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"bio": "Steven Rascón is a journalist and an audio producer from Northeast Los Angeles. He's a producer in the KQED news and podcast department. He was a producer for the KQED investigative series \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11974730/1-welcome-to-the-family-s2-new-folsom/\">On Our Watch: New Folsom\u003c/a>.\u003c/em> His reporting has been featured in Cal Matters, KCRW, and WHYY. He's also the production manager for the radio show and podcast \u003cem>Reveal\u003c/em> from the Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX. He was part of the team that produced the Peabody nominated 7-part series \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://revealnews.org/mississippi-goddam/\">Mississippi Goddamn: The Ballad of Billey Joe\u003c/a>.\u003c/em> He's a graduate from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.",
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"bio": "Eric Arnold has covered hip-hop locally and nationally for over 30 years. Formerly the managing editor of \u003cem>4080\u003c/em> and columnist for \u003cem>The Source\u003c/em>, he chronicled hyphy’s rise and fall, co-curated the Oakland Museum of California’s first hip-hop exhibit in 2018 and won a 2022 Northern California Emmy Award for a mini-documentary on Oakland’s Boogaloo dance culture. He is a contributing editor for \u003cem>That’s My Word\u003c/em>, KQED's series on the history of Bay Area hip-hop.",
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"title": "A Legendary Mural From the 1980s Has Been Repainted in East Oakland",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983772\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7949-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983772\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7949-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7949-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7949-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7949-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland graffiti artist Del Phresh poses in front of his newly revamped ‘Oakland Is Proud 2’ mural, located at the same site of his legendary ‘Oakland Is Proud’ piece, originally painted nearly 40 years ago. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When Del Phresh first painted the words “\u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#oakland-is-proud-mural-broadcast-nationwide\">OAKLAND IS PROUD\u003c/a>” on a wall in East Oakland in the mid-’80s, he was on a mission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, Oakland’s reputation was ravaged by the war on drugs, and all it entailed: the influx of crack cocaine, extremely high unemployment, over-policing, swollen jails and nightly news reports sensationalizing crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In order to set the record straight about his community, Phresh grabbed a few aerosol cans and ensured the world put some respect on the Town’s name by painting a giant mural along E. 12th Street, reading “OAKLAND IS PROUD.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983757\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 480px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983757\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/MES4690.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"316\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/MES4690.jpg 480w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/MES4690-160x105.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The original ‘OAKLAND IS PROUD’ mural on E. 12th Street in Oakland, painted by Del Phresh. \u003ccite>(Oakland Wiki)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Four decades later, I meet with Phresh on the concrete and grass median under the BART tracks on E. 12th Street, across from where the original piece was painted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the time it was the early ’80s, and mid-’80s, and the city was full of crime and corruption, and poverty and prostitution and drugs,” he tells me. “And it had a negative reputation. So I thought, ‘I want to show the Bay Area — hell, the world — that regardless of that, we are \u003cem>proud\u003c/em> of our city. We love Oakland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The “OAKLAND IS PROUD” mural became a symbol of the Town’s resolve, and its cultural relevancy extended to city marketing, album covers, tribute murals and even a nationally syndicated television show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Phresh’s original piece was painted over long ago. But last weekend, here at the same exact location, he and a few friends remade it, painting “OAKLAND IS PROUD 2” in metallic silver and royal blue along E. 12th Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983758\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983758\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7944.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7944.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7944-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7944-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7944-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘OAKLAND IS PROUD 2,’ a re-creation of Del Phresh’s famed mural, in the same spot as the original along E. 12th Street in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Given Oakland’s current issues, ranging from housing to violence, and the way people remain passionate about the Town despite its depiction in the media, Phresh’s piece is as relevant today as it was when he first painted it nearly 40 years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>From an East Oakland Wall to the World\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>After first painting a smaller, scrappy iteration of the mural on a wall of the historic St. Joseph’s Home for the Aged, Phresh returned (this time with permission of the center’s Ray Castor) and spent the entire summer of 1987 completing “OAKLAND IS PROUD.