What does our wonderful Town hold for this weekend? Quite a few things actually. Check out OakScene for a gang of dope events, but read on for 38th Notes' choice destinations for the weekend of October 23, 2009.
Tonight, come out to Air Lounge for my cousin Daghe Digital's big Friday night bash. It's 21+, dress code and $10 at the door. Special shout out to my OLA fam who will be in the building!
On Saturday, be sure to catch up with all your Oakland folks at Verdese Carter (Sunnyside) Park at 98th Ave and Bancroft from noon to 5pm. The free community event will feature entertainment by Too $hort, Mistah FAB, Erk Tha Jerk and Do DAT. More info HERE.
Lastly, on Sunday night, be sure to hit Somar in the DTO for Do Dat's Oakland In Blue listening party. This is the second showcase of his forthcoming Duke Ellington inspired album, Oakland in Blue. More info and exclusive leak HERE.
For the Oakland Tech community and its supporters, last Saturday was a big day. After all the work they had put into the new baseball field for Oakland Tech, it was now time to dedicate the diamond to its greatest product, Rickey Henderson. It was a once in a life time experience you had to attend to fully appreciate. Rickey was as gracious as you will ever see him and the environment of the whole event was beautiful. There were speeches by Rickey, Mike Norris, and his childhood friend Fred Atkins. Overall it was a great day for the Tech community and the City of Oakland. Enjoy Rickey's speech below, and click the link to see pics from the event. Thanks Rickey!
This is a story that was in the NY Times by an Oakland kid who is weathering the recession as a gondolier in Central Park. Thankfully he spent his childhood manning a gondola on The Town's crown jewel, Lake Merritt.
I did not always see myself becoming a Central Park gondolier. But like many Americans, I also did not anticipate being cast into a purgatorial state of quasi-employment.
I graduated from a fancy East Coast university (Brown) a year ago and lost an internship at a prestigious publication (The New Yorker) because of budget cuts. From last June to this June, I tried my hand at nine different jobs — including dog-sitting, coffee-shop-cleaning, script-reviewing, inventory-counting and actually writing. Some were temporary by nature, others by will. Eventually, I returned to one of the odder entries on my résumé: rowing a 37-foot-long Venetian boat while singing “O Sole Mio.”
I come from what may be the premier Irish-American gondolier family in the world. I am the youngest of four brothers, and three of us have rowed gondolas on Lake Merritt in downtown Oakland, Calif., on and off for about 10 years. The outfit there, led by a man named Angelino who insisted on drinking wine while training, is superauthentic and super-romantic. Yet little could have prepared me for the immensity and bizarreness of love, New York style.... Click HERE for the full article.
What's happening in Oakland's Uptown and Temescal is crazy. There is a natural tug-of-war between development and gentrification, but it's really hard not to love a little good press. Word of Temescal's gastro-groundswell is not new to local foodies, but now the word has gone national. Sunset magazine's July 2009 issue features a great two page spread on the Temescal's gourmet ghetto, a welcome celebration of something in Oakland other than Rockridge.
The Sunset feature mentions: The Temescal Farmers' Market, Bakesale Bettys, Marc 49, Pizzaiolo, Aunt Mary's Cafe, Barlata and FROG Park. It also notes that home prices in the neighborhood have quintupled from 1995-2005, dredging up the down side of such a culinary mecca. Unfortunately Oakland is going the way of Brooklyn and many other cities in that its urban rebirth has been made possible by an influx of outsiders. Below is a tongue-in-cheek promotional video made for the city of Oakland that captures the hipster renaissance taking place here.
This fauxmo video is funny but also contains chunks of truth. Though the debate between development and gentrification is tough to reconcile, for some it's a very cut an dry issue. Hip-hop theater legend Danny Hoch is one such person. I recently got to interview him about his one man show concerning gentrification in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and his stance is definitely worth discussing.
