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.
Bay Area High School baseball fans are treated to a rare opportunity Saturday (April 18) with three games at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, including the famed Bruce-Mahoney clash between West Catholic Athletic League rivals St. Ignatius and Sacred Heart Cathedral.
The first pitch of the 20th annual Dante Benedetti Baseball Classic starts at 11 a.m. and pits two more San Francisco private schools as University (9-7), winners of four straight, taking on Riordan (5-11).
That will be followed by the Bruce-Mahoney game at 2:30 between St. Ignatius (12-5, 4-2 WCAL) and the Irish (7-10, 1-5) and finished off with a North Coast Section clash between North Bay’s Marin Catholic (9-7) against Acalanes (7-6-1).
The Benedetti Classic, founded by Dante’s Boys Foundation board member Tom Lounibos and Giants president Larry Baer, benefits the DBF which honors the spirit of Benedetti who for nearly 40 years owned San Francisco’s Mr. Baseball nickname for his kindness and generosity to baseball-playing youth in the area.
Among their philanthropic efforts are glove and baseball equipment drives, field renovations and contributions to scholarships and sponsorships.
After starting the season 0-4 — three of those losses were by one run — University, under head coach Andrew Suvunnachuen, has found its way, winning the last four, all in Bay Counties League play, by a combined 51-6 count over Lick-Wilmerding (16-1 and 11-3) and San Domenico (13-2 and 11-0).
Senior catcher and pitcher Jett Messenger leads the way with a .447 average, while getting on base at a .638 rate. He also leads the team with 20 stolen bases. Junior third baseman Tate Gebhart is hitting .419, while Leo Felder and Behbart share the RBI lead with 15 each.
Junior Matthew Foley is 3-2 on the mound with a 2.38 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 17.2 innings.
Riordan, under second-year head coach Craig Sargent, was 5-5 in nonleague games but lost six straight in the rugged WCAL, losing two tough games this week to Mitty (3-2 and 7-4). Junior third baseman and pitcher Santiono Williams leads the team in batting average (.371), on-base percentage (.488) and stolen bases (nine). He’s also been the team’s top pitcher at 4-2 with a 2.84 ERA.
The teams have split two previous games in their history, with Riordan winning 2-0 in 2023 and University prevailing 5-0 in 2021.
St. Ignatius, led by ninth-year head coach Brian Pollzzie, has already secured the Bruce-Mahoney trophy with four straight wins — one each in football, girls volleyball, boys basketball and girls basketball — but this rivalry is always spirited.
The Wildcats, who are ranked fourth in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Chronicle, are coming off a tough 3-0 home loss to No. 2 St. Francis on Friday after beating the host Lancers 10-6 on Tuesday.
The team is led by Stanford-bound Archer Horn, who is hitting .486 with four home runs and a .604 on-base percentage. The shortstop and pitcher also has not allowed an earned run in three pitching appearances while registering one save.
Pitching is a team’s strength with a 2.59 ERA, led by a brigade of strong arms including Leo Rhein (2-0, 2.38), Tycco Giometti (2-1, 2.62), Charlie Stecher 1-1, 0.72) and Chase Gordon (1-0, 2.80). The team is missing standout Finn Demuth, out of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Sacred Heart Cathedral, led by fourth-year head coach Gregg Franceschi, has scored 60 runs on the season and given up 61. The Irish are coming off two losses to eighth-ranked Valley Christian (5-2 and 10-1).
They are led offensively by junior outfielder Brody O’Sullivan (.381) and senior infielder Jacob Vines (.378). Johnny Nepomuceno and Max Nylander are other run-producers. Zach Stallworth (37 strikeouts, 29.2 innings) and Cooper Rogers Lewis (0.25 ERA) have been the team’s top pitchers.
The series has been remarkably close since 2005 with Sacred Heart Cathedral holding a 27-20 edge, though St. Ignatius won both games last season (5-0 and 6-3) after the Irish won 9-7 and 1-0 in 2024.