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it was done, the multicolored, bubble-letter piece stretched the length of a full city block, and soon became a cultural landmark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was featured in the opening credits of Mark Curry’s television show \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bde9KfcRL4\">\u003cem>Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, and provided a fresh background for the cover image of \u003ca href=\"https://www.discogs.com/release/1332001-Capital-Tax-Capital-Tax?srsltid=AfmBOoriQZqQsU-NcueEAucMReW51sSJ4UhrYgGkDC7wmMScjZa5l5po\">Capital Tax’s 1989 self-titled record\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983703\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 720px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983703\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/001_kqedarts_albumcoveroaklandisproud_02092023_720.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/001_kqedarts_albumcoveroaklandisproud_02092023_720.jpg 720w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/001_kqedarts_albumcoveroaklandisproud_02092023_720-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Oakland rap group Capital Tax featured Del Phresh’s ‘OAKLAND IS PROUD’ mural on the cover of their 1989 EP, shown here in the original photo location. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 2020, Phresh collaborated with Oaklandish to \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandish.com/products/oaklandish-flag\">create merchandise using the logo\u003c/a>, as well as a piece reading “\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandish.com/blogs/news/oakland-is-proud-del-phresh?srsltid=AfmBOopzDn2n-LfhYZZinMkHdiFijYhu8cEPP5lykbMHklgeRkR-r55K\">OAKLAND IS STILL PROUD\u003c/a>,” painted on the wooden boards covering the retail store during protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mural’s legacy doesn’t stop there. It’s appeared on \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/CandiceAntique/status/787397848140775424?s=20\">event flyers\u003c/a>, and has been remixed within \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/bigchimpn/status/855980297766060032?s=20\">other prominent murals\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They got a photo of it at the Oakland Airport,” Presh says, adding that he’s even seen it used in commercials promoting tourism to Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Repping his Home Turf\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Well-recognized as a style king in his craft, Phresh made noise locally when he won a mural competition hosted by the \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#home-turf-premieres-on-kron-tv\">KRON-TV show \u003cem>Home Turf\u003c/em>\u003c/a> in 1986. A year later, he stepped onto the international stage by appearing in Henry Chalfant and James Prigoff’s seminal 1987 book \u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fitted in a customized jean jacket and hand-painted baseball hat embroidered with his given name, Joel, Phresh remembers his initial discovery of this spot on E. 12th.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My first piece on this wall, I got arrested for it.” It was a style piece with bubble letters, he says, and it made waves. “Back in the day,” says Phresh, “you didn’t see graffiti out here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others had scribbled on the walls and tagged their turfs, but it wasn’t stylized images and lettering — graf writing as we know it now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983701\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983701\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7958-scaled-e1763008600234.jpg\" alt=\"An African American man in a colorful hat and painted jean jacket.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2197\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7958-scaled-e1763008600234.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7958-scaled-e1763008600234-160x183.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7958-scaled-e1763008600234-768x879.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7958-scaled-e1763008600234-1342x1536.jpg 1342w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7958-scaled-e1763008600234-1790x2048.jpg 1790w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland graffiti artist Del Phresh poses for a photo beneath the BART tracks in East Oakland, across the street from where his legendary ‘Oakland Is Proud’ piece was originally painted nearly 40 years ago. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Before the Town’s scene got popping, Phresh honed his skills by hitting up the surfaces of AC Transit’s 82 bus, tagging his first graf handle “GERM” as he rode through East Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t until being arrested for painting the wall on E. 12th that he changed his name. Handcuffed and sitting in a patrol van, it hit him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fresh. I like that, because that’s gonna be synonymous with with hip-hop forever,” he remembers thinking. “But I gotta be original.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He added “Ph” in place of “F,” and “\u003cem>Bow!\u003c/em>,” he exclaims, “that’s how I got my name, sitting in the back of the paddy wagon.