In San Francisco, the younger performers will warm hearts with a selection ranging from Rogers & Hammerstein’s “My Favorite Things,” Mark Weston’s “Hanukkah, Season of Joy!,” and the Spanish Traditional “Arre Borriquito.”

Older singers will celebrate wintertime with songs including the Turkish Traditional “Üsküdar,” “The Christmas Song” by Mel Tormé and Robert Wells, and Cynthia Gray’s “Afternoon on a Hill.”

The National Children’s Chorus guides kids to thrive. Each year, under the leadership of Artistic Director Luke McEndarfer and Associate Artistic Director Dr. Pamela Blackstone, over 1,100 young people who carry a love of singing in their hearts find their voice and achieve their best through unparalleled vocal training in eight chapter cities nationwide.

Through the NCC, students connect with each other, growing as artists and as citizens. The young vocalists, ages 5 to 18, engage in a superlative regimen that includes an extensive musicianship curriculum.

The students are celebrating that their album Illumine hit #3 on the Billboard Classical charts. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and AIR Studios in London last summer, in collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra, and released on Lexicon Classics. The album highlights holiday music from different countries, cultures, and traditions around the world resulting in an exquisite musical collection — a diverse, world-encompassing array of holiday expressions by underrepresented voices in choral music.

The festive December concert appearance marks the start to the group’s 120th anniversary season where the group will launch a new chapter city, exponentially expand its scholarship program, and set off on an eighth international tour.

Tickets start at $35.

Christopher Hewitt, pianist
Michaela Overall, pianist
Ray Capiral-Speers, pianist

PRELUDE LEVEL
Ann Elizabeth Jones, conductor
“My Favorite Things,” Richard Rogers & Oscar Hammerstein II, arr. Roger Emerson
“The Night Wind,” Mark Patterson
“Hanukkah, Season of Joy!,” Mark Weston

MINUET LEVEL
Enya Murray, conductor
“Arre Borriquito” (Spanish Traditional), arr. D. Farrell Smith & Shelley J. Smith
“Somewhere in My Memory,” John Williams & Leslie Bricusse, arr. Audrey Snyders
“Cold Snap,” Mark Hayes

SONATA LEVEL
Peter Meredith, conductor
“Afternoon on a Hill,” Cynthia Gray
“Üsküdar,” (Turkish Traditional), arr. Mark Burrows
“Velvet Shoes,” Randall Thompson
“On With the Snow!,” Douglas E. Wagner

PREMIER ENSEMBLE
Dr. Pamela Blackstone & Julia Morris, conductors
“Salmo 150,” Ernani Aguiar, arr. Donald Patriquin & Alberto Grau
“Winter.” Anthony Giamanco & Walter de la Mare, arr. Andy Beck
“Flight,” Craig Carnelia, arr. Ryan Murphy
“The Christmas Song,” Mel Tormé & Robert Wells, arr. Mark Hayes

Talented young singers from the National Children’s Chorus kick off the holidays with a joyful and moving concert, “a truly ethereal sound” (Gramophone). The San Francisco concert will feature students ages 5-18 offering an extraordinary performance of a brand-new winter collection of songs that inspire gratitude, mindfulness, and self-knowledge.

In San Francisco, the younger performers will warm hearts with a selection ranging from Rogers & Hammerstein’s “My Favorite Things,” Mark Weston’s “Hanukkah, Season of Joy!,” and the Spanish Traditional “Arre Borriquito.”

Older singers will celebrate wintertime with songs including the Turkish Traditional “Üsküdar,” “The Christmas Song” by Mel Tormé and Robert Wells, and Cynthia Gray’s “Afternoon on a Hill.”

The National Children’s Chorus guides kids to thrive. Each year, under the leadership of Artistic Director Luke McEndarfer and Associate Artistic Director Dr. Pamela Blackstone, over 1,100 young people who carry a love of singing in their hearts find their voice and achieve their best through unparalleled vocal training in eight chapter cities nationwide.

Through the NCC, students connect with each other, growing as artists and as citizens. The young vocalists, ages 5 to 18, engage in a superlative regimen that includes an extensive musicianship curriculum.

The students are celebrating that their album Illumine hit #3 on the Billboard Classical charts. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and AIR Studios in London last summer, in collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra, and released on Lexicon Classics. The album highlights holiday music from different countries, cultures, and traditions around the world resulting in an exquisite musical collection — a diverse, world-encompassing array of holiday expressions by underrepresented voices in choral music.

The festive December concert appearance marks the start to the group’s 120th anniversary season where the group will launch a new chapter city, exponentially expand its scholarship program, and set off on an eighth international tour.

Tickets start at $35.

