Come On San Francisco-We Can Do Better Than This
November 18, 2013
The Jazz Heritage Center in the Fillmore that never received the funding it deserved although it was the impetus supposedly for the Yoshi/Fillmore Complex is in danger of going the way of most of the Blacks after "Redevelopment" redeveloped Blacks out of the Fillmore, "anywhere but here!" Come on San Francisco-We can do better than this. Stop making false promises to Blacks to garner a deal and then shoot them to the curb when your purposes are complete. Stop making the money off of Black people and then running! Jazz Heritage Center Board Chairman, Christine Harris, did not speak in those terms (She's more eloquent), but as I read her letter, I see the same pattern of handing out pennies to Blacks to start an initiative and abandoning it because "it's not producing" without taking into consideration it was underfunded in the first place. Why does San Francisco continually demand Blacks "make bricks without straw." Clear your calendar to attend the hearing, Tuesday, November 19th at 1 p.m. in Room 416 of City Hall.
Let's preserve an organization fighting to preserve Black Heritage in San Francisco. http://www.jazzheritagecenter.org
Sincerely,
Jackie Wright
Wright Enterprises
I am sending the following email to a number of people. Anything you can do to help will be useful. It would be really wonderful if you can be there with me. Thanks so much!.....
There is going to be a CRITICAL hearing tomorrow (Tuesday, November 19, 2013) in City Hall at 1pm in Room 416. The hearing is about how the Successor Agency recommends disposing of the old SF Redevelopment Agency Holdings, including the the commercial property at the Fillmore Heritage Center, 1300 - 1330 Fillmore Street. The Jazz Heritage Center is housed in the Fillmore Heritage Center building, which includes Yoshi's and 1300, and the three of us are part of a "Commercial Air Rights Parcel" whose future disposition is being decided as part of this hearing. I will be making remarks on behalf of the Jazz Heritage Center during the public comment portion of the hearing, and it is important that there be a strong community showing on our behalf.
This is a CRITICAL time for the community to let its voice be heard. Urban renewal and planning contributed to what was once a culturally vibrant community - mostly African American. The purpose of the Jazz Heritage Center was to reinvigorate and preserve for future generations that past vibrant history and its role in the overall history of jazz in San Francisco. Millions of public dollars went into the building of Heritage on Fillmore, but none of that money as far as I know went directly to Jazz Heritage Center support whose creation was the rationale for spending the public money on the project in the first place. For the past six years, it has been the blood and sweat of a few volunteers and a few committed donors who have carried the torch and kept the doors open. Yet today, the proposal on the table is to sell off the Commercial Air Rights Parcel that houses the Jazz Heritage Center with no consideration for the future of the Jazz Heritage Center and its importance to cultural preservation.
Please come stand with me as I advocate for the continued survival of an invaluable cultural resource for the community in the the Jazz Heritage Center. I also ask that you share this message broadly and invite others to join in this effort to advocate on behalf of the Jazz Heritage Center and the community.
Thank you for your help.Christine Harris
Chair, Board of Directors
Jazz Heritage Center
Chair, Board of Directors
Jazz Heritage Center
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