This house trumpets its history in the face of gentrification.
asserted
house → trumpet → gentrification
Its colorful exterior, a painted forest of faces.
asserted
exterior → paint → faces
Latino artists, activists and musicians, suspended mid-motion, grin down at passersby.
asserted
artists → suspend → passersby
A spotted jaguar sprawls across the garage door.
asserted
jaguar → sprawl → door
Around the border of one of its windows, a message is written in all-caps: "It takes the hood to save the hood."
asserted
It → write → hood
This is the "Latin Rock House," an enduring tribute to the culture and history of the Mission District, one of San Francisco's oldest — and most dramatically gentrified — neighborhoods.
asserted
This → gentrifie → neighborhoods
Last month, San Francisco lawmakers unanimously declared the Latin Rock House a historic landmark, formally protecting the Spanish-style home from being painted over, altered or destroyed by future owners or developers without the city's permission.
asserted
House → declare → permission
The house has been the site of jam sessions and musical creation, community festivals and celebrations and ongoing efforts to engage the city's youth in music.
asserted
house → engage → music
It's also a home, where Richard and Tammy Segovia live.
asserted
Segovia → live → ?
"Now we can say this piece of the city is ours," said owner Richard Segovia, 72, a fifth-generation San Franciscan who was born and raised in the Mission.
asserted
who → say → Mission
"This is for us," he said.
asserted
he → say → us
Most are traditional in style or notable for the historic events that happened within.
asserted
that → happen → events
The city's most recognizable historic homes may be the row of pastel Victorians known as the Painted Ladies, which were included in the opening credits of the sitcom Full House.
uncertain
which → know → sitcom
None look like Segovia's house of Latin rock.
asserted
None → look → rock
In a neighborhood that has seen decades of redevelopment, skyrocketing home prices and the displacement of thousands of Latino families, this mural-wrapped home is more than a marker of the Mission's cultural vibrancy.
asserted
home → see → vibrancy
It's a stake in the ground, Segovia said.
asserted
Segovia → say → ground
A sign to tourists and transplants of what this neighborhood has long represented.
asserted
neighborhood → represent → what
You see it from the outside and you think wow, such a beautiful painting," Segovia said.
asserted
Segovia → see → outside
"But then you come inside and you spend some time and you realize all the culture and history that was built here."
asserted
that → come → culture
Originally the homeland of the Ohlone Indians, the Mission was taken over by Spanish settlers in the 1700s and so named after the Catholic church at its center, now known as Mission Dolores.
asserted
Mission → take → Dolores
In the centuries that followed, the Mission went from Mexican farmland to immigrant stronghold as waves of working-class European families moved into the neighborhood following the Gold Rush in the mid-1800s.
asserted
waves → follow → mid-1800s
After the great San Francisco fire of 1906 wiped out much of the city's downtown, the Mission transformed into a commercial district.
asserted
Mission → wipe → district
Over the next several decades, Mexican American families poured in and set down roots.
asserted
families → pour → roots
In 1950, only about 11% of Mission residents would have been considered Latino, according to the California Migration Museum, but by the 1970s, that number had swelled to nearly half.
uncertain
number → consider → half
Segovia's family moved into the house in 1963.
asserted
family → move → 1963
"I've seen all of the changes this neighborhood has been through — the good, bad and ugly — and now?
asserted
neighborhood → see → changes
My god, I wouldn't even be able to afford to live here today" had he not inherited his home from his parents, Segovia said.
asserted
Segovia → afford → parents
The tech boom that began in the 1990s brought waves of new residents to the city and sent home prices soaring.
asserted
that → begin → prices
Eviction rates jumped and some community centers and shops that served a primarily Latino population closed.
asserted
that → jump → population
Supervisor Jackie Fielder, who represents the Mission neighborhood in San Francisco's legislature, said the area has lost more than 12,000 Latino residents over the last 25 years.
asserted
area → represent → years
Up and down the block where Segovia's house sits, property values have soared close to $2 million.
asserted
values → sit → million
The Mexican American family that used to live next door, he said, is gone.
asserted
he → use → ?
Graywashed modern homes, like the one next door, have replaced houses painted bright blues and yellows, a stark contrast to the vibrant palette of the neighborhood.
asserted
homes → replace → neighborhood
"There's this thing that happens with gentrification where the newcomers tend to ignore whatever conversation is happening in a place aesthetically or culturally because they don't feel like they have to participate," said Sergio De La Torre, a professor at the University of San Francisco who has studied the demographic change happening in the Mission.
asserted
who → be → Mission
"In a neighborhood where these gray, muted houses have really multiplied, this guy is doing the exact opposite.
asserted
guy → multiply → opposite
Fielder said she was struck with the idea to landmark the Latin Rock House during a community event there earlier this year.
asserted
she → say → event
"It's owned by a native San Franciscan, and it's beloved by the community," she said.
asserted
she → own → community
"Seeing the mural for myself, seeing the over 87 musicians painted on there alongside traditional Chicano and Aztec motifs, I was like, wow, we have to preserve this.
asserted
we → see → this
So, that's when we got to work."
San Francisco is the historic birthplace of Latin rock, Fielder added.
asserted
Fielder → get → rock
As psychedelic rock took over the city in the 1960s, Latino artists blended it with Afro-Cuban beats and percussive sounds more commonly found in jazz and salsa.
asserted
artists → take → jazz
…and 26 more, not listed.
The Aporia