Christopher Hewitt, pianist
Michaela Overall, pianist
Ray Capiral-Speers, pianist

PRELUDE LEVEL
Ann Elizabeth Jones, conductor
“My Favorite Things,” Richard Rogers & Oscar Hammerstein II, arr. Roger Emerson
“The Night Wind,” Mark Patterson
“Hanukkah, Season of Joy!,” Mark Weston

MINUET LEVEL
Enya Murray, conductor
“Arre Borriquito” (Spanish Traditional), arr. D. Farrell Smith & Shelley J. Smith
“Somewhere in My Memory,” John Williams & Leslie Bricusse, arr. Audrey Snyders
“Cold Snap,” Mark Hayes

SONATA LEVEL
Peter Meredith, conductor
“Afternoon on a Hill,” Cynthia Gray
“Üsküdar,” (Turkish Traditional), arr. Mark Burrows
“Velvet Shoes,” Randall Thompson
“On With the Snow!,” Douglas E. Wagner

PREMIER ENSEMBLE
Dr. Pamela Blackstone & Julia Morris, conductors
“Salmo 150,” Ernani Aguiar, arr. Donald Patriquin & Alberto Grau
“Winter.” Anthony Giamanco & Walter de la Mare, arr. Andy Beck
“Flight,” Craig Carnelia, arr. Ryan Murphy
“The Christmas Song,” Mel Tormé & Robert Wells, arr. Mark Hayes

The post Nationwide Youngsters’s Refrain Winter Showcase in San Francisco at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church – San Francisco in San Francisco – December 5, 2023 appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden welcomed hundreds to the White House on Saturday for a postponed Pride Month celebration aimed at showing LGBTQ+ people his administration at a time when advocates warn of a rise in discriminatory legislation , particularly against them, has its back strengthened by the transgender community sweeping through state houses.

The event, which the government has described as the largest Pride event at the White House, was originally scheduled for Thursday but was postponed due to poor air quality from hazardous air pouring in from Canadian wildfires. But the haze that blanketed much of the east coast last week had lifted over the nation’s capital, allowing the president and first lady Jill Biden to hold their South Lawn party.

“So today I want to send a message to the whole community – especially to transgender children: You are loved. you will be heard You understood. And you’re part of it,” Biden said.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, a group that campaigns for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer rights, Pride Month is celebrated this year as state legislators introduced at least 525 bills and 78 bills have passed that restrict the rights of LGBTQ+ people.

This tally includes a number of recent bills affecting transgender people, including legislation recently passed by Republican governors vying for the 2024 presidential nomination.

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed a bill banning sex-specific medical care such as puberty blockers or hormone therapy for transgender youth. Earlier this week, a federal judge temporarily blocked portions of a law DeSantis signed into law just before announcing his presidential candidacy.

In North Dakota, Gov. Doug Burgum signed a bill last month that would ban public schools and government agencies from requiring teachers and staff to refer to transgender people by the pronouns they use. Burgum, who, like DeSantis, has made cultural issues a central part of his tenure as governor, joined the White House primary.

Josh Helfgott, an LGBTQ+ activist and social media influencer from New York City, said celebrating Pride Month at the White House was one of the most important moments of his life. But he said the wave of legislation added another dimension to this year’s celebrations.

“Pride is so important this year because we cannot remain silent in the face of hate and bigotry,” Helfgott said. “The other side is so loud, incredibly loud.” ”

Anjali Rimi, from San Francisco, attended the White House event with her mother, who recently immigrated from India.

Rimi came to the United States more than 20 years ago because, as she says, as a transgender person, she was shunned by family and society.

Times are also difficult in the United States, she said. After coming out, she was forced out of the job, was homeless for a time, and sought asylum in Canada for about a decade before returning to the United States.

“It’s a moment that we will cherish for a lifetime,” said Rimi, an LGBTQ+ community activist in San Francisco. “It’s a happy moment, but it’s also a reminder that we still have so much work to do.”

Originally published June 10, 2023 at 1:30 p.m

The post Biden marks LGBTQ+ Satisfaction Month with celebration on White Home South Garden appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

“It means a lot, because as someone who grew up taking trips to Chinatown with my grandparents, it wasn’t an easy trip — having to walk through hills and having to take multiple bus rides — and I think this really centralizes it and gives people, like my younger self and my grandparents, an opportunity to reach places that they previously had a lot more trouble reaching,” said Adrianna Zhang, who serves as the District 7 representative on the San Francisco Youth Commission.

The original line will run weekends between Chinatown-Rose Pak Station, and 4th and Brannan streets. On Jan. 7, however, the line will run its full course seven days a week, direct from Sunnydale, Bayview and Visitacion Valley all the way to SoMa, Union Square and Chinatown, extending the Muni Metro T-3rd Street line on 3rd Street .

SFMTA’s Central Subway Project was always expected to be a complex and difficult undertaking, going underneath the Union Square area and Chinatown — not only one of the densest parts of the city, but one of the densest residential areas in the entire US

Those expectations proved to be well-founded. The project ended up costing $2 billion and went significantly over budget due to various construction delays. All in all, it was completed four years later than planned.

Lion dancers from the Yau Kung Moon school are seen celebrating the opening of the Chinatown-Rose Pak Station on Grant Avenue and Stockton Street, Nov. 19, 2022. (Ekene Okobi/KQED)

The project finally overcame those hurdles with the Nov. 19 opening, and is being hailed as a monumental accomplishment for San Francisco in terms of its commitment to transit over fossil-fuel vehicles, its commitment to a community where 80% of residents are estimated to be transit-dependent, and its overall commitment to moving people in the least environmentally harmful way possible.

Locals used the Central Subway for the first time on Nov. 19, 2022. An estimated 80% of Chinatown residents rely on public transit. (Aryk Copley/KQED)

But the Central Subway has meant a great deal for one neighborhood in particular, where Saturday’s opening was seen and celebrated as a victory: Chinatown.

Residents, business owners and community leaders in Chinatown fought hard for years to bring the Central Subway project to their neighborhood after it was initially slated to go to the Financial District, with various local organizations lending their weight, including the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the Chinatown Community Development Center, among others.

