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Richmond District unites against hate

Posted on by Sarah B.

The Balboa Theater customized their marquee on Saturday. Photo by Pawel Tomasz Dlugosz

Last Sunday, in the wake of a (thankfully) canceled white supremacist rally at Crissy Field, there were several counter protests against hate that took place throughout the city.

Here in the Richmond District, a couple of notable protests went on. First was the Balboa Theater, who on Saturday, put their marquee to use with a simple “UNITE AGAINST HATE” message emblazoned across it.

Also on a Saturday, San Francisco taxi driver and political activist Brad Newsham organized an Ocean Beach protest. This time, instead of spelling out a word like “Resist!!” as he did back in February with an event, he kept it simple and created a heart-shaped human banner on Ocean Beach with the help of several hundred people.

An American flag, which has been used at a protest the day before in Walnut Creek was held high over the heart. Check out the video below for some great shots of the event from overhead.

Nice work, Richmond District. Think “they” got the message? 😉

Sarah B.

Photo by Joseph Fletcher

Photo by Martin Jeong

Photo by Paolo Villacarlos

All Love At Ocean Beach from Paolo Villacarlos on Vimeo.

16 Comments

  1. The heart protest was on Saturday, along with the other counter-protests in San Francisco, not Sunday.

  6. I thought the rally at Crissy Field was supposed to be held by a prayer group. Unfortunately, a lot of Conservative causes get hijacked by white supremacist groups — they seem to think they are welcomed by them — but they’re NOT! Please don’t lump in Conservatives with white supremacist lunatics. I’ve noticed that disturbing trend by the media lately, and it really is disgusting — to lump in Conservatives with white supremacist jerks. They are NOT the same thing!

  7. This article like no much of the media reports out there, are utter lies. This planned LEGAL (they waited for a permit which others did not) protest was for free speech.

    Everyone knows SF is the epicenter for Marxist/Communist ideology in the US and these people wanted to make a statement that SF is part of the US and has to follow the Constitution. Even if this was a far right Nazi rally it would still be legal and protect by the 1st Amendment.

    Won’t go to the Balboa ever again. This divisiveness will only drive people further left and RIGHT. So if you don’t want the Nazis to come to town don’t act like a bunch of Marxist/Communists.

    The left using these weaponized words to shut down conversation AND people’s protected rights will only strengthen the far right.

  9. Sad to see Balboa Theatre pushing politics.
    Totally inappropriate.
    I’d move to Berkeley if I wanted to be told what to think all the time. Guess I’ll see my next flic at one of the big chains.

  10. Wow, some really shocking comments here. White Supremacy and Nazis do not go against liberal or conservative values, they go against AMERICAN values. HINT: Liberty and Justice for All. An no, free speech does not protect hate speech that promotes violence against a specific group of people. If this is not cool with you, don’t just leave San Francisco, you can leave the country! You are no patriot and are a disgrace to our American values.

  11. Oh boy, S. Chen, lots of hate, bigotry and intolerance in your post!

  13. Agree with others, The Patriot Prayer was bullied into being cancelled and was frightening in regards to shutting down free speech. The hypocrisy. We are told not to stereotype others and then feel comfortable stereotyping en mass anyone who may not agree on every political POV (which does not make a person conservative necessarily even).

    Democratic Senator Robert Byrd, a legitimate KKK member, could never have risen to be one of the most popular and long-lasting Democrats in office. We need to reach people. People can change. We need faith. And we need to condemn Antifa and their open violence as much as we condemn the reputed and historic violence of Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists.

  14. Remember, communism killed & divided many people too (and still does, which is a big part of the reasoning behind recent Russian scandals as well as damning the North Korean government). Fascism was the historic rebellion to Communism, we need to learn that silencing people and trying to control information will not make them or their voices truly go away. Protest the speech, protest the groups, let your voice be heard, but don’t loose sight of AMERICAN “values” (freedom) either.

    I am glad though that the message of a flag and a heart was used this time; I support that concept. The Prayer Group (which my family is not a part of, for the record) was a similar idea; we have more in common than we may think.

    Try to hold on to that. It can be very hard. A book, “Klan-Destine Relationships: A Black Man’s Odyssey in the Ku Klux Klan” by Daryl Davis is an exceptional example of this. Thank you for reading all that and allowing it to be stated.

  16. I bet all these disgusting comments are from one or two trolls. Shame.

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