San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Public Library explores Black horror and its healing powers
San Francisco Public Library explores Black horror and its healing powers
The San Francisco Public Library kicks off more than a months worth of Black History Month programming starting with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Up first, a look at Black horror and its healing powers.
SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco Public Library kicks off more than a month’s worth of Black History Month programming starting with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. For their premier event on Sunday, they will examine the Black horror genre and its role in healing communities.
This year, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day coincides with Inauguration Day in the U.S.
One day before the convergence of the holiday and Donald Trump’s inauguration, The SFPL presents, Shadows and Light: Exploring Black Horror and Black Healing.
Organizers say the timing of the event is aligned with MLK Day, and the overlap with Inauguration Day is purely coincidental.
Shawna Sherman, manager of SFPL’s African American Center, says the event marks the launch of more than a month’s worth of Black History Month programming at the library and that they always kick off the festivities on MLK Jr. weekend.
What they’re saying:
“We partnered with Sistah Scifi on this event because we think it’s a great opportunity for Black horror fans to come together and celebrate their love of the genre,” Sherman says. She adds that the library as a resource provider is a venue for free exchange and deep conversation on a variety of perspectives.
In 2019, Isis Asare launched Sistah Scifi, the first Black-owned bookstore focused on science fiction and fantasy.
Asare says the event will attract as many as 300 people throughout the day. It includes a keynote talk by author and film historian, Tananarive Due, as well as deep dives into the historical context of Black horror and how narratives from this genre can reflect societal fears and injustice.
Healing and empowerment
George Romero’s classic zombie apocalypse film, 1968’s ‘Night of the Living Dead’, is explored in a documentary film produced by Due, Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror.
In reality, the late ‘60s was a tumultuous time of societal upheaval rife with assassinations, including those of Dr. King and Malcolm X. Romero’s film is revolutionary in the sense that it’s a Black man, as Due once put it, who is the “rare Black lead” character in the film. Prior to this film, Due and other scholars observed that Black people in horror were only included as comic relief or to elevate white characters to make them appear more dignified.
The character, named Ben, is handsome, strong-willed, decisive and dignified whether the audience was ready for him or not. Due has lectured that this type of character may have been nightmarish for racist viewers of that era who were anti-integration. Seeing Ben ordering around the white characters may not have sat well with audience members who didn’t want to change the social structure.
In the end, Ben, the final survivor of the zombie onslaught is tragically shot by a white mob.
“Exploring Black horror in particular allows us to look at those monsters and overcome,” Asare says. “You see that in ‘Night of the Living Dead’. You see that in Parable of the Sower, where the characters deal with a lot of the stuff that we’re dealing with today. A presidential candidate who wins on the [slogan] of Make America Great Again and you see a character overcome that.”
She’s referring to Afrofuturistic sci-fi author Octavia Butler’s prophetic novel, which has been adapted into a graphic novel by John Jennings, who is featured at this event in a panel discussion on Healing Through Horror.
Set in California, 2025, the original book was written more than 30 years ago.
“You see a California that is engulfed in wildfires and see how characters navigate that,” Asare says. “Black horror in particular is, we’re hoping, a space where our community can face our monsters both the real and imagined and come away with tools to feel powerful and take those tools towards a path of healing.”
Triple marginalized
“I really love writing about queer Black girls and horror in general is just one of my favorite genres,” Hayley Dennings said.
Dennings is an author who grew up in the Bay Area. She now lives in Oakland. Her first novel, This Ravenous Fate, is a New York Times bestseller. In her work, she looks to twist around the tropes of the past.
“I feel like horror in general is like a great genre used to explore real human emotions and especially the tumultuous times that are happening,” says Dennings. “You see it a lot, especially in Gothic horror. Specific monsters were used to portray minorities and to scare people off from having certain connections to those minorities.”
She explains how this is seen in stories about vampires. “Vampires are seen as these creatures of the night or our shadow selves that represent desire that a lot of people don’t like to admit to.
“I am writing about queer, Black girls who are triple marginalized. I don’t want to write a book that tells girls they can’t be queer, they should be ashamed of their Blackness,” says Dennings. “For me, it’s very empowering to get to use these classically problematic tropes and turn them around into something more powerful and to tap into the darker parts of our psyche and kind of use it as a way to explore our trauma, which a lot of times are left hidden.”
She sees what some hold against her almost like a superpower.
“There aren’t that many stories that are honest about this experience,” Dennings says. “I think the publishing industry likes to make things more palatable to a more straight white audience. So it’s cool to get to be really raw about my truth and to actually have people connect with that.”
History still relevant
Dennings’ current novel is set about 100 years ago during the Harlem Renaissance.
“There are a lot of issues that the characters are facing 100 years ago in 1926 that are still relevant today,” says Dennings.
She lists medical racism (Tuskegee experiment) and misogyny towards Black females as examples. Looking back, she says even the intergenerational trauma from the generation that endured slavery was still relevant and had not been processed by the 1920s.