“I think this sends a signal to the city and the world that Chinatown is a permanent part of the fabric of San Francisco and it needs to be valued as such — and is valued as such,” said Malcolm Yeung, executive director of the Chinatown Community Development Center, adding that the Central Subway is an important part of Chinatown history and that the opening of this new line is the start of a new chapter for the community.

“We can think of Chinatown as a place where we can build upon the culture and the anchor that this has brought for generations of immigrants and San Franciscans,” Yeung said.

A map of the Muni lines in San Francisco, including the 3rd Street line that will be effective on January 2023. (Courtesy of SFMTA)

But the political fight to bring the line to Chinatown was actually led by an unlikely and controversial figure after whom the Chinatown station was eventually renamed on Aug. 20, 2019: Rose Pak.

Pak, who died in 2016 at age 68, had a penchant for the dramatic and a brusque, unapologetic style that won her as many opponents as it did supporters. But, love her or hate her, it was Pak’s passionate drive that won the day and brought the Central Subway to Chinatown.

A photo display of various stages of the development of Rose Pak Station, Nov. 19, 2022. (Ekene Okobi/KQED)

“I’m happy for Chinatown,” said Donald Luu, president of the San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce. “We waited 30 years for this day. The thing that everyone touched on today was the impact of Rose Pak, how this launched the legacy, and the legend continues in Chinatown with the name of the station in Chinatown, Rose Pak Station. This day and the celebration will be in the history books for Chinatown and the Chinese community of San Francisco.”

Pak was a former consultant for the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and organizer of the Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco, but never held an elective office. Nevertheless, she was a force to be reckoned with in the Chinatown community, considered by many to be a power broker and an effective fundraiser, with her support making — and sometimes breaking — electoral campaigns in local politics.

Born in Henan, China, Pak moved to Hong Kong as a child and then to San Francisco in 1967. After studying communications at the San Francisco College for Women and receiving her master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York City, Pak returned to San Francisco in 1974 to work as a reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle, taking on the Chinatown beat and immersing herself in the city’s Asian community — until she went from reporting news to making it.

The Central Subway will run from Chinatown-Rose Pak Station to 4th and Brannan on weekends until January when the full 3rd St. line will open, extending from Chinatown all the way to Sunnydale. (Aryk Copley/KQED)

Pak led fundraising and community leadership efforts on a number of issues and projects — many controversial — including Chinese Hospital, the 8 Washington condominium project in Embarcadero, and the Embarcadero Freeway. But when the freeway came down in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, Pak began advocating for the construction of Central Subway, an idea of ​​hers that went all the way back to the 1980s, four decades before the project was finally completed and opened on Saturday.

“We needed another transit corridor, another way of connecting to Chinatown, and it was Rose Pak who was that visionary leader who led the charge,” Yeung said.

KQED’s Dan Brekke, Ekene Okobi, Spencer Whitney and Attila Pelit contributed to this story.

The post Central Subway Opening Marks a Milestone for San Francisco and Chinatown appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — When the vast majority of San Francisco Bay Area workers were driven from their offices by the COVID outbreak two years ago, few knew Zoom was a messaging platform, work from home was an option for just a select number of tech workers and the phrase ‘You Only Live Once’ was more likely to be a catchy name for a game show.

Life has certainly changed since March 12, 2020. But with new cases tumbling and the delta and omicron surges at bay, there has been somewhat a return to normal.

READ MORE: San Francisco Official Wrap Up Crackdown On Illegal COVID Testing Sites

The once-ever-present masks can be ditched and will slowly be disappearing from classrooms. Weekly test requirements have been eased, air travel has rebounded and BART trains and Muni and VTA buses are crowded again during the commute hour.

In her State of the City address Wednesday, Mayor London Breed was ready to celebrate the new freedoms.

“We announce we are ending vaccine mandates for businesses,” Breed said. “You guys all seem very enthusiastic about that. (Laughter) I for one am. I look forward to going to a club to have a good time without my mask. It’s time…It’s time to open up our eyes, it’s time to open up our city. It’s time to enjoy our lives after everything we’ve experienced, to see not just the challenges we face but the opportunities before us. To feel the pride in what our city has done and can do.”

It was March 11, 2020, when the World Health Organization issued its declaration of a pandemic, driving home the severity of the threat faced by a virus that at that point had wreaked havoc primarily in Italy and China.

The US had 38 confirmed coronavirus deaths and 1,300 cases nationwide on that date, but reality was starting to sink in: stocks tanked, classrooms started closing and people began donning masks. In a matter of hours, the NBA was canceling games, Chicago’s huge St. Patrick’s Day parade was scuttled, and late-night comedians began filming from empty studios — or even their homes.

Since then, more than six million people have died globally, nearly 1 million in the US and nearly 58,000 in the Bay Area. The emergence of the vaccine in December 2021 saved countless lives but political divisions, hesitancy and inequality in health systems have kept millions of people around the world from getting inoculated, prolonging the pandemic.

“The vaccine was really amazing,” said UCSF infectious disease expert Dr. Peter Chin Hong. “It’s a testament to where we’ve been in science.”

READ MORE: “It’s Impacting Our Health;” Sleep Scientists Back Abolishing Daylight Saving Time

But he’s been surprised about how politics have played a role in the COVID battle.

