All That Glitters: Alcatraz Lighthouse, 1969

All That Glitters is an homage to the dreamers and schemers that make the Bay Area unique. San Francisco artist Kaytea Petro uses a homemade hibiscus ink to illustrate historic photos, lovingly depicting a bygone era. More of her work can be seen at kayteapetro.com or on her Instagram.

All the the writings were created by students at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts. Many of the source photos used to create the drawings come from the San Francisco Public Library’s Photo Collection.

Alcatraz Lighthouse, 1969

Removed

By Fiona Huang and Co Niglio

Indians of All tribes is what they’re named.
They desire the land that was once theirs back.
They have been forever and truly chained
to the empathy, people tend to lack.

They felt very trapped, and so they protested
but then a great fire spread throughout the land.
Some of the residences were found digested.
The lighthouse tower continued to stand.

And the Alcatraz Indian Council said,
They were not liable for the damage done.
The lighthouse’s light was replaced instead.
But the government removed them to none.

About the Authors: Fiona Huang and Co Niglio are students at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts.