RAMA Blueprints presents their latest Tres Generacíones/3 Voices live podcast Past, Present, and Future - The Mission District's Cultural Artivism and Resistencía on Thursday, August 27 at 6:30 PM at the Brava Women for the Arts' Cabaret in San Francisco's Mission District. Framed as a “living archive” of Mission District artivism, the program traces key roots from the 1968 Third World Strike and the 1969 Los Siete de La Raza trial through institutions like Galería de la Raza, Mission Cultural Center, Mission Grafica, Precita Eyes, and BRAVA, plus mural, media, danza, music, and theater lineages. Panelists Alejandro Murguía, José Carrasco, and Naima Blanco Norberg connect these histories to their own work—from building cultural centers and anti-war organizing that led to Loco Bloco, to confronting tech-driven gentrification and designing community space. Audience Q&A addresses youth gathering spaces, and closing reflections urge continued relationship-building, artistic action, and resilience. Featured Panelists: Alejandro Murguía (Author & San Francisco Poet Laureate Emeritus)Jose Carrasco (Co-Founder of Loco Bloco)Naima Blanco Norberg (Teacher, designer, and visionary emerging leader.) This live production brings together community elders, cultural workers, and emerging leaders to reflect on the historic and ongoing cultural arts movement within San Francisco's Mission District. Anchored in the spirit of "Past, Present, and Future," the evening explores how historical artivism and community-based organizations laid the groundwork for today's grassroots movements, non-profit sustainability, and cultural preservation efforts. Join us for a lively intergenerational dialogue among local movement leaders, artists, and organizers who have navigated treacherous fiscal challenges, shifting political climates, and complex external pressures. Bios of Panelists Alejandro Murguia is the author of Southern Front and This War Called Love (both winners of the American Book Award). His non-fiction book The Medicine of Memory highlights the Mission District in the 1970s during the Nicaraguan Solidarity movement. He is a founding member and the first director of The Mission Cultural Center. He was a founder of The Roque Dalton Cultural Brigade, and co-editor of Volcán: Poetry From Central America. Currently he is a professor in Latina Latino Studies at San Francisco State University. He is the author of the short story “The Other Barrio” which first appeared in the anthology San Francisco Noir and recently filmed in the street of the Mission District. In poetry he has published Spare Poems, and this year a new collection Native Tongue. He is the Sixth San Francisco Poet Laureate and the first Latino poet to hold the position. Jose Carrasco is a co-founder and original Executive Director of Loco Bloco. He has devoted over 30 years to serving Brown and Black youth and their families through cultural arts and wellness programs. Before returning to lead Loco Bloco in 2020, Jose also served in leadership positions at community serving organizations around the Bay - Good Samaritan Family Resource Center, Be the Change Consulting, Central American Resource Center and Youth in Arts. Naima Blanco Norberg Naima Blanco-Norberg is a designer, artist / muralist, ceremonial runner / dancer and community organizer. Born and raised in Frisco to a revolutionary multiethnic family. Her work centers on community based design, architecture, and empowering intergenerational spaces through culture and arts. She's grown up in and has worked with many local community organizations such as PODER, Loco Bloco, Bicis del Pueblo, Precita Eyes, Danza Xitlali, Excelsior Syndicate and Lovers Lane on affordable housing, environmental justice, and latine / indigenous sovereignty. Naima is an Architecture + Design teaching artist at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts and a design fellow at Native Roots Network. She graduated in 2025 from Yale University with a Bachelors in Architecture. RAMA BLUEPRINTS Founded in 2021, RAMA Blueprints is the premier podcast documenting the history of the Real Alternatives Program (RAP) in San Francisco (1967–2003) and its ongoing impact on community empowerment. Please join us to celebrate RAP’s historical legacy project and participate in this vital community gathering. Please consider donating to the RAMA Blueprints podcast by visiting CARECENSF.org. This episode was made possible through a California Arts Council Impact Grant. This episode was written, produced and edited by Darren J. de Leon and Socorro Gamboa.
