Even though much of the official party has been postponed until 2023 due to the Omicron outbreak, dry skies and cleaner air will make for an ideal break from playoff football to get out and celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Start with a walk behind the fountains of the MLK memorial in Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, one of the nation’s largest monuments to the civil rights leader. Then head over to the MoAD for a look at Ghanian artist Amoako Boafo’s portraiture, the “Soul of Black Folks” before the exhibition ends next month.
More comfortable staying at home? The Northern California Martin Luther King Foundation will hold its Black Comix Arts Festival and Towards Justice program featuring a roundtable of prominent Black female broadcasters online.
Martin Luther King, Jr. understood the importance of sports in his fight for civil rights. Amid the Montgomery bus boycott, King addressed the 1956 NAACP convention in what is now the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium comparing the fight for civil rights to an end–zone drive:
“Since the turn of the century we have brought the football of civil rights to about the 50-yard line. And now we are getting ready to move in the opposition’s territory. And the great problem which confronts us, the great path to cross now, is to carry that ball across the goal line.”
—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Comics Writing Workshop for Kids
626 Mission Bay Boulevard
Fridays in January @ 826 Valencia
Dave Eggers and Ninive Calegari’s San Francisco nonprofit, 826 Valencia, have worked with thousands of young writers over the course of 20 years. Their newest writing center is in the burgeoning Mission Bay neighborhood. No experience required, but you’ll have to join for a volunteer orientation before getting started.
‘To the Place Where I Grew Up’
3245 16th St.
Friday, Jan. 14 @ Creativity Explored
Peter Cordova is a Filipino graphic artist with over 25 years of experience creating art about his home and his heart. It’s been a good month for Cordova: He just retired after 27 years working at the Castro Safeway, he’s debuting his first solo gallery with Creativity Explored and his work will be installed in the redesigned KQED headquarters (our neighbors) in the Mission District. Friday is the first night of his premiere exhibition.
Magic with Jay Alexander
419 O’Farrell St.
All weekend @ the Marrakech Magic Theater
Jay Alexander aims to make all of your reservations about magicians disappear. A performer and a businessman with entertainment roots stretching back to Vaudeville, Alexander has been hosting intimate magic shows at San Francisco’s historic Marrakech Magic Theater since he bought the former speakeasy and Moroccan restaurant in 2017. Step into Alexander’s world of mentalist mind-benders and exciting illusions every weekend. He performs twice nightly, at 6:30 and 9:00 p.m.
Black Joe Lewis & Cedric Burnside
777 Valencia St.
Sunday, Jan. 16 @ The Chapel
By the time the horns come in on Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears’ “Sugarfoot” you may notice your toe has unconsciously begun tapping to the beat. Hailing from Tucson, the blues singer has been making headlines for more than a decade with his commanding and soulful rasp. The Mississippi folk singer Cedric Burnside is not to be missed, either.
‘Alternative Voices’ Closing Panel
100 Larkin St.
Saturday, Jan. 15 @ the San Francisco Public Library
In addition to fronting legendary San Francisco punks Dead Kennedys, Jello Biafra also had political ambitions—sort of. The “California Über Alles” singer ran for mayor in 1979—against Dianne Feinstein and Quentin Kopp and with a campaign promise to ban cars and force businessmen to wear clown suits within city limits. Revisit more of San Francisco’s iconic moments in punk rock history at the closing event for the Alternative Voices photography exhibit. This panel discussion is free to attend and will feature conversations with photographers from the collection.
Grow Your Own Food
1590 7th Ave.
Saturday, Jan. 15 @ Garden for the Environment
Feeling apocalyptic? Best to bone up on your perennials and pesticides before the world goes full-blown Walking Dead. Also, it’s just rewarding to grow your own produce. The folks at Garden for the Environment are excited to help you learn. Registration in advance is required, but well worth the opportunity to get some fresh air and gain some agricultural acumen.
One More Time: A Tribute to Daft Punk
161 Erie St.
Saturday, Jan. 15 @ Public Works
You don’t have to go “Around the World” to tap into the energetic sounds of Daft Punk. This weekend, One More Time pay homage to the French electronic duo at Public Works. The tribute act will be joined by Temple resident DJ Michael Milano.
Tool
1 Warriors Way
Sunday, Jan. 16 @ Chase Center
It’s been a rough couple of years for Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan—and not only because the pandemic put the kibosh on touring bands. After coming down with a nasty, lung-damaging case of Covid in February of 2020, Keenan caught the virus a second time in November of 2020. He called round-two “ugly,” but he and the rest of the band are on the road all the same. They bring their heavy psychedelic sound to the Chase Center this weekend with special guests Blonde Redhead.
Sundance Short Film Tour
3117 16th St.
Sunday, Jan. 16 @ The Roxie
A woman who has always taken her mother’s dreams as premonitions. A Southern wedding crashed by the bride’s bizarre father and his wedding band. A Korean-American hustler in Chicago pawning goods from his “mobile gift shop.” Cinephiles and casuals alike will find something to love between seven different movies, numerous genres, and over 92 minutes of short film goodness.
49ers vs. The Cowboys
CBS
Sunday, Jan. 16 @ Cowboy’s Stadium
Fans of the San Francisco 49ers know that long before the disasters of the Harbowl and 2020’s devastating Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs—before numerous nail-biters against the Atlanta Falcons and flops against the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks—it was Jimmy Johnson’s Dallas Cowboys who drew the most heated vitriol from the 49er Faithful. The Catch, one of the most iconic moments in NFL history, occurred during the 1981 NFC Championship game between the Niners and Cowboys. These two storied franchises face off in a wildcard game this Sunday in Arlington, Texas.