Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Ike Shehadeh has pretty much always made sandwiches. In Part 1, the founder of Ike's Love and Sandwiches takes us back to 1968, when his dad arrived in San Francisco from Saudi Arabia. A decade or so later, his dad met his mom, and Ike, the first of a few kids for the couple, was born. He describes what it was like to grow up going to various schools in The City, especially the parts involving playing sports. He enjoyed baseball and soccer, but to learn to take hits in football, Ike started martial arts classes in The Sunset. We end Part 1 with Ike explaining the unique living situation he had in college at UC Davis, and how that would later play a significant role in his business.
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Photography by Michelle Killfeather
Brenda Buenviaje grew up across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. In Part 1, we get to know Brenda and her life/business partner, Libby Truesdell. Brenda describes her mixed heritage (Filipino and Creole, mostly) and shares stories of growing up in southern Louisiana, fishing and foraging, among other things. Libby contrasts her Iowa upbringing with the multifaceted food and culture she was introduced to when she met Brenda. Libby left her home state for various spots on the West Coast when she was 18, eventually ending up in The City in 2005. Brenda also shares the story of how she came to San Francisco.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Rodrigo Durán's parents come from very different backgrounds. In Part 1, the host of Real City Ambassadors shares the stories of his parents' respective moves from Mexico to San Francisco. His dad came to the U.S. from Mexico City after becoming disillusioned with the revolutionary movement in his homeland, ended up in The City, and fell in with low-riders and Central Americans here. Rodrigo's mom is from a small town in Jalisco, and her father came to the U.S. on the Bracero Program. The two met in San Francisco, where Rodrigo and his siblings were born. After a brief time back with family in Mexico, Rodrigo returned to SF, went to school in Chinatown, and got involved in the Aztec dance community through his dad. Rodrigo ends Part 1 reflecting on the inclusion he felt from various communities in San Francisco.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Lucia Gonzalez-Ippolito is a Mission District fixture. Her dad, a painter and welder, moved to San Francisco from Merida, Mexico. Her mom, an activist, came from Chicago and worked at China Books on 24th Street. They met in the mid-1980s and Lucia was born shortly after that. She was raised in the Mission mostly by her mother, always surrounded by her parents' activist and artist friends. Lucia's mom sent her to a private high school up in Napa, which is where Lucia decided to dive into the world of art. Oh, and there's a short tangent in Part 1 where we discuss the fabled and sadly extinct $3 burrito.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Hip-hop, hills, and art drew Jeremy Fish to San Francisco from 3,000 miles away. In Part 1, the prolific and iconic SF artist traces his family line back to both grandfathers. One worked with his hands to make art; the other was a salesman. Jeremy sees bits of himself in both ancestors. He was born in Albany, New York, and spent most of his youth in Saratoga Springs. When it came time to go to college (in 1994), not only was The City less expensive than Boston and New York, but Jeremy also had one hell of a trip out here, which he retells in Part 1. Follow Jeremy on Twitter and Instagram, and check out his website, Silly Pink Bunnies.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Ida McCray has left San Francisco. In Part 1, Ida, who was born and raised in The City, takes us back to around the time of her birth. Her dad was in and out of trouble and her mom put Ida in Catholic school. An only child, she loved books but school never excited her. She got into her own trouble as a teenager, and found herself in and out of Juvenile Hall. After graduating high school at 16, Ida got involved in the movement of those days and converted to Islam. This came after roughly a year and a half of her life locked up on a petty theft charge.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Alan Kaufman is lucky to be alive. In Part 1, the writer and poet traces his lineage back to his parents, who met in New York in the 1940s. His dad was a Jewish gangster, as Alan describes it, and his mom was a French Jewish Holocaust survivor. Here is the card that the French government issued, verifying his mother as a Holocaust survivor:
Alan details a trip to Europe he took in 2014. His hosts in Zurich drove him to the mountains in Northern Italy where his mother and grandmother hid during World War II.
He fast-forwards to his parents' meeting and starting a family in the Bronx. When he was a teenager, he picked up a copy of On the Road, and the book ended up inspiring his move out west.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Temi Adamolekun moved to San Francisco sight unseen. Temi was born in Lagos, Nigeria, but raised mostly in London. Her family visited their hometown often after their move to Europe, so Temi grew up with a good sense of where she was from despite her British upbringing. After boarding school and university, she got a job at Condé Nast doing PR work. As a side hustle of sorts, she started making handbags, and through that, met the man she'd eventually marry. The young couple had a chance to move to San Francisco and seized on it, sight unseen. That was a dozen or so years ago, and today, they're raising a child here in The City.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Dale Johnson is the descendent of Black cowboys. In Part 1, Dale traces the history of his family, from New York state and a Black settlement in Texas called High Prairie to the Bay Area. His parents met at a park in the East Bay and Dale was born seven years later. He grew up in "deep" East Oakland. He touches on some of the changes that he remembers, with industrial jobs being off-shored and drugs coming into previously prosperous, Black neighborhoods, comparing that to some of what has been happening in the so-called Rust Belt of the US and the different responses to each situation.