“The way that a single mask would have become a political symbol when in health care it is such a normal way to protect yourself,” Chin-Hong said.

“But with these successes, I think there have been many down points,” he added.

Julie Kim, chief nursing officer at Providence St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, gets emotional when she recalls the bleakest days of the pandemic when doctors and nurses worked around the clock and didn’t go home because they were afraid of bringing the virus back with them.

At one point during the summer 2020 spike, there were 250 COVID-19 patients in the hospital licensed for 320 beds and the hospital had to use offices for overflow bed space.

The pandemic has eased to the point that as of Tuesday, there were just four COVID-19 patients at the hospital, Kim said, and medical staff feels more prepared to treat the disease with the knowledge gained in those darkest days. Still, many are traumatized by the raw memories of the past two years and will never be the same, she said.

“It’s hard to use the word ‘normal,’ because I don’t think we will ever get back to a pre-COVID state. We are adapting and we are moving forward,” Kim said. “This has had a toll on many of us. Some people are moving forward and some people are still having a hard time dealing with it all.”

MORE NEWS: NTSB Investigators Unraveling Cause Of Fiery Caltrain Collision That Injured 13

© Copyright 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Relationship: Traveling at Home: SF Giants channels are set to bring up games remotely

Oakland Athletics continues the San Francisco Giants with an old-fashioned tradition known as the Bay Bridge Series. Apart from that, it looks a little different. The stadium has lifted all capacity limits, social distancing requirements and does not require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test.

The Giants also withdrew the mandatory face mask requirement earlier this month. Currently it is “very recommendable” for unvaccinated fans.

Video: Players and coaches prepare for the Bay Bridge Series

If you have a Giants season ticket, you can return to your reserved seat. Around 35,000 fans are expected for the game on Friday evening.

Relationship: Would you like a free Giants ticket? Get the COVID-19 vaccine at one of these vaccination sites in San Francisco

After the Bay Bridge Series is over, Oakland A will have its first full-capacity home stand against the Texas Rangers. With more than 46,000 fans at the Oakland Coliseum, the game has the potential to win the Bay Area’s largest public event title since the pandemic.

Transit and ferry services have also returned to Oracle Park for tonight’s game. BART, Caltrain, San Francisco Bay Ferry and Golden Gate Ferry will all resume service to and from the stadium.

Copyright © 2021 KGO-TV. All rights reserved.

Bay Bridge Series in Oracle Park between the San Francisco Giants, Oakland A is the biggest event since the COVID-19 pandemic began

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People gathered at the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park on June 5 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first reported AIDS cases and to solemnly view pieces of the AIDS Memorial Quilt and commemorate the lives lost.

It was June 5, 1981 when the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report found five cases of Pneumocystis pneumonia in previously healthy gay men in Los Angeles. In the years that followed, thousands of people died from the disease, including gay men, women, transsexuals, hemophiliacs, and drug users.

During a morning ceremony, officials in the Circle of Friends laid a wreath and inspected the 6,000th block of the quilt. In the afternoon the public was invited to visit the grove, where they saw 40 more quilt blocks and read the names of those who had died from the disease. (AIDS Grove took responsibility for the quilt in 2019.) There were musical performances by the Messengers of Hope Gospel Choir with Ja Ronn and Flow and members of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus.

Among the quilt blocks on display was one for Susan Piracci Roggio, who had been a flower girl at the wedding of house spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), and one for Freddie Mercury, lead singer of the band Queen. There was also a panel discussion for Dr. Tom Waddell, the founder of the Gay Games. A larger block was also exhibited by the Glide Memorial Church, which had more than 100 names on it.

Some of the attendees couldn’t believe the disease had ravaged the world for four decades.

“I’m here with my kids and that gives it a whole different meaning,” said Joshua Gamson, a 58-year-old gay man who sits on the grove’s plank. “I’m a little impressed with what has become of the National AIDS Memorial, and still in disbelief that it was 40 years ago. I’m sad and inspired.” Gamson is a professor of sociology at the University of San Francisco.

John Cunningham, a gay man and managing director of the AIDS grove, opened the speaker program by asking for a minute’s silence for those who died of AIDS.

“I definitely feel your spirit here today,” he said. “With the beauty of the sun, nature, and birds, and each of you. My name is John Cunningham and I am an AIDS patient and honored to direct the National AIDS Memorial.”

Cunningham asked everyone living with AIDS to stand or raise their hand. Those who did received applause. Cunningham has also declared June 5th Awareness Day for HIV Long-Term Survivors.

“We need to support the long-term survivor community,” he said.

There were also young people among the afternoon visitors.

Tatum Jenkins, a 20-year-old bisexual woman, and her friend Zoe Schneider, an 18-year-old straight ally, waited to be let into the grove to see the quilting blocks.

“We tripped over it,” said Jenkins. “I realized there wasn’t much Pride to do this year. This felt like a good opportunity to connect with the history of Pride.”

“From the perspective of a young person, 40 years can feel like a long time because it is twice the life expectancy,” adds Schneider. “If you put it in the perspective of everyone here, this is a very young story and has a legacy and a cultural impact that still touches so many people.”

Mayor London Breed spoke during the morning ceremony.

