Highbrow Magazine - bay area https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/bay-area en Why North Beach Is San Francisco’s Best Neighborhood https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/10286-why-north-beach-san-francisco-s-best-neighborhood <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/travel" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Travel</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Thu, 12/05/2019 - 06:07</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1northbeach.jpg?itok=IgLTSN08"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1northbeach.jpg?itok=IgLTSN08" width="360" height="480" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><strong>Opinion:</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>I had dreams of moving to San Francisco, but was desperately trying to save money after moving back to the Bay Area from Paris. I decided to crash with friends and family, settling for a rough commute back and forth to my first real job.</p> <p> </p> <p>My office was downtown and a friend persuaded me to walk over to Mario's Cigar Bar for lunch one day. Looking out on Washington Square park, with Coit Tower hovering above, North Beach is the neighborhood that stole my heart and lured me to finally make the move to San Francisco.</p> <p>  </p> <p>It's been over 10 years since that day, and I still feel nostalgic every time I wander around North Beach. The energy here is intoxicating; the sidewalks are always buzzing with tourists, drawing them into a hive of tourist traps.</p> <p> </p> <p>Despite these culinary and scenic landmines, North Beach still possesses a deep-rooted neighborhood scene, where locals know each other by name and people still slow down to get to know one another over a round of afternoon cocktails. Full disclosure: North Beach will always have a special place in my heart; it's where I stumbled into adulthood and met my husband along the way.</p> <p> </p> <p>I'm sharing a few of my neighborhood gems, but know that there are many more to explore. If you're visiting from out of town, do yourself a favor and walk into this magical neighborhood via Columbus or Grant Street and make a day of wandering around to find some of your own treasures.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2northbeach.jpg" style="height:600px; width:581px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Eat:</strong></p> <ul> <li><a href="http://cotognasf.com/" target="_blank">Cotogna</a> - Sunday supper is a must; remember to book in advance.</li> <li><a href="http://maykadehrestaurant.com/" target="_blank">Maykadeh</a> - Timeless Persian food and exceptional hospitality.</li> <li><a href="http://www.firenzebynightsf.com/" target="_blank">Firenze by Night </a>- My answer to the question everyone asks, "Where can I find good Italian food in North Beach?"</li> <li><a href="http://www.goldenboypizza.com/" target="_blank">Golden Boy</a> - Square slices that never disappoint. Worth the line every time. Pro tip: Bring some bills, this spot is cash-only.</li> <li><a href="https://molinaridelisf.com/41085" target="_top">Molinari's Delicatessen</a> - Delicious deli sandwiches and Italian foodstuffs.</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p><strong>Drink:</strong></p> <p><em>Leaded:</em></p> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.tonyniks.com/" target="_blank">Tony and Niks</a> - Delicious cocktails with old school charm. Excellent spot for a date.</li> <li><strong>Specs</strong> - Tucked away off Columbus Street, a timeless spot with cheap drinks and unique clientele. You're guaranteed to strike up a conversation with a stranger.</li> <li><strong>Church Key</strong> – Well-curated beer list, tucked away on Grant Street.</li> <li><a href="http://sfblues.net/Saloon.html" target="_top">Saloon</a> - One of the oldest bars in SF. Strong drinks and great live music.</li> <li><strong>Northstar</strong> - A sports bar and neighborhood meeting place. It's where I met my husband.</li> <li><a href="https://www.15romolo.com/" target="_top">15 Romolo</a> - Great cocktails and bites, tucked away in an alley off of Broadway.</li> <li><a href="http://www.vesuvio.com/" target="_top">Vesuvio</a> - An iconic bar tucked next door to City Lights. Head in before/after shopping for a drink and some excellent people watching.</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p><em>Unleaded:</em></p> <ul> <li><a href="http://coffee.caffetrieste.com/" target="_top">Caffe Trieste</a> - Classic North Beach coffee shop, where you'll always find a crowd outside catching a buzz.</li> <li><a href="http://www.caffegreco.com/" target="_blank">Caffe Greco</a> - Coffeeshop on Columbus with great bites and outdoor seating.</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3northbeach.jpg" style="height:600px; width:450px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Explore:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>Grant Street </strong>has tons of local shops, bars, and galleries.</li> <li><a href="http://www.citylights.com/" target="_top"><strong>City Lights</strong></a> is a legendary independent bookstore. It offers excellent literary events, and the staff make solid recommendations on literature. This is where I always go to grab a few books before a trip.</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4northbeach.jpg" style="height:450px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/5northbeach.jpg" style="height:600px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/6northbeach.jpg" style="height:600px; width:450px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/7northbeach.jpg" style="height:600px; width:528px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p><br /> <strong><em>Samar Sharifi is a San Francisco Bay Area native. She is the author of the </em><a href="https://adoreabowls.wixsite.com/adoreabowl"><em>Adore a Bowl</em></a><em> blog, and a contributor to</em> Highbrow Magazine.</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Image Sources:</strong></p> <p><em>--All photos by Samar Sharifi.