We’re starting our second week here on the A to Z Challenge. My theme this year is the Illuminate SF light art experience. I hade fun going through San Francisco looking for the different light installations that are hidden throughout the city.

Today we have, Hope Will Never Be Silent, which is written in lights above the SoulCycle building that overlooks Harvey Milk Plaza in the Castro District. You may remember I wrote about the Castro District when I went through the city in 2020. It is the center of the gay community in SF.

Harvey Milk was the first openly gay elected official in the history of California. He was elected to the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco in 1977 and assassinated in November of 1978. There was a movie made about him starring Sean Penn who won an Oscar for his portrayal. I’d recommend watching it. He had an interesting life, cut short by a mentally deranged colleague, Dan White, who also killed the mayor of San Francisco, George Moscone. White was convicted and went to prison but killed himself two years after he was released.

The photos aren’t that great because this is one of the busiest intersections in the city. I had to find parking and then walk up the block to get this shot. As you can see there are lots of telephone poles and street signs in the way so I did the best I could.

Illuminate is the arts group that designed the fixture and it was installed in 2017. It is to honor Harvey Milk’s legacy “through light’s power of attraction.”

Best Viewing: The lights can be seen from dark until dawn. View it from the top of the Castro Muni Metro Station escalator and other spots around Harvey Milk Plaza.

One of the things that this excursion is reminding me is to look up. So often we just look straight ahead and we may miss something special. I didn’t get to visit as many new folks as I would have liked. Hopefully I’ll be able to do that this week. See you tomorrow for “I.”