Feeding the Needy: Another Way to Say No to the Alt-Right

Come to the Marina Green on Friday afternoon and spread some love.

As the Bay Area braces itself for Saturday’s planned appearance by the alt-right, more and more people are coming up with creative ways to say a resounding NO! to hate. For musician Mark Joseph, an Outer Sunset resident, the key to stopping the alt-right’s message is to respond with love. And what better way to express love for our neighbors than to make sure that they’re well cared for.

On Friday afternoon the 25th, the day before alt-right activists gather at Crissy Fields, Joseph and his friends from the collective Renegade Family will gather at Marina Green Park for Family Meeting, an afternoon of music, love, and providing food to the needy. There will also be a free store where donations such as shoes, clothing, blankets, sleeping bags, and hygiene products can be accepted and given out to those in need. The love-in will commence at 4pm at Marina Green Park’s west end.

This isn’t the first time Joseph has lent his name to a cause such as this. As BAS reported this past January, Joseph, who performs regularly with several local bands, helped to organize a fundraiser for the Flint water crisis and for Standing Rock at the Great American Music Hall. That event and tomorrow’s gathering in the Marina are typical of what people can expect from the good people at Renegade Family.

“We throw benefit shows, gathering like this one and free shows,” Joseph tells BAS, speaking about the collective.

Joseph said that he prefers to organize events which benefit the local community rather than meet the alt-right head-on. “I think its better not to give them the attention they are obviously seeking,” he said. “From what I understand it was the mocking attitude of the counter-protesters which caused things to go violent in Charlottesville.”

Joseph also feels that events such as Family Meeting are the perfect response to the alt-right. “We’re doing this to show the community that we can create love in the face of hate,” he tells us. “Active love such as feeding the needy–we want to show people how to create love via methods such as offering healthy meals and community to those in need. In a world where love is swept under the rug as taboo or a cliche, you have a renegade family.”

The Family urges people to join them until nightfall. Need food or a pair of shoes? Stop by! Want to help serve food or donate supplies? Stop by!

At nightfall Renegade Family will march to Crissy Field, where they’ll join the People’s Town Hall Candlelight Vigil for Charlottesville victim Heather Heyer–please bring flashlights or electric candles only as flames are not permitted at this event.

“San Francisco is not going to sit idly by while the alt-right comes here to demonstrate,” says Joseph.