</em></p> <p><em>--Cover Photo: </em><a href="https://flickr.com/photos/27398485@N08/3501907776/in/photolist-6kscbh-6kscJA-26WMwzo-3nHwvb-4BWEJs-3mJRGw-6ksd1E-4BWEK9-2aEea7Q-3GdsvT-6ko2JK-s7jk8C-jfDYc-21wNnQo-6kscxJ-2g32WGR-2eaecHr-jfE1n-63kDSN-6ko2s6-Mkd7Ah-64WtMP-jfDZg-6DWEsZ-6knTiP-fJYmok-cXCTQu-fKfVwU-JEJbzg-fKfNeQ-H4z4b-fJYmDr-fKfQBd-fKg2Fh-4BWDME-fKfYr9-fKfWCQ-fJYkQk-fKg2ww-fJYpVM-fKfUaw-fJYnBr-2gxSaD6-fKg34Q-fKfQtb-fJYrR4-eDpuU3-fJYoin-fJYoLr-fKfZr7"><em>Pamela J. Eisenberg</em></a><em> (Flickr, Creative Commons).</em></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/north-beach" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">north beach</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/san-francisco" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">San Francisco</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/city-lights-bookstore" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">city lights bookstore</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/caffe-trieste" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">caffe trieste</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/maykadeh-restaurant" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">maykadeh restaurant</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/stinking-rose" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">stinking rose</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/cafe-greco" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">cafe greco</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/golden-boy" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">golden boy</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/bay-area" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">bay area</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Samar Sharifi</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Samar Sharifi</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Thu, 05 Dec 2019 11:07:03 +0000 tara 9205 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/10286-why-north-beach-san-francisco-s-best-neighborhood#comments In Search of a Sanctuary for Migrant Children https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/4406-search-sanctuary-migrant-children <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Fri, 10/31/2014 - 13:00</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1migrants%20%28wiki%29.jpg?itok=bP0LoYN9"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1migrants%20%28wiki%29.jpg?itok=bP0LoYN9" width="480" height="270" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><strong>From our content partner <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2014/10/in-search-of-a-sanctuary-for-migrant-children.php">New America Media</a></strong>:</p> <p> </p> <p>OAKLAND, Calif. -- Edwin can hardly understand Spanish and is slowly learning English, but his biggest dilemma now is finding a way to save his mother from the violence in his native Guatemala, and how to pay the $7,000 he owes lawyers.</p> <p> </p> <p>Edwin, 14, is a native Mam speaker (the Mayan language of his ethnic group). In spite of his youth, he has already made a dangerous escape from the gang violence of his homeland, crossed the U.S.-Mexico border and spent two months in the El Centro Service Processing Center, an immigrant detention facility south of Los Angeles.</p> <p> </p> <p>Since his release from detention two months ago, Edwin has found a home at the Primera Iglesia Presbiteriana Hispana (PIPH, First Hispanic Presbyterian Church) in Oakland.</p> <p> </p> <p>“The church wants me to go to school during the day, but how am I going to cover my expenses if I don’t work,” he asks. “How am I going to pay for rent when I find where to live, and send money back for my mother, my brother and my sister?”</p> <p> </p> <p>PIPH is one of several religious organizations in the Bay Area that have spearheaded a burgeoning Sanctuary Movement that began last summer in Arizona. So far 24 congregations offering sanctuary in 12 cities across the country have joined.</p> <p> </p> <p>Inspired by the Sanctuary Movement of the early 1980s, when at least 500 churches offered safe-havens for migrants escaping conflict in Central America, faith leaders today are looking to renew that commitment by providing shelter, food and even legal advice to this latest wave of child refugees.</p> <p> </p> <p>“We are helping these kids with shelter, clothes, food, classes, vaccinations,” says PPIH Pastor Pablo Morataya, adding that many live in fear of being detained again. “That is why we need to become a sanctuary, so they can feel safe.”</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Places of resistance</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>Earlier this month St. John's Presbyterian Church in nearby Berkeley hosted a forum that drew dozens from congregations around the Bay Area to learn about the history of the Sanctuary Movement and how it is helping today’s migrant youth.</p> <p> </p> <p>“Our idea of a sanctuary can take different forms,” explained Reverend Deborah Lee, director of the Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights, at the forum. These can range from providing safe living spaces, to accompanying refugees in legal procedures and offering hospitality and other kinds of protections.</p> <p> </p> <p>St. John’s Pastor Max Lynn reminded attendees that Berkeley declared itself a sanctuary in 1982, two years after the assassination of the Archbishop of San Salvador, Oscar Arnulfo Romero. “Changing immigration policy is a long path,” he said, “but in the meantime the least we can do is bring support to those who were brutally violated.”</p> <p> </p> <p>Lynn’s church is currently helping to reunite several families, including the parents of one 10-year old, the youngest of three sons and the last to arrive to the United States. “We are struggling to raise money for the lawyers and the courthouse process,” he said.</p> <p> </p> <p>Lee praised Latino congregations specifically for helping to turn church property “into a place of resistance” against deportation orders.</p> <p> </p> <p>“Our actions since October 16th include doing weekly vigils in front of the immigration courts, constant praying for the families, and increasing the number of churches that are willing to become sanctuaries.”