Given that the last post took us back to the Bay's infamous old school, I figured it couldn't hurt to kick it there for a minute or two more. This video has early 90s written all over it, but the song itself is still eerily relevant. Ant Banks speaks on the struggles of Oakland life while also droppin' some wise words for those doing wrong. Remember that this chapter of Oakland's history was even darker than the present, as 1992 saw 165 murders and 1993 witnessed 154. We have been down and out before, but there is always a way back. May we have the wisdom and strength to walk it together. Stay Up Oakland.
Above: Kaz (center) stops traffic on High St. with The Mekanix
I'm just gonna go out and say it. I think Kaz Kyzah is the rawest rapper in The Bay. I love The Team, and think they should get back together, but Kaz will be straight regardless. His swag is second to none, his punchlines are on point and he makes the most Town records around. He has always managed to walk that line between hood, hyphy and intelligent, all while embodying an effortless cool. I don't know if he has been signed or seeks to, but I think he has the tools to be great. This cut is supposedly off his highly anticipated Gofessional 2 mixtape.
Naturally a song named "580" resonates with the hopelessly Oakland-centric sap in me, but I think you will agree that this slaps. I can't help but gig a little sitting in Starbucks. I'm getting sideways glances, but this blaps hard enough for me not to care. "747 in the 745." Fly.
Speaking of old school Bay heads, anyone remember Saafir? Saafir was a West Oakland cat affilated with Digital Underground, 2pac and Hobo Junction back in the 90s. In the above clip, Saafir talks about how Pac took him in when he was homeless. Below, Saafir kicks a freestyle and discusses his famous beef with Casual and the Hieroglyphics. Props to eskay
Check out this mezcla of sound and soul courtesy of Jon Reyes & iLL-Lit's Drizz. He addresses Oakland and the Oscar Grant injustice and upheaval. Definitely worth the download (Click link below. Then on the pg that opens, right click link and click "Save link as" on the menu to DL)
Also Peep Drizz's montage of the protest at City Hall yesterday. Props to all the folks who made it peaceful and successful. Womps to all you knuckleheads who think you can masquerade as opportunistic wannabe revolutionaries and idiots in my Town. Now sip on that molotov for me young squire.
Also, check out Too $hort's speech at the rally, in which he implores the crowd to be peaceful out of respect for The Town we love so much. That's real. If you rep it, respect it!
I have an article to finish and a bunch of songs to post and ramble about, but at present I can't focus my attention on anything other than the events surrounding the death of Oscar Grant. I am outraged by Grant's execution at the hands of the police and am upset about the riotous turn the subsequent protest took. If you don't know the particulars, google it, it's everywhere. As noted, by the Grant family's attorney, John Burris, this is a crazy case in that there is so much video evidence that has surfaced showing a BART officer killing Grant execution style by standing over him and shooting him in the back.
I don't want to delve too much into the legitimacy of Officer Johannes Mehserle's actions or any events that preceded the shooting, because nothing excuses such actions. NOTHING. Yesterday a protest took place that shut down the Fruitvale BART Station where the shooting occurred. From what I've heard, from friends and family in attendance, the protest was peaceful and effective.
Unfortunately, a group of protesters spilled down East 14th St towards downtown after the rally. The live coverage was saying that the crowd had turned "rowdy," based on the video below. The crowd sets a dumpster on fire and rocks a cop car, but nothing outrageous. In true police fashion, they fire tear gas, rubber bullets and bean bags into the crowd and hit the on-scene reporter at the end of this clip.
Things would get uglier however as we have all seen and heard. I understand the frustration and anger that we all feel, but I'm frustrated about our lack of discipline last night. We have a sound and righteous cause, and yet we are allowing ourselves to be led astray. We aren't stupid for lashing out, but our energies must be unified and thought out. Many took to the streets informed and with the best intentions and so we need to be careful about being accusatory. It is not my intention to make blanket indictments, I'm only trying to say that we need to control ourselves so that the police won't. Disproving the media myth of indiscriminate mayhem, four Oakland teens express their frustration in an informed manner in the video below. Clearly the police are in the wrong and created this climate and continued to be unpopular by arresting over 100 people last night, but much of the crowd's behavior was out of line and unproductive. Have we not learned from Watts, DC, Crown Heights, Cleveland and the numerous other cities to experience riots, that destroying random property in your city and neighborhoods does no one any good?
