-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-34-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-34-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Will Roczkos, with the National AIDS Memorial, helps clean panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt before they are photographed for an archiving project at a warehouse in San Leandro on April 15, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Quilt volunteer Roczkos noted that because of the current administration’s devastating actions, preserving the quilt and increasing accessibility to its handmade tributes feels more urgent than ever. “More people will die now,” he says, gesturing at a panel he’s gently cleaning with a tape roller, readying it for a photo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since its inception nearly 40 years ago, the quilt has been thoroughly documented, both the individual panels and the increasingly large-scale public displays. Even if someone has never seen the quilt panels on display, they may have a mental image of blocks spread across the National Mall in Washington, D.C. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic, when physical exhibitions were suspended, database searches skyrocketed, with survivors of a new plague looking to the quilt for solace. (In 2020, McMullin and volunteers even \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/extra-fabric-aids-memorial-quilt-used-coronavirus-masks-n1183501\">sewed cloth masks\u003c/a> using fabric leftover from quilt panels.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berg is one steward who’s worked on the project from the beginning. Over nearly 40 years, he’s held a variety of roles, including president of the board of directors for the NAMES Project, the quilt’s original moniker. He even photographed the quilt back in the late 1980s. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Of course, the technology has improved,” he muses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989058\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-27-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"older white man kneels beside quilt with lint roller\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989058\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-27-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-27-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-27-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-27-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Berg, a volunteer, helps clean panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt before they are photographed for an archiving project at a warehouse in San Leandro on April 15, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In recent years, Williams has received several emails every week asking for high-quality photos of a loved one’s panel. While every panel is technically viewable online, small details are often blurry; the images were taken long ago, with lower-resolution cameras. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One evocative email from a parent asked whether Williams could share high-resolution photos from a quilt panel because a house fire had destroyed all other remaining photos of their son. Williams individually responds to every request by physically climbing a tall ladder, carrying a block to the floor, gently unfolding it, and photographing the desired panel.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A stitched-together story\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>To replace all of the images currently online with higher-resolution photos, Williams is \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSemDi4I0pS4mVBFM-M_LvI7zKgZARvEd1gG-h701y3S0wIvGw/viewform\">actively seeking support\u003c/a>. Volunteers work in pairs to clean each block and mount it vertically to be photographed. The work requires a lot of physicality, both kneeling over a block placed on an enormous stress mat, and moving around its circumference, bending and stretching to remove stray threads or tidy up the endless messiness of glitter. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blocks with felt embellishments are managed separately, as pressed wool collects extensive debris, especially when displayed outdoors or on a lawn, and requires intensive cleaning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989054\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-26-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"photo flash umbrellas surround a large-scale quilt hanging on wall\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989054\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-26-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-26-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-26-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-26-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A panel of the AIDS Memorial Quilt hangs to be photographed for an archiving project at a warehouse in San Leandro on April 15, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Once a block is ready to be photographed, a cord is pulled taut through its grommets to vertically position it against a thick black background panel. Four large white numbers attached to one side of the backing panel are changed out, depicting each block number, the cataloging system for a project of this magnitude. Caretakers remove any last bits of dust or debris with yet another tape roller on a comically long-armed handle. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As seasoned volunteers like Berg and Roczkos fall into a rhythm, the entire per-block process can drop to between three and six minutes. Over two recent days at the studio space, the two men cleaned and mounted 90 blocks for photos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This massive undertaking ensures that the physical panels, and all the lives they honor, will be preserved and accessible to all, for all time. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is how volunteers help tell the story of the quilt,” Williams says. \u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>To volunteer with the AIDS Memorial Quilt redigitization project, \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSemDi4I0pS4mVBFM-M_LvI7zKgZARvEd1gG-h701y3S0wIvGw/viewform\">click here\u003c/a>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Nearly 40 years after the project started, volunteers are rephotographing the 500,000-panel collaborative artwork.",
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"title": "Bringing the AIDS Memorial Quilt into Sharp Focus | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On a recent morning in an unmarked, unfinished San Leandro storefront, Michael Berg and Will Roczkos crouch over a bright blue block of \u003ca href=\"https://www.aidsmemorial.org/quilt\">AIDS Memorial Quilt\u003c/a> panels. Each of the eight panels in the block, made by people to honor their loved ones, contains an impressive array of creative embellishments: spray paint, rhinestones, intricate hand-stitching, and photos — inside plastic sleeves or printed right into the fabric.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berg and Roczkos are the first two volunteers working on a redigitization project with Roddy Williams, the manager of the 54-ton quilt. The process includes photographing every block, entering metadata, and redesigning the current database. Funded by a grant from the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, Williams expects the project to take eight months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In much the same way that the HIV/AIDS pandemic has had a rolling, unending impact on millions worldwide since HIV was identified in 1981, the influence of the 500,000-panel quilt continues to evolve. Conceived by San Francisco activist \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11950268/still-under-threat-on-harvey-milk-day-leading-activist-says-lgbtq-leaders-face-dangers-decades-after-assassination\">Cleve Jones\u003c/a>, the first AIDS Memorial Quilt panels were made in 1987. Each panel measures three by six feet, roughly the size of a human grave. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989055\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-19-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"view into storage space with folded quilts stacked high on shelves\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989055\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-19-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-19-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-19-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-19-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A San Leandro warehouse houses the AIDS Memorial Quilt. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Panels are then sewn into 12-by-12-foot blocks by Gert McMullin, the so-called \u003ca href=\"https://www.aidsmemorial.org/post/gert-mcmullin\">mother of the quilt\u003c/a>, who thoughtfully creates a miniature crazy quilt in every block, joining panels with similar colors and patterns. When publicly displayed, viewers can read panels from any side of the block.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While sections are always loaned out for public displays, most of the quilt is stored in a warehouse a 10-minute drive from the makeshift photography studio. Heavy quilt blocks catalogued and carefully folded sit in stacks on ceiling-high shelves. A few requisite ladders are scattered throughout the skylight-lit space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Survivors continue to make and send new quilt panels to the warehouse all the time. It’s also common for families cleaning out an attic to find a panel made many years ago and to contribute it now, including in the parcel notes and ephemera about the person who died of AIDS. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989060\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-31-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"handwritten note from son to father on part of quilt, red hearts below\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989060\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-31-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-31-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-31-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-31-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A detail on a panel of the AIDS Memorial Quilt before it is photographed for an archiving project at a warehouse in San Leandro on April 15, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Williams notes that some families make multiple panels for their loved one, like John Politano Jr.’s parents. Politano died of AIDS in 1986 at age 25, and his parents made a second panel in the late 1990s to continue his legacy. Currently, details on the second panel appear blurry online. But once new photos are taken and uploaded, anyone will be able to read their open letter to their child, which includes a moving description of the impact of public quilt exhibitions. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Your first panel has faded through constant use, and that is okay. You see, if your panel did not get used, or was not seen by people from all over the country, then the message would not get out,” it reads. “AIDS is real, and real people die from AIDS. This new panel that Ma and I have made for you is different from the first, but the message is the same. \u003cem>You are our son, and we love you!\u003c/em>”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>An unfolding project\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Williams became the quilt’s manager 23 years ago in Atlanta, Georgia, where it was housed from 2001 until it returned to the Bay Area in 2021. The Library of Congress \u003ca href=\"https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2019/11/afc-is-acquiring-the-archival-collections-of-the-names-project-aids-memorial-quilt/\">assumed responsibility\u003c/a> for the over 200,000 photos, letters, news clippings, and other mementos that loved ones included when sending panels to the quilt caretakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the U.S., more than 630,000 individuals have died of AIDS. Globally, the disease has killed 40 million people, with an additional estimated 40 million living with HIV. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the past year, President Trump obliterated major global HIV/AIDS prevention and care programs by \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/07/01/nx-s1-5452513/trump-usaid-foreign-aid-deaths\">shuttering USAID\u003c/a> and freezing foreign aid, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/04/23/g-s1-118221/hiv-aids-pepfar-trump-foreign-aid\">impacts projects like PEPFAR\u003c/a> (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), instituted in 2003. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989053\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-34-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"older white man kneels and reaches across quilt\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989053\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-34-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-34-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-34-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-34-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Will Roczkos, with the National AIDS Memorial, helps clean panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt before they are photographed for an archiving project at a warehouse in San Leandro on April 15, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Quilt volunteer Roczkos noted that because of the current administration’s devastating actions, preserving the quilt and increasing accessibility to its handmade tributes feels more urgent than ever. “More people will die now,” he says, gesturing at a panel he’s gently cleaning with a tape roller, readying it for a photo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since its inception nearly 40 years ago, the quilt has been thoroughly documented, both the individual panels and the increasingly large-scale public displays. Even if someone has never seen the quilt panels on display, they may have a mental image of blocks spread across the National Mall in Washington, D.C. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic, when physical exhibitions were suspended, database searches skyrocketed, with survivors of a new plague looking to the quilt for solace. (In 2020, McMullin and volunteers even \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/extra-fabric-aids-memorial-quilt-used-coronavirus-masks-n1183501\">sewed cloth masks\u003c/a> using fabric leftover from quilt panels.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berg is one steward who’s worked on the project from the beginning. Over nearly 40 years, he’s held a variety of roles, including president of the board of directors for the NAMES Project, the quilt’s original moniker. He even photographed the quilt back in the late 1980s. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Of course, the technology has improved,” he muses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989058\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-27-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"older white man kneels beside quilt with lint roller\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989058\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-27-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-27-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-27-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-27-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Berg, a volunteer, helps clean panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt before they are photographed for an archiving project at a warehouse in San Leandro on April 15, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In recent years, Williams has received several emails every week asking for high-quality photos of a loved one’s panel. While every panel is technically viewable online, small details are often blurry; the images were taken long ago, with lower-resolution cameras. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One evocative email from a parent asked whether Williams could share high-resolution photos from a quilt panel because a house fire had destroyed all other remaining photos of their son. Williams individually responds to every request by physically climbing a tall ladder, carrying a block to the floor, gently unfolding it, and photographing the desired panel.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A stitched-together story\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>To replace all of the images currently online with higher-resolution photos, Williams is \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSemDi4I0pS4mVBFM-M_LvI7zKgZARvEd1gG-h701y3S0wIvGw/viewform\">actively seeking support\u003c/a>. Volunteers work in pairs to clean each block and mount it vertically to be photographed. The work requires a lot of physicality, both kneeling over a block placed on an enormous stress mat, and moving around its circumference, bending and stretching to remove stray threads or tidy up the endless messiness of glitter. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blocks with felt embellishments are managed separately, as pressed wool collects extensive debris, especially when displayed outdoors or on a lawn, and requires intensive cleaning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989054\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-26-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"photo flash umbrellas surround a large-scale quilt hanging on wall\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989054\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-26-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-26-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-26-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260415-AIDSMemorialQuilt-26-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A panel of the AIDS Memorial Quilt hangs to be photographed for an archiving project at a warehouse in San Leandro on April 15, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Once a block is ready to be photographed, a cord is pulled taut through its grommets to vertically position it against a thick black background panel. Four large white numbers attached to one side of the backing panel are changed out, depicting each block number, the cataloging system for a project of this magnitude. Caretakers remove any last bits of dust or debris with yet another tape roller on a comically long-armed handle. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As seasoned volunteers like Berg and Roczkos fall into a rhythm, the entire per-block process can drop to between three and six minutes. Over two recent days at the studio space, the two men cleaned and mounted 90 blocks for photos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This massive undertaking ensures that the physical panels, and all the lives they honor, will be preserved and accessible to all, for all time. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is how volunteers help tell the story of the quilt,” Williams says. \u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Poppy Liu doing the splits on the red carpet — not an elegant walkway, but a rug crammed inside an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a> storefront full of sweaty reporters — wasn’t the only lovably chaotic moment at the West Coast premiere of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/boots-riley\">Boots Riley\u003c/a>’s \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> during the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/sffilm\">San Francisco International Film Festival\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13987291/grand-lake-theatre-100-years-oakland\">Grand Lake Theatre\u003c/a> Tuesday evening, there was also a marriage proposal during the after-screening Q&A; lots of oral sex jokes from LaKeith Stanfield (in the film, he plays a demon who uses his skills to nefarious ends); and, of course, many rants about the Marxist concept of \u003ca href=\"https://www.hamptonthink.org/read/a-brief-and-imperfect-explanation-of-dialectical-materialism\">dialectical materialism\u003c/a>. As for the splits: Liu explained that she felt awkward for being late, and it was the only logical thing to do in a moment of “neurodivergent panic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989009\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989009\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00702_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00702_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00702_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00702_TV_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00702_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Poppy Liu does the splits while holding onto LaKeith Stanfield at a red carpet event for the movie, ‘I Love Boosters’ near the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland on April 28, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The evening’s wild antics mixed with heady political philosophy mirrored the tone and pacing of \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> itself, which follows an all-woman shoplifting ring, the Velvet Gang, who resell designer clothes from high-end Bay Area stores to make ends meet and provide a community service of “fashion-forward (f)ilanthropy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The boosters, Corvette (Keke Palmer), Mariah (Taylour Paige) and Sade (Naomi Ackie), get caught up in a rivalry with the elitist, foul-mouthed fashion mogul Christie Smith (Demi Moore), and eventually join forces with retail worker Violeta (Eiza Gonzalez) and Chinese garment worker Jianhu (Poppy Liu) for an epic scheme that defies the laws of physics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988896\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988896\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1125\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-2000x879.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-160x70.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-768x338.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-1536x675.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-2048x900.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Naomi Ackie, Keke Palmer, Poppy Liu and Taylour Paige in ‘I Love Boosters.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of NEON)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Boots Riley, who spent decades as a frontline community organizer and political rapper before becoming a filmmaker, has never been shy about the bold aims of his art: “We need a mass, militant radical labor movement,” he told KQED on the red carpet. And although worker organizing is an explicit theme in \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em>, Riley makes its union politics go down easy with skillful comedic pacing, technicolor visuals and the boosters’ runway-worthy looks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gags don’t stop throughout the film’s taut 105-minute run time. In the opening scene, Corvette seemingly propositions a guy for sex by asking his shoe size and then flips it into a sales pitch for discounted footwear. Bolstered by a soundtrack of boings and whoops from Tune-Yards, \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> excels in physical comedy. Corvette’s \u003cem>Tom and Jerry\u003c/em>-esque standoff with Christie Smith and her minions gets more bizarre at each turn until it culminates in a reveal as freaky as the one in Riley’s 2018 film \u003cem>Sorry to Bother You\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988897\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988897\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1247\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-2000x974.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-160x78.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-768x374.