Are you old enough to remember when everything was light and love?

[MenloParque]

3. SF native here

Born and raised in African-American neighborhood in San Francisco, Hunters Point. You may recall Candlestick Park...I grew up my just minutes from there.

I have vivid recollections of the “Summer of Love”. My family, and most of HP highly disliked “hippies” for the filth and drugs they brought into Hunters Point and the Mission District. Violent crimes like murder and rape increased throughout the city, garbage, prostitution. Oh yes, Golden Gate Park and the Haight were very colorful...but indeed a dark underbelly festered in surrounding neighborhoods brought in from the influx of those from all over the country who wanted to be in the “city by the bay”.

Many remember the music, but most living in SF recall the crime, strung out junkies, underage girls raped in Golden Gate. Those watching on tv saw flowers in girls hair dancing on Haight, but those old enough who lived in the city had a very different take. I remember the Hippi-kits of flowers, headbands, and flutes being sold on the corner for new arrivals. I remember seeing “hippies” past out in my schools playground with needles still in their arms. Vivid memories like an LSD flashback.