A Literal Look-Back at London Breed

San Francisco’s first Black female mayor, in pictures

Pax Ahimsa Gethen
5 min read19 hours ago

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London Breed stands at a podium in San Francisco City Hall, surrounded by City officials.
Mayor London Breed swears in members of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission’s LGBTQI+ Advisory Committee at SF City Hall, June 23, 2021. Public domain photo by Pax Ahimsa Gethen.

Today’s inauguration of Daniel Lurie as the new mayor of San Francisco marks the end of London Breed’s six and a half years in that role. As a long-time San Franciscan and sometime event photographer, I have taken a number of photos of Breed and uploaded them to Wikimedia Commons, as part of my efforts to improve the representation of marginalized people on Wikipedia.¹ Though our politics differ, I thank Breed for her service as our city’s first Black female mayor.

Before becoming mayor, London Breed served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and was elected board president in January 2015. The first photos I took of her were during this time. I attended and photographed numerous protests and rallies in the two years following the November 2016 election of Donald Trump, and Breed spoke at several of these events.

London Breed speaks into a microphone at a podium on the steps of San Francisco City Hall. Behind her, women hold large banners.
A Day Without A Woman rally, March 8, 2017

A Day Without a Woman was an international strike action organized to coordinate with International Women’s Day, on March 8, 2017. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors had a female majority at that time, with board president Breed at the head.

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Pax Ahimsa Gethen
Pax Ahimsa Gethen

Written by Pax Ahimsa Gethen

Queer agender trans male. Black vegan atheist, pacifist. funcrunch.org, patreon.com/funcrunch

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