“It’s a way to find connections to our ancestors and our pasts. So much of the history, the Black history that I was taught was full of trauma,” says Dennings. “I have a lot of readers who tell me, ‘This feels really familiar even though it is a historical novel.’ Even though there is so much of our history that has been ignored, we still can uncover it and still feel really connected to it.”
Healing from trauma can mean reclaiming the narrative. Dennings looks to present a more nuanced version of what she calls a full human story of Blackness, one that isn’t just about the brutality and monstrosity of the past.
She says horror is a way to explore the various emotions.
Sherman agrees.
“Horror stories, whether in fiction or graphic novels or film – I think they confirm for us the horrors that we experience, you know? Yes, slavery was that brutal. And yes, science experiments have been conducted on Black people. And yes, the state has even made some of us infertile. You know, I could go on,” says Sherman. “This is not science fiction. It’s real and sometimes it might be easy for us to forget some of these things. But when we have them fictionalized in movies, in fiction, in books, it becomes, I think, easier for us to face.”
Keeping it accessible
Attendees are encouraged to connect with each other and to check out the event’s Black marketplace. Seven vendors in the realm of health and wellness will be on hand.
Books by the featured authors will be on sale, but since the event is at the library, guests will have a chance to pick up a library card if they don’t already have one. SFPL has a trove of material on this very topic.
As Asare says, this event is catered to people who are excited about the horror genre and who want to dive deeper into Black horror. Maybe you’ve only watched Jordan Peele’s Get Out. That’s fine. You don’t need a PhD in Black literature to engage in these conversations or to simply be curious.
Andre Torrez is a digital content producer for KTVU. Email Andre at andre.torrez@fox.com or call him at 510-874-0579.
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — A recent Civil Grand Jury report has identified wildfire risks in San Francisco’s Glen Canyon, warning that vegetation management is needed to reduce the potential for a fire in an area not typically associated with wildfire danger.
The report focuses on the canyon’s large population of Blue Gum eucalyptus trees, an invasive species originally imported from Australia.
Historical photographs show Glen Canyon was largely treeless in the late 1800s, when the land was used primarily as a dairy farm.
The eucalyptus trees were planted after investors believed the fast-growing species could be harvested for timber.
“And these people were so stupid, they didn’t realize they were going to build railroad ties and use the wood for building, and it’s worthless. It warps, it splits. it has no commercial value,” said Rick Carell, a member of the Civil Grand Jury.
While the timber venture failed, the trees remained.
Today, their flammability is a concern for fire safety officials and grand jury members.
MORE: 600 goats graze Poplar Beach in Halfmoon Bay to reduce wildfire risk
“The leaves have a lot of oil in them, and so actually, if it’s very hot, and it’s been very, very dry, they actually explode, because it’s highly flammable. And so, you can see here, look at all the debris right next to this road. So somebody throws a cigarette out into there, and you have a potential fire,” Carell said.
Carell said assessments of the trees have raised additional concerns.
“They evaluated something like 427 eucalyptus trees and 80% of them, back in 2012, were in bad shape,” he said.
Although CAL FIRE has repeatedly rated San Francisco’s wildfire risk as low because of the city’s cool, foggy climate, the grand jury report points to the 2025 Pacific Palisades fire in Los Angeles as an example of how fires can occur in urban areas where vegetation management is inadequate.
The report notes that Glen Canyon has only two fire hydrants, one near the Glen Park Recreation Center and another near a day camp building.
However, San Francisco’s Emergency Firefighting Water System provides additional resources through reservoirs, high-pressure hydrants and underground cisterns.
One nearby cistern at Chenery and Surrey streets can supply 75,000 gallons of water. Based on a fire engine’s typical pumping rate of 1,500 gallons per minute, that amount of water would be exhausted in about 50 minutes. Additional cisterns are located in surrounding neighborhoods.
MORE: CAL FIRE urging Bay Area residents to create defensible space as wildfire season begins
Despite the concerns, the report concluded that removing all eucalyptus trees is not a practical solution because of the canyon’s steep terrain. Large-scale removal could increase the risk of landslides. Instead, the report recommends managing vegetation by clearing brush and fallen debris and removing diseased trees.
“To remove any brush that might be a fire hazard, if something could really ignite quickly. We’re going to raise up the branches, the lower branches of the tree because that’s where a lot of the problem is for the spread of the fire, and if there are any dead trees that are really hazardous or branches that may hang over the roadway, that we can take them out as well,” said Rachel Gordon of the San Francisco Department of Public Works.
Public Works officials are expected to coordinate closely with CAL FIRE on vegetation management efforts.
“CAL FIRE guys, they train in the type of environment, and so what they do, they get their chainsaws out, they eliminate. They limb the trees, they bring out the debris and that sort of stuff so this is an ideal training site for them,” Carell said.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which manages a small portion of the canyon, has already removed trees on its property to prevent them from falling across O’Shaughnessy Avenue, a potential emergency evacuation route.