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Getting Active in Graffiti Crews\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While Phresh treated the Town as his playground — he was the first to do a piece in the \u003ca href=\"https://tiratana.org/a-truncated-history-of-graffiti-writing-in-oakland-and-the-23rd-yards/\">23rd Yard\u003c/a> of East Oakland — he really got his start by running around Berkeley and San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A fly kid named Dizzy D, known for sporting Pumas and Adidas suits, was the first to take Phresh around the Bay, bombing walls. Soon after, Phresh got his first paid gig, painting at a store under the old Leopold’s Records near Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was almost done,” says Phresh, reminiscing on his first paid job, “and this kid came in, and he’s like ‘I’m Kaos, I’m from TF.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mention of the well-known TF, or Task Force crew, caused Phresh to freak out, but he played it cool. When he was invited to join the crew, he calmly obliged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WS6_pvyuIo&t=527s\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His work then started to spread all around the Bay, taking off after he met two kids who went by the names Style and West.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They arranged a meeting on that same concrete and grass median under the BART tracks on E. 12th. One of the trio had the idea to form their own crew. They called it the “Bomb Squad.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were bombing the shit out of the city,” says Phresh, noting that the crew’s acronym of “BSK” came together when they added the word “Kings” to their title.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“BSK was the first crew (in Oakland),” says Phresh, adding that other crews immediately popped up thereafter. “We had the fame, we had the notoriety, we had the stats.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_10141391']At the time, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDp38sltic8\">Mike “Dream” Francisco\u003c/a> was just starting his crew \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dreamtdk/\">TDK\u003c/a>, formed with a collection of his close friends and cousins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But as the ’80s and ’90s went on,” recalls Phresh, “TDK out-clipped BSK by a long shot.” TDK, originally known as “Those Damn Kids,” grew to dozens of members. Still strong today, they’ve created some of the best-known murals and pieces in the Bay Area, and behind the scenes have contributed vastly to the culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Respect of His Peers\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the late ’90s, Presh and Mike “Dream” Francisco used to hang out and sketch together at Built to Last Tattoo in East Oakland. “Before Mike passed, one day I was in there and I was like, ‘Dream, would you allow me to write TDK?'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Presh says the late graf legend looked at him and said, “Is you stupid, man? Of course you can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983755\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983755\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7965_720-scaled.jpg\" alt='A close up image of a mural that reads \"PROUD,\" painted in metallic silver and royal blue.' width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7965_720-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7965_720-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7965_720-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7965_720-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7965_720-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Del Phresh’s signature on the ‘OAKLAND IS PROUD 2’ piece.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>TDK’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13926619/spie-one-tdk-bay-area-graffiti-history-hip-hop\">Spie 1, a legendary graf writer in his own right\u003c/a>, recalls going to East Oakland to see Phresh’s “OAKLAND IS PROUD” piece. He met Phresh around the same time while attending an event at Stanford University, when \u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em> co-author Henry Chalfant hosted a screening of the seminal graffiti documentary he co-produced for PBS, \u003ca href=\"https://www.stylewars.com/\">\u003cem>Style Wars\u003c/em>.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s done a lot for putting Oakland on the map,” says Spie, telling me about Phresh on a recent phone call. He describes his old friend as funny, personable, fun-loving and down to earth, calling him “the one who cares.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two were part of a wave of artists fighting to end South African apartheid, and also collaborated on a piece in Berkeley’s Revolution Books.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, Spie says, you can’t overlook the impact of “OAKLAND IS PROUD.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The statement itself, it’s uplifting,” says Spie. “It totally gives an instillment of great pride to people in Oakland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a huge piece of art visible from BART and located in the economically disenfranchised flatlands of East Oakland, the mural tacitly acknowledged the city’s struggles, Spie says, while speaking to the historic resilience of its residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983720\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983720\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/DelPhresh2.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a jean jacket sitting by train tracks.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2041\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/DelPhresh2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/DelPhresh2-160x163.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/DelPhresh2-768x784.