I want justice for Oscar Grant, his family and Oakland, but this is not the way to go about it. I don't want us to shrug and go on about our lives, I DO want us to maintain that anger and energy, but I want us to channel it constructively. This is a great tragedy, but with tragedy comes opportunity. We have the ears and eyes of the nation on us, but we are abusing that opportunity by making ourselves look like roaming idiots. I know a lot of you went to the protest and took part in the demonstration and march, so I want to know how you feel. I am not in town and so can only cling to second hand news and slanted reporting, but from what I hear and see, it was not a good showing of us as Oaklanders. Riots have seldom led to progress. I understand the concept behind "No Justice, No Peace," but random acts of violence don't help anyone. We messed up a police car or two, but we caused more damage to private property that has nothing to do with the City or the Police. I think visiting the DA's office was a good move on behalf of local preachers and residents, but I think we need to do that to Mayor Dellums and the city counsel as well. We need to clog the jails and sit outside the police station. We need to make the city function at our command. We are protesting excessive force so hopefully the police will not use it in shutting down our activities. That is, unless we give them every excuse in the book to like we did last night.
I understand that much of the destruction was the work of random knuckleheads and opportunistic, out-of-town anarchists, but we allowed it to happen. It showed that without leadership, it's hard to rally around a common vision and strategy. And I don't mean we need a figure head, but we need a unified thesis so that we can stand and act in solidarity. The city's "leadership" have clearly proved themselves unworthy once again, but we shouldn't be surprised. To quote William Wallace from Braveheart, "Men don't follow titles, they follow courage." We need to stop looking to their long official sounding titles for guidance, where is our courage? Smashing the windows of small businesses does not take courage. Stomping on random cars does not take courage. I am glad that folks are upset enough to mobilize but WE ALSO NEED TO BE DISCIPLINED. Last night too many of us insulted the memory of Oscar Grant by using his wrongful death as an excuse to indiscriminately fuck shit up. As much as city officials decry the violence and destruction of these skirmishes, you better believe that they are relieved too. Why? Because riots tend to lose focus and momentum and burn out. Folks have taken out their aggression, but not done anything to resolve the original source of their frustration. We are kidding ourselves if we think smashing some windows will bring Oscar back or make BART, the police or the city act any quicker. Oakland expects riots just like every other major city. That's why they have SWAT teams. That response has been played out and doesn't work. It doesn't harm those who are ignoring our calls for justice, it only harms our fellow citizens and business owners who we need on our side. We need to be more creative and comprehensive. To quote Braveheart again, "I know you can fight, but it our wits that make us men." If we choose to utilize violence as part of our strategy then that is fine. But it must fit into a broader framework that makes sense. 30 protesters will not beat a SWAT team toe-to-toe, they will merely contradict the more peaceful message sent earlier at the protest. And that contradiction will allow authorities to identify all of us as lawless because we are all holding the same banners. If 10,000 protesters decide to stand up in unity to carry out some large scale acts of strategic violence, then that can be different, but let us not fool ourselves into thinking that's what last night was.We are angry. But blinded by our anger we act out rather than act right. The moment we lash out randomly, we cede our just cause and give authorities and police the power we held. If we can't control ourselves, each other, or our causes then idiots will control us. And idiots come in the form of car stomping teens, pseudo-revolutionary mercenaries, inept transit cops, abusive police officers and graying city officials.