</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Relieving the trauma</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>Data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) show that between October 2013 and the end of September 2014, 68,541 unaccompanied children from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala were apprehended along the southwest border. They estimate that by the end of 2014, the number of children seeking protection in the United States will reach 90,000.</p> <p> </p> <p>Almost 13,000 of them are seeking asylum through immigration courts in California, according to the Transactional Record Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University.</p> <p> </p> <p>To meet the costs, Oakland’s City Council last week voted unanimously to adopt a resolution authorizing a grant of up to $577,000 to finance legal representation, mental health services and housing for the migrant youth.</p> <p> </p> <p>San Francisco approved a similar measure in September that provides more than $2 million in funds to pay for legal support for unaccompanied minors and families registered on the San Francisco Immigration Court’s expedited removal docket.</p> <p> </p> <p><br /> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/2migrants.jpg" style="height:362px; width:631px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Oakland “has always been a refuge with no exceptions, and we are happy to help these kids, taking into account the responsibility of the United States in the drug war in Central America,” said Mayor Quan at an event organized by the Red Nacional Salvadoreña En El Exterior, or RENASE (Salvadoran National Network Abroad).</p> <p> </p> <p>RENASE is urging Congress to enforce protections for children under the 2008 William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), a law that guarantees hearings before an immigration judge, and a chance to consult with an attorney, for children arriving from countries that don’t share a border with the United States.</p> <p> </p> <p>“We are also demanding that they stop the so-called ‘rocket docket’ directive, which gives children’s attorneys only three weeks to prepare their cases,” said Mirna Medina of RENASE. “While the legal help takes place, we are glad that these kids are sponsored by religious communities to relieve the trauma,” she added.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Different faiths</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>Other religious institutions that have not officially joined the Sanctuary Movement are doing their part to help out as well.</p> <p> </p> <p>Pastor Juan José Lima from the Church of God in San Francisco’s Mission District said Pentecostal churches help anyone who shows up at their doors in need. “We don’t have a constituted network, but we are helping get medicine for a Honduran girl who has been very sick since her arrival,” he said.</p> <p> </p> <p>The local Jewish community, meanwhile, is also responding. “We are assisting these kids with mental health and legal support,” said Jessica Trubowitch, ‎director of Intergroup Relations at the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Relations Council. “But we want to extend our response to the humanitarian crisis in the Bay Area [and] identify how we can be of more help.”</p> <p> </p> <p>Trubowitch says part of that will involve synagogues around the Bay Area holding informational sessions in November on the Sanctuary Movement. “There are few congregations that know about immigrant rights … this approach will help make more people aware about the topic.”</p> <p> </p> <p>For those already involved in the Sanctuary Movement, meanwhile, the work continues.</p> <p> </p> <p>“We are now helping this 15-year-old kid from Honduras, sent to the U.S. by his grandmother after one of his best friends at school was killed by gangs,” says Marilyn Chilcote, pastor of the Beacon Presbyterian Fellowship in Oakland.</p> <p> </p> <p>Chilcote was among those helping the roughly 400 Central American refugees who arrived in Berkeley 30 years earlier. Pointing to this latest case, she said the boy was “abused on his way here and we are praying that he will be able to cope with the trauma. When one witnesses these cases, it’s impossible for our church not to become a Sanctuary.”</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>This article is part of a Media Consortium collaboration on immigration reform. For more articles, please follow #TMCimm.</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>From our content partner <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2014/10/in-search-of-a-sanctuary-for-migrant-children.php">New America Media</a></strong></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/sanctuary" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">sanctuary</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/migrants" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">migrants</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/migrant-children" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">migrant children</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/san-francisco" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">San Francisco</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/bay-area" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">bay area</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/illegal-immigrants" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">illegal immigrants</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/crsooing-border" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">crsooing the border</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/immigration" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">immigration</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/immigration-reform" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">immigration reform</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Jenny Manrique </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Wikipedia Commons</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Fri, 31 Oct 2014 17:00:07 +0000 tara 5371 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/4406-search-sanctuary-migrant-children#comments Crashing the All-White Party in Silicon Valley https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2414-crashing-all-white-party-silicon-valley <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Wed, 05/08/2013 - 09:37</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumsiliconvalleyethnic.jpg?itok=sH-LclQe"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumsiliconvalleyethnic.jpg?itok=sH-LclQe" width="480" height="268" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p> In a thriving Bay Area technology sector where black and brown faces are the exception and not the norm, Chris Cruz, a Filipino American, and Isaac Reed, an African American, are crashing the party.