Ehrlich: San Francisco's Revolutionary Graffiti

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In the streets, graffiti and mural artists scrawl for all.
Photo © by Richard S. Ehrlich

SAN FRANCISCO -- Sleek limousines and ambitious "dot commies" have buffed this city with a glossy, corporate sheen, but revolutionary graffiti, gang killings, and financial havoc reveal that San Francisco's steep hills have turned into slippery politicized roller coasters.

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"Nationalism. Religion. Worldwide, there is a dark cloud on the horizon."
Photo © by Richard S. Ehrlich

Free speech abounds, especially in art galleries where witty surrealism juxtaposes gritty, caustic condemnation of Americana alongside demands for justice, non-violence and tolerance.

In the streets, where graffiti and mural artists scrawl for all, the messages are more raw, and compete to be radical or ignite class warfare.

Some of the best visuals are in the Mission District, where ethnic Hispanics and Latinos share residential real estate with aspiring yuppies, and the walls become brilliantly twisted and amusing, especially in Clarion alley.

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Some graffiti is raw and radical, such as this portrait of Uncle Sam coughing out bombs, painted by Jeffrey Roysdon.
Photo © by Richard S. Ehrlich

"It depicts a giant blue head, with a pig nose, wearing a top hat, swooshing around a terrified cityscape," Mats Stromberg said in an interview, describing his mural on the alley's wall.

"I painted that piece some 14 years ago, when the Mission neighborhood was in the midst of a blitzkrieg-like gentrification, dotcom boom. Kapow! Evictions, hobohemians fleeing in droves, yuppies moving in, rents going up, up, and up.

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Most residents of San Francisco are concerned with their day-to-day struggle.
Photo © by Richard S. Ehrlich

"I spent five days on it, using exterior latex paint, rollers and brushes," said Stromberg, a professional screen printer and sign painter.

"San Francisco has a tradition of fostering muralists, especially in the Mission District with its large Spanish-speaking population, which brought the muralist tradition with them," he said.

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San Francisco is a city where people pay expensive rent amid a tough job market.

Photo © by Richard S. Ehrlich

The Mission District is meanwhile suffering from smoldering gang wars, which resulted in several recent street murders.

Some of the violence is between two Spanish-speaking groups: American youths, born in California from parents who arrived more than a decade ago as immigrants, versus newly arriving youngsters direct from Latin America.

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A bleak accusation thinly disguised as satire.
Photo © by Richard S. Ehrlich

In a recent crackdown, U.S. Immigration agents in San Francisco busted several alleged members of the dreaded Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the MS-13 street gang.

The gang originated in El Salvador and spread to California, allegedly dealing drugs and weapons while extorting cash, according to California authorities.

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Some parents pay for a limo so their daughter will arrive home safely, even if she is drunk.
Photo © by Richard S. Ehrlich

In a separate attack, which drew an outpouring of public emotion, the president of San Francisco's Hells Angels, Mark "Papa" Guardado, was shot down in the Mission District in September.

Most residents of San Francisco, however, are more concerned with their own day-to-day struggle, including those who have extra cash to splash.

But America's recession has started to lessen the swagger of countless stretch limousines which flaunt and glide through San Francisco as if they were normal taxis.

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The Mission District has a large Spanish-speaking population.
Photo © by Richard S. Ehrlich

For many passengers, limousines are the taxi of choice, ferrying clusters of business colleagues to and from their offices.

Upmarket parents also like to splurge for a limo to shuttle their boisterous teenage daughters to parties, nightclubs and other venues.

"Some parents don't mind paying 100 dollars for a limo for the night, because at least they can be sure that their daughter will arrive home safely, even if she is drunk, and she won't be driving," said author Jack Boulware, gesturing as yet another limo zipped by.

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An outpouring of public emotion, after the president of San Francisco's Hells Angels, Mark "Papa" Guardado, was shot down in the Mission District.
Photo © by Richard S. Ehrlich

In a city where people pay expensive rent amid a tough job market, the chatter also often turns to so-called "dot commies" who make money from Internet-related work, and a growing interest in a swell of biotechnology corporations.

But closer to San Francisco's heart, Chinatown is suffering a surprisingly dramatic financial attack.

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Free speech and a demand for non-violence is evoked in this screenprint titled, "Troubador," by Eric Drooker, which a gallery displayed.
Photo © by Richard S. Ehrlich

"We are closing down and going out of business, and we won't be opening up anywhere else," one distraught, elderly Chinese woman said, amid shelves of typical tourist trinkets.

After describing her own desperate journey out of communist China in the 1960s, via Hong Kong to California, she said something previously unthinkable: "Many people in Chinatown say maybe it is better to go back to China, because people are making money there.

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"Many people in Chinatown say maybe it is better to go back to China, because people are making money there."
Photo © by Richard S. Ehrlich

"Many businesses in Chinatown are changing hands now. The economy is not so good anymore. I don't know why," she said, packing up some lacquer ware next to a "clearance sale" sign written in English and Chinese.

On a nearby street, a different sign is stuck to a wall, offering a bleak accusation thinly disguised as satire:

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"A giant blue head, with a pig nose, wearing a top hat, swooshing around a terrified cityscape," Mats Stromberg said, describing his mural.
Photo © by Richard S. Ehrlich

"Kids! Dying in this endless oil-war totally fuckin' rocks!!"

San Francisco's pedestrians glance at its blood-red ink and, without missing a step, prepare to climb another hill.

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This ink drawing from a series titled, "Depravities of War," by Sandow Birk appeared at gallery, and offers a gritty, caustic condemnation of Americana.
Photo © by Richard S. Ehrlich

Richard S Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based journalist who has reported news from Asia since 1978. He is co-author of "Hello My Big Big Honey!", a non-fiction book of investigative journalism, and his web page is http://www.geocities.com/asia_correspondent

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