No Place Like Home: An Homage to Oakland by Ruby Veridiano-Ching

This morning 38th Notes has the distinct pleasure of welcoming guest contributor Ms. Ruby Veridiano-Ching. Ruby is an amazing poet, performer, writer, arts educator, media personality and all around person. Though originally from Sacramento, CA she is a self-professed Oakland girl at heart. 

In the past year however, she made the big move to New York to pursue her career in media (a move Renaissance and I have also made before). What follows is her reflections on a recent visit back home. to The Bay. Please enjoi :)

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There’s no place like here. When the sun sets into the Bay, it feels like a deep breath- as if we are witnessing the sky in meditation. It feels like release, relief. Consequently, I don’t feel at peace anywhere as much as I do here, which is why, even though I’m not a native, I call this place my heart’s permanent residence.

Dear Oakland, I love you.

Many things I have learned to love about myself is a product of living here. This is the place that taught me to bask in my creativity, hone the movement my art is meant to create, nurture people to create community, and place love at the forefront of my direction, wherever I choose to go. The Bay, to me, is a beautiful collision of humanity, the kind of place where diversity is natural, and acceptance is understood. Maybe I’m idealistic, because I know the Bay isn’t perfect either. But I’ve never felt so loved as I do here, and I can only speak from experience.

Zadie Smith once wrote that “soul is pain’s alchemy”. I guess this is why you can feel all the soul that Oakland breathes- this is a place of resilience, of death and rebirth, of mourning and celebration. It is a place of wars and surrender, of protest and prayer, of heartbreak and healing, and inevitably, hope.

Hope. I learned to survive in celebration here. So as I left this place I lovingly call home yesterday, I took all the Oakland my heart can hold to share with the world. I hope you all get to meet her one day, and feel that incomparable comfort that comes when the dinosaur cranes greet you on the other side of the Bay bridge, signaling a relief from the City, and a warm welcome into the Town.

Most of all, I hope for you all, the sunset.

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For more Ruby follow her on twitter and check out her awesome blog rubyisill.com. Also check out a PSA she did for the City of Oakland's Imagine Peace campaign below.