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-1536x748.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-2048x998.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige and Keke Palmer star in ‘I Love Boosters.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of NEON)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> is Riley’s sophomore feature, and his sci-fi imagination feels bigger here, as does his ambition to inject the story with references to Marxist philosophy. Dialectical materialism, a theory of conflict between opposing forces and its ability to drive change, underpins some of the wackiest elements of the movie. Some viewers might find the film’s monologues about it burdensome, but I left with the urge to watch the film at least three more times to truly unpack it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989012\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989012\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00768_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00768_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00768_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00768_TV_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00768_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Boots Riley, director of the movie ‘I Love Boosters,’ prepares to shake hands with someone at a red carpet event for the movie, ‘I Love Boosters’ near the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland on April 28, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Whether you’ve taken poli-sci classes or not, \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> makes you feel, on a visceral level, the power of ordinary people coming together against a powerful, exploitive few. The Oakland audience — which included notable artists like comedian W. Kamau Bell and actor Jamal Trulove — jeered at the film’s fake conservative news clips (one featured a low-income woman arguing for the right to pay more in rent) and cheered emphatically as picket signs went up on screen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> gets its wide release on May 22, much hand-wringing about the morality of stealing will undoubtedly ensue. But whether you agree with the boosters’ tactics is beside the point. As LaKeith Stanfield put it in the post-screening Q&A, the film is really all about “this social issue that I think that we’re having trouble with, which is unity.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Poppy Liu doing the splits on the red carpet — not an elegant walkway, but a rug crammed inside an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a> storefront full of sweaty reporters — wasn’t the only lovably chaotic moment at the West Coast premiere of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/boots-riley\">Boots Riley\u003c/a>’s \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> during the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/sffilm\">San Francisco International Film Festival\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13987291/grand-lake-theatre-100-years-oakland\">Grand Lake Theatre\u003c/a> Tuesday evening, there was also a marriage proposal during the after-screening Q&A; lots of oral sex jokes from LaKeith Stanfield (in the film, he plays a demon who uses his skills to nefarious ends); and, of course, many rants about the Marxist concept of \u003ca href=\"https://www.hamptonthink.org/read/a-brief-and-imperfect-explanation-of-dialectical-materialism\">dialectical materialism\u003c/a>. As for the splits: Liu explained that she felt awkward for being late, and it was the only logical thing to do in a moment of “neurodivergent panic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989009\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989009\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00702_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00702_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00702_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00702_TV_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00702_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Poppy Liu does the splits while holding onto LaKeith Stanfield at a red carpet event for the movie, ‘I Love Boosters’ near the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland on April 28, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The evening’s wild antics mixed with heady political philosophy mirrored the tone and pacing of \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> itself, which follows an all-woman shoplifting ring, the Velvet Gang, who resell designer clothes from high-end Bay Area stores to make ends meet and provide a community service of “fashion-forward (f)ilanthropy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The boosters, Corvette (Keke Palmer), Mariah (Taylour Paige) and Sade (Naomi Ackie), get caught up in a rivalry with the elitist, foul-mouthed fashion mogul Christie Smith (Demi Moore), and eventually join forces with retail worker Violeta (Eiza Gonzalez) and Chinese garment worker Jianhu (Poppy Liu) for an epic scheme that defies the laws of physics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988896\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988896\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1125\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-2000x879.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-160x70.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-768x338.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-1536x675.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_03_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-2048x900.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Naomi Ackie, Keke Palmer, Poppy Liu and Taylour Paige in ‘I Love Boosters.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of NEON)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Boots Riley, who spent decades as a frontline community organizer and political rapper before becoming a filmmaker, has never been shy about the bold aims of his art: “We need a mass, militant radical labor movement,” he told KQED on the red carpet. And although worker organizing is an explicit theme in \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em>, Riley makes its union politics go down easy with skillful comedic pacing, technicolor visuals and the boosters’ runway-worthy looks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gags don’t stop throughout the film’s taut 105-minute run time. In the opening scene, Corvette seemingly propositions a guy for sex by asking his shoe size and then flips it into a sales pitch for discounted footwear. Bolstered by a soundtrack of boings and whoops from Tune-Yards, \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> excels in physical comedy. Corvette’s \u003cem>Tom and Jerry\u003c/em>-esque standoff with Christie Smith and her minions gets more bizarre at each turn until it culminates in a reveal as freaky as the one in Riley’s 2018 film \u003cem>Sorry to Bother You\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988897\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988897\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1247\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-2000x974.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-160x78.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-768x374.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-1536x748.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/I-LOVE-BOOSTERS_Still_01_Cropped_Courtesy-of-NEON-2048x998.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige and Keke Palmer star in ‘I Love Boosters.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of NEON)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> is Riley’s sophomore feature, and his sci-fi imagination feels bigger here, as does his ambition to inject the story with references to Marxist philosophy. Dialectical materialism, a theory of conflict between opposing forces and its ability to drive change, underpins some of the wackiest elements of the movie. Some viewers might find the film’s monologues about it burdensome, but I left with the urge to watch the film at least three more times to truly unpack it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13989012\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13989012\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00768_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00768_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00768_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00768_TV_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260428-iloveboostersredcarpet00768_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Boots Riley, director of the movie ‘I Love Boosters,’ prepares to shake hands with someone at a red carpet event for the movie, ‘I Love Boosters’ near the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland on April 28, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Whether you’ve taken poli-sci classes or not, \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> makes you feel, on a visceral level, the power of ordinary people coming together against a powerful, exploitive few. The Oakland audience — which included notable artists like comedian W. Kamau Bell and actor Jamal Trulove — jeered at the film’s fake conservative news clips (one featured a low-income woman arguing for the right to pay more in rent) and cheered emphatically as picket signs went up on screen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When \u003cem>I Love Boosters\u003c/em> gets its wide release on May 22, much hand-wringing about the morality of stealing will undoubtedly ensue. But whether you agree with the boosters’ tactics is beside the point. As LaKeith Stanfield put it in the post-screening Q&A, the film is really all about “this social issue that I think that we’re having trouble with, which is unity.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988957\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988957\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_004-Edit.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_004-Edit.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_004-Edit-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_004-Edit-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_004-Edit-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cecilia Peña-Govea, known as La Doña, poses on the hood of her vintage Chevrolet Impala coupe in West Oakland on April 24, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>This story was reported for K Onda KQED, a monthly newsletter focused on the Bay Area’s Latinx community. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/newsletters/k-onda\">Click here to subscribe\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the songs on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/la-dona\">La Doña\u003c/a>‘s new album, \u003cem>Corrientes\u003c/em>, tells the story of her parents’ 44-year-long partnership that started with a chance meeting when her dad was an undergraduate at UC Berkeley and her mom was a law student there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That night, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ladona415/\">La Doña\u003c/a>‘s mom pulled a fiddle out of her car and played a song she called the “Jessie Polka,” a rendition of “Jesusita en Chihuahua,” a beloved folk song composed during the Mexican Revolution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From that moment on, they had this cultural exchange and this language that they shared,” says La Doña, whose real name is Cecilia Peña-Govea. “They were learning about each other and learning about their own roots and practices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her song, “La Que Nos Unió” (“The One that United Us”) is set to an uptempo merengue beat, which, like polka, rouses listeners to get up and dance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[The song] is a celebration of their love and the legacy that I’m walking in and the beauty of the musical traditions that they endowed me with,” the 33-year-old says. “I wanted it to be a party song because they’re fun and they’re party animals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>La Doña’s ethos of paying homage to tradition and history while bringing her own style reverberates throughout the 16 songs on \u003cem>Corrientes\u003c/em>, which comes out April 29. This is the second full-length record for the born-and-raised San Franciscan, who started releasing music in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corrientes\u003c/em> is La Doña’s most ambitious and comprehensive project yet. She incorporates many genres, including some that are tried-and-true for her: cumbia, reggaeton, ranchera, bolero and salsa. She also branches out further into bachata, merengue, electronic dance music and son jarocho, a folk music style that originated in the Mexican state of Veracruz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corrientes\u003c/em> shows off La Doña’s deep understanding of music while showcasing her brilliance, versatility and expansive range as a singer and songwriter. The album feels like a multinational tour of Latin America with a passionate guide at the helm; while working on the album, she traveled to five countries and collaborated with 40 musicians. Her sultry vocals fit seamlessly, whether she’s singing in English, Spanish or both.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/93ZK9i1wh5k?si=CcW-XD74gTUCrXqu\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the cheeky, “Frisco Hates You Too,” collaborators Jada Imani, Stoni and Qing Qi join La Doña for a delicious clap-back banger that takes aim at outsiders who try to force their aesthetics and preferences on Bay Area culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you were born and raised in San Francisco, you’ve always felt this impending doom, right? If gentrification doesn’t get me, then the earthquake’s going to get me. You always feel like something is going to remove you from your city or your space,” she says. “So ‘Frisco Hates You Too’ is related to a quote that Jimmy Fails says in [the movie] \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13858829/the-last-black-man-in-san-francisco-hits-home-in-oakland\">\u003cem>The Last Black Man in San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, which is, ‘You can’t hate it unless you love it.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the bolero, “Consiénteme,” (“Pamper Me”) she sings poetic stanzas in Spanish about passionate love and then switches to English for a spoken word plea for clarity about the relationship: “Dear redacted, did you mean it when you said you wanted to be my baby daddy?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an independent artist, La Doña takes risks both in music and activism. Her support of Palestinian people amid the war in Gaza has drawn backlash and cost her opportunities, she says, but silence for her is not an option.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/3F5Jncvig3Y?si=AVUoLZOivTchyz0V\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the song, “Mentira y La Verdad,” (“Lies and Truth”) La Doña sings about how people have tried to pressure her to stop speaking out, but she refuses to back down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They come to my concerts. At night, they write to me always criticizing and demanding apologies, but my song today will sound louder tomorrow,” she sings in Spanish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>La Doña has a couple of Northern California performances planned, including a \u003ca href=\"https://www.theuctheatre.org/shows/la-dona-15-may\">release show on May 15 at Berkeley’s UC Theatre\u003c/a>, but has not yet set up a tour. She’s at a crossroads as she decides between different graduate school options for this fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>La Doña sat down with KQED to talk about her artistry, her aesthetics and what might come next for her future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988958\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988958\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_008-Edit.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_008-Edit.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_008-Edit-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_008-Edit-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_008-Edit-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">La Doña poses in the inside of her vintage Chevrolet Impala coupe in West Oakland on April 24, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Blanca Torres:\u003c/strong> On this album, you have some salsa, you have some reggaeton, you have some banda and then the son jarocho. Is any of that new that you’re trying out, or is it all stuff that you’ve been working on for a while?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>La Doña:\u003c/strong> I have been playing salsa since I was a very young girl, especially playing the trumpet. I also grew up listening to and playing a lot of corridos, rancheras, so that also feels very natural for me. Especially bolero, mambo, salsa, how these genres of music are moving freely between countries and across borders has informed so much of my writing and so much of my understanding, both of self and of genres and music in general. Was a stretch production-wise just because, yeah, there’s like 20 different styles on this album, right? Just the nature of getting together 40 musicians who all are masters in their craft. It was a huge undertaking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How do you decide if you want a song in Spanish or in English or both? What’s kind of your creative process since you can access so many styles of music?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Conversationally, I’m more comfortable in English. Musically, I’m more comfortable in Spanish. When I’m writing lyrics or when the song is really led by a story or narrative, I begin composing in Spanish. Whereas if the material is more conversational, then I tend to lean towards English.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/fokeuzQS4Ac?si=dQD1kudLICbeW7FV\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Can you talk about taking very traditional styles and bringing in modern elements? Is that something intentional that you’re doing?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everything that I create, I think about how it’s going to be received and how I’m going be able to present it to people because that’s one of the most special and important parts of music — how it is shared with other people in a live setting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“Por Un Amor” starts out as a sad story and then it turns at the end. Where did that inspiration come from?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Por Un Amor” is actually about my breakup with my ex. As a songwriter, as a storyteller, I always get to tell my story, and I always take up space. Also, I love him very much and honor his story and his side of the struggle. I definitely see that. So I wanted to represent that as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On “Mentira y La Verdad,” you sing about how people have tried to silence you for sharing political views. Can you talk about that song and this experience that you’ve had the last few years?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I have a very strong moral compass, and that has made it much harder to exist within the music industry because it is such an exploitative and usurping machine. Unfortunately in this system, in this society, we’re going to be engaging with different oppressive systems and we must maintain our own truths and integrity. That’s really the only way to make it out of it alive with our souls intact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988959\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988959\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_016-Edit.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_016-Edit.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_016-Edit-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_016-Edit-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_016-Edit-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">La Doña stands for a portrait against a painted brick wall in West Oakland on April 24, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Some people might look at you and say, “You’re living the dream, you’re making music, you’re performing.” Is that how you see your life?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I never wanted to be a musician. I had been playing music since I was so little and my parents always told me, “Get a union job. Get something that will pay the bills. Get a pension. You need to be able to retire and buy a house in the Bay Area.” I had these very pragmatic goals for my life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I started making music, all of that changed. I worked really hard, but I didn’t have an end goal of being a professional musician or a lifelong artist. I have maintained it because I do love music and I do love making music and I do love performing, but in terms of, is this my final form? I don’t think so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You applied to a wide variety of graduate programs and schools for fall of 2026. Have you decided?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No, girl, I’m freaking out. I’m really trying to figure it out. And in short, no, I don’t know where I’m going yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/y2a-_w4xRPU?si=1Y99SXRdE_WyMCZU\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You’re clearly rooted in your identity as a Latina, as someone of Mexican descent, as someone from San Francisco. How does your look, your aesthetic relate to your artistry?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve always looked like this. I’ve also acted like this, I’ve always sung like this. I’ve always been this person. Growing up seeing this Frisco-chola aesthetic and knowing that that’s where I feel comfortable, and that’s where I feel safe, and that is where I felt most like myself. But, also having the self-confidence to try new things and to lean into more adventurous styles and by learning how to sew and design at a young age.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I grew up in a household where my mom didn’t really buy me dresses. She didn’t buy me anything pink. I wasn’t allowed to have Barbies. I didn’t have dolls. I didn’t watch Disney. I didn’t watch TV. She wanted me to learn about myself outside of these Eurocentric, sexist and misogynistic views of femininity and what it meant to be a woman. I came to this iteration of myself by a lot of choice-making and a lot of research and a lot of conviction around how I want to look and how I want to present and what feels good for me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988961\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988961\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_003_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_003_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_003_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_003_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_003_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">La Doña sits behind the wheel of her vintage Chevrolet Impala coupe in West Oakland on April 24, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Research and really understanding the history of music is super important to you, can you talk about that?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m already doing deep ethnographic work and auto-ethnographic work. I’m looking for different ways to talk and think about it. For me, this album was definitely about going deeper and not relying on parts of traditional music that have already been utilized or deemed acceptable or palatable by the general public, but looking at things that I am fascinated by, and that I think are important, and that might not really have as much visibility or as much space carved out within the pop canon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What’s the best way for fans to support you?