“San Francisco was left to our own devices,” Breed said, recalling the early days of the AIDS epidemic when the federal government largely ignored the crisis. “But we have done what the San Franciscans do best, we have come together and have provided things like no other to deal with this crisis. The system of care for those struggling with HIV / AIDS was developed here in San Francisco. The renowned research that has been carried out to this day has established itself here in our great city. “

Breed also thanked Cleve Jones for co-founding the AIDS quilt. Breed then spoke of the Getting to Zero campaign, which was launched in 2014 when she was on the board of directors.

“Zero new infections,” she said. “Zero new deaths, no stigmatization of people with HIV or AIDS. And for the first time in a very long time, we only saw 166 new infections with HIV in 2019, and that’s really historic for the work we are doing in investing in PrEP and in the things that really lead us to zero new infections. “

As the Bay Area Reporter noted last week, the city hopes the Getting to Zero campaign will reduce virus transmission and HIV-related deaths by 90% by 2025.

AIDS Memorial Quilt co-founder Gert McMullin, left, and volunteers unveil the 6,000. Block the AIDS quilt in the AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park June 5th during the 40th anniversary of the first reported AIDS cases. Photo: Christopher Robl

The Senator of the Gay State Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) reminded that in 1987 as a 17-year-old gay man there was no treatment for HIV and no PrEP, a drug that is very effective in preventing HIV.

“It was a scary time growing up as a gay man,” said Wiener. “It was a time when our federal government let us down because this virus affected gay and bisexual men, trans women, black people, drug users, sex workers. But this community got together and survived. Not all of them survived, we know tens of millions of people died from this virus, but we got through this and we now have effective treatments, we now have PrEP, we now have support systems. “

Wiener admitted that people were still being lost to HIV. He said he wanted the quilt to stop growing and thanked Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) for her work in ending the criminalization of HIV. Lee has long been pushing for federal legislation to end HIV criminalization. In 2017, then Governor Jerry Brown signed state law, SB 239, which Wiener co-authored with former gay MP Todd Gloria (D), who is now Mayor of San Diego, and which was passed during the height of the AIDS crisis The state’s HIV criminalization laws modernized epidemic in the 1980s. Lee supported state legislation.

“We have to do it nationally,” said Wiener.

Lee said she and the others attended to “remember all of those we have lost over the past 40 years”.

“Many of you have been in this struggle since then,” she added. “We are also here to reflect on the progress that we have made and to commit ourselves again to this work. Let us think of those who fought on the front lines for dignity, for health, for social justice and for an end to discrimination. “

Lee noted that she is the co-founder and co-chair of the bipartisan HIV / AIDS caucus of Congress and that she serves on the powerful grants committee.

“I just want to tell you that ending HIV and AIDS by 2030 remains a priority for me,” she said. “We will get there.”

She pointed out that 45% of HIV diagnoses nationwide are African Americans, even though they make up only 13% of the population.

Ima Diawara, who received the AIDS Grove’s first Mary Bowman Arts in Activism Award, and Antwan Matthews, a Grove board member, offered a spoken word performance of her poem “If I Say”. At some point during the reading, Matthews became overwhelmed by emotion and had to stop and breathe. Their performance received a lot of applause.

Longtime HIV survivor Lonnie Payne, a black gay man who now serves on the AIDS Grove Board, recalled losing his partner, brother, and brother’s partner. He talked about his work with the HIV / AIDS hotline to help others in the community.

There were representatives from Gilead Sciences, Quest Diagnostics and Vivent Health discussing their work to end the epidemic.

Jones, also a long-term survivor, recalled reading the CDC announcement of the first five AIDS cases 40 years ago.

“Five years later, almost everyone I knew was dead,” he said. “Or die or take care of someone who is dying. From those beginnings a great movement has grown that has not only changed the fight against AIDS, but also the way the world views gays. The way we test drugs advocacy and policy change. “

Jones thanked the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, which he shared with Drs. Paul Volberding and Marcus Conant and the late BAR editor Bob Ross when it was still known as Kaposi’s Sarcoma Research and Education Foundation, as well as Vivent and Gilead. Jones then introduced Pelosi and said that she was not an ally but a family.

Pelosi spent a lot of time on the podium to thank the many people who have been involved in the fight against AIDS. She also remembered how the quilt was made and the first time it was displayed on the National Mall in Washington DC

“And at the end of the week, ABC News has the news maker of the week and it’s Cleve Jones,” Pelosi said. “And they showed the whole quilt in the mall. It was so amazing. It was historic. And today is another historic day, after traveling in Atlanta and finding a home, the quilt has come to San Francisco, where we will honor it, where we will protect it. “

Pelosi was referring to the fact that the blanket was stored in Atlanta for a number of years but was recently brought back to the Bay Area where it is being tended by the AIDS Grove.

Pelosi also noted that without the AIDS activism that preceded these movements, the LGBTQ community would not have achieved marriage equality or the repeal of the military’s anti-gay policy of “don’t ask, don’t say”.

“It’s not over yet,” said Pelosi. “So far we’re going to put this in the trash can of history in a museum. We just haven’t got there yet, but we will.”

Read names
Following the lecture program, the names of those who had died of AIDS were read out. Readings continued throughout the afternoon while the public in the grove could see the quilt pads and read the names for themselves.

“It’s bittersweet after 40 years,” Cunningham told the BAR as the names began to be read. “But we have hope for the future and we find our hope in one another, and may the words and strength shared by Speaker Pelosi inspire us all to move forward with the vision of a world free from AIDS.”

Others repeated this feeling.

