“I think what makes Oakland special is the resilience that is just ingrained in the streets of it. In the same way they tried to do with Detroit when there was a huge amount of black folks that were becoming like an economic power and all those other things. It’s was like: ‘We’ll just shut […]
Category: East Oakland
SCRAPER BIKE CHAMP
“I remember me and my cousin Avery, who passed away a couple of years ago. When we was kids, we used to go to Ralph J. Bunche and I remember one time, it was early in the morning. Now we both had razor scooters and we were like, okay, how bout we’re like, tomorrow we’re […]
MASHAMA THOMPSON
“What I don’t like about what I currently see happening in Oakland is this push of gentrification that is sort of sucking the life, the culture, the arts, the history out of neighborhoods. That shit hurts because it’s something you love changing or being erased, not growing. If it was growth, I’d be all about […]
KEV CHOICE
“We don’t bring this up a lot, you could say anywhere outside of the world. Oakland is a suburb of San Francisco. San Francisco is the bigger city, population wise, notoriety wise. But having that sense of our own identity, usually any other suburbs is always gonna associate with the bigger city. We’ve always had […]
TONY VIC
“Truthfully, I want people to know that Oakland’s always been dope. You moving over here and going into a food truck or a pop up or art crawl, you’re not making our city cooler than what it was.Your just adding to it. Oaklands been cool, it’s been a dope spot. It’s been safe. It’s had […]
BROOKFIELD DEUCE
“I don’t want anybody to listen to this interview and take it as the gospel. I think that the best thing would be for people to listen to this interview as well as the others, and that kickstarts them to start researching more about the stuff that’s being talked about. Let’s start a fire. That […]
“SHAK” IRONS
‘Some people will say, “Yeah, you know, I’m from Oakland or whatever.” But you know they’re full of shit and they just really ain’t, they don’t really know what it’s all about. It’s a tough town, but it’s a good town. It’s a place where you got to stay on your toes and watch your […]
SHAYLA BANG
“It’s just one of the best places to be from. We’re just so carefree. Our vibe is like nothing else. I’m just super proud to be from this place because it has really made me who I am today. I have learned the game from Oakland, my ways, and it has helped me survive in […]
JENNIFER JOHNS
“You have a right to be yourself and that is a very Oakland trait and you’re going to find all manner of people who are willing to fight for your right to be who you are. I think that Oakland is the best of the American experiment. It is the best of the American experiment […]
PENDARVIS “OGPENN” HARSHAW
“You know how it goes. San Francisco sneezes Oakland catches the cold. So anything that happens in San Francisco is going to be amplified in Oakland. So you’re seeing even greater poverty out here in a place that had already had low income people, people working class people. You’re also seeing greater wealth out here. […]