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “Stereotypes are one hell of a drug,” says the 25-year-old Reed. Being judged on appearance by other industry professionals, he adds, is something he’s come to expect. “Until I open my mouth, [then] they understand I’m educated. But I don’t let it intimidate me. It actually empowers me.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> When it comes to California’s technology sector, Cruz and Reed surely aren’t alone in feeling racially isolated.</p> <p>  </p> <p> A study conducted in 2011 by three California-based groups – the Black Economic Council, Latino Business Chamber of Greater Los Angeles, and the National Asian American Coalition – looked at workforce diversity at a dozen companies in Silicon Valley, including industry giants Intel, Cisco and Ebay, and found an industry where African Americans and Latinos are grossly underrepresented when compared to their percentages of the state population. In the study, Blacks comprised less than 3 percent of company employees on average (they are 6.8 percent of the state population), while Hispanics comprised anywhere from 4 to 9 percent of employees at those companies surveyed, despite accounting for 38 percent of the California’s population according to the 2010 Census.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Another study conducted in 2011 by CNN Money culled workforce data from California-based technology companies Intel, Dell and Ingram Data. CNN, too, found diversity in the tech sector to be seriously lacking: whites comprised 64 percent of the workforce in companies surveyed. The next largest group was Asian at 20 percent. Meanwhile, Hispanics comprised only 9 percent and Blacks 6 percent of all employees. The CNN study did not include major companies like Facebook, Apple, Google or Amazon since those companies do not make such employee information public.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Racial stereotyping within the tech sector is perpetuated by the lack of diversity within the industry, says Dr. James Lai, director of the Ethnic Studies Program at Santa Clara University. Overcoming those stereotypes, he says, can be a real barrier for young minority entrepreneurs, like Cruz and Reed, who are trying to make a name for themselves.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “If you’ve got to pitch [an idea], you have to have an image. And that image can be used against you, because there are stereotypes that people bring,” says Lai. “They [employers] may see an African American and they may think, ‘Well, how many African Americans do I know in the computer industry?’ And the truth is that there are not that – about 1 percent in most companies.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Beating the Odds</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> The young duo’s efforts – Cruz, like his partner Reed, is also 25 -- to break into the tech industry began in January 2011, with the development of a mobile application for smartphones that they called Zuggol.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Zuggol allows users to set a personal goal and track progress toward that goal, which is assigned to one of six given categories: art, business, fitness, fashion, education and music. Users can update their goal status according to progress made, and “follow” others on Zuggol pursuing similar quests, to get helpful tips or advice on what is or isn’t working for other people.</p> <p>  </p> <p> For those inevitable moments of hopelessness, users can look to Zuggol’s “push” page for extra motivation -- the page contains quotes from successful individuals across a variety of professions, from Babe Ruth to Maya Angelou.</p> <p>  </p> <p> In February of 2013, Zuggol became available on the open market, joining thousands of other mobile applications available for purchase through the Apple Store.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Fittingly, the path taken by Cruz and Reed to create Zuggol was one forged by perseverance and self-sacrifice in service of a shared goal.</p> <p>  </p> <p> They couldn’t afford to hire a programmer to build the application, says Cruz, so he taught himself Objective-C, a programming language used in Apple’s current operating systems, over a six-month period.</p> <p>  </p> <p> While Cruz worked on the technical side, Reed secured investment deals and corporate sponsors such as Muscle Milk and Velvety Wine.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “Initially, motivation was probably the only thing that kept me going,” Cruz says. “There were times during those six months of coding, I lost all hope -- same with Isaac -- and every single time, I would read quotes or talk to somebody in the tech industry, which helped reignite my motivation.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/2mediumsiliconvalley%20%28samykolon%20Wiki%29.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 418px;" /></p> <p>  </p> <p> Overcoming the odds was nothing new to either Cruz or Reed. Raised in a family of seven, Reed was the eldest of five siblings. At the age of 12, the family lost their home to foreclosure and was homeless for about a year. They couch-surfed, sleeping in different people’s living rooms until they were able to move into a one-bedroom apartment in Oakland, where there were “shootings on a regular basis.” Adding to their troubles, Reed’s father left the family at that same time, leaving his mother to care for her five children.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “I’d seen a very large spectrum of the African American community in a negative fashion and I couldn’t stand it,” he said. “And so I asked myself, ‘What can I do to not be in this realm?’ I decided that everything that they’re doing, I’m going to do the exact opposite and see where I go.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> Reed attended the Bay Area School of Enterprise in Alameda, a public charter high school where his entrepreneurial tendencies flourished. He eventually went on to graduate from San Francisco State University, becoming the first in his family to obtain a college degree.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Like his business partner, Cruz was also raised by his mother and had a father who was in and out of his life. He lived in a house in Hercules, a city 25 miles from San Francisco, until the age of six, when his father was incarcerated for selling drugs. Soon after, the family was evicted from their home and rented a bedroom in a house in San Francisco. For 16 years, his mother raised him in that bedroom, saving up all her money so he could attend Archbishop Riordan High School, an all-boys private school. But his mother could only afford two years at Riordan, so Cruz spent his junior and senior years at Philip &amp; Sala Burton High School, a public school with a tougher reputation.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “It taught me a lot more about just surviving and about how life is,” says Cruz.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Back then, being an app developer never crossed his mind, admits Cruz. Growing up, he was a rapper who won awards and produced music with storied Bay Area rap artists like Big Rich and San Quinn.</p> <p>  </p> <p> He credits having to care for his ailing mother -- she almost died twice, once from a heart attack that Cruz attributes to stress -- for shaping his work ethic.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “It really pushes me beyond what anything else would,” he says.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Changing the Culture</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> Now entrenched in the tech industry, Reed and Cruz face a different kind of struggle, not with poverty, but with the biases within their chosen profession.</p> <p>  </p> <p> When asked if race is still an issue for them in the tech world, both agree that as people of color they have to work harder to impress. “Sometimes I’ll talk to people and say I’m a programmer, or I develop -- but if I say that I coded Objective-C in six months, then they will pay attention to me. If I don’t, I’ll usually get ignored,” says Cruz.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “It’s also disheartening to see, for me especially, [that] I am the only African American at many of the [tech] events I go to,” adds Reed. “Sometimes I see African American women, but… the males, you don’t see any.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> Cruz once tested the environment by changing his appearance to see how people would treat him. “If I let my hair grow out, I’ll look more Caucasian. But if I’m shaved I get completely ignored because it seems like the people [in tech companies] keep to themselves a lot at many of the startups, especially all the mixers that I go to.” As a result, the men have stopped going to industry mixers, a crucial environment for networking opportunities and pitching ideas.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Today in the Zuggol office in San Francisco’s financial district, Cruz and Reed’s idea has grown into a budding enterprise of 20 employees, nearly all from non-white ethnic backgrounds ranging from Filipino to African American to Hispanic. The company is experiencing steady growth – their user base increases by about 10 percent each week -- and the partners say they are busy fundraising and securing private investments deals.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Cruz and Reed are proud of what they’ve accomplished so far and say they will strive to continue to make a difference, by doing whatever they can within their own company to diversify the tech sector.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “I feel like we’re the underdogs and that Isaac and I are doing it for our people,” says Cruz. “I feel we have our ethnicities on our shoulders in the tech industry.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2013/05/filipino-black-duo-crash-silicon-valleys-party.php">New America Media</a></p> <p>  </p> <p> <em><strong>Photos: New America Media; Samy Kolon (Wikipedia Commons).</strong></em></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/silicon-valley" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">silicon valley</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/facebook" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Facebook</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/ebay" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">ebay</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/cisco" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">cisco</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/bay-area" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">bay area</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/technology-sector" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">technology sector</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/zuggol" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">zuggol</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/chris-cruz" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">chris cruz</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/isaac-reed" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">isaac reed</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/amazon" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">amazon</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/dell" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Dell</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/smartphones" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">smartphones</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Semany Gashaw</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">New America Media</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Wed, 08 May 2013 13:37:37 +0000 tara 2821 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2414-crashing-all-white-party-silicon-valley#comments