Marin Catholic hopes to get back to winning after starting the season 9-1, but have since lost six straight, four in Marin County Athletic League play, including 4-2 to Novato on Thursday. Senior outfield Luke Martin is the team’s leading hitter at .478 while senior infielder and pitcher Cooper Mitchell is at .455. Senior infielder Walker Untermann leads the team with 15 RBIs.
Acalanes is at the other end of the spectrum, winners of five of six after a 2-5-1 start. Junior infielder Tyler Winkles, also a highly recruited quarterback in football, leads the team with a .383 average and nine stolen bases. Riley Gates (2-3, 2.49 ERA, 30 strikeouts) is the team’s top pitcher.
The teams have played three times, all since 2022, with Marin Catholic owning a 2-1 lead. Acalanes won last year’s game 8-7.
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Chinatown fatal crash victim ID’d, safety measures proposed
The victim killed in Friday’s Chinatown crash was identified Monday by the medical examiner as Cutberto Zamora-Martinez, 49, of San Joaquin County. At a meeting on Monday, city officials said the cause of the crash is still under investigation.
SAN FRANCISCO – A 76-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and speeding following a crash in San Francisco’s Chinatown that killed a man working in the area.
Zhuo Ming Lu, 76, is accused in the March 27 crash that left 49-year-old Cutberto Zamora-Martinez, of San Joaquin County, dead.
Suspect was trying to park
What we know:
Authorities said Lu was attempting to park near Grant Avenue and Jackson Street when his vehicle jumped the sidewalk and crashed into the landmark New Lung Ting Café, also known as the Pork Chop House. The vehicle also struck two pedestrians, including Zamora-Martinez.
Zamora-Martinez died from his injuries.
He had been working in the area, according to a GoFundMe page. A San Francisco Police Department source close to the investigation told KTVU the victims were carpet installers arriving for work.
The fundraising page described Zamora-Martinez as a husband and father who was the sole provider for his family and “a humble man who wanted the best for his family.”
Before his arrest, Lu had been cooperating with investigators. Authorities have not confirmed what caused the crash.
Some residents questioned whether the driver’s age or a possible confusion between the brake and gas pedals may have been factors.
“Maybe if people hit a certain age, you got to get retested for your driver’s license is something I was thinking about,” said Keith Hong, who works next door to the crash site.
Another case involving an elderly driver
Big picture view:
In an unrelated case, Mary Fong Lau, 80, was sentenced to probation after killing a family of four, two parents and their young children. in March 2024. Authorities said Lau struck the victims as they waited at a Muni stop on their way to the zoo.
Lau pleaded no contest to four felony counts of vehicular manslaughter, and a judge accepted the plea. A Superior Court judge cited her age, remorse and lack of criminal history in the sentencing decision.
She was placed on probation for two years, banned from driving for three years and ordered to complete 200 hours of community service.
The Source: San Francisco Police Department, prior reporting
San Francisco first came to know chefs Laura and Sayat Ozyilmaz through their pop-up Istanbul Modern, and later through their breakthrough Presidio restaurant Dalida. The duo’s success is grounded in their take on Eastern Mediterranean food, which they made a conscious decision to champion 10 years ago.
Fast-forward to 2026, and now Laura is taking on a personal project of her own, with Sayat by her side, placing foods from Mexico’s Guerrero and Sinaloa center stage at Maria Isabel. It’s a refreshing menu that combines both Mexican and local ingredients, through the lens of the Ozyilmazes cooking backgrounds.
Reservations are released on OpenTable 30 days in advance, but Laura confirmed that they do take walk-ins depending on space. Smaller parties or solo diners might have better luck sliding in, thanks to the counter in the brighter, “Maria” portion of the restaurant.
The cocktails from consulting bar director Evan Williams are always worth a glimpse, whether at Dalida or at Maria Isabel. They’re well-balanced and have incredible depth and technique behind them. That being said, the team sourced wines from woman-led wine brands such as LOTIS Wines and Amevive Wine, if you’re looking to explore past the usual selections you’ll see elsewhere.
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