WE NEED TO CONTROL THE MESSAGE AND OUR CAUSE. Don't let this become about the riots, make it about Oscar Grant, Sean Bell, Amadou Diallo and all the others killed and harassed by the police. Let it be about us as citizens taking back control of our streets by enacting real oversight in police matters. Hold the police, the city and us accountable. Let's go back to the drawing board, refine our message and strategies and come out unified. Yes splinter groups will always exist, but if we can dominate the message and THE ACTION, then we will be in a much better position to demand change. For starters, please go down town to assist and patronize the small business owners who had their shops damaged in the rioting. It's what a good neighbor, friend and Oaklander would do. Let our giving spirits be one of the qualities that define us and our response to this tragedy.
When the name of East 14th St was changed to International Blvd a lot of us were pissed and confused. East 14th is an international thoroughfare, passing through Asian, Latino and African-American neighborhoods on its way to San Leandro (where it also passes through white neighborhoods), BUT where lies the benefit of renaming it? There is nothing wrong with being international, but we already know that East 14th is international and diverse. That's like naming your kid Sam Percival Johnson at birth, and then upon realizing he can read at an early age, renaming him Prodigiously Literate Johnson. We're glad your kid likes reading, but we already know that from being around you. Now we just find him and you annoying because he's been renamed for a changeable trait. (For a chuckle, imagine white parents in a gentrified Fruitvale 20 years from now trying to explain to their kids what international means and what it has to do with their street)
What was wrong with being that grimy but subtly diverse street with tasty taco trucks? Why do we have to change the street signs and act like we put the World Fair on one glorious passport of an avenue?
The corner of East 14th St. and 38th Avenue in East Oakland
Typically name changes occur to make a place sound nicer than it is, i.e. Felix Mitchell's 69 Village being renamed the San Antonio Villas (btw, the guard booth kinda kills the serene sounding makeover guys). Did East 14th have an image problem I wasn't aware of? Granted, some Oakland residents (and bloggers) don't venture past the lake or below 580, and subsequently assume the entirety of East Oakland is a cesspool of social ills. But their ignorance and some crime aside, isn't East 14th like the most enjoyable street in the East?
Furthermore, renaming streets and neighborhoods reminds me of the current debate surrounding HBO's new drama Gentlemen of Leisure. Some, including the mayor and some city counsel members, are opposed to granting a film permit because they think a show that focuses on a pimp in Oakland will perpetuate a negative image of our city. It doesn't matter to them that Oakland has had a problem with pimping for ages, they just don't want to get put on blast for not addressing it. They think they can deny HBO the film permit in the interest of Oakland's "image," and yet continue to ignore the pimping that prompted the producers to set the show in Oakland in the first place. Goldie (2nd from left), the main character from another Oakland pimp movie, The Mack (1973). This movie was filmed in Oakland and based on Oakland pimp Frank Ward. Clearly, the city has done little to curb pimping in The Town over the years.
This same tactic is what prompts streets and neighborhoods to get renamed. It's city officials and real estate moguls trying to sell a new pristine image rather than addressing the enduring problems that led to the old image. If East 14th, the 69 Village or Oakland have issues then we should address those issues. We need to stop tripping off image if we're not gonna trip off reality. International Blvd has just as many prostitutes and drug dealers as East 14th did. BECAUSE THEY ARE THE SAME STREET! Eradicate the problems, don't insult our intelligence and try to paint rose collored glasses onto our faces.
I know this particular name change happened years ago and that my criticisms will surely fall on deaf ears, but there is a more sentimental side to this issue too. At the risk of sounding like a wistful old man clinging to the past, I feel that places hold memories that politicians have no right to change. For instance, my father attended Oakland City College with Huey Newton and Bobby Seal on Grove St back in the day. My dad often recounts those days quite fondly, but remains frustrated that Grove St was changed to Martin Luther King Jr Way. His frustration is meant in no way that disrespects the good Doctor, it's just that all those memorable times happened on Grove St. not MLK. It's also a little annoying that the street that Huey P Newton and Bobby Seale organized the Black Panthers on was named for a pacifist. Seems to be a bit of a back handed tribute to MLK and a diss to the Panthers if you ask me. I'm probably just rambling now, but I wanted to explain why EA-Ski and I will continue to refer to International Blvd as East 14th St. Why my Dad will continue to call Martin Luther King Jr Way by Grove St. And why some real OG Oaklanders may still dismiss MacArthur Blvd as war time propaganda and call it Hopkins St instead.
