(P)Roses from the Pandemic 01: Oakland

Opening Week

30s under pressure

Loyal to the town

Mentoring youth

Building playgrounds

He doesn’t even go there

I guess he sees what this used to be

A community of hope

A community of hustle

A community of dreamers on the horizon

But who’s gonna make it?

When did it become International?

I can’t recall

When did it become New Chinatown?

I don’t know at all

A span of 5 years

Foreigners, Transplants, and Bridge-hoppers

Where are we all now?

It’s the step to your walk

It’s the swag to your talk

The resistance to your vibe

But the warmness to your energy

But Uptown

First Fridays

Jack London Supermarket

Off-the-Grid

Which one of these were created by non-whites trying to share

More than a community?

More than a struggle?

More than a passion?

She said don’t go there it’s danger

Don’t cross the bridge

She wouldn’t be caught dead

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Are those gunshots?

No, I told her it goes a little more like this…

As if I memorized the sounds, the rhythms, the echoes of fire hitting metal

Who’s gonna rep Oakland when the dubs don’t win?

Who’s gonna live in Oakland when tech isn’t here?

Who’s gonna love Oakland when there’s no more culture

but a town full of one shades trying to

build something to support laziness

Are we prepared for Rona?

Or is this how we are being punished for creating too much disruption?

Who is gonna build culture?

Restore MLK?

Notice Fruitvale?

Support Bancroft?

You claim all these lessons

But shame the Town

When Oakland made you

This juxtaposition of hating and loving your city at the same time

Loving it for teaching you about survivorship and grit

Drillin’ in your brain that giving up is not an option

But hating it for what it did to mom… Ray

If you ask me Where’s Oakland?

I’ll tell you I’m still looking

Where are you?

Where is everyone?

You’ve created a monster

You’ve changed it to a city where we all eventually leave