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/DelPhresh2-1505x1536.jpg 1505w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pioneering Oakland graf writer Del Phresh takes a seat on E.12th Street \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A Lasting Influence\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Since the late ’80s, Oakland has changed tenfold, as has the public perspective on graffiti. An art form once seen as a blight or public nuisance is now readily commissioned by developers and real estate agents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Phresh is happy that a few of his friends from back in the day are making money off their craft, explaining that when they were kids, that was their goal. “We all was hoping to do that when we started,” he says. “Parlay this art into making money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I ask if he himself has been properly compensated for his work, Phresh instantly replies, “Oh, hell no.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a BART train whizzes overhead, he clarifies that it’s not because he doesn’t understand his own worth. “With my art,” says Phresh, “I could charge three million for my stuff if I want to, based on my reputation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he’d rather give people something they can afford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You gotta be sensible,” he says. “So, I always give my partners player prices for the work I do.” It doesn’t matter if it’s an auto body shop or a sign for a bakery, he says: “I could charge ’em more, and I know I’m worth more, but is that realistic?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983763\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983763\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7963.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7963.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7963-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7963-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7963-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland graffiti artist Del Phresh shows off his custom jacket. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At 60, Phresh hasn’t stopped painting. He organized this gathering, and completed parts of the new mural, though he was largely assisted by painters from the community, including Dream’s son Akil and other members of TDK. Next summer, he and some of those same artists plan to hold an event titled \u003cem>The Kings of the East Bay\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Looking further ahead, to the future of the art form and the the next generation of graf writers, Phresh sounds slightly resigned as he says, “These new-school kids … I don’t really like a lot of the damage they do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taking a breath of accountability, he adds, “But at the same time, I can’t blame ’em,” he says, “‘Cause I influenced them.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983772\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7949-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983772\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7949-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7949-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7949-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7949-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland graffiti artist Del Phresh poses in front of his newly revamped ‘Oakland Is Proud 2’ mural, located at the same site of his legendary ‘Oakland Is Proud’ piece, originally painted nearly 40 years ago. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When Del Phresh first painted the words “\u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#oakland-is-proud-mural-broadcast-nationwide\">OAKLAND IS PROUD\u003c/a>” on a wall in East Oakland in the mid-’80s, he was on a mission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, Oakland’s reputation was ravaged by the war on drugs, and all it entailed: the influx of crack cocaine, extremely high unemployment, over-policing, swollen jails and nightly news reports sensationalizing crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In order to set the record straight about his community, Phresh grabbed a few aerosol cans and ensured the world put some respect on the Town’s name by painting a giant mural along E. 12th Street, reading “OAKLAND IS PROUD.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983757\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 480px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983757\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/MES4690.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"316\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/MES4690.jpg 480w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/MES4690-160x105.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The original ‘OAKLAND IS PROUD’ mural on E. 12th Street in Oakland, painted by Del Phresh. \u003ccite>(Oakland Wiki)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Four decades later, I meet with Phresh on the concrete and grass median under the BART tracks on E. 12th Street, across from where the original piece was painted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the time it was the early ’80s, and mid-’80s, and the city was full of crime and corruption, and poverty and prostitution and drugs,” he tells me. “And it had a negative reputation. So I thought, ‘I want to show the Bay Area — hell, the world — that regardless of that, we are \u003cem>proud\u003c/em> of our city. We love Oakland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The “OAKLAND IS PROUD” mural became a symbol of the Town’s resolve, and its cultural relevancy extended to city marketing, album covers, tribute murals and even a nationally syndicated television show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Phresh’s original piece was painted over long ago. But last weekend, here at the same exact location, he and a few friends remade it, painting “OAKLAND IS PROUD 2” in metallic silver and royal blue along E. 12th Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983758\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983758\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7944.