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I need you to listen to the music and I need you to expand your own experience of music, of self, of the world. Listen with an open mind, listen again, listen with a closed mind. I don’t care, just listen. And, come to the show and buy the vinyl.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>La Doña performs at her \u003ca href=\"https://www.theuctheatre.org/shows/la-dona-15-may\">album release party at the UC Theatre\u003c/a> in Berkeley on May 15, followed by another concert on \u003ca href=\"https://www.harlows.com/event/buscabulla-x-la-do%c3%b1a/harlows/sacramento-california/\">May 17 at Harlow’s in Sacramento\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988957\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988957\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_004-Edit.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_004-Edit.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_004-Edit-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_004-Edit-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_004-Edit-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cecilia Peña-Govea, known as La Doña, poses on the hood of her vintage Chevrolet Impala coupe in West Oakland on April 24, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>This story was reported for K Onda KQED, a monthly newsletter focused on the Bay Area’s Latinx community. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/newsletters/k-onda\">Click here to subscribe\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the songs on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/la-dona\">La Doña\u003c/a>‘s new album, \u003cem>Corrientes\u003c/em>, tells the story of her parents’ 44-year-long partnership that started with a chance meeting when her dad was an undergraduate at UC Berkeley and her mom was a law student there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That night, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ladona415/\">La Doña\u003c/a>‘s mom pulled a fiddle out of her car and played a song she called the “Jessie Polka,” a rendition of “Jesusita en Chihuahua,” a beloved folk song composed during the Mexican Revolution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From that moment on, they had this cultural exchange and this language that they shared,” says La Doña, whose real name is Cecilia Peña-Govea. “They were learning about each other and learning about their own roots and practices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her song, “La Que Nos Unió” (“The One that United Us”) is set to an uptempo merengue beat, which, like polka, rouses listeners to get up and dance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[The song] is a celebration of their love and the legacy that I’m walking in and the beauty of the musical traditions that they endowed me with,” the 33-year-old says. “I wanted it to be a party song because they’re fun and they’re party animals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>La Doña’s ethos of paying homage to tradition and history while bringing her own style reverberates throughout the 16 songs on \u003cem>Corrientes\u003c/em>, which comes out April 29. This is the second full-length record for the born-and-raised San Franciscan, who started releasing music in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corrientes\u003c/em> is La Doña’s most ambitious and comprehensive project yet. She incorporates many genres, including some that are tried-and-true for her: cumbia, reggaeton, ranchera, bolero and salsa. She also branches out further into bachata, merengue, electronic dance music and son jarocho, a folk music style that originated in the Mexican state of Veracruz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Corrientes\u003c/em> shows off La Doña’s deep understanding of music while showcasing her brilliance, versatility and expansive range as a singer and songwriter. The album feels like a multinational tour of Latin America with a passionate guide at the helm; while working on the album, she traveled to five countries and collaborated with 40 musicians. Her sultry vocals fit seamlessly, whether she’s singing in English, Spanish or both.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/93ZK9i1wh5k'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/93ZK9i1wh5k'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>On the cheeky, “Frisco Hates You Too,” collaborators Jada Imani, Stoni and Qing Qi join La Doña for a delicious clap-back banger that takes aim at outsiders who try to force their aesthetics and preferences on Bay Area culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you were born and raised in San Francisco, you’ve always felt this impending doom, right? If gentrification doesn’t get me, then the earthquake’s going to get me. You always feel like something is going to remove you from your city or your space,” she says. “So ‘Frisco Hates You Too’ is related to a quote that Jimmy Fails says in [the movie] \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13858829/the-last-black-man-in-san-francisco-hits-home-in-oakland\">\u003cem>The Last Black Man in San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, which is, ‘You can’t hate it unless you love it.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the bolero, “Consiénteme,” (“Pamper Me”) she sings poetic stanzas in Spanish about passionate love and then switches to English for a spoken word plea for clarity about the relationship: “Dear redacted, did you mean it when you said you wanted to be my baby daddy?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an independent artist, La Doña takes risks both in music and activism. Her support of Palestinian people amid the war in Gaza has drawn backlash and cost her opportunities, she says, but silence for her is not an option.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/3F5Jncvig3Y'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/3F5Jncvig3Y'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>In the song, “Mentira y La Verdad,” (“Lies and Truth”) La Doña sings about how people have tried to pressure her to stop speaking out, but she refuses to back down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They come to my concerts. At night, they write to me always criticizing and demanding apologies, but my song today will sound louder tomorrow,” she sings in Spanish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>La Doña has a couple of Northern California performances planned, including a \u003ca href=\"https://www.theuctheatre.org/shows/la-dona-15-may\">release show on May 15 at Berkeley’s UC Theatre\u003c/a>, but has not yet set up a tour. She’s at a crossroads as she decides between different graduate school options for this fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>La Doña sat down with KQED to talk about her artistry, her aesthetics and what might come next for her future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988958\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988958\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_008-Edit.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_008-Edit.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_008-Edit-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_008-Edit-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_008-Edit-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">La Doña poses in the inside of her vintage Chevrolet Impala coupe in West Oakland on April 24, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Blanca Torres:\u003c/strong> On this album, you have some salsa, you have some reggaeton, you have some banda and then the son jarocho. Is any of that new that you’re trying out, or is it all stuff that you’ve been working on for a while?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>La Doña:\u003c/strong> I have been playing salsa since I was a very young girl, especially playing the trumpet. I also grew up listening to and playing a lot of corridos, rancheras, so that also feels very natural for me. Especially bolero, mambo, salsa, how these genres of music are moving freely between countries and across borders has informed so much of my writing and so much of my understanding, both of self and of genres and music in general. Was a stretch production-wise just because, yeah, there’s like 20 different styles on this album, right? Just the nature of getting together 40 musicians who all are masters in their craft. It was a huge undertaking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How do you decide if you want a song in Spanish or in English or both? What’s kind of your creative process since you can access so many styles of music?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Conversationally, I’m more comfortable in English. Musically, I’m more comfortable in Spanish. When I’m writing lyrics or when the song is really led by a story or narrative, I begin composing in Spanish. Whereas if the material is more conversational, then I tend to lean towards English.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/fokeuzQS4Ac'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/fokeuzQS4Ac'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Can you talk about taking very traditional styles and bringing in modern elements? Is that something intentional that you’re doing?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everything that I create, I think about how it’s going to be received and how I’m going be able to present it to people because that’s one of the most special and important parts of music — how it is shared with other people in a live setting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“Por Un Amor” starts out as a sad story and then it turns at the end. Where did that inspiration come from?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Por Un Amor” is actually about my breakup with my ex. As a songwriter, as a storyteller, I always get to tell my story, and I always take up space. Also, I love him very much and honor his story and his side of the struggle. I definitely see that. So I wanted to represent that as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On “Mentira y La Verdad,” you sing about how people have tried to silence you for sharing political views. Can you talk about that song and this experience that you’ve had the last few years?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I have a very strong moral compass, and that has made it much harder to exist within the music industry because it is such an exploitative and usurping machine. Unfortunately in this system, in this society, we’re going to be engaging with different oppressive systems and we must maintain our own truths and integrity. That’s really the only way to make it out of it alive with our souls intact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988959\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988959\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_016-Edit.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_016-Edit.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_016-Edit-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_016-Edit-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_016-Edit-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">La Doña stands for a portrait against a painted brick wall in West Oakland on April 24, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Some people might look at you and say, “You’re living the dream, you’re making music, you’re performing.” Is that how you see your life?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I never wanted to be a musician. I had been playing music since I was so little and my parents always told me, “Get a union job. Get something that will pay the bills. Get a pension. You need to be able to retire and buy a house in the Bay Area.” I had these very pragmatic goals for my life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I started making music, all of that changed. I worked really hard, but I didn’t have an end goal of being a professional musician or a lifelong artist. I have maintained it because I do love music and I do love making music and I do love performing, but in terms of, is this my final form? I don’t think so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You applied to a wide variety of graduate programs and schools for fall of 2026. Have you decided?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No, girl, I’m freaking out. I’m really trying to figure it out. And in short, no, I don’t know where I’m going yet.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/y2a-_w4xRPU'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/y2a-_w4xRPU'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You’re clearly rooted in your identity as a Latina, as someone of Mexican descent, as someone from San Francisco. How does your look, your aesthetic relate to your artistry?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve always looked like this. I’ve also acted like this, I’ve always sung like this. I’ve always been this person. Growing up seeing this Frisco-chola aesthetic and knowing that that’s where I feel comfortable, and that’s where I feel safe, and that is where I felt most like myself. But, also having the self-confidence to try new things and to lean into more adventurous styles and by learning how to sew and design at a young age.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I grew up in a household where my mom didn’t really buy me dresses. She didn’t buy me anything pink. I wasn’t allowed to have Barbies. I didn’t have dolls. I didn’t watch Disney. I didn’t watch TV. She wanted me to learn about myself outside of these Eurocentric, sexist and misogynistic views of femininity and what it meant to be a woman. I came to this iteration of myself by a lot of choice-making and a lot of research and a lot of conviction around how I want to look and how I want to present and what feels good for me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988961\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988961\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_003_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_003_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_003_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_003_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/042406LaDona_GH_003_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">La Doña sits behind the wheel of her vintage Chevrolet Impala coupe in West Oakland on April 24, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Research and really understanding the history of music is super important to you, can you talk about that?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m already doing deep ethnographic work and auto-ethnographic work. I’m looking for different ways to talk and think about it. For me, this album was definitely about going deeper and not relying on parts of traditional music that have already been utilized or deemed acceptable or palatable by the general public, but looking at things that I am fascinated by, and that I think are important, and that might not really have as much visibility or as much space carved out within the pop canon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What’s the best way for fans to support you?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I need you to listen to the music and I need you to expand your own experience of music, of self, of the world. Listen with an open mind, listen again, listen with a closed mind. I don’t care, just listen. And, come to the show and buy the vinyl.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>La Doña performs at her \u003ca href=\"https://www.theuctheatre.org/shows/la-dona-15-may\">album release party at the UC Theatre\u003c/a> in Berkeley on May 15, followed by another concert on \u003ca href=\"https://www.harlows.com/event/buscabulla-x-la-do%c3%b1a/harlows/sacramento-california/\">May 17 at Harlow’s in Sacramento\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "michael-tilson-thomas-showed-us-how-to-love",
"title": "Michael Tilson Thomas Showed Us How to Love",
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"headTitle": "Michael Tilson Thomas Showed Us How to Love | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The last time I saw Michael Tilson Thomas, it wasn’t on stage at Davies Symphony Hall. It was at the Roxie Theater, at a screening of the 1932 film \u003cem>Merrily We Go To Hell\u003c/em>, in July of last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He and his husband, Joshua Robison, stood smiling in the lobby after the film, out in the city they loved. I couldn’t help but give him a nod and a “Good to see you.” It was \u003cem>always\u003c/em> good to see him. When Thomas was around, you knew something exciting was likely to happen. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After one of the world’s most remarkable careers in classical music, Thomas \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13988770/michael-tilson-thomas-dead-at-81-san-francisco\">died Wednesday at age 81\u003c/a>, at his home. The phrase “surrounded by loved ones” usually means family around a bedside. I like to imagine the entire population of San Francisco surrounding him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because, my goodness, he showed us how to love music, which is to say how to love the world, and each other. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951059\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1708\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951059\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Tilson Thomas embraces concertmaster Alexander Barantschik after the San Francisco Symphony’s performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, at Davies Symphony Hall. \u003ccite>(Stefan Cohen)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I’ve seen others propose that Thomas “\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/arts/music/michael-tilson-thomas-dead.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share\">demystified\u003c/a>” classical music, but I would argue that he did the opposite. He made it accessible, yes. But he also held it up with curiosity and wonder, and said, “Isn’t this so \u003cem>terrifically\u003c/em> mysterious, so beautiful, how all these different elements somehow work together, to create this incredible thing called music?” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I know, because he had that effect on me. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I first encountered Michael Tilson Thomas in 1995, during his first season at the San Francisco Symphony as Music Director, conducting Stravinsky with the young violinist Midori. At age 19, I’d just gotten off tour with my punk band. I was invited by a friend I’d met at a warehouse show. Not the typical audience for classical music, in other words. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thomas took the podium, the music started, and I was transfixed. I’d taken piano lessons as a child and played in the school band, but had left formality behind for more ferocious, chaotic music that moved me, made by bands like D.R.I., Septic Death and Neurosis. That night in 1995, Michael Tilson Thomas pulled me back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10217547\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/Soundbox.MTT_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"733\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10217547\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/Soundbox.MTT_.jpg 1100w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/Soundbox.MTT_-400x266.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/Soundbox.MTT_-800x533.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Tilson Thomas with members of the SF Symphony and Chorus. (Photo: Stefan Cohen)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He did it again in 2001, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13875367/a-landmark-of-michael-tilson-thomas-career-revisited\">continuing undaunted with a scheduled performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 just one day after 9/11\u003c/a>. Nicknamed the “Tragic” symphony, and inspired by death and loss, the piece’s finale utilized a giant hammer smashed upon a large drum. The whole thing was appropriately thundering, and turbulent. I walked out of Davies that night in a daze at the power of great art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recording of that performance won a Grammy award, one of many for Thomas. It also turned me into a Mahler devotee. “Get that Renaissance music out of here —\u003cem> we are a Mahler city!\u003c/em>” I sometimes like to joke. But it’s true: like his mentor Leonard Bernstein, Thomas made us all Mahler fans. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then in 2015, Thomas \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/10216961/live-review-soundbox-classical-goes-clubbing\">premiered SoundBox\u003c/a>, a series of classical concerts in the warehouse-like back hall of Davies. At Soundbox, you could stand instead of sit. You could use your phone. You could drink. You could be \u003cem>yourself\u003c/em> at a classical concert, basically, which meant everything for people like myself more accustomed to sweaty clubs than concert halls. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it worked. That first season, I was exposed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm06nqdG9wU\">Meredith Monk’s wildly pulsating \u003cem>Panda Chant II\u003c/em>\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/g_4-kt0LVdU?si=Vqs3MlGKzSTHDasW\">Lou Harrison’s fiery \u003cem>Pacifika Rondo\u003c/em> selection “A Hatred of the Filthy Bomb”\u003c/a> — two classical pieces that are, frankly, punk as hell. More than a decade later, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/Discover-the-Music/SoundBox\">Soundbox is still running\u003c/a>, and producing classical converts. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10217079\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/SoundBox.Hed_.jpg\" alt=\"Michael Tilson Thomas surveys the crowd before introducing the premiere of SoundBox in 2014.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10217079\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/SoundBox.Hed_.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/SoundBox.Hed_-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/SoundBox.Hed_-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/SoundBox.Hed_-1180x663.jpg 1180w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Tilson Thomas surveys the crowd before introducing the premiere of SoundBox in 2014. \u003ccite>(Gabe Meline/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Naturally, the past four years have brought a poignance to each Thomas appearance, knowing his diagnosis with an aggressive form of brain cancer. Not that he ever wanted anybody to be sad about it. When he made his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13951043/review-michael-tilson-thomas-mahler-5-san-francisco-symphony\">final series appearance to conduct a soaring Mahler’s Fifth Symphony in 2024\u003c/a> — using no sheet music — he smiled and joked around during his entrance, setting an upbeat mood. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end, the applause was so long and sustained that he finally quieted the crowd by \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@horsesweremylife/video/7329402685969698094\">miming that it was time for him to have a nightcap and go to bed\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mood was even more upbeat, even jovial, at his 80th birthday concert last year. As if to spite the news that his cancer had returned, Thomas happily conducted Britten and Respighi; an all-star cast sang Thomas’ favorite songs; and a giant balloon drop capped the evening. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He sat on stage, singing along, holding Robison’s hand. Commemorative blue bandanas draped on every seat bore a quote from Thomas, reading, in part, “To be an artist is to have the courage for rebirth and growth. It’s neverending.