Photography by Michelle KIlfeather
There's a battle going on in the world of San Francisco street art. In Part 1, we get to know street artist Ricky Rat. Ricky's grandparents come from many different heritages. His parents moved to San Francisco, separately, in the '80s and met at a Halloween party in the Mission. Ricky spent some time with his dad (also a comic artist) in the Mission in the 1990s (fun fact—his dad took him to see Josiah Luis Alderete read poetry back in the day), but they moved up to Marin. In the podcast, Ricky shares what it was like to grow up there. He went to UC Davis and graduated before returning to The City earlier this decade.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Ready your SF bingo card: Michelle Delaney is a punk rock mom who runs an art gallery in The City. In Part 1, we get to know Michelle and 111 Minna co-owner Alex Kivelstadt. The two talk about their lives leading up to the moment they purchased the art bar/cafe from its previous owner.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Ed. note: We're excited to announce the launch of the BFF.fm Podcast Network! Storied: SF joins a handful of shows as the network gets off the ground. Please visit BFF.fm/podcasts to learn more. Steph Miller used to have dreams of playing professional baseball. Her parents met out east, where they're from. But their families weren't so keen on their respective different backgrounds, so the young couple came to the West Coast. Steph's dad got a job in a San Francisco law firm while her mom taught French. Steph talks about her childhood, and she and Jeff start to realize how much they have in common. She goes on to describe her life in Atherton in the 1980s, before tech really took over the Peninsula culture. She was a latchkey kid who played a lot of baseball. She shares stories of her family dogs and going to Giants games at Candlestick Park. Then Steph ends Part 1 with a recount of her college days in New Orleans and eventual return to the Bay Area.
Photography by Michelle KIlfeather
Del Seymour got interested in politics early in his life, in the 1960s in Chicago. In Part 1, Del walks us through the early years of his life. He attended a Catholic school in Chicago and went to seminary to be a priest. But that didn't last long, and he soon became a medic in the military. After that, he moved to Los Angeles to get away from the snow and cold weather. Within his first year, he became a firefighter/paramedic with LAFD, one of the first several dozen in a program that was new at the time. When he became a single parent, his sister in Oakland helped with his kids, and Del soon moved up to the Bay Area to be with them. Del ends Part 1 with a strange twist, at least for this podcast.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Yuka Ioroi's family name dates back to the 700s. She grew up in Shizuoka prefecture in Japan with Mt. Fuji nearby. Her parents ran a business, and Yuka sees some of their ways of operating reflected in her own running of Cassava. She moved to Los Angeles when she was 15. In the podcast, she describes some culture shock she experienced as well as a diversity she didn't see at home. After college, she worked an office job but got burnt out on that. From strip club bartending to waiting tables at a country club, she moved on to manager at a new restaurant. And that's where she met her future husband, Kris. Yuka ends Part 1 talking about what brought the couple north to San Francisco in 2008.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
When he was a teenager, Eskender Aseged fled his home country on foot. In Part 1, the Radio Africa owner shares the story of walking from Communist Ethiopia to Sudan in the early 1980s. He found work in Khartoum and learned English, and he and his brother eventually got refugee status from the U.S. They arrived in Newark, New Jersey in 1986, and Eskender soon moved to New York City, where he worked as a busboy at the UN building. He first visited San Francisco in 1986, when he came out here with his girlfriend at the time. He fell in love with The City immediately, as it reminded him of his hometown of Gondar. His first San Francisco home was in Bernal Heights, but he started spending more and more time in the nearby Mission, mostly in coffee shops. He found work in various San Francisco restaurants, including Cafe Majestic, Jeremiah Tower's Stars, and Joyce Goldstein's Square One.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Pali Boucher had what many would consider a wild childhood. In Part 1, the Rocket Dog Rescue founder takes us on a colorful journey through her early years. Let's just say that her parents liked to party. Pali spent her first 10 years with her mom, moving all around the greater Bay Area (and even Mexico). After her mom died, she and her brother were separated when she went to live with her dad in Corte Madera. It was there that Pali started to realize her love of animals ... and especially, dogs. She ends Part 1 talking about a short stint in LA, where she discovered punk rock and it saved her life.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Poet Tongo Eisen-Martin was born into a revolutionary home. Tongo's parents met in Chicago but moved to San Francisco soon after. He was born and raised in an apartment at 25th and Valencia, part of a communal environment that taught him to question and analyze institutions from a young age. He got started with poetry in elementary school doing a rap for Jesse Jackson when Jackson ran for president in 1988 (Tongo was 8 at the time). Tongo started seeing poetry all around The City and the Bay Area before heading to New York City for college, where he soon discovered Nuyorican Poets Cafe. He ended up working in arts-based education with imprisoned youth at Rikers Island before returning to San Francisco to teach chronically truant kids through a YMCA program.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Mike Soracco has had the same job for 50 years. In this podcast, Mike, who today owns Liguria Bakery in North Beach, takes us back to the founding of this neighborhood staple. Mike's grandfather came to the US in 1907 from near Genoa, Italy. He worked in bakeries in North Beach for a few years before opening his own at the location where Liguria operates to this day (that's 109 years, for those keeping track). Mike describes the hard working environment he fell into when he started at the bakery as a teenager. Also, back then, the general public didn't know focaccia like we do today, and so Liguria was selling mostly to Italian-Americans in North Beach. He ends the podcast talking about the adjustments they've made at Liguria during the COVID-19 pandemic. We recorded this podcast in Washington Square Park in July 2020.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