“As a long-term survivor of 34 years of HIV infection, knowing that I am here when so many people I know have not survived is a delicate balance between beauty and pain,” said Vince Crisostomo, a 60-year-old gay man Asian-American man who is Program Director of SFAF’s Elizabeth Taylor 50-Plus Network. “I am reminded that my story is not over, it is not over and I hope for a happy ending.”

The morning program has been archived online and includes an explanation from Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was absent from Saturday’s ceremony but had been at the forefront of the AIDS epidemic for decades before becoming the public face of the federal government’s response to the COVID pandemic.

View the program online.

Help keep the Bay Area Reporter going through these troubled times. To support local, independent LGBTQ journalism, you should become a BAR member.

The post Transferring occasion in SF marks AIDS at 40 appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

People gathered at the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park on June 5 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first reported AIDS cases and to solemnly view pieces of the AIDS Memorial Quilt and commemorate the lives lost.

It was June 5, 1981 when the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report found five cases of Pneumocystis pneumonia in previously healthy gay men in Los Angeles. In the years that followed, thousands of people died from the disease, including gay men, women, transsexuals, hemophiliacs, and drug users.

During a morning ceremony, officials in the Circle of Friends laid a wreath and inspected the 6,000th block of the quilt. In the afternoon the public was invited to visit the grove, where they saw 40 more quilt blocks and read the names of those who had died from the disease. (AIDS Grove took responsibility for the quilt in 2019.) There were musical performances by the Messengers of Hope Gospel Choir with Ja Ronn and Flow and members of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus.

Among the quilt blocks on display was one for Susan Piracci Roggio, who was a flower girl at the wedding of house spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), and one for Freddie Mercury, lead singer of the band Queen. There was also a panel discussion for Dr. Tom Waddell, the founder of the Gay Games. A larger block was also exhibited by the Glide Memorial Church, which had more than 100 names on it.

Some of the attendees couldn’t believe the disease had ravaged the world for four decades.

“I’m here with my kids and that gives it a whole new meaning,” said Joshua Gamson, a 58-year-old gay man who sits on the grove’s plank. “I am a little impressed with what has become of the National AIDS Memorial, and still in disbelief that it was 40 years ago. I am sad and inspired.” Gamson is a professor of sociology at the University of San Francisco.

John Cunningham, a gay man and managing director of the AIDS grove, opened the speaker program by asking for a minute’s silence for those who died of AIDS.

“I definitely feel your spirit here today,” he said. “With the beauty of the sun, nature, and birds, and each of you. My name is John Cunningham and I am an AIDS patient and honored to direct the National AIDS Memorial.”

Cunningham asked everyone living with AIDS to stand or raise their hand. Those who did received applause. Cunningham has also declared June 5th Awareness Day for HIV Long-Term Survivors.

“We need to support the long-term survivor community,” he said.

There were also young people among the afternoon visitors.

Tatum Jenkins, a 20-year-old bisexual woman, and her friend Zoe Schneider, an 18-year-old straight ally, waited to be let into the grove to see the quilting blocks.

“We tripped over it,” said Jenkins. “I realized there wasn’t much Pride to do this year. This felt like a good opportunity to connect with the history of Pride.”

“From the perspective of a young person, 40 years can feel like a long time because it is twice the life expectancy,” adds Schneider. “If you put it in the perspective of everyone here, this is a very young story and has a legacy and a cultural impact that still touches so many people.”

Mayor London Breed spoke during the morning ceremony.

“San Francisco was left to our own devices,” Breed said, recalling the early days of the AIDS epidemic when the federal government largely ignored the crisis. “But we have done what the San Franciscans do best, we have come together and have provided things like no other to deal with this crisis. The system of care for those struggling with HIV / AIDS was developed here in San Francisco and is now established here in our great city. “

Breed also thanked Cleve Jones for co-founding the AIDS quilt. Breed then spoke of the Getting to Zero campaign, which was launched in 2014 when she was on the board of directors.

“Zero new infections,” she said. “Zero new deaths, no stigmatization of people with HIV or AIDS. And for the first time in a very long time, we only saw 166 new infections with HIV in 2019, and that’s really historic for the work we are doing in investing in PrEP and in the things that really lead us to zero new infections. “

As the Bay Area Reporter noted last week, the city hopes the Getting to Zero campaign will reduce virus transmission and HIV-related deaths by 90% by 2025.

The Senator of the Gay State Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) reminded that in 1987, as a 17-year-old gay man, there was no treatment for HIV and no PrEP, a drug that is very effective in preventing HIV.

“It was a scary time growing up as a gay man,” said Wiener. “It was a time when our federal government let us down because this virus affected gay and bisexual men, trans women, blacks, drug users, sex workers. But this community got together and survived. Not all of them survived, we know tens of millions of people died from this virus, but we got through this and we now have effective treatments, we now have PrEP, we now have support systems. “

Wiener admitted that people were still being lost to HIV. He said he wanted the quilt to stop growing and thanked Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) for her work in ending the criminalization of HIV. Lee has long been pushing for federal legislation to end HIV criminalization. In 2017, then Governor Jerry Brown signed state law, SB 239, which Wiener co-authored with former gay MP Todd Gloria (D), who is now Mayor of San Diego, and which was passed during the height of the AIDS crisis The state’s HIV criminalization laws modernized epidemic in the 1980s. Lee supported state legislation.

“We have to do it nationally,” said Wiener.

