Peñaranda also helped pick out the publication name. “Liwanag” is Tagalog for “light,” or “clarity.” Their theme was connection to heritage, but their goal was to embed the Filipinx-American experience within the national conversation. They didn’t just want Filipinx and Filipinx-Americans reading it, they wanted people all over America thumbing through its pages.

The vote marks a significant breakthrough for community advocates who fought the project to protect Victoria Manalo Draves Park, a two-acre open space heavily used by SoMa neighbors. More than 100 people — many being SoMa youth who rely on the park — spoke against the development-induced shadow for up to two hours. Many reiterated that VMD Park functions as the neighborhood’s backyard, as most residents are crowded into studio apartments or SROs.

SOMCAN, or the South of Market Community Action Network, has its hands in so many issues that even director Angelica Cabande struggles to summarize all the issues the group tackles.

“It’s hard to put into one sentence,” she says. “Our primary work is around educating, organizing, and mobilizing folks in the different things that we want to do. I really see SOMCAN’s role as not only helping preserve but helping the neighborhood grow in a way that includes them.”

The cultural district aims to stabilize and strengthen a neighborhood in flux. But Filipinos in S.F. have seen their community obliterated before.

A "people’s choir" advocated Tuesday for a ballot measure to save projected hotel tax revenues for arts programs.

From the gorgeous to the hideous to the absolutely inexplicable, we scoured the city by foot and on bikes to document hundreds of alleys, side streets, and lanes.