The Unbuilding Archive: Liberated Futures for the Site of Compton's Cafeteria Riot

The Unbuilding Archive marks the 60th anniversary of the 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria riot, the first well-documented trans and queer uprising against police violence in the country, at the crossroads of Turk and Taylor Streets in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. Today, the building at 101-121 Taylor Street is occupied by GEO Group, the largest private prison corporation in the country and main contractor with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to operate detention centers, continuing an occupation of carceral power at a site of historic resistance.

In response, the TurkxTaylor Initiative and the broader Compton’s x Coalition have emerged to liberate the site and imagine an alternative future that honors its legacy of resistance. We approach the building as a microcosm where interconnected structures of oppression—colonialism, capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy and ableism—can be dismantled at a local scale to uncover possibilities for collective liberation.

This exhibition centers trans liberation while recognizing that all systems of domination are intertwined. We begin with the building’s current carceral occupation, tracing its transformation back to its construction in 1908, and grounding our imagination in the land itself by honoring the Ramaytush Ohlone stewardship. From that space, we share speculative works developed through community workshops, drawing from Susan Stryker’s archival materials, and offering expansive visions for transforming Compton’s into a space where liberated futures can be imagined and built together.

For more information visit our websites: www.comptonsxcoalition.net and www.turkxtaylor.net