Re-Membering Anticarceral Resistance in the Tenderloin

Transition Times: Re-Membering Anticarceral Resistance in the Tenderloin contextualizes the story of the Compton’s Cafeteria riot, a queer grassroots uprising against police brutality in August 1966, as recovered by historian Susan Stryker. This exhibition presents selected material from the archival collection that Stryker has painstakingly compiled since the 1990s, a physical model identifying historical queer sites in the Tenderloin’s urban landscape, and a selection of art pieces that demonstrate the riot’s ripple effect in the present. The exhibition highlights the historical significance of the site that today GEO Group, a private prison company, operates as a “halfway house.” It serves as a call to action to join a coalition aiming to liberate the building where the riot took place, designated a local historical landmark.

Join us for the opening reception at 5:30pm on February 1, 2024, followed by an informational coalition meeting from 6-7:30pm. The TurkxTaylor Initiative has been working towards the site’s decarceration by building a coalition to push toward different ways to make this happen. In this first Coalition Informational Meeting, we invited key panelists to share information on the past, present, and future of the building at Turk and Taylor. The goal is for those interested in the project to understand the layers of complexity regarding Tenderloin politics so that together we can strategize about any possible steps forward.

Panelists:

Dr. Susan Stryker, historian and filmmaker who recovered the history of Compton’s riot

Ms. Janetta Johnson, co-founder of the Transgender District and CEO of TGI Justice Project

Toshio Meronek, host of the Sad Francisco podcast and co-author of Miss Major Speaks

Moses Corrette, city planner and historian

Dean Preston, Supervisor of District 5, San Francisco Board of Supervisors

Moderated by Chandra Laborde and Stathis G. Yeros, of the TurkxTaylor Initiative