And I almost forgot! The whole reason that I stumbled upon this topic is because the image at the top of this post is featured on a new Oaklandish t-shirt (Minus the strikeout and East 14th scribble- props to Erica for that!). I love Oaklandish and their dedication to The Town, but I was surprised that they would produce a t-shirt that validates the renaming of East 14th given their fascination with Oakland history.
via the Oakland Tribune "Just two years after Mother's Cookies closed the doors of its plant on 81st Avenue in Oakland, its pink and white frosted Circus Animal Cookies will now fly off the shelves. And there is no sign that they'll come back.
The plug was officially pulled when Mother's Cake & Cookie Co. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday. Besides the Circus Animal Cookies, the company is known for its Taffy Sandwich Cookies, English Tea Sandwich Cookies, and Iced Oatmeal Raisin cookies that will no longer be made. . .
Mother's cookies was a fixture in Oakland, when it made its headquarters at 810 81st Avenue in 1949. It was started by N.M. Wheatley, who ran it as a one-man operation on 12th Avenue in Oakland in 1914. It later moved to East 18th Street before its final Oakland headquarters."
Well I am personally saddened. Not only is this another example of Oakland's local economy crumbling and entrepreneurial spirit suffering, it also marks a weird symbolic death of my childhood. I mean what kid in Oakland didn't fiend for those sprinkled and frosted animal cookies? It went further than that in my house. With locally minded parents, we ate Mother's Cookies over any other brand. The circus ones (pictured), the chocolate chip, black chocolate walnut and the truncated bunt cake lookin joints with the frosting stripes on top were the staples in my house and I will miss them.
I'm sad that I wont be able to continue that tradition, but I am more sad that Oakland based brands are falling off so quickly. In this unfortunate process Mother's goes the way of Granny Goose. It also marks the continuation of job loss caused by the pull outs of major companies such as Gerber, Chevrolet, and others. Oakland gets its guts and glory from its blue collar hustler's mentality and that is slowly dying with the death of these local institutions. :(
I was making my rounds this evening and realized I hadn't checked up on Kaz lately. In my opinion, Kaz is the best and most underrated emcee in The Town. I know some cats can spit, but Kaz embodies Oakland. He has the layed back smoky voice, the nonchalant swagger, and can make both scraper music and more somber lowkey stuff. He also can really rap. That's important, especially since Bay rappers have a reputation of not being able to do so.
Kaz, 1/3 of The Team, is pictured at center with production team The Mekanix. I had to throw this pic up cuz its on High St. right down the street from my house. You can find Kaz on his mixtape The Go-Fessional and The Team's The Negro League and World Premier. Look for the Go-Fessional 2 to drop soon and check out his Myspace for unreleased tracks.
This pic seems appropriate given the contents of the post. Basically, Angela Yee just asks $hort hella questions about his promiscuity and some particulars that only XM radio can indulge. There was also discussion of a reality show where $hort throws all the girls he "fux wit" in one house and does some sort of Real World meets Girls Next Door harem scenario, though I couldn't figure how much was in jest. Definitely worth a listen for a laugh or two.
Since Mistah F.A.B. was at Sir Too $hort's VH1 Pre-party the other night, is in this picture and is from Oakland- I thought I might say a lil sumthin. How come everytime I see him, this dude is larger than the last time? No, fereal F.A.B. is legit F.A.T. I'm like blood, you are only Baymous, you can't get all rotund on us like shit is sweet. He already looks like a bald T-Pain, and he definitely had on a beanie at the club. Something is not computing. I fux with FAB, I'm just sayin, before he cops another chain/platinum bib, he should mess with a personal trainer and a stylist.
Posts