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975353\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a blue shirt clasps his hands in appreciation next to a door as smiling friends stand close by\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975353\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Tilson Thomas leaves the stage for the last time with Joshua Robison, Edwin Outwater and Teddy Abrams at the end of his 80th birthday celebration at Davies Symphony Hall, April 26, 2025. \u003ccite>(Stefan Cohen / San Francisco Symphony)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Thomas cared deeply about music. “When we first met during my job interview, we spent the entire conversation on a single piece of music — Ligeti’s Violin Concerto,” said San Francisco Symphony CEO Matthew Spivey. “That was how he came to know people, and came to know the world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also often insisted that the true measure of his life’s work was not the many, many accolades and awards for his music, but its lasting effect on the audience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I love this music that I make,” he once \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/201506031000/michael-tilson-thomas-on-beethoven-innovation-and-20-years-with-the-san-francisco-symphony\">told KQED’s Michael Krasny in 2015\u003c/a>. “But I’ve always said that for me, the most important moment in music was what happens when the music ends. When the symphony stops, what is left then?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now that the music has ended, I can tell you what’s left: a whole lot of love. \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The last time I saw Michael Tilson Thomas, it wasn’t on stage at Davies Symphony Hall. It was at the Roxie Theater, at a screening of the 1932 film \u003cem>Merrily We Go To Hell\u003c/em>, in July of last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He and his husband, Joshua Robison, stood smiling in the lobby after the film, out in the city they loved. I couldn’t help but give him a nod and a “Good to see you.” It was \u003cem>always\u003c/em> good to see him. When Thomas was around, you knew something exciting was likely to happen. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After one of the world’s most remarkable careers in classical music, Thomas \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13988770/michael-tilson-thomas-dead-at-81-san-francisco\">died Wednesday at age 81\u003c/a>, at his home. The phrase “surrounded by loved ones” usually means family around a bedside. I like to imagine the entire population of San Francisco surrounding him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because, my goodness, he showed us how to love music, which is to say how to love the world, and each other. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951059\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1708\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951059\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/2324concerts_012524mttmahler_stefancohen_022-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Tilson Thomas embraces concertmaster Alexander Barantschik after the San Francisco Symphony’s performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, at Davies Symphony Hall. \u003ccite>(Stefan Cohen)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I’ve seen others propose that Thomas “\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/arts/music/michael-tilson-thomas-dead.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share\">demystified\u003c/a>” classical music, but I would argue that he did the opposite. He made it accessible, yes. But he also held it up with curiosity and wonder, and said, “Isn’t this so \u003cem>terrifically\u003c/em> mysterious, so beautiful, how all these different elements somehow work together, to create this incredible thing called music?” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I know, because he had that effect on me. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I first encountered Michael Tilson Thomas in 1995, during his first season at the San Francisco Symphony as Music Director, conducting Stravinsky with the young violinist Midori. At age 19, I’d just gotten off tour with my punk band. I was invited by a friend I’d met at a warehouse show. Not the typical audience for classical music, in other words. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thomas took the podium, the music started, and I was transfixed. I’d taken piano lessons as a child and played in the school band, but had left formality behind for more ferocious, chaotic music that moved me, made by bands like D.R.I., Septic Death and Neurosis. That night in 1995, Michael Tilson Thomas pulled me back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10217547\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1100px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/Soundbox.MTT_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"733\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10217547\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/Soundbox.MTT_.jpg 1100w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/Soundbox.MTT_-400x266.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/Soundbox.MTT_-800x533.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Tilson Thomas with members of the SF Symphony and Chorus. (Photo: Stefan Cohen)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He did it again in 2001, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13875367/a-landmark-of-michael-tilson-thomas-career-revisited\">continuing undaunted with a scheduled performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 just one day after 9/11\u003c/a>. Nicknamed the “Tragic” symphony, and inspired by death and loss, the piece’s finale utilized a giant hammer smashed upon a large drum. The whole thing was appropriately thundering, and turbulent. I walked out of Davies that night in a daze at the power of great art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recording of that performance won a Grammy award, one of many for Thomas. It also turned me into a Mahler devotee. “Get that Renaissance music out of here —\u003cem> we are a Mahler city!\u003c/em>” I sometimes like to joke. But it’s true: like his mentor Leonard Bernstein, Thomas made us all Mahler fans. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then in 2015, Thomas \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/10216961/live-review-soundbox-classical-goes-clubbing\">premiered SoundBox\u003c/a>, a series of classical concerts in the warehouse-like back hall of Davies. At Soundbox, you could stand instead of sit. You could use your phone. You could drink. You could be \u003cem>yourself\u003c/em> at a classical concert, basically, which meant everything for people like myself more accustomed to sweaty clubs than concert halls. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it worked. That first season, I was exposed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm06nqdG9wU\">Meredith Monk’s wildly pulsating \u003cem>Panda Chant II\u003c/em>\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/g_4-kt0LVdU?si=Vqs3MlGKzSTHDasW\">Lou Harrison’s fiery \u003cem>Pacifika Rondo\u003c/em> selection “A Hatred of the Filthy Bomb”\u003c/a> — two classical pieces that are, frankly, punk as hell. More than a decade later, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/Discover-the-Music/SoundBox\">Soundbox is still running\u003c/a>, and producing classical converts. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10217079\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/SoundBox.Hed_.jpg\" alt=\"Michael Tilson Thomas surveys the crowd before introducing the premiere of SoundBox in 2014.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10217079\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/SoundBox.Hed_.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/SoundBox.Hed_-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/SoundBox.Hed_-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/12/SoundBox.Hed_-1180x663.jpg 1180w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Tilson Thomas surveys the crowd before introducing the premiere of SoundBox in 2014. \u003ccite>(Gabe Meline/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Naturally, the past four years have brought a poignance to each Thomas appearance, knowing his diagnosis with an aggressive form of brain cancer. Not that he ever wanted anybody to be sad about it. When he made his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13951043/review-michael-tilson-thomas-mahler-5-san-francisco-symphony\">final series appearance to conduct a soaring Mahler’s Fifth Symphony in 2024\u003c/a> — using no sheet music — he smiled and joked around during his entrance, setting an upbeat mood. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end, the applause was so long and sustained that he finally quieted the crowd by \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@horsesweremylife/video/7329402685969698094\">miming that it was time for him to have a nightcap and go to bed\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mood was even more upbeat, even jovial, at his 80th birthday concert last year. As if to spite the news that his cancer had returned, Thomas happily conducted Britten and Respighi; an all-star cast sang Thomas’ favorite songs; and a giant balloon drop capped the evening. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He sat on stage, singing along, holding Robison’s hand. Commemorative blue bandanas draped on every seat bore a quote from Thomas, reading, in part, “To be an artist is to have the courage for rebirth and growth. It’s neverending.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975353\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a blue shirt clasps his hands in appreciation next to a door as smiling friends stand close by\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975353\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/2425concerts_042625_mttbirthday_stefancohen_080-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Tilson Thomas leaves the stage for the last time with Joshua Robison, Edwin Outwater and Teddy Abrams at the end of his 80th birthday celebration at Davies Symphony Hall, April 26, 2025. \u003ccite>(Stefan Cohen / San Francisco Symphony)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Thomas cared deeply about music. “When we first met during my job interview, we spent the entire conversation on a single piece of music — Ligeti’s Violin Concerto,” said San Francisco Symphony CEO Matthew Spivey. “That was how he came to know people, and came to know the world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also often insisted that the true measure of his life’s work was not the many, many accolades and awards for his music, but its lasting effect on the audience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I love this music that I make,” he once \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/201506031000/michael-tilson-thomas-on-beethoven-innovation-and-20-years-with-the-san-francisco-symphony\">told KQED’s Michael Krasny in 2015\u003c/a>. “But I’ve always said that for me, the most important moment in music was what happens when the music ends. When the symphony stops, what is left then?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now that the music has ended, I can tell you what’s left: a whole lot of love. \u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "the-pound-san-francisco-punk-metal-venue-history",
"title": "Long Live The Pound: The Forgotten 2000s Venue That Changed the Bay Area",
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"headTitle": "Long Live The Pound: The Forgotten 2000s Venue That Changed the Bay Area | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>At the end of the 20th century, 100 Cargo Way at Pier 96 in San Francisco was a truck stop diner. When chef and entrepreneur Tony Carracci visited \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/bayview\">Hunter’s Point\u003c/a> to look at the building, he had dreams of being the next \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/11409279/bill-graham-the-personality-no-museum-could-possibly-contain\">Bill Graham\u003c/a>. So he took over the remote spot — which came with a coveted liquor license — and invested $20,000 dollars into gutting it, building a stage and installing a professional concert sound system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around the same time, A.J. Cardinal was a punk who appreciated metal, and shared a desire with friend Cip Cipriano to bring Cradle of Filth to San Francisco. Cipriano also had dreams of being the next Bill Graham, and saw an opportunity (he called it “legalized gambling”) in the rocky, boom-and-bust business of promoting metal, hardcore and punk shows. They struck up a business relationship, booking shows at venues in the city, only to find that established venues didn’t want to scare the neighbors by putting names like Cradle of Filth on the marquee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That would not be a problem at The Pound, Carracci’s 500-person capacity venue near the railroad tracks and a hauling yard, with barely any neighbors, especially at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988670\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1818px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988670\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/EricVictorino_Strata.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1818\" height=\"1228\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/EricVictorino_Strata.jpg 1818w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/EricVictorino_Strata-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/EricVictorino_Strata-768x519.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/EricVictorino_Strata-1536x1038.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1818px) 100vw, 1818px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eric Victorino performs with Strata at The Pound circa 2004–’05. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Danny Acosta/D.A. Mission)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At The Pound, Carracci, Cardinal and Cipriano carved out a pivotal and mostly unsung revolution in San Francisco’s legendary music scene. The Pound was born on \u003ca href=\"https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/jerry-cantrell/2001/the-pound-san-francisco-ca-63ddc687.html\">Feb. 8, 2001\u003c/a> with \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C3FfMHNO-DM/\">Jerry Cantrell\u003c/a> from Alice in Chains playing the venue’s first show. Its short-but-influential run lasted just five years; the Port Authority pulled the plug on their lease in \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfweekly.com/music/r-i-p-pound-sf/article_625d8d33-cd39-525b-addd-9ead53c8785a.html\">fall 2006\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along the way, The Pound hosted a blizzard of early 2000s bands that would go on to become household names: My Chemical Romance, Paramore, Avenged Sevenfold. It also brought in veteran acts like Thin Lizzy, Anthrax, and Danzig of the Misfits. The Pound booked bands in their formative years that have persevered and now headline shows and festivals around the world – including Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage, Glassjaw and Hatebreed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Back then, no one wanted to touch these bands. The powers that be did not believe that these bands had any kind of draw, staying power. They’re playing stadiums now,” Cipriano tells KQED. “I was right. My big prize for being right is all the bands eventually go on to Live Nation and suddenly there’s no room for the independent venues.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP939cW5wrs&list=RDFP939cW5wrs&start_radio=1\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The venue where taxis refused to go\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Pound had the aura of a horror film’s opening exterior. It was desolate, shrouded in ocean fog and surrounded by a gravel parking lot. Stacked shipping containers housed makeshift green rooms and offices; an abandoned-looking bus functioned as the smoking area; and the lighting resembled a temporary construction site. Taxi drivers would openly refuse to take metalheads there; the nearest Muni line, the 19, stopped too many blocks away for most to safely walk there at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet The Pound’s isolation was key to its winning formula. Unlike other venues, there were no nearby residences to worry about. The music could be as loud as possible, much to the delight of fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We never got a sound complaint, ever,” Carracci recalled. The one time Carracci tested that notion, he erected an outdoor stage to host Danzig for a crowd of 3,000 people. The cops came and asked to see his permit, to which he replied, “Ah fuck, goddamnit man. I knew I forgot something.” To avoid inciting a riot by calling off the show, they handed Carracci a modest ticket and issued a verbal warning about the permit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988668\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1818px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988668\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/GuyGates_Wurkt.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1818\" height=\"1228\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/GuyGates_Wurkt.jpg 1818w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/GuyGates_Wurkt-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/GuyGates_Wurkt-768x519.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/GuyGates_Wurkt-1536x1038.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1818px) 100vw, 1818px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Guy Gates performs with Wurkt at The Pound circa 2004–’05. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Danny Acosta/D.A. Mission)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Pound opened when the internet was starting to change music through file sharing, mailing lists, chat rooms and fan sites, with social media and streaming soon to drastically alter music and fan culture overall. While rudimentary and scrappy in person, The Pound maintained an early internet mailing list to keep fans in the know for upcoming shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because it used to be a restaurant, per city code, The Pound was allowed to have all-ages shows \u003ci>while serving alcohol\u003c/i>. Musician Tony Malson (now lead singer in \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/state_line_empire/?hl=en\">State Line Empire\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thedevilincalifornia/?hl=en\">The Devil in California\u003c/a>) worked as a bartender at The Pound, and saw firsthand how crucial it was for underage music fans to be at these shows — X’s marked on their hands so they wouldn’t be served alcohol — having a safe and controlled outlet to get rowdy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To be at clubs that were doing shows for that all-ages setup, 2004-5-6-ish, that was important, and when it went away, you could feel it,” said Malson, “All that shit went out to the East Bay clubs and different places. The metal scene wasn’t as prominent in San Francisco after that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All-ages crowds weren’t great for his tips, but The Pound offered fringe benefits like opening for Thin Lizzy, Mountain and Robby Krieger from the Doors. As a bartender but also a fan, it also meant he got to pour drinks for members of Metallica and Alice in Chains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alvweI_JoWE\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A proving ground for musicians\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Opening for national touring acts at The Pound gave Malson’s projects the necessary credibility to claw out a living in music: “When we were doing other things, getting other gigs, touring, doing things like that, it looked really great on paper.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Guitarist Sergio Licea also received such an opportunity at The Pound, playing for an established punk act Barbee Killed Kenn after they were booked to open for Dee Dee Ramone in 2002. However, tragedy struck: Dee Dee Ramone died the week of the show. When the show went on anyway, Licea took the stage to an audience of less than 10 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nevertheless, he loved being on The Pound’s stage, even without a crowd to feed off. “That place and Slim’s were personal dream venues for me, because I caught so many cool shows there,” he says, noting he was on The Pound’s online mailing list. “It’s still a highlight. I remember it pretty vividly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988663\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1818px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988663\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/PaulMendoza_Unjust.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1818\" height=\"1228\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/PaulMendoza_Unjust.jpg 1818w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/PaulMendoza_Unjust-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/PaulMendoza_Unjust-768x519.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/PaulMendoza_Unjust-1536x1038.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1818px) 100vw, 1818px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Paul Mendoza performs with Unjust at The Pound circa 2004–’05. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Danny Acosta/D.A. Mission)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Eric Wong, a veteran metal bassist (Metallica’s James Hetfield once produced Wong’s band Piranha), played at The Pound multiple times. When his band \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/unjustband?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGnI6UeTqY96ANNJTnh-gwB1Bzn7qP7RxRQkJlsYjbOoaV9C_HPEuZY2Z0QsHM_aem_iUqBdWuSuIMQBZ5K-l_h-A\">Unjust\u003c/a> played a record-release show for their album \u003ci>Glow\u003c/i>, “I was absolutely shocked that we packed the place,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was the place to be. You didn’t have to worry about anything there. You could be yourself. You could play. There wasn’t a lot of egos. It was generally a good place. Everyone took care of each other.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When The Pound closed, “it was almost the end of fun times,” he said. “That was kind of the end of that whole wave of thrash metal too, in the Bay Area.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ginger Cuevas now sings in the Bay Area metal band \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/diabluraofficial/?hl=en\">Diablura\u003c/a>. In the mid-aughts, she had just moved from New York and needed live music to fight off homesickness. Her ex-husband surprised her with a \u003ca href=\"https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/remembering-never/2005/the-pound-san-francisco-ca-73826ed5.html\">Remembering Never show \u003c/a>at The Pound in 2005.