When kids approach the San Francisco rapper Gunna Goes Global to ask why he wears an eyepatch — the result of being shot in the head at age 19 — he doesn’t see it as disrespectful.
“It’s a genuine question,” he recently said on the Blowin Smoke Podcast. “I wear this as a reminder of what I’ve been through, what I come from, and what I overcame.”
Rather than avoid his tumultuous past, he embraces it with a deep reverence. Over the years, Gunna Goes Global has emerged as a de facto spokesperson in defense of Frisco’s Black and underserved communities. Having appeared in The Last Black Man in San Francisco, the lyricist-actor is at the forefront of preserving the city’s cultural and artistic legacy, using his experiences to guide himself and those around him.
Currently, Gunna Goes Global is working toward a stronger sense of communal healing in his city with Therapy In The Ghetto: Reimagined. Initially released as the 17-track album Therapy In The Ghetto last summer, the project is now being remixed into a free gallery exhibit, which opens at the Ruth Williams Opera House in Bayview on Saturday, May 4.