NYC hip-hop artist turned SF city gardener? Why the hell not? In Part 1, Dragonspunk Grows gardener Isaiah Powell charts the early stories of his life's journey. His family moved all over the East Coast when he was young. He went to four different high schools, then got into the University of Miami immediately as a 17-year-old. At such a young age, Isaiah didn't take college seriously and he soon dropped out. He went back to New York City and started to pursue a career in hip-hop. After eventually graduating from Columbia University and getting and losing a number of jobs, a fellow Columbia student friend recommended that Isaiah move to California to work on a farm near Santa Cruz. Toward the end of his stay there, he met Danielle online. And when he returned to New York, the two moved in together. They decided to move to the Bay Area after learning they could live in a house that Danielle's family owned. Danielle moved first, then Isaiah came out a few months later. He soon started volunteering at the Florence Fang Asian Community Garden, which was just down the hill from his home. And that work was the inspiration for what eventually became Dragonspunk Grows.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Josiah Luis Alderete's poetry speaks for a people devastated by gentrification and colonization. In Part 1, Josiah traces his life back to his parents' union at a club in North Beach roughly 50 years ago. He moved around the Bay Area a bit, from various spots in the Mission to Marin and back. He tells stories from the back room at Cafe Babar, including his first time to read poetry in front of people, and the connections he made as a result. Josiah reflects on how he finds representation and expression in poetry. He and other poets formed a group called Molotov Mouths that toured the country doing readings, which he'll talk more about in Part 2. Josiah ends this podcast describing the world of artists in the Mission in the late-'80s and early-'90s and the influence that Bucky Sinister had on him.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Dave Budworth's great-grandfather, who trained in Allsace, had a butcher shop in San Francisco at Polk and Green more than a century ago. In Part 1, Dave the Butcher, as he's known, talks about growing up in Santa Rosa. His mom exposed him to culture, but also dog shows, which formed the backdrop of Dave's first impressions of San Francisco. Dave tells stories of a trip to Australia when he was a young man that contextualized his Western privilege. He came back to The City and fell into butchery. He describes the old-school mentality of the trade that he learned from, and he ends the podcast reflecting on what that means.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Jesus Barragan was born in the segregated town of Glendale, Arizona, and grew up with bigotry all around him. In Part 1, Jesus talks about his move to San Jose as a young boy and the education systems of Arizona vs. California, where he quickly encountered difficulties. He moved to San Francisco in 1975, but he ran into prejudice and discrimination at the jobs he got here, both directed at him and systemically. Among other fights he waged, Jesus helped file complaints to get The City to comply with federal employment guidelines.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Kevin Cline grew up in Florida, but he got out just about as soon as he could. In Part 1, Kevin, who co-owns Front Porch restaurant in Bernal Heights, shares stories of journeys that led him to San Francisco. First was a trip from Boston to Los Angeles, then from LA to San Francisco on bicycle. Then, based on what a good time he had in The City during that first visit, he decided to ride his motorcycle across the country to move here.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Coldwater, Ohio, has seven stoplights, by Nico Schwieterman's last count. In Part 1, Nico, who opened and owns Fleet Wood in the Tenderloin, shares stories of growing up in the small town of Coldwater. Her dad ran a shop where, as a kid, she helped him print shirts. She was your fairly typical teenager, and ended up going to college in Cincinnati. A college internship in 2004 brought her to San Francisco, and she was in love in the first half hour of being here.
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
One of Uncle Damien Posey's favorite things to tell people is that he's "not a role model, he's a real model." We checked in with our Season 2, Episode 38 storyteller last week to see how he's doing and how he's feeling about the current uprising for racial justice. In this special podcast, Damien shares some of his own experiences with racism in The City, his thoughts on the current uprising and his support role in it, and the many cultural differences that we should celebrate rather than fear. He ends the podcast talking about where he draws his strength from and what his hopes are for the near future. If you missed our original podcasts with Unc, please go back and listen. We recorded this podcast during quarantine in San Francisco in June 2020. |