September 4, 2020

I am on the scary monster movie set of Bayview Hunters Point (hereon referred to as “the Bayview”). The “We Can’t Breathe Car Caravan” action has been cancelled for the second time in two weeks because (the irony lost on none of us) --- we couldn’t breathe due to the wildfires. I am attending a press conference and rally with about 50 other Bayview residents and protesters from outside the area who have come to show their support – despite the unhealthy air.

These days, in order to awaken us to the brutality of racism, black filmmakers like Jordan Peele (Get Out) and Misha Green (Lovecraft Country) have taken to the horror movie genre. They understand that we have become numb to real human suffering. We are overwhelmed. Compassion fatigue, some call it. We can no longer absorb the horrific because it has absorbed us.

And here’s a spoiler alert: this is not about “them.” It is literally about “us.” If you are reluctant to act unless your own personal safety and health is threatened, it is. When - not if - the seas rise, they will flood the radioactive waste of the Bayview, carrying it throughout San Francisco and beyond. We cannot escape it. The Bayview really is the future horror movie. Now.

Here the hideous - like the hidden deadly monsters of Lovecraft Country - really exists: striking one half of all children with asthma and killing residents 14 years earlier than those in Russian Hill, a few miles away. A many-headed demon spewing radioactive and chemical waste from atomic weapons testing and abandoned bombs, toxic contamination from cement plants, a rendering plant, and a host of other environmental hazards, it enters the bodies of the residents as surely as any eerie possession in Get Out. 35 different chemicals and radioactive elements - all documented by the Navy as “chemicals of concern” — have been found within 40 residents and workers in the Bayview in a ground-breaking study conducted by Dr. Ahimsa Porter Sumchai. Dr. Sumchai, born and raised in the Bayview, has dedicated her life to researching the impacts of hazardous substances on the health of its citizens. Her father, a shipyard worker, died of asbestos poisoning.

Bayview residents at We Can’t Breathe” Rally for BVHP Sept. 1, 2020

And yet for all its terror, the Bayview is not a horror movie.

It is a neighborhood of real people who have lost their friends and families, suffer multiple illnesses, and are triply trapped by racism, the quarantining of COVID, and now the wildfires. “I’m tired of begging,” proclaims Sabrina Hall, a member of Bayview Hunters Point Mothers and Fathers Committee which along with Bayview Hunters Point Greenaction has been fighting contamination for decades. “Mayor Breed, Superintendent Walton...I demand that you clean up (the Bayview). Enough is enough.” (Read this article to hear more from the residents themselves).

In Action or Inaction?

As always in this blog, I’m not going to leave you hanging without specific actions you can take.

I know it is easier to stream the latest horror movie than do something. But engaging IN ACTION will, I guarantee, make you feel less depressed afterward. So here’s some information about some measures you can take, even in quarantine:

Sign this petition, asking Mayor Breed to clean up BVHP

For info on Bayview Hunters Point Greenaction For Health and Environmental Justice and to donate:

http://greenaction.org/bayview-hunters-point/

To volunteer:

http://greenaction.org/get-involved/

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Graphic designer
Pro Bono attorneys
Volunteer Translators (Spanish and Chinese especially needed)
Community Outreach
Photographers for events and actions
Event planning
Videographers/Photographers

To apply, email your resume and letter or email expressing your interest to greenaction@greenaction.org or call (415) 447-3904.

For more information on the Bayview:

Sept. 2 article just published in 48 Hills about the rally and demands of the residents

Report on the Press Conference & Rally on Sept. 1

Remember everybody, in these mad and madder times: action Is the antidote to despair.

In Rebellion,

Helen

In Action #4 Bayview Hunters Point Matters