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That night, Cuevas took note of The Pound’s remote location. “‘Am I gonna get killed out here? Nobody’s ever gonna find my body out here if something happens,’” Cuevas remembers thinking to herself. “It was like that, but\u003ci> I had the time of my life\u003c/i>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/apaqPjrmrM8?si=8_Dm3Q-LRrCMmBFy\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Pound’s legacy lives on\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Carracci and Cipriano tried their luck with a new location for The Pound in West Oakland, but \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/pound-sf-reopens-in-west-oakland-1/\">it didn’t pan out. \u003c/a>Cipriano keeps The Pound’s spirit alive by booking shows at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco. Carracci most recently worked as a chef and co-owner of the Point Richmond restaurant and music venue Baltic Kiss, which \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2025/04/18/baltic-kiss-closed-tony-carracci/\">closed in 2025\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cardinal \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/cardinal-a-j-2636013.php\">died in 2004\u003c/a>. Her work booking The Pound in the final years of her life constitutes a major contribution to the Bay Area music scene, and set an example for other women in a male-dominated field. Malson remains a fixture in the San Francisco music scene, with his grunge tribute band \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rustychainssf/?hl=en\">Rusty Chains\u003c/a> hosting a yearly fundraiser for \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsuicide.org\">San Francisco Suicide Prevention\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wong still plays with Unjust, who recently recorded a new EP — in part as a tribute to their longtime roadie Erik Cordero, who died by suicide. Cuevas never got to play The Pound with Diablura, but is thankful independent venues like DNA Lounge, Kilowatt in San Francisco and Eli’s Mile High Club in Oakland continue to foster the local heavy music scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Licea, who now co-owns a \u003ca href=\"https://florwines.com/\">wine shop\u003c/a> in Portland, summed up what made The Pound special. Bands would start there and pound away until they graduated up through the bigger venues in the region. For its time and place, The Pound was a warm, loud scene in the cold quiet of San Francisco’s industrial piers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Picking up energy at a live show is a fucking amazing energy, but you can’t get that [same] energy sitting up in the nosebleeds. You gotta have somebody sweat on you and shit. You gotta get splashed on by the guitar player,” said Licea, “That’s the shit that I like. That’s the kind of stuff that I think we’re really missing.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "Long Live The Pound: The Forgotten 2000s Venue That Changed the Bay Area | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>At the end of the 20th century, 100 Cargo Way at Pier 96 in San Francisco was a truck stop diner. When chef and entrepreneur Tony Carracci visited \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/bayview\">Hunter’s Point\u003c/a> to look at the building, he had dreams of being the next \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/11409279/bill-graham-the-personality-no-museum-could-possibly-contain\">Bill Graham\u003c/a>. So he took over the remote spot — which came with a coveted liquor license — and invested $20,000 dollars into gutting it, building a stage and installing a professional concert sound system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around the same time, A.J. Cardinal was a punk who appreciated metal, and shared a desire with friend Cip Cipriano to bring Cradle of Filth to San Francisco. Cipriano also had dreams of being the next Bill Graham, and saw an opportunity (he called it “legalized gambling”) in the rocky, boom-and-bust business of promoting metal, hardcore and punk shows. They struck up a business relationship, booking shows at venues in the city, only to find that established venues didn’t want to scare the neighbors by putting names like Cradle of Filth on the marquee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That would not be a problem at The Pound, Carracci’s 500-person capacity venue near the railroad tracks and a hauling yard, with barely any neighbors, especially at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988670\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1818px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988670\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/EricVictorino_Strata.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1818\" height=\"1228\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/EricVictorino_Strata.jpg 1818w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/EricVictorino_Strata-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/EricVictorino_Strata-768x519.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/EricVictorino_Strata-1536x1038.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1818px) 100vw, 1818px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eric Victorino performs with Strata at The Pound circa 2004–’05. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Danny Acosta/D.A. Mission)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At The Pound, Carracci, Cardinal and Cipriano carved out a pivotal and mostly unsung revolution in San Francisco’s legendary music scene. The Pound was born on \u003ca href=\"https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/jerry-cantrell/2001/the-pound-san-francisco-ca-63ddc687.html\">Feb. 8, 2001\u003c/a> with \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C3FfMHNO-DM/\">Jerry Cantrell\u003c/a> from Alice in Chains playing the venue’s first show. Its short-but-influential run lasted just five years; the Port Authority pulled the plug on their lease in \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfweekly.com/music/r-i-p-pound-sf/article_625d8d33-cd39-525b-addd-9ead53c8785a.html\">fall 2006\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along the way, The Pound hosted a blizzard of early 2000s bands that would go on to become household names: My Chemical Romance, Paramore, Avenged Sevenfold. It also brought in veteran acts like Thin Lizzy, Anthrax, and Danzig of the Misfits. The Pound booked bands in their formative years that have persevered and now headline shows and festivals around the world – including Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage, Glassjaw and Hatebreed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Back then, no one wanted to touch these bands. The powers that be did not believe that these bands had any kind of draw, staying power. They’re playing stadiums now,” Cipriano tells KQED. “I was right. My big prize for being right is all the bands eventually go on to Live Nation and suddenly there’s no room for the independent venues.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/FP939cW5wrs'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/FP939cW5wrs'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003ch2>The venue where taxis refused to go\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Pound had the aura of a horror film’s opening exterior. It was desolate, shrouded in ocean fog and surrounded by a gravel parking lot. Stacked shipping containers housed makeshift green rooms and offices; an abandoned-looking bus functioned as the smoking area; and the lighting resembled a temporary construction site. Taxi drivers would openly refuse to take metalheads there; the nearest Muni line, the 19, stopped too many blocks away for most to safely walk there at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet The Pound’s isolation was key to its winning formula. Unlike other venues, there were no nearby residences to worry about. The music could be as loud as possible, much to the delight of fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We never got a sound complaint, ever,” Carracci recalled. The one time Carracci tested that notion, he erected an outdoor stage to host Danzig for a crowd of 3,000 people. The cops came and asked to see his permit, to which he replied, “Ah fuck, goddamnit man. I knew I forgot something.” To avoid inciting a riot by calling off the show, they handed Carracci a modest ticket and issued a verbal warning about the permit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988668\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1818px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988668\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/GuyGates_Wurkt.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1818\" height=\"1228\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/GuyGates_Wurkt.jpg 1818w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/GuyGates_Wurkt-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/GuyGates_Wurkt-768x519.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/GuyGates_Wurkt-1536x1038.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1818px) 100vw, 1818px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Guy Gates performs with Wurkt at The Pound circa 2004–’05. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Danny Acosta/D.A. Mission)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Pound opened when the internet was starting to change music through file sharing, mailing lists, chat rooms and fan sites, with social media and streaming soon to drastically alter music and fan culture overall. While rudimentary and scrappy in person, The Pound maintained an early internet mailing list to keep fans in the know for upcoming shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because it used to be a restaurant, per city code, The Pound was allowed to have all-ages shows \u003ci>while serving alcohol\u003c/i>. Musician Tony Malson (now lead singer in \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/state_line_empire/?hl=en\">State Line Empire\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thedevilincalifornia/?hl=en\">The Devil in California\u003c/a>) worked as a bartender at The Pound, and saw firsthand how crucial it was for underage music fans to be at these shows — X’s marked on their hands so they wouldn’t be served alcohol — having a safe and controlled outlet to get rowdy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To be at clubs that were doing shows for that all-ages setup, 2004-5-6-ish, that was important, and when it went away, you could feel it,” said Malson, “All that shit went out to the East Bay clubs and different places. The metal scene wasn’t as prominent in San Francisco after that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All-ages crowds weren’t great for his tips, but The Pound offered fringe benefits like opening for Thin Lizzy, Mountain and Robby Krieger from the Doors. As a bartender but also a fan, it also meant he got to pour drinks for members of Metallica and Alice in Chains.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/alvweI_JoWE'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/alvweI_JoWE'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003ch2>A proving ground for musicians\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Opening for national touring acts at The Pound gave Malson’s projects the necessary credibility to claw out a living in music: “When we were doing other things, getting other gigs, touring, doing things like that, it looked really great on paper.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Guitarist Sergio Licea also received such an opportunity at The Pound, playing for an established punk act Barbee Killed Kenn after they were booked to open for Dee Dee Ramone in 2002. However, tragedy struck: Dee Dee Ramone died the week of the show. When the show went on anyway, Licea took the stage to an audience of less than 10 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nevertheless, he loved being on The Pound’s stage, even without a crowd to feed off. “That place and Slim’s were personal dream venues for me, because I caught so many cool shows there,” he says, noting he was on The Pound’s online mailing list. “It’s still a highlight. I remember it pretty vividly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988663\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1818px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988663\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/PaulMendoza_Unjust.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1818\" height=\"1228\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/PaulMendoza_Unjust.jpg 1818w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/PaulMendoza_Unjust-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/PaulMendoza_Unjust-768x519.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/PaulMendoza_Unjust-1536x1038.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1818px) 100vw, 1818px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Paul Mendoza performs with Unjust at The Pound circa 2004–’05. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Danny Acosta/D.A. Mission)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Eric Wong, a veteran metal bassist (Metallica’s James Hetfield once produced Wong’s band Piranha), played at The Pound multiple times. When his band \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/unjustband?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGnI6UeTqY96ANNJTnh-gwB1Bzn7qP7RxRQkJlsYjbOoaV9C_HPEuZY2Z0QsHM_aem_iUqBdWuSuIMQBZ5K-l_h-A\">Unjust\u003c/a> played a record-release show for their album \u003ci>Glow\u003c/i>, “I was absolutely shocked that we packed the place,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was the place to be. You didn’t have to worry about anything there. You could be yourself. You could play. There wasn’t a lot of egos. It was generally a good place. Everyone took care of each other.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When The Pound closed, “it was almost the end of fun times,” he said. “That was kind of the end of that whole wave of thrash metal too, in the Bay Area.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ginger Cuevas now sings in the Bay Area metal band \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/diabluraofficial/?hl=en\">Diablura\u003c/a>. In the mid-aughts, she had just moved from New York and needed live music to fight off homesickness. Her ex-husband surprised her with a \u003ca href=\"https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/remembering-never/2005/the-pound-san-francisco-ca-73826ed5.html\">Remembering Never show \u003c/a>at The Pound in 2005.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That night, Cuevas took note of The Pound’s remote location. “‘Am I gonna get killed out here? Nobody’s ever gonna find my body out here if something happens,’” Cuevas remembers thinking to herself. “It was like that, but\u003ci> I had the time of my life\u003c/i>.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/apaqPjrmrM8'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/apaqPjrmrM8'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003ch2>The Pound’s legacy lives on\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Carracci and Cipriano tried their luck with a new location for The Pound in West Oakland, but \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/pound-sf-reopens-in-west-oakland-1/\">it didn’t pan out. \u003c/a>Cipriano keeps The Pound’s spirit alive by booking shows at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco. Carracci most recently worked as a chef and co-owner of the Point Richmond restaurant and music venue Baltic Kiss, which \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2025/04/18/baltic-kiss-closed-tony-carracci/\">closed in 2025\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cardinal \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/cardinal-a-j-2636013.php\">died in 2004\u003c/a>. Her work booking The Pound in the final years of her life constitutes a major contribution to the Bay Area music scene, and set an example for other women in a male-dominated field. Malson remains a fixture in the San Francisco music scene, with his grunge tribute band \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rustychainssf/?hl=en\">Rusty Chains\u003c/a> hosting a yearly fundraiser for \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsuicide.org\">San Francisco Suicide Prevention\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wong still plays with Unjust, who recently recorded a new EP — in part as a tribute to their longtime roadie Erik Cordero, who died by suicide. Cuevas never got to play The Pound with Diablura, but is thankful independent venues like DNA Lounge, Kilowatt in San Francisco and Eli’s Mile High Club in Oakland continue to foster the local heavy music scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Licea, who now co-owns a \u003ca href=\"https://florwines.com/\">wine shop\u003c/a> in Portland, summed up what made The Pound special. Bands would start there and pound away until they graduated up through the bigger venues in the region. For its time and place, The Pound was a warm, loud scene in the cold quiet of San Francisco’s industrial piers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Picking up energy at a live show is a fucking amazing energy, but you can’t get that [same] energy sitting up in the nosebleeds. You gotta have somebody sweat on you and shit. You gotta get splashed on by the guitar player,” said Licea, “That’s the shit that I like. That’s the kind of stuff that I think we’re really missing.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>When \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/west_oaklandtuesday/\">Tuesday\u003c/a> walked into the recording booth and yelled, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/west-oakland\">West Oakland\u003c/a>, bitch!,” she didn’t know she’d make a viral anthem that would get the attention of SZA, G Herbo, Tyla and other music royalty. Nor did she realize that she’d soon perform at the Oakland Arena — once with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/e-40\">E-40\u003c/a> and Mozzy, and a second time during Mike Epps’ We Them One’s Comedy Tour this past weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It all started with a recording session at a Richmond studio that one of Tuesday’s daughters, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/waytoospoiled/\">Juice\u003c/a>, booked to celebrate her 24th birthday. Juice invited her sisters \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/stacy.sister/\">RaiDawg\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/productofoakland/\">Lul Asia\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/theehotone/\">Theehotone\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/lina._baby._/\">Pinaa\u003c/a> to record verses, and they decided to get their mom on the mic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other than Lul Asia, none of them had made music before. But the family had plenty of experience freestyling and singing karaoke together in their living room. They found a beat on YouTube, hyped each other up and laid down verses on what would become “Juice Week pt. 2.” Once RaiDawg posted Tuesday’s verse on TikTok, her video racked up 3.3 million views and attracted fans from Oakland to London.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tuesday’s evocative lyrics about vacation sex — “Me and my man / We on an island, hoe / Ocean breeze / Palm trees / Back shots / On the balcony” — now soundtrack hundreds of thousands of TikToks and Reels, including many from travel influencers showing off luxurious trips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/kehlani\">Kehlani\u003c/a>, whose 2016 song “Gangsta” is sampled on the “Juice Week pt. 2” beat, rapped the lyrics on the red carpet of the iHeartRadio Music Awards and told Tuesday to get in touch. It’s been a whirlwind for a family that’s now figuring out how to navigate the entertainment industry. KQED Arts & Culture joined Tuesday, Juice, Lul Asia, Theehotone, RaiDawg and Pinaa on a video call to get the inside story of their viral moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/aZQhLX8U200?si=qge3r2trcCDeyBk6\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Nastia Voynovskaya: \u003c/b>Juice, why did you decide to go to the studio for your birthday? Had you done music before?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>It was something that I had been trying to do for the last couple years. I never made music before, but we always like to freestyle and stuff when we’re together because, you know, we’re all sisters and we’re all family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You guys party with your mom, that’s awesome.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Theehotone: \u003c/b>She lit!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>Yeah and then also I feel like the big thing is that our brother, Sammybaandz, had passed away in January. That made us a lot closer, and that was a big reason we wanted to invite my mom to the studio just to be able to have fun with her and try to take our minds off everything we’ve been going through.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I’m sorry for your loss. Juice, for the song, what was the directive you gave everyone in the studio? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>We all came together and agreed on a beat, and everybody wrote their verse. I was the only one freestyling. None of us took it seriously. I was just happy to be there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I do social media stuff as well, so I vlogged the whole process of us creating the song, going viral and all of our performances and stuff like that. It was more so just for fun. Like everybody was being themselves. The lyrics are definitely like, you could tell a little personality from them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/sQ0LkFALO5g?si=gWw0A8jMnaASA7y7\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday, I want to hear more about your verse. I checked out your Instagram. It seems like you’re a world traveler, which really comes through in that part of the song. Tell me about how you wrote it. \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday: \u003c/b>Well, I went with them for music therapy, just to take my mind off of everything. And when we were in there, Nay [Theehotone] was just like, oh, just go in to write a verse about what we like about men. And then I just sat down and wrote it out right there in the studio. Definitely didn’t think that it was going to go viral.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Was there an island you had been to recently that inspired the lyrics? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday: \u003c/b>I go to so many islands, it’s my favorite. I go somewhere almost every other month. I’ve been to almost all of the islands in the Caribbean. I’m just missing Barbados and St. Martin right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What do you guys think it is about the song that resonated with so many people? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>I think it’s just our vibes are so lit. And I feel like with Tuesday’s part, it’s very catchy. A lot of people traveling nowadays, that’s a really big thing to show status in this day and age. So I definitely think the traveling part is what is connecting to a lot of people for sure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia:\u003c/b> I also think it’s the genuineness of how we were just in the studio being ourselves, having a good time, having fun, and you can feel that energy through the song. [aside postid='arts_13988509']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Theehotone: \u003c/b>It’s not a lot of stuff that comes out of Oakland. So for this to be going as viral, everybody is appreciating the fact that we’re putting Oakland on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The song’s been shared by some pretty big names in music. Who have you been excited about? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>Once SZA posted it, I was like, oh my God — I could have just passed out right there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>For sure SZA and when G Herbo and [his fiancee] Taina did it. Natalie [Nunn] posted it, Tyla, Mariah the Scientist was in a video with the song. It’s just been fun. Blueface was on stream and he was randomly singing the song when he was playing with his kids. I just love all of it, honestly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Has anyone DMed you guys to collaborate?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>A few people have, and we’re still looking into our next options and everything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/Cs17FsnG-Ks?si=WuOIHmNzczrFaIgK\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>And then you guys performed at the Oakland Arena. How was the show last weekend with Mike Epps? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>It’s crazy seeing all the flashes and everybody singing the song and knowing the lyrics. All of this happened within literally a month and a half. I’m very grateful for it. Honestly it was a little nerve-racking, but it’s fun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia:\u003c/b> When I go on the stage, I try to just have that mindset of like, I’m just going out here having fun with my family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday:\u003c/b> I really like the adrenaline of it all. Just having fun and just making sure that, you know, the crowd is knowing that we appreciate them. I be always trying to get the crowd interaction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The music video turned out so well. Tell me about that video shoot and getting the whole neighborhood out for you guys.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>We really just messaged people, like Hyphy Burger and things like that. And once we reached out to them, they were just so open to having us, and people were open to coming out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988618\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988618\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-2000x2667.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Behind the scenes of the ‘Juice Week pt. 2’ music video at Hyphy Burger in West Oakland. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Lul Asia)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You had cars, dancers and stuff. \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>I knew we were gonna bring out a lot of people because of how viral the song was, but I was really surprised how a lot of the media was coming out. That was my first time experiencing a media rush where it was NorCal Next Up and his crew, and people like that who keep tabs on up-and-coming artists. Thizzler posted us and they had people out there. Being in content creation and stuff, it’s just really nice to be recognized by bigger creators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Then you guys also performed at Mistah F.A.B.’s club, Dezi’s. \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>He’s been supporting us so much. He’s the reason why we’ve done both Oakland Arena shows, and he just always been very supportive through this whole process and mentoring us. Our mom part went viral, but he’s pushing that the whole song is amazing, and making sure that everyone gets to do their verse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/ZkMbzcFxLRY?si=cQEyOt0Sq-_VXZK2\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Now that you guys have this viral moment, where do you wanna take this? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>I wanna keep doing music for sure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RaiDawg:\u003c/b> Yeah, me too, a little bit, but I’m more on the content creator side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>I feel like I reside with RaiDawg. It’s really fun, but I feel like when it starts to be pressure, like people are expecting stuff… I definitely want to keep making the content and building the platform. And just having fun, honestly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>Nay had to hop off, but she brought up that she wants to continue doing music. And she also wants to start a podcast because she loves talking about the culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday: \u003c/b>I definitely wanna keep creating music, and I’m also working on writing a book. So that’s my next step, getting a book out there and doing some public speaking hopefully. It’s a book about how to go through the grieving process when losing your kid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I think that’s going to resonate with a lot of people.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday: \u003c/b>Thank you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pinaa: \u003c/b>I want to continue making music too. I feel like it’s very fun, very energetic. I like the rush of it. I like having a good time and being goofy in the studio, just having a fun time with family. [aside postid='arts_13988094']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s been your favorite thing to come out of this experience?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>I think being able to perform for my city where I’ve grown up. I went to the arena and watched other people perform, never thinking I would be on that stage — that has been the most amazing experience thus far. Even if we did make another song, blow it up and we traveled around the world, I don’t think nothing will top that specific moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>Getting the recognition, when people actually are recognizing us and calling us by our names on the song and singing our parts. Seeing even celebrities know our song.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Are you guys getting recognized when you’re just out and about? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>For sure when we’re at our events, and at the post office the other day too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday: \u003c/b>Yeah, it’s crazy, like I just don’t even run outside no more without getting dressed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What are you hearing from people from West Oakland specifically? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>Literally, I feel like every time I go somewhere and there’s someone from West Oakland, or even just Oakland, the first thing they say when they recognize me is, “West Oakland, bitch!” They’re excited and they want to represent where they’re from.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/west_oaklandtuesday/\">Tuesday\u003c/a> walked into the recording booth and yelled, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/west-oakland\">West Oakland\u003c/a>, bitch!,” she didn’t know she’d make a viral anthem that would get the attention of SZA, G Herbo, Tyla and other music royalty. Nor did she realize that she’d soon perform at the Oakland Arena — once with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/e-40\">E-40\u003c/a> and Mozzy, and a second time during Mike Epps’ We Them One’s Comedy Tour this past weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It all started with a recording session at a Richmond studio that one of Tuesday’s daughters, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/waytoospoiled/\">Juice\u003c/a>, booked to celebrate her 24th birthday. Juice invited her sisters \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/stacy.sister/\">RaiDawg\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/productofoakland/\">Lul Asia\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/theehotone/\">Theehotone\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/lina._baby._/\">Pinaa\u003c/a> to record verses, and they decided to get their mom on the mic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other than Lul Asia, none of them had made music before. But the family had plenty of experience freestyling and singing karaoke together in their living room. They found a beat on YouTube, hyped each other up and laid down verses on what would become “Juice Week pt. 2.” Once RaiDawg posted Tuesday’s verse on TikTok, her video racked up 3.3 million views and attracted fans from Oakland to London.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tuesday’s evocative lyrics about vacation sex — “Me and my man / We on an island, hoe / Ocean breeze / Palm trees / Back shots / On the balcony” — now soundtrack hundreds of thousands of TikToks and Reels, including many from travel influencers showing off luxurious trips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/kehlani\">Kehlani\u003c/a>, whose 2016 song “Gangsta” is sampled on the “Juice Week pt. 2” beat, rapped the lyrics on the red carpet of the iHeartRadio Music Awards and told Tuesday to get in touch. It’s been a whirlwind for a family that’s now figuring out how to navigate the entertainment industry. KQED Arts & Culture joined Tuesday, Juice, Lul Asia, Theehotone, RaiDawg and Pinaa on a video call to get the inside story of their viral moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/aZQhLX8U200'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/aZQhLX8U200'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Nastia Voynovskaya: \u003c/b>Juice, why did you decide to go to the studio for your birthday? Had you done music before?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>It was something that I had been trying to do for the last couple years. I never made music before, but we always like to freestyle and stuff when we’re together because, you know, we’re all sisters and we’re all family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You guys party with your mom, that’s awesome.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Theehotone: \u003c/b>She lit!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>Yeah and then also I feel like the big thing is that our brother, Sammybaandz, had passed away in January. That made us a lot closer, and that was a big reason we wanted to invite my mom to the studio just to be able to have fun with her and try to take our minds off everything we’ve been going through.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I’m sorry for your loss. Juice, for the song, what was the directive you gave everyone in the studio? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>We all came together and agreed on a beat, and everybody wrote their verse. I was the only one freestyling. None of us took it seriously. I was just happy to be there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I do social media stuff as well, so I vlogged the whole process of us creating the song, going viral and all of our performances and stuff like that. It was more so just for fun. Like everybody was being themselves. The lyrics are definitely like, you could tell a little personality from them.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/sQ0LkFALO5g'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/sQ0LkFALO5g'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday, I want to hear more about your verse. I checked out your Instagram. It seems like you’re a world traveler, which really comes through in that part of the song. Tell me about how you wrote it. \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday: \u003c/b>Well, I went with them for music therapy, just to take my mind off of everything. And when we were in there, Nay [Theehotone] was just like, oh, just go in to write a verse about what we like about men. And then I just sat down and wrote it out right there in the studio. Definitely didn’t think that it was going to go viral.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Was there an island you had been to recently that inspired the lyrics? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday: \u003c/b>I go to so many islands, it’s my favorite. I go somewhere almost every other month. I’ve been to almost all of the islands in the Caribbean. I’m just missing Barbados and St. Martin right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What do you guys think it is about the song that resonated with so many people? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>I think it’s just our vibes are so lit. And I feel like with Tuesday’s part, it’s very catchy. A lot of people traveling nowadays, that’s a really big thing to show status in this day and age. So I definitely think the traveling part is what is connecting to a lot of people for sure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia:\u003c/b> I also think it’s the genuineness of how we were just in the studio being ourselves, having a good time, having fun, and you can feel that energy through the song. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Theehotone: \u003c/b>It’s not a lot of stuff that comes out of Oakland. So for this to be going as viral, everybody is appreciating the fact that we’re putting Oakland on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The song’s been shared by some pretty big names in music. Who have you been excited about? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>Once SZA posted it, I was like, oh my God — I could have just passed out right there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>For sure SZA and when G Herbo and [his fiancee] Taina did it. Natalie [Nunn] posted it, Tyla, Mariah the Scientist was in a video with the song. It’s just been fun. Blueface was on stream and he was randomly singing the song when he was playing with his kids. I just love all of it, honestly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Has anyone DMed you guys to collaborate?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>A few people have, and we’re still looking into our next options and everything.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/Cs17FsnG-Ks'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/Cs17FsnG-Ks'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>And then you guys performed at the Oakland Arena. How was the show last weekend with Mike Epps? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>It’s crazy seeing all the flashes and everybody singing the song and knowing the lyrics. All of this happened within literally a month and a half. I’m very grateful for it. Honestly it was a little nerve-racking, but it’s fun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia:\u003c/b> When I go on the stage, I try to just have that mindset of like, I’m just going out here having fun with my family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday:\u003c/b> I really like the adrenaline of it all. Just having fun and just making sure that, you know, the crowd is knowing that we appreciate them. I be always trying to get the crowd interaction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The music video turned out so well. Tell me about that video shoot and getting the whole neighborhood out for you guys.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>We really just messaged people, like Hyphy Burger and things like that. And once we reached out to them, they were just so open to having us, and people were open to coming out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988618\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988618\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-2000x2667.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/IMG_8174-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Behind the scenes of the ‘Juice Week pt. 2’ music video at Hyphy Burger in West Oakland. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Lul Asia)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You had cars, dancers and stuff. \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>I knew we were gonna bring out a lot of people because of how viral the song was, but I was really surprised how a lot of the media was coming out. That was my first time experiencing a media rush where it was NorCal Next Up and his crew, and people like that who keep tabs on up-and-coming artists. Thizzler posted us and they had people out there. Being in content creation and stuff, it’s just really nice to be recognized by bigger creators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Then you guys also performed at Mistah F.A.B.’s club, Dezi’s. \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>He’s been supporting us so much. He’s the reason why we’ve done both Oakland Arena shows, and he just always been very supportive through this whole process and mentoring us. Our mom part went viral, but he’s pushing that the whole song is amazing, and making sure that everyone gets to do their verse.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/ZkMbzcFxLRY'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/ZkMbzcFxLRY'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Now that you guys have this viral moment, where do you wanna take this? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>I wanna keep doing music for sure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>RaiDawg:\u003c/b> Yeah, me too, a little bit, but I’m more on the content creator side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>I feel like I reside with RaiDawg. It’s really fun, but I feel like when it starts to be pressure, like people are expecting stuff… I definitely want to keep making the content and building the platform. And just having fun, honestly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>Nay had to hop off, but she brought up that she wants to continue doing music. And she also wants to start a podcast because she loves talking about the culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday: \u003c/b>I definitely wanna keep creating music, and I’m also working on writing a book. So that’s my next step, getting a book out there and doing some public speaking hopefully. It’s a book about how to go through the grieving process when losing your kid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I think that’s going to resonate with a lot of people.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday: \u003c/b>Thank you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Pinaa: \u003c/b>I want to continue making music too. I feel like it’s very fun, very energetic. I like the rush of it. I like having a good time and being goofy in the studio, just having a fun time with family. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s been your favorite thing to come out of this experience?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>I think being able to perform for my city where I’ve grown up. I went to the arena and watched other people perform, never thinking I would be on that stage — that has been the most amazing experience thus far. Even if we did make another song, blow it up and we traveled around the world, I don’t think nothing will top that specific moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>Getting the recognition, when people actually are recognizing us and calling us by our names on the song and singing our parts. Seeing even celebrities know our song.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Are you guys getting recognized when you’re just out and about? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juice: \u003c/b>For sure when we’re at our events, and at the post office the other day too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tuesday: \u003c/b>Yeah, it’s crazy, like I just don’t even run outside no more without getting dressed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What are you hearing from people from West Oakland specifically? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lul Asia: \u003c/b>Literally, I feel like every time I go somewhere and there’s someone from West Oakland, or even just Oakland, the first thing they say when they recognize me is, “West Oakland, bitch!” They’re excited and they want to represent where they’re from.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "cesar-chavez-murals-san-francisco-repainting-covering",
"title": "What’s the Future of the Many Cesar Chavez Murals in San Francisco?",
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"headTitle": "What’s the Future of the Many Cesar Chavez Murals in San Francisco? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>When the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/us/cesar-chavez-sexual-abuse-allegations-ufw.html\">sexual abuse allegations\u003c/a> against Cesar Chavez appeared in \u003cem>The New York Times\u003c/em>, the call for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12077014/california-weighs-renaming-parks-streets-after-cesar-chavez-amid-abuse-allegations\">renaming streets and holidays\u003c/a> erupted swiftly on social media channels and news outlets. Less present — but just as necessary — is a conversation around Chavez’s deeply embedded visual presence in San Francisco. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moving through San Francisco’s mural-drenched landscape, you can encounter the disgraced labor leader at nearly every turn: at schools and universities, grocery stores and private homes, street corners and favorite lunch spots. His eyes, on high, peer down from seemingly everywhere once you start looking. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Help me take responsibility for my own life,” reads the banner Chavez holds at the San Francisco elementary school on Shotwell Street that bears his name, “so I can be free at last.” Today, in light of the allegations, which include the sexual abuse of young girls in the 1970s, those words appear prophetic. In the meantime, schoolchildren play ball on the yard every day. His larger-than-life image looks down upon them. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988490\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260408-CesarChavezMurals-03-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"gray-toned mural with civil rights leaders seen through fencing\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988490\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260408-CesarChavezMurals-03-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260408-CesarChavezMurals-03-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260408-CesarChavezMurals-03-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260408-CesarChavezMurals-03-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural at 22nd and Mission Streets in San Francisco depicting Cesar Chavez shows peeling paint on April 8, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think those murals can stay up anymore, that’s clear,” said Rick Tejada-Flores, a documentary filmmaker who got to know Chavez while working on the 1973 film \u003cem>Si Se Puede!\u003c/em> and 1997’s \u003cem>The Fight in the Fields\u003c/em>. “But how do you talk to the kids in that school, how do you phrase the story?” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other images of the United Farm Workers leader also read symbolically — like the one on the corner of Mission and 22nd Streets, next to an abandoned lot. Chavez’s face is positioned next to Dr. Martin Luther King and Mother Teresa. Ironically, weather damage has peeled away the paint directly across the eyes of Cesar Chavez — but left the other two social justice leaders faces’ intact. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The intact eyes of Cesar Chavez in Shepard Fairey’s mural still look down over Patricia’s Green, which buzzed with activity on a recent Monday as San Franciscans shopped, strolled, snacked and exercised. Many of those questioned didn’t realize the mural was there, didn’t know about the recent allegations or didn’t have opinions about the art looming over them. But those who did thought it should be removed. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As we start to dismantle the patriarchy, people are going to fall off the pedestal,” said Stephanie Cordoza, who was enjoying her sandwich in the sunshine. “We stand with the victims,” she said. Yet the mural remains — so far marred only by graffiti. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other representations of the leader have met with a more decided fate. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988486\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-03-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"man with arms crossed in front of mural covered home\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988486\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-03-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-03-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-03-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-03-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Richard Segovia at his house on 25th and York Streets, known as the Latin Rock House, in San Francisco on April 7, 2026. He stands next to a portrait of Carmelito Velez, which covers a previous image of Cesar Chavez. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Cover-ups and repaintings\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Richard Segovia’s home on the corner of York and 25th Streets in the Mission stands as a visual testament to Latin rock, its exterior walls decorated with colorful murals of musical greats like Carlos Santana and Buddy Rich. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around five years ago, Segovia added Cesar Chavez to his home, to the left of the front steps, at the request of his friend Abel Sanchez, the head of the group \u003ca href=\"https://songforcesar.com/team/abel-sanchez/\">Abel and the Prophets\u003c/a>. Yet when Segovia learned about the abuse allegations — and that Dolores Huerta was one of the victims coming forward — he immediately made the decision to paint over Chavez. He had Carlos “Kookie” Gonzalez, the mural’s artist, replace the UFW leader with the Puerto Rican musician Carmelito Velez on March 19, the day after the news came out. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dolores Huerta’s testimony in particular hit hard for Segovia, and he said he has no patience for those questioning why it took her so long to come forward — because he is also a victim. “I’ve had something like this happen to me, and it took me 60 years to finally be able to talk about it,” he said. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Segovia couldn’t bear the thought of an alleged child abuser on his home. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988487\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-06-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"smiling man on scaffolding in front of colorful mural\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988487\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-06-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-06-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-06-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-06-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist Carlos ‘Kookie’ Gonzalez re-paints part of a mural on Richard Segovia’s house on April 7, 2026. The home is covered in a large mural honoring dozens of musicians tied to the Mission District’s Latin rock scene. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For the artist of the mural, 67-year-old Gonzalez, the news about Chavez hit hard. “I was heartbroken,” he said. “When I went to college, we marched with Cesar.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The muralist remembers when there was a Safeway on 21st Street and South Van Ness Avenue and they would boycott the grapes. He understands the deep emotion, but was still surprised by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DWSag8bgZPF/?img_index=1\">pushback\u003c/a> he received on social media regarding the repainting. He followed up with many of the comments in private messages. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gonzalez also painted the Cesar Chavez mural at San Francisco State University, on the student center named after the labor leader. Both the artwork and the name were covered on March 23, which meant students returned from spring break to find the building draped in a tarp. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s heavy,” said Alejandro Rios, executive director of the student government at SFSU. “If I had to guess, a lot of them [the students] will say they were glad we took early action.” A new name for the building — and new artwork — will not be decided upon until November, before the Board of Trustees. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988491\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260408-CesarChavezMurals-09-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"white banner over building name and part of mural, students below\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988491\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260408-CesarChavezMurals-09-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260408-CesarChavezMurals-09-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260408-CesarChavezMurals-09-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260408-CesarChavezMurals-09-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural of Cesar Chavez is covered in Malcolm X Plaza at San Francisco State University on April 8, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The one thing I don’t want to do is rush,” Rios said. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked about the covered-up mural and name, one student immediately became emotional. “He was our hero,” he said, referring to the Latino community. “Who do we have left, Ricky Martin?” he asked with tears in his eyes, skateboarding off before he could give his name. With Latinos making up \u003ca href=\"https://marcomm.sfsu.edu/sfsu-facts\">38.7% of the student body\u003c/a> at SF State, the news about Chavez was particularly destabilizing. \u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Working our way through it’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The murals on Segovia’s house were made possible by a $35,000 grant from the local organization \u003ca href=\"https://www.precitaeyes.org/\">Precita Eyes Muralists\u003c/a>, which supports the creation of new artworks — some of which have included images of Cesar Chavez. Guide Patricia Rose leads weekly tours of local murals, and she helped to paint the mural celebrating the union leader at the corner of Mission and the street named after him, appropriately situated next to a large fruit stand. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t have a firm policy in place yet,” Rose said, when asked about how Precita Eyes will address the question of Chavez’s image on group tours. “It’s more of a disclaimer as we’re working our way through it.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988489\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-18-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"painted faces on side of building\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988489\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-18-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-18-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-18-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-18-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural depicting Cesar Chavez in the Mission District in San Francisco on April 7, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For muralist Jean Pilas, who also works at Precita Eyes, it wasn’t a surprise when they learned about the allegations against Cesar Chavez. Their friend Jennifer Andrea Porras had talked about her traumatic memories regarding Chavez at a dinner party, an experience \u003ca href=\"https://laopinion.com/2026/04/05/mi-cuerpo-lo-recuerda-presunta-victima-de-chavez-rompe-el-silencio/\">Porras has shared publicly\u003c/a> since the \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em> allegations came to light. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you put someone on a pedestal, it makes the public lazy,” Pilas said. “It diminishes the work of other people.” They hope that this reckoning will allow the work of others in the UFW — people like Philip Vera Cruz, Larry Itliong and Gilbert Padilla — to finally be appreciated. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Immortalizing individual leaders can become problematic. So, too, can public art. Grappling with the ubiquity of Chavez’s image resonates with another vitriolic art debate — about the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/10/14/1127843326/when-murals-depict-traumatic-history-schools-must-decide-what-stays-on-the-wall\">1936 murals at George Washington High School\u003c/a>, which nearly tore a community apart. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Victor Arnautoff’s images of George Washington as an enslaver were progressive at the time they were painted, images of a dead Native person read as distasteful from a contemporary perspective, said Alan Snitow, the filmmaker behind the 2022 documentary \u003ci>Town Destroyer\u003c/i>, which \u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/2022/11/05/mural-that-helped-ignite-sf-school-board-recall-continues-to-inspire-debate/\">tackled the controversy\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988488\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-08-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"reddish orange mural on building in background\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988488\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-08-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-08-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-08-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-08-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural depicting Cesar Chavez in Hayes Valley in San Francisco on April 7, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The response of rage is very hard to control,” Snitow said. “We actually had to leave town to find people who could rationally talk about it.” Yet he said the situation with Chavez is different, because it’s about criminality — and it’s someone close to us who broke our trust. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a really tragic moment,” he said. “But it can actually be productive to bring back into the public eye the oppression of the farmworkers.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the Washington High community, part of the solution was to commission a response mural by \u003ca href=\"https://deweycrumpler.com/\">Dewey Crumpler\u003c/a> in 1974, featuring diverse leaders of social justice movements. That mural, in a twist of irony, includes an image of Cesar Chavez. What looks to be an undulating serpent snaps just beneath the face of Chavez, over his heart — another representation that reads differently today. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The principals of both George Washington High School and Cesar Chavez Elementary School declined to comment for this article. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Filmmaker Tejada-Flores recounted a story that the organizer Al Rojas, the father of one of the women who came forward with allegations, told him. “Al said, ‘Caesar, you’re gonna die and there’s gonna be statues and everything named after you. What do you think about that?’” Tejada-Flores remembered. “Caesar thought for a minute. He said, ‘Statues are for pigeons to shit on. If you want to remember me, organize.’” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this complex and fraught tale, it may be the leader’s own words that hold the way forward. We must not prioritize static totems that idolize an individual figurehead, but celebrate the farmworkers and organizers who have been forgotten in the rush to elevate only one to celebrity status. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Art can be one way for us to remember; it can also force us into a reckoning.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/us/cesar-chavez-sexual-abuse-allegations-ufw.html\">sexual abuse allegations\u003c/a> against Cesar Chavez appeared in \u003cem>The New York Times\u003c/em>, the call for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12077014/california-weighs-renaming-parks-streets-after-cesar-chavez-amid-abuse-allegations\">renaming streets and holidays\u003c/a> erupted swiftly on social media channels and news outlets. Less present — but just as necessary — is a conversation around Chavez’s deeply embedded visual presence in San Francisco. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moving through San Francisco’s mural-drenched landscape, you can encounter the disgraced labor leader at nearly every turn: at schools and universities, grocery stores and private homes, street corners and favorite lunch spots. His eyes, on high, peer down from seemingly everywhere once you start looking. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Help me take responsibility for my own life,” reads the banner Chavez holds at the San Francisco elementary school on Shotwell Street that bears his name, “so I can be free at last.” Today, in light of the allegations, which include the sexual abuse of young girls in the 1970s, those words appear prophetic. In the meantime, schoolchildren play ball on the yard every day. His larger-than-life image looks down upon them. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988490\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260408-CesarChavezMurals-03-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"gray-toned mural with civil rights leaders seen through fencing\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988490\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260408-CesarChavezMurals-03-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260408-CesarChavezMurals-03-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260408-CesarChavezMurals-03-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260408-CesarChavezMurals-03-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural at 22nd and Mission Streets in San Francisco depicting Cesar Chavez shows peeling paint on April 8, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think those murals can stay up anymore, that’s clear,” said Rick Tejada-Flores, a documentary filmmaker who got to know Chavez while working on the 1973 film \u003cem>Si Se Puede!\u003c/em> and 1997’s \u003cem>The Fight in the Fields\u003c/em>. “But how do you talk to the kids in that school, how do you phrase the story?” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other images of the United Farm Workers leader also read symbolically — like the one on the corner of Mission and 22nd Streets, next to an abandoned lot. Chavez’s face is positioned next to Dr. Martin Luther King and Mother Teresa. Ironically, weather damage has peeled away the paint directly across the eyes of Cesar Chavez — but left the other two social justice leaders faces’ intact. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The intact eyes of Cesar Chavez in Shepard Fairey’s mural still look down over Patricia’s Green, which buzzed with activity on a recent Monday as San Franciscans shopped, strolled, snacked and exercised. Many of those questioned didn’t realize the mural was there, didn’t know about the recent allegations or didn’t have opinions about the art looming over them. But those who did thought it should be removed. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As we start to dismantle the patriarchy, people are going to fall off the pedestal,” said Stephanie Cordoza, who was enjoying her sandwich in the sunshine. “We stand with the victims,” she said. Yet the mural remains — so far marred only by graffiti. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other representations of the leader have met with a more decided fate. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988486\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-03-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"man with arms crossed in front of mural covered home\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988486\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-03-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-03-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-03-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-03-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Richard Segovia at his house on 25th and York Streets, known as the Latin Rock House, in San Francisco on April 7, 2026. He stands next to a portrait of Carmelito Velez, which covers a previous image of Cesar Chavez. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Cover-ups and repaintings\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Richard Segovia’s home on the corner of York and 25th Streets in the Mission stands as a visual testament to Latin rock, its exterior walls decorated with colorful murals of musical greats like Carlos Santana and Buddy Rich. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around five years ago, Segovia added Cesar Chavez to his home, to the left of the front steps, at the request of his friend Abel Sanchez, the head of the group \u003ca href=\"https://songforcesar.com/team/abel-sanchez/\">Abel and the Prophets\u003c/a>. Yet when Segovia learned about the abuse allegations — and that Dolores Huerta was one of the victims coming forward — he immediately made the decision to paint over Chavez. He had Carlos “Kookie” Gonzalez, the mural’s artist, replace the UFW leader with the Puerto Rican musician Carmelito Velez on March 19, the day after the news came out. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dolores Huerta’s testimony in particular hit hard for Segovia, and he said he has no patience for those questioning why it took her so long to come forward — because he is also a victim. “I’ve had something like this happen to me, and it took me 60 years to finally be able to talk about it,” he said. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Segovia couldn’t bear the thought of an alleged child abuser on his home. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988487\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-06-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"smiling man on scaffolding in front of colorful mural\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988487\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-06-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-06-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-06-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-06-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist Carlos ‘Kookie’ Gonzalez re-paints part of a mural on Richard Segovia’s house on April 7, 2026. The home is covered in a large mural honoring dozens of musicians tied to the Mission District’s Latin rock scene. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For the artist of the mural, 67-year-old Gonzalez, the news about Chavez hit hard. “I was heartbroken,” he said. “When I went to college, we marched with Cesar.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The muralist remembers when there was a Safeway on 21st Street and South Van Ness Avenue and they would boycott the grapes. He understands the deep emotion, but was still surprised by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DWSag8bgZPF/?img_index=1\">pushback\u003c/a> he received on social media regarding the repainting. He followed up with many of the comments in private messages. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gonzalez also painted the Cesar Chavez mural at San Francisco State University, on the student center named after the labor leader. Both the artwork and the name were covered on March 23, which meant students returned from spring break to find the building draped in a tarp. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s heavy,” said Alejandro Rios, executive director of the student government at SFSU. “If I had to guess, a lot of them [the students] will say they were glad we took early action.” A new name for the building — and new artwork — will not be decided upon until November, before the Board of Trustees. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988491\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260408-CesarChavezMurals-09-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"white banner over building name and part of mural, students below\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988491\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260408-CesarChavezMurals-09-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260408-CesarChavezMurals-09-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260408-CesarChavezMurals-09-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260408-CesarChavezMurals-09-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural of Cesar Chavez is covered in Malcolm X Plaza at San Francisco State University on April 8, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The one thing I don’t want to do is rush,” Rios said. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked about the covered-up mural and name, one student immediately became emotional. “He was our hero,” he said, referring to the Latino community. “Who do we have left, Ricky Martin?” he asked with tears in his eyes, skateboarding off before he could give his name. With Latinos making up \u003ca href=\"https://marcomm.sfsu.edu/sfsu-facts\">38.7% of the student body\u003c/a> at SF State, the news about Chavez was particularly destabilizing. \u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Working our way through it’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The murals on Segovia’s house were made possible by a $35,000 grant from the local organization \u003ca href=\"https://www.precitaeyes.org/\">Precita Eyes Muralists\u003c/a>, which supports the creation of new artworks — some of which have included images of Cesar Chavez. Guide Patricia Rose leads weekly tours of local murals, and she helped to paint the mural celebrating the union leader at the corner of Mission and the street named after him, appropriately situated next to a large fruit stand. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t have a firm policy in place yet,” Rose said, when asked about how Precita Eyes will address the question of Chavez’s image on group tours. “It’s more of a disclaimer as we’re working our way through it.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988489\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-18-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"painted faces on side of building\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988489\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-18-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-18-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-18-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-18-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural depicting Cesar Chavez in the Mission District in San Francisco on April 7, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For muralist Jean Pilas, who also works at Precita Eyes, it wasn’t a surprise when they learned about the allegations against Cesar Chavez. Their friend Jennifer Andrea Porras had talked about her traumatic memories regarding Chavez at a dinner party, an experience \u003ca href=\"https://laopinion.com/2026/04/05/mi-cuerpo-lo-recuerda-presunta-victima-de-chavez-rompe-el-silencio/\">Porras has shared publicly\u003c/a> since the \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em> allegations came to light. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you put someone on a pedestal, it makes the public lazy,” Pilas said. “It diminishes the work of other people.” They hope that this reckoning will allow the work of others in the UFW — people like Philip Vera Cruz, Larry Itliong and Gilbert Padilla — to finally be appreciated. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Immortalizing individual leaders can become problematic. So, too, can public art. Grappling with the ubiquity of Chavez’s image resonates with another vitriolic art debate — about the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/10/14/1127843326/when-murals-depict-traumatic-history-schools-must-decide-what-stays-on-the-wall\">1936 murals at George Washington High School\u003c/a>, which nearly tore a community apart. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Victor Arnautoff’s images of George Washington as an enslaver were progressive at the time they were painted, images of a dead Native person read as distasteful from a contemporary perspective, said Alan Snitow, the filmmaker behind the 2022 documentary \u003ci>Town Destroyer\u003c/i>, which \u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/2022/11/05/mural-that-helped-ignite-sf-school-board-recall-continues-to-inspire-debate/\">tackled the controversy\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988488\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-08-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"reddish orange mural on building in background\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988488\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-08-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-08-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-08-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/260407-CesarChavezMurals-08-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural depicting Cesar Chavez in Hayes Valley in San Francisco on April 7, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The response of rage is very hard to control,” Snitow said. “We actually had to leave town to find people who could rationally talk about it.” Yet he said the situation with Chavez is different, because it’s about criminality — and it’s someone close to us who broke our trust. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a really tragic moment,” he said. “But it can actually be productive to bring back into the public eye the oppression of the farmworkers.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the Washington High community, part of the solution was to commission a response mural by \u003ca href=\"https://deweycrumpler.com/\">Dewey Crumpler\u003c/a> in 1974, featuring diverse leaders of social justice movements. That mural, in a twist of irony, includes an image of Cesar Chavez. What looks to be an undulating serpent snaps just beneath the face of Chavez, over his heart — another representation that reads differently today. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The principals of both George Washington High School and Cesar Chavez Elementary School declined to comment for this article. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Filmmaker Tejada-Flores recounted a story that the organizer Al Rojas, the father of one of the women who came forward with allegations, told him. “Al said, ‘Caesar, you’re gonna die and there’s gonna be statues and everything named after you. What do you think about that?’” Tejada-Flores remembered. “Caesar thought for a minute. He said, ‘Statues are for pigeons to shit on. If you want to remember me, organize.’” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this complex and fraught tale, it may be the leader’s own words that hold the way forward. We must not prioritize static totems that idolize an individual figurehead, but celebrate the farmworkers and organizers who have been forgotten in the rush to elevate only one to celebrity status. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Art can be one way for us to remember; it can also force us into a reckoning.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Inside Program Audio, the Viral DJ Collective Streaming on Haight Street",