Lee said she and the others attended to “remember all of those we have lost over the past 40 years”.

“Many of you have been in this struggle since then,” she added. “We are also here to reflect on the progress that we have made and to commit ourselves again to this work. Let us think of those who fought on the front lines for dignity, for health, for social justice and for an end to discrimination. “

Lee noted that she is the co-founder and co-chair of the bipartisan HIV / AIDS caucus of Congress and that she serves on the powerful grants committee.

“I just want to tell you that ending HIV and AIDS by 2030 remains a priority for me,” she said. “We will get there.”

She pointed out that 45% of HIV diagnoses nationwide are African Americans, even though they make up only 13% of the population.

Ima Diawara, who received the AIDS Grove’s first Mary Bowman Arts in Activism Award, and Antwan Matthews, a Grove board member, offered a spoken word performance of her poem “If I Say”. At some point during the reading, Matthews became overwhelmed by emotion and had to stop and breathe. Their performance received a lot of applause.

Longtime HIV survivor Lonnie Payne, a black gay man who now serves on the AIDS Grove Board, recalled losing his partner, brother, and brother’s partner. He talked about his work with the HIV / AIDS hotline to help others in the community.

There were representatives from Gilead Sciences, Quest Diagnostics and Vivent Health discussing their work to end the epidemic.

Jones, also a long-term survivor, recalled reading the CDC announcement of the first five AIDS cases 40 years ago.

“Five years later, almost everyone I knew was dead,” he said. “Or die or take care of someone who is dying. From those beginnings a great movement has grown that has changed not only the fight against AIDS, but the way the world looks at gays. The way How we test drugs. The way patients can be part of it. ” advocacy and political change. “

Jones thanked the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, which he worked with Drs. Paul Volberding and Marcus Conant and the late BAR editor Bob Ross when it was still known as Kaposi’s Sarcoma Research and Education Foundation, as well as Vivent and Gilead. Jones then introduced Pelosi and said that she was not an ally but a family.

Pelosi spent a lot of time on the podium and thanked the many people who have been involved in the fight against AIDS. She also remembered how the quilt was made and the first time it was displayed on the National Mall in Washington DC

“And at the end of the week, ABC News has the news maker of the week and it’s Cleve Jones,” Pelosi said. “And they showed the whole quilt in the mall. It was so amazing. It was historic. And today is another historic day after traveling in Atlanta and finding a home, the quilt has returned to San Francisco where we will honor it, where we will protect it. “

Pelosi was referring to the fact that the blanket was stored in Atlanta for a number of years but was recently brought back to the Bay Area where it is being tended by the AIDS Grove.

Pelosi also noted that without the AIDS activism that preceded these movements, the LGBTQ community would not have achieved marriage equality or the repeal of the military’s anti-gay policy of “don’t ask, don’t say”.

“It’s not over yet,” said Pelosi. “So far we’re going to put this in the trash can of history in a museum. We just haven’t got there yet, but we will.”

Read names
Following the lecture program, the names of those who had died of AIDS were read out. Readings continued throughout the afternoon while the public in the grove could see the quilt pads and read the names for themselves.

“It’s bittersweet after 40 years,” Cunningham told the BAR as the names began to be read. “But we have hope for the future and we find our hope in one another, and may the words and strength shared by Speaker Pelosi inspire us all to move forward with the vision of a world free from AIDS.”

Others repeated this feeling.

“As a long-term survivor of 34 years of HIV infection, knowing that I am here when so many people I know have not survived is a delicate balance between beauty and pain,” said Vince Crisostomo, a 60-year-old gay man Asian-American man who is Program Director of SFAF’s Elizabeth Taylor 50-Plus Network. “I am reminded that my story is not over, it is not over and I hope for a happy ending.”

The morning program has been archived online and includes an explanation from Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was absent from Saturday’s ceremony but had been at the forefront of the AIDS epidemic for decades before becoming the public face of the federal government’s response to the COVID pandemic.

View the program online.

Help keep the Bay Area Reporter going through these troubled times. To support local, independent LGBTQ journalism, you should become a BAR member.

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To celebrate Earth Day 2021, California’s high-speed rail authority announced that contractors will only need to use zero-emission vehicles for their project fleets in all future construction contracts.

“Bullet trains will be California’s fastest zero-emission vehicles with the highest capacity,” said Brian Kelly, chief executive officer of the agency. “As rail construction continues to grow, we need to further reduce our emissions. That’s why we’re looking for new ways to make our building practices even more environmentally friendly. “

At the 35 active construction sites that span 119 miles in the Central Valley, the agency requires contractors’ fleets to be newer, more fuel-efficient model years. As ZEV technology improves and more options become available, the agency will now require 100% ZEV for such fleets in future infrastructure construction contracts.

“This project delivers a sustainable future for transportation,” said Margaret Cederoth, director of sustainability and planning for the agency. “Our policy is not to have net greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutant criteria in construction. To help us do that, we want to leverage the ZEV market that California is driving.”

This implementation strategy will bring harmful emissions closer to zero and will keep harmful particulates out of the air in communities with poor air quality and high asthma rates, such as many near the Central Valley high-speed rail project.

In addition, the guideline uses the scope of the project to create innovations in off-road construction machinery, where it is more difficult to develop parameters in order not to cause emissions.

The agency already stipulates that all such devices must meet the highest emissions standard set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Tier 4). This policy has significantly reduced project emissions and removed 172,000 pounds of potential air pollution to date.