The agency has also hired habitat experts to remove non-native vegetation and replace it with fire-resistant native species, including coast live oaks.
“That has all these tannins in the foliage that resist fire. You can put a lighter right under that thing in the middle of the hottest day of the year, and it will not burn like these willows. They will not burn, and so that’s what we want to load our parks with instead of having things like the eucalyptus and the pine — which, as we all know, they just burn like a crazy Christmas tree fire,” said Habitat Specialist Josiah Clark.
The majority of the 66-acre canyon is managed by the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, which agrees that improved coordination among city agencies is essential to maintaining fire safety in the area.
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Presidio Heights is proving to be a center of gravity as luxury housing supply in San Francisco vanishes and the city’s well-to-do scramble to claim their slice of the artificial intelligence industry’s nerve center.
On the same day last week, the city recorded two home sales in the wealthy neighborhood for $9.2 million and $10 million.
The first reflected the fortunes being created by the AI industry. Venture capitalist Kenneth Wallace and his wife, Moriah Lewis, sold their five-bed, 4,755-square-foot home at 3875 Clay Street for $9.2 million. Josh McAdam of Sotheby’s International Realty represented the seller. The property last sold for $6.8 million in 2021.
The buyer initially kept their name hidden behind a Delaware-incorporated LLC named after the property’s address. However, according to public loan documents, the LLC is managed by Daniel Berrios and Kimberly Tan, a couple in their early 30s who graduated from Stanford into the San Francisco tech sector. Berrios works on special projects at OpenAI, and Tan is an investing partner with blue chip venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Wells Fargo Bank provided a $5.4 million loan for the purchase.
Ten blocks east, sellers Herbert and Shwu-Ling Wei sold their six-bed, 5,000 square-foot home at 2881 Jackson Street for $10 million. Kyle Vineyard, a CPA with Realize Tax Advisors, is the trustee of the buyer, RKLA Trust. It is unclear whether Vineyard’s involvement is purely professional or if he’s connected to the trust.
The home last sold in 2014 for $6.8 million.
Presidio Heights, the neighborhood that runs along Presidio Park at San Francisco’s north end, has experienced a hot streak during the first half of 2026. Earlier this month, two mansions in the area sold for a combined $32 million, marking the fourth and fifth sales this year to eclipse $10 million. There were seven sales above that benchmark in Presidio Heights in all of 2025, according to Zillow data.
San Francisco, where the median home sale fetches $2.2 million, is dealing with its own version of champagne problems: a mansion shortage. The AI boom has attracted a wave of high-paid employees, apparently leaving the city with more millionaires than mansions. Steep capital gains taxes have made some mansion owners hesitant to let go of their property. Others are holding out for the expected spike in luxury home demand following Anthropic and OpenAI’s initial public offerings of stock, which are expected to come later this year.
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Staying safe at San Francisco’s Pride festivities
The SFPD has announced that officers from all districts, stations and specialized agencies will be positioned along the route for the Pride Parade to ensure the event is safe for attendees. The annual parade will be held this Sunday and is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of people from around the world.
San Francisco – San Francisco city and police officials said Wednesday that they want people to enjoy Pride festivities this weekend — including the popular parade on Sunday — and that they will be on the lookout for criminal activity.
“All of the leaders up here know how important this weekend is, and we are ready,” Mayor Daniel Lurie said while flanked by a host of officials at a news conference at San Francisco police headquarters.
Lurie said his message is simple: “Look out for one another. Report anything concerning and know that every first responder, city worker and volunteer has one goal: to help everyone celebrate safely.”
Hundreds of thousands expected at SF Pride Parade
What we know:
The annual Pride festivities and parade on Sunday are expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people from around the world to San Francisco. Police say they’re working with state and federal partners to monitor any potential threats while making sure people enjoy themselves.
“You’ll see many of our officers – including me – wearing Pride patches,” said Police Chief Derrick Lew, gesturing to a multicolored patch on his shoulder. “As always, we’re excited to showcase San Francisco, and our longstanding status as a safe haven for members of the LGBTQ+ community.”
No tolerance for hate, DA says
What they’re saying:
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins says she and other city leaders will have no tolerance for hate.
Just last week, she charged a man with a hate crime for allegedly spray-painting a homophobic message outside a Castro District flower shop and punching a witness.
“There will be accountability if anything like that happens here, and so as much as we want to be joyous, we also have to take this occasion very seriously,” Jenkins said.
Suzanne Ford, executive director of SF Pride agreed, saying, “I think we all have the responsibility of demonstrating that we can work together to make sure that the LGBTQ community is centered for this weekend.”
Sheriff Paul Miyamoto said those who don’t behave will go straight to jail.
“The one mode of transportation we want to make sure all of you avoid this weekend is the party buses that the sheriff’s department will have out there,” Miyamoto said.
City officials are urging everyone to celebrate responsibly, don’t drink and drive or accept drinks from strangers and to report any suspicious activity.
Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on X @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan
The Source: KTVU reporting, San Francisco police and sheriff, district attorney’s office
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