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"headTitle": "Inside Program Audio, the Viral DJ Collective Streaming on Haight Street | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://program.audio/\">Program Audio\u003c/a> runs on adrenaline and vibes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a rare sunny San Francisco afternoon, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sfcowboy_/\">Arthur Javier\u003c/a> is drilling plywood and connecting audio cables, sweat beading on his forehead. He has only minutes before his new internet radio station’s second-ever livestream, which is broadcasting from a wooden shack the size of a shower stall on Haight Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just two weeks earlier, after reading about its history in an \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/obscuresf/article/last-fotomat-san-francisco-21314862.php\">SFGate article\u003c/a>, he and business partner \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/b0nitababy/\">Erika Martinez\u003c/a> signed the lease for this former Fotomat kiosk across from Amoeba Records. This tiny 59-year-old structure once housed a drive-through for developing photos, but it eventually fell into disuse and sat collecting cobwebs. When Javier and Martinez got the keys, they immediately got to work, peeling off decades-worth of flyers (“It’s like the rings around a tree,” Javier says) and painting over graffiti.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988154\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988154\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_038-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_038-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_038-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_038-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_038-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Program Audio founders Arthur Javier and Erika Martinez pose in front of the group’s kiosk while a DJ performs inside during a livestreamed set in San Francisco, March 27, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It happened to be the heat wave week,” he says. “And we were also sick, but we wanted to keep the surprise. We knew our audience that we’d built, our friend group, would just lose their minds. And they did.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Program Audio’s opening announcement made headlines and \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@b0nitababy/video/7619443704155147550\">went viral on TikTok\u003c/a>, generating approving comments from people eager for the return of the kind of out-there, DIY creativity that once made San Francisco a counterculture hub. Their new internet radio station is the culmination of five years of work Javier and Martinez have put in behind the scenes to nurture San Francisco’s electronic music ecosystem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 26- and 27-year-old friends began throwing underground parties together as pandemic restrictions lifted. Eventually, they became trusted curators at a number of San Francisco venues, including the SoMa nightclub F8 and Mission District wine bar Arcana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988149\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988149\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_011-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_011-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_011-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_011-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_011-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Original Program Audio flyers hang inside the collective’s kiosk on Haight Street in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The two are DJs (Javier goes by sfcowboy, and Martinez mononymously performs as erika), and their forward-thinking take on techno has attracted likeminded musicians. That community evolved into the \u003ca href=\"https://program-audio.bandcamp.com/music\">Program Audio record label\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://soulseek.online/\">\u003cem>Soulseek\u003c/em>\u003c/a> electronic music zine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are really emerging sounds from Latin American backgrounds — deconstructed club, Latin bass,” says Javier, who has the Program Audio logo tattooed on his finger. “I feel like, it’s like when I listen to Kraftwerk for the first time, these things are really cutting edge and exciting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Program Audio’s new compilation — a surprise release they upload to Bandcamp the day I visit — raises money for the National Immigrant Justice Center. It features dark drum’n’bass by San Francisco’s xxveneco, house with a ’90s flavor by Oakland’s 3:33 and an ambient, dreamy track with crackling drums by Seoul, Korea’s Closet Yi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988152\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988152\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_023-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_023-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_023-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_023-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_023-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Erika Martinez, co-founder of Program Audio, works at a screen-printing station surrounded by event flyers. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“With everything going on with ICE and how scary it is for immigrants at this time, we kind of just felt helpless,” says Martinez. “We don’t necessarily have funds ourselves … but we’re trying to figure out a way to use what we’re good at to help.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=383469968/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Javier tests the speakers and fields questions from curious passersby at the kiosk, Martinez is down the street at Javier’s apartment, screenprinting dozens of T-shirts that the duo is selling this evening. Their cats Tekno and Lou come over to nap on the warm garments coming off the heat press.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Javier still works a day job, Martinez has been doing Program Audio as her full-time gig for almost two years. The platform has grown in large part thanks to her TikTok presence, where she brands herself as “your sf nightlife guide.” With short bangs, a deadpan delivery and pink pout, she’s become a recognizable face on the For You pages of Bay Area residents looking to get off their screens and dance til the early morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I started using TikTok because I realized there was, the simplest way to say it is, a gap in the market,” she says. ‘There was absolutely no one talking about San Francisco’s electronic music scene.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988153\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988153\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_031-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_031-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_031-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_031-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_031-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cats rest on newly printed Program Audio T-shirts as a co-founder Erika Martinez, organizes merchandise in San Francisco, March 27, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The daughter of a b-boy and a club kid, Martinez has made it her mission to help the Bay Area’s electronic music scene grow. Program Audio joins a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13926316/hydefm-lower-grand-diy-internet-radio-stations-bay-area-music\">rising number of independent, DJ-run online radio stations\u003c/a>, including Fault Radio, Hyde FM and Lower Grand Radio. They’re also part of a community of DJs promoting forward-thinking club music, including \u003ca href=\"https://ra.co/promoters/147486\">Mostly Cloudy\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://nobias.bandcamp.com/\">No Bias\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://amordigital.bandcamp.com/\">Amor Digital\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just see the potential in S.F. — not even like becoming New York, but becoming its own very special thing,” Martinez says. She hopes the attention on Program Audio prompts San Francisco’s city government to invest into artist-run spaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Martinez packs up the T-shirts and walks back to the kiosk, where discnogirl and Tom Marsi are spinning bouncy footwork as a small, all-ages crowd starts to coalesce, bobbing their heads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988147\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988147\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_003-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_003-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_003-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_003-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_003-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Arthur Javier hangs T-shirts and tote bags as he prepares Program Audio’s kiosk for a livestreamed DJ set in San Francisco, March 27, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s really cool that this is non-corporate, non-sponsored, it’s just two locals doing things for other locals,” says Marsi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Martinez hangs up the fresh T-shirts, but she can’t stay for too long. In just a few hours, she’s due at F8 for a Program Audio party, and she has her set to prepare. She peels off once again, and Javier stays behind to watch the DJ booth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re crazy and we’re stressed, but we know that we’re putting in so much work and the feedback is good,” he says. “So it’s kind of just pushing us and showing us that we’re going in the right direction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://program.audio/\">Program Audio\u003c/a> streams every Friday and Saturday, 4–8 p.m. \u003ca href=\"https://ra.co/events/2379120\">Their next party\u003c/a> takes place April 3 at Club Six (60 6th St., San Francisco), featuring sets from DBBD, erika, Femme Jatale, Beverly Chills and more. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://program.audio/\">Program Audio\u003c/a> runs on adrenaline and vibes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a rare sunny San Francisco afternoon, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sfcowboy_/\">Arthur Javier\u003c/a> is drilling plywood and connecting audio cables, sweat beading on his forehead. He has only minutes before his new internet radio station’s second-ever livestream, which is broadcasting from a wooden shack the size of a shower stall on Haight Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just two weeks earlier, after reading about its history in an \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/obscuresf/article/last-fotomat-san-francisco-21314862.php\">SFGate article\u003c/a>, he and business partner \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/b0nitababy/\">Erika Martinez\u003c/a> signed the lease for this former Fotomat kiosk across from Amoeba Records. This tiny 59-year-old structure once housed a drive-through for developing photos, but it eventually fell into disuse and sat collecting cobwebs. When Javier and Martinez got the keys, they immediately got to work, peeling off decades-worth of flyers (“It’s like the rings around a tree,” Javier says) and painting over graffiti.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988154\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988154\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_038-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_038-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_038-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_038-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_038-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Program Audio founders Arthur Javier and Erika Martinez pose in front of the group’s kiosk while a DJ performs inside during a livestreamed set in San Francisco, March 27, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It happened to be the heat wave week,” he says. “And we were also sick, but we wanted to keep the surprise. We knew our audience that we’d built, our friend group, would just lose their minds. And they did.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Program Audio’s opening announcement made headlines and \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@b0nitababy/video/7619443704155147550\">went viral on TikTok\u003c/a>, generating approving comments from people eager for the return of the kind of out-there, DIY creativity that once made San Francisco a counterculture hub. Their new internet radio station is the culmination of five years of work Javier and Martinez have put in behind the scenes to nurture San Francisco’s electronic music ecosystem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 26- and 27-year-old friends began throwing underground parties together as pandemic restrictions lifted. Eventually, they became trusted curators at a number of San Francisco venues, including the SoMa nightclub F8 and Mission District wine bar Arcana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988149\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988149\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_011-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_011-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_011-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_011-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_011-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Original Program Audio flyers hang inside the collective’s kiosk on Haight Street in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The two are DJs (Javier goes by sfcowboy, and Martinez mononymously performs as erika), and their forward-thinking take on techno has attracted likeminded musicians. That community evolved into the \u003ca href=\"https://program-audio.bandcamp.com/music\">Program Audio record label\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://soulseek.online/\">\u003cem>Soulseek\u003c/em>\u003c/a> electronic music zine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are really emerging sounds from Latin American backgrounds — deconstructed club, Latin bass,” says Javier, who has the Program Audio logo tattooed on his finger. “I feel like, it’s like when I listen to Kraftwerk for the first time, these things are really cutting edge and exciting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Program Audio’s new compilation — a surprise release they upload to Bandcamp the day I visit — raises money for the National Immigrant Justice Center. It features dark drum’n’bass by San Francisco’s xxveneco, house with a ’90s flavor by Oakland’s 3:33 and an ambient, dreamy track with crackling drums by Seoul, Korea’s Closet Yi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988152\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988152\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_023-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_023-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_023-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_023-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_023-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Erika Martinez, co-founder of Program Audio, works at a screen-printing station surrounded by event flyers. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“With everything going on with ICE and how scary it is for immigrants at this time, we kind of just felt helpless,” says Martinez. “We don’t necessarily have funds ourselves … but we’re trying to figure out a way to use what we’re good at to help.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=383469968/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Javier tests the speakers and fields questions from curious passersby at the kiosk, Martinez is down the street at Javier’s apartment, screenprinting dozens of T-shirts that the duo is selling this evening. Their cats Tekno and Lou come over to nap on the warm garments coming off the heat press.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Javier still works a day job, Martinez has been doing Program Audio as her full-time gig for almost two years. The platform has grown in large part thanks to her TikTok presence, where she brands herself as “your sf nightlife guide.” With short bangs, a deadpan delivery and pink pout, she’s become a recognizable face on the For You pages of Bay Area residents looking to get off their screens and dance til the early morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I started using TikTok because I realized there was, the simplest way to say it is, a gap in the market,” she says. ‘There was absolutely no one talking about San Francisco’s electronic music scene.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988153\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988153\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_031-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_031-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_031-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_031-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_031-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cats rest on newly printed Program Audio T-shirts as a co-founder Erika Martinez, organizes merchandise in San Francisco, March 27, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The daughter of a b-boy and a club kid, Martinez has made it her mission to help the Bay Area’s electronic music scene grow. Program Audio joins a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13926316/hydefm-lower-grand-diy-internet-radio-stations-bay-area-music\">rising number of independent, DJ-run online radio stations\u003c/a>, including Fault Radio, Hyde FM and Lower Grand Radio. They’re also part of a community of DJs promoting forward-thinking club music, including \u003ca href=\"https://ra.co/promoters/147486\">Mostly Cloudy\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://nobias.bandcamp.com/\">No Bias\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://amordigital.bandcamp.com/\">Amor Digital\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just see the potential in S.F. — not even like becoming New York, but becoming its own very special thing,” Martinez says. She hopes the attention on Program Audio prompts San Francisco’s city government to invest into artist-run spaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Martinez packs up the T-shirts and walks back to the kiosk, where discnogirl and Tom Marsi are spinning bouncy footwork as a small, all-ages crowd starts to coalesce, bobbing their heads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988147\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988147\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_003-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_003-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_003-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_003-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/032726PROGRAMAUDIO_GH_003-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Arthur Javier hangs T-shirts and tote bags as he prepares Program Audio’s kiosk for a livestreamed DJ set in San Francisco, March 27, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s really cool that this is non-corporate, non-sponsored, it’s just two locals doing things for other locals,” says Marsi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Martinez hangs up the fresh T-shirts, but she can’t stay for too long. In just a few hours, she’s due at F8 for a Program Audio party, and she has her set to prepare. She peels off once again, and Javier stays behind to watch the DJ booth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re crazy and we’re stressed, but we know that we’re putting in so much work and the feedback is good,” he says. “So it’s kind of just pushing us and showing us that we’re going in the right direction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://program.audio/\">Program Audio\u003c/a> streams every Friday and Saturday, 4–8 p.m. \u003ca href=\"https://ra.co/events/2379120\">Their next party\u003c/a> takes place April 3 at Club Six (60 6th St., San Francisco), featuring sets from DBBD, erika, Femme Jatale, Beverly Chills and more. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1MDAyODE4NTgz",
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},
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"title": "The California Report Magazine",
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},
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
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"order": 1
},
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"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
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"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
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"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
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},
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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},
"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
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"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC2275451163"
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
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"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"
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},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
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"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
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