This implementation strategy will go further and stipulate that by 2030, as far as possible, 10% of the off-road equipment at the beginning of a contract should be ZEV and not just Tier 4.

In addition, the goal of 100% ZEV for such devices is set by 2035, if this is feasible.

This is the latest step the agency is taking to ensure that California’s high-speed rail line is the greenest infrastructure project in operation and under construction.

The agency has recorded or avoided more than 180,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions from planting more than 6,000 trees and other forest projects.

The project also prevented more than 180,000 tons of construction materials from being landfilled, with a 97% recycling rate for construction waste.

In December, the agency received national recognition for its sustainability efforts with the Envision Platinum rating.

The Envision Platinum Rating is the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure’s highest award and the first time a program of the size and complexity of this project has received such an award.

The agency is responsible for planning, designing and building a 100% renewable high-speed train between San Francisco and Los Angeles and Anaheim via the Central Valley.

With the system capable of speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour, the journey between San Francisco and Los Angeles takes less than three hours.

Find out about the construction progress at www.buildhsr.comExternal and for more information on sustainability practices that were already carried out during the visit to the agency www.hsr.ca.gov/sustainability.

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Sainsbury’s has unveiled its Christmas advertising, dating back to its roots in 1869, as it rounds off their anniversary celebrations.

And in the retailer’s 150th year, the ad tells how Santa Claus might have come about.

The ad tells the story of a young chimney sweep, Nicolas, who admires the brand new J Sainsbury’s store on Drury Lane in Victorian London.

While Nicholas admires the clementines on offer, his boss sneaks the fruit into his hat.

Victorian London: The scene takes place on Christmas Eve 1869 in Drury Lane, where the new J Sainsbury store opens

Young chimney sweep Nicholas is impressed with the abundance of clementines on offer in the store

In the act, the orphan is caught picking up one of the clementines that accidentally fell on the cobblestone

He is being taken away to a sleigh prison where people line the streets to hiss and boo while branding him “rotten to the core”.

Mary Ann Sainsbury, who, after seeing the whole event, sets off for the snow-capped mountains to fetch him back and take him with the ‘Zero Emissions’ horse and cart

But the poor boy is caught in the act as he bends over to pick up an orange that has fallen to the ground.

In a traditional Dickens scene, Nicholas is banished from town when people line the streets branding him a thief while being carted away in a sleigh prison.

The young chimney sweep is thrown into the wilderness, where he trembles in a blizzard while the words “rotten to the core” play in his head.

A Christmas present: Mrs. Sainsbury gives Nicholas his own clementines that he cannot pay for

Christmas joy: Nicholas gives each orphan his own clementine while he sleeps while he takes a trip down the chimney and disappears in a cloud of sparkles and sparkles

But the festive cheer will be restored when young Nick is rescued from Mary Ann Sainsbury, who saw the whole event, sets out for the snow-capped mountains to get him back.

After the orphan was awakened from his nightmare, the couple set off in a horse and cart with the “Zero Emissions” sign on the front.

She gives the boy a bag of clementines, but the boy says he cannot pay them.

The real Santa Claus? The scene ends with Nicholas in a red cloak and hat surrounded by reindeer who tell the story of how he became Santa Claus

He disappears in the snow, where the ad ends on the line: “Help to make Christmas, Christmas since 1869”

But Mrs. Sainsbury replied, “If you can’t do anything special for someone for Christmas, when can you?”

Nick then leaps down the chimney of the Manor House children’s home and fills the teenagers’ stockings with clementines before Nicolas disappears down the chimney.

Sainsbury’s first store on Drury Lane in London in 1869

While the streets are festively cheered and each child holds their own Clementine in their hand, Mrs. Sainsbury looks on happily.

The scene ends with Nicolas admiring the Victoria skyline with a modern shard and London Eye before walking into the sunset with a red clock and iconic Santa hat surrounded by reindeer.

It ends with the supermarket’s campaign: “Help to make Christmas, Christmas since 1869”.

However, the team behind the ad admitted they took liberties with the story.

For example, according to Sainsbury’s website, the first store in Sainsbury only sold milk, eggs, and butter with no clementines in sight.

‘Some of it is based on real events; In 1869 there was a shop that was open for Christmas, ”said Laura Boothby, director of radio marketing at the supermarket.

The short piece was filmed in Romania, where the team found a finished Dickensian London film set. It’s supposed to cheer people up.

The first J Sainsbury store

The first store opened in May 1869.

It opened its doors at 173 Drury Lane, Holborn, London.

Started by John James Sainsbury and his wife Mary Ann with the slogan “Quality perfect, prices lower”

The store only sold eggs, butter, and milk, but quickly started selling fresh groceries.

“The goal of our Christmas advertising is to bring festive joy every year. People don’t want to see lousy ads. Hopefully people just want to cheer up a bit and that will help,” added Ms. Boothby.

Sainsbury’s did not disclose how much it had spent on the ad, but businesses across the UK are expected to fetch a record £ 6.8 billion on seasonal advertising, according to the Advertising Association.

Show star Chris Dunkley was cast as Nick the Sweep after a nationwide search.

Sainsbury’s follows Argos and rivals Asda and Island in launching their Christmas television commercials.

The advertisement was directed by Ninian Doff, an award-winning director whose previous work has included music videos, comedy shorts, and commercials.

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