In Pleasant Company
January marked 8 years since I moved to the Bay, specifically San Francisco, CA. Although 8 years is not that long, it’s significant to me because that makes San Francisco the place I’ve lived in the longest.
When I moved here in 2015, I had a lot of questions about what the hell I was doing, but since then, I’ve explored the natural beauty of San Francisco and Northern California, made a career in the Bay Area’s nonprofit sector, made deep friends, and become more myself.
In August 2022, a dear friend asked if I wanted to experience “The Late Mary Ellen Pleasant’s Napa: A Tour, A Toast!” hosted by artist Cheryl Derricotte and curators Ashara Ekundayo and Lucia Olubunmi R. Momoh in conjunction with Collective Arising: The Insistence of Black Bay Area Artists
Mary Ellen Pleasant. Mary Ellen Pleasant.
I first learned about her through a Drunk History episode about San Francisco in 2013-years before I ever thought about moving out here.
Image of Lisa Bonet dressed in 1800s clothing, proud and defiant.
At a time when being Black was made difficult, she asserted herself as a Black woman and is now known as the Mother of the California Civil Rights Movement.
Experiencing Mary Ellen Pleasant in community with those artist-leaders and celebrants in August was deeply moving and one of the best moments I’ve had in the Bay Area.
Her legacy exists in Napa and a small park in San Francisco, but surely also in the Black women who continue to come to the city for whatever their reasons must be, no? And surely the Black women who are rooted here because of their families no matter where they might live now?
“I want to find and share those stories because increasingly I feel like the last Black woman in San Francisco. ”
Even before the pandemic, I had dear friends decamp for Oakland and as friends continue to move into different phases of life, different locales call that better suit them and their goals and aspirations. I want to document what it feels like to be a Black woman in Mary Ellen Pleasant’s city right now, what opportunities it affords, how we’re working to make it better in our own ways, what our hopes are for the future, and more.
If you’re interested in being In Pleasant Company and featured, please fill out this form. I’m hoping to connect with a range of Black women in San Francisco and amplify our stories.
Read More About Mary Ellen Pleasant
A Girl Full of Smartness by Edward White
Exploring Mary Ellen Pleasant Memorial Park, the smallest public park in San Francisco by Brock Keeling
Golden Chains: The Hidden History of Slavery in California project: Explore Mary Ellen Pleasant by ACLU of Northern California
Overlooked No More: The Many Chapters of Mary Ellen Pleasant by Veronica Chambers
Mary Ellen Pleasant by the National Park Service
Mary Ellen Pleasant by FoundSF
SF’s First Black Businesswoman Deserves More Than a Ghost Tour