Approximately 60 people gathered Sunday in front of San Francisco’s City Hall to protest a French court’s decision in the killing of Sarah Halimi, a 65-year-old Jewish French woman who was the victim of an antisemitic attack in her Paris apartment building in 2017.
The retired doctor and schoolteacher was beaten to death by Kobili Traoré, who reportedly was yelling “Allah Akbar” and also said “I killed the shaitan” before throwing Halimi out of her apartment window. In Islamic belief, a shaitan is an evil spirit that incites humans to sin.
Three weeks ago, France’s highest court ruled that Traoré, a devout Muslim, was unfit to be put on trial because the marijuana he had smoked before the killing made him psychotic. He’s currently in a psychiatric hospital.
Across the Bay Area, May Day celebrations and peaceful demonstrations on Saturday brought crowds together in solidarity with groups around the world honoring International Workers Day.
San Franciscoâs and McCormack Baron Salazarâs criminal neglect of Plaza East Apartments
San Franciscoâs and McCormack Baron Salazarâs criminal neglect of Plaza East Apartments
May 1, 2021
Plaza East Apartments in the Fillmore (Western Addition) has been subject to inhumane neglect, unlawful evictions and mismanagement by owners McCormack Baron Salazar and the City. Despite being the project where Mayor London Breed grew up, she has shown no interest in helping the mostly Black tenants through their issues dealing with infestations and police-like policies.
Bulldozed in the â60s, gentrified in the â90s and violated in the 2020s: Racismâs hold on the Fillmore
Jessica Flores April 30, 2021Updated: April 30, 2021, 12:33 pm
Pam Tau Lee holds a photo of Brandon Lee during a rally at San Francisco City Hall on Aug. 9, 2019. Brandon Lee, an activist and community organizer, was shot outside his home in the Philippines, according to friends. Photo: Noah Berger, Special to The Chronicle
Pam Tau Lee was 21 years old when she began her activism career in San Francisco, later becoming the co-founder of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network and the Chinese Progressive Association. Now Lee has started painting to continue her activism.
“I can’t be out on the front lines anymore at 73 years old,” Lee, of San Francisco, told The Chronicle in a phone interview. “I express my views now mainly through my painting.”
Honey Mahogany Declares Candidacy for SF Democratic Party Chair
Onetime
Rupaul s Drag Race contestant Honey Mahogany, who more recently has been working in San Francisco City Hall as a legislative aide to Supervisor Matt Haney, announced this week that she s running to become the first Black trans person to run for SF Democratic Party Chair. We have someone who knows what it means to represent so many communities that have been discriminated against and left out of the political process for so long, said Supervisor Hillary Ronen at Mahogany s campaign kickoff event, per KPIX.
Mahogany, who also identifies as queer and nonbinary, said her experience being on stage as a drag performer and as co-owner of The Stud has helped her in her more recent political work. As she told KPIX, being fierce, funny, and cut down by other queers pretty well sums up what it s like to be in San Francisco politics.