I’m so happy to get to enjoy the San Francisco Disability Cultural Center in person!
Before the opening day I showed up to bring them cane holders made from leather straps, did a training with them from BBI Engineering (who installed their fabulous A/V system) and then ended up spending two days helping the staff prep the space for their first weekend of events. My habit of wearing a leatherman multitool on my belt and having some basic wheelchair maintenance tools on me came in handy as I put together furniture and broke down boxes. The space looks amazing, clean, bright, cozy and colorful, with the huge atrium in the middle of the building full of plants and nice places to sit.
Opening day was super crowded. I got to help cut the ribbon (and kept a piece of the ribbon to tie around my wheelchair arm). Alice Wong gave a short speech about the importance of our communities and cultures, organizing and activism. There was great food provided by Peaches’ Patties. I saw many old friends & met new people as well! The next day I showed up for the welcome dinner & dance performance (also great).
While access was great in general the space can be hard to move around in for wheelchair users during a larger event with chairs set up so I will likely be suggesting more clearly demarcated travel lanes and an announcement about keeping those lanes clear. To avoid that crush of bodies and keep my freedom of movement, I mostly hung out in the patio in back of the rows of chairs! However, during the week after that I came by a couple of times to meet people – doing an interview for a podcast / article with RU Sirius in the quiet patio, and then meeting up with friends another day. It is a nice space for coworking or writing and I plan to sit on the cozy benches in the windows along Grove Street with my feet up, to work!
Another fun touch to the space I noticed was, in the credenza under the little row of books on display, there is a magical drawer full of fidget and puzzle toys and theragun massagers. It is a space like a small living room where you can lie on beanbags or cushions and sit on the floor or whatever is comfortable for you. I also really love the zillion charger outlets (mostly on the patio).
If you see me there, please say hi and introduce yourself!
It only just occurred to me — did you know my cousin, Patty Overland? She died last week but had been in hospice for some months and declining for a while. But she was a VERY involved member of the disabled queer Bay Area community, and I gather that they’re going to be holding a memorial for her at the Cultural Center in September. She was a founder of Wry Crips, among other things.
She could sometimes be a difficult person to be a family member with, but the strength of the community she found/made out there is really a model for how the found family can carry you.
Yes I did, not super well but we were both poets as well and would talk at various events — we met at a wry crips performance at a 504 protest anniversary event some years ago and also would see each other at the ed roberts campus now and then. I know she was writing a play last time we talked but I can’t remember any of the details about it! The memorial is at Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley, as far as I know (4-7pm, Saturday, September 13) — not at the DCC!