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7944.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7944-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7944-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7944-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘OAKLAND IS PROUD 2,’ a re-creation of Del Phresh’s famed mural, in the same spot as the original along E. 12th Street in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Given Oakland’s current issues, ranging from housing to violence, and the way people remain passionate about the Town despite its depiction in the media, Phresh’s piece is as relevant today as it was when he first painted it nearly 40 years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>From an East Oakland Wall to the World\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>After first painting a smaller, scrappy iteration of the mural on a wall of the historic St. Joseph’s Home for the Aged, Phresh returned (this time with permission of the center’s Ray Castor) and spent the entire summer of 1987 completing “OAKLAND IS PROUD.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it was done, the multicolored, bubble-letter piece stretched the length of a full city block, and soon became a cultural landmark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was featured in the opening credits of Mark Curry’s television show \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bde9KfcRL4\">\u003cem>Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, and provided a fresh background for the cover image of \u003ca href=\"https://www.discogs.com/release/1332001-Capital-Tax-Capital-Tax?srsltid=AfmBOoriQZqQsU-NcueEAucMReW51sSJ4UhrYgGkDC7wmMScjZa5l5po\">Capital Tax’s 1989 self-titled record\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983703\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 720px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983703\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/001_kqedarts_albumcoveroaklandisproud_02092023_720.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/001_kqedarts_albumcoveroaklandisproud_02092023_720.jpg 720w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/001_kqedarts_albumcoveroaklandisproud_02092023_720-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Oakland rap group Capital Tax featured Del Phresh’s ‘OAKLAND IS PROUD’ mural on the cover of their 1989 EP, shown here in the original photo location. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 2020, Phresh collaborated with Oaklandish to \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandish.com/products/oaklandish-flag\">create merchandise using the logo\u003c/a>, as well as a piece reading “\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandish.com/blogs/news/oakland-is-proud-del-phresh?srsltid=AfmBOopzDn2n-LfhYZZinMkHdiFijYhu8cEPP5lykbMHklgeRkR-r55K\">OAKLAND IS STILL PROUD\u003c/a>,” painted on the wooden boards covering the retail store during protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mural’s legacy doesn’t stop there. It’s appeared on \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/CandiceAntique/status/787397848140775424?s=20\">event flyers\u003c/a>, and has been remixed within \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/bigchimpn/status/855980297766060032?s=20\">other prominent murals\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They got a photo of it at the Oakland Airport,” Presh says, adding that he’s even seen it used in commercials promoting tourism to Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Repping his Home Turf\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Well-recognized as a style king in his craft, Phresh made noise locally when he won a mural competition hosted by the \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#home-turf-premieres-on-kron-tv\">KRON-TV show \u003cem>Home Turf\u003c/em>\u003c/a> in 1986. A year later, he stepped onto the international stage by appearing in Henry Chalfant and James Prigoff’s seminal 1987 book \u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fitted in a customized jean jacket and hand-painted baseball hat embroidered with his given name, Joel, Phresh remembers his initial discovery of this spot on E. 12th.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My first piece on this wall, I got arrested for it.” It was a style piece with bubble letters, he says, and it made waves. “Back in the day,” says Phresh, “you didn’t see graffiti out here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others had scribbled on the walls and tagged their turfs, but it wasn’t stylized images and lettering — graf writing as we know it now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983701\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983701\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7958-scaled-e1763008600234.jpg\" alt=\"An African American man in a colorful hat and painted jean jacket.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2197\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7958-scaled-e1763008600234.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7958-scaled-e1763008600234-160x183.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7958-scaled-e1763008600234-768x879.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7958-scaled-e1763008600234-1342x1536.jpg 1342w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7958-scaled-e1763008600234-1790x2048.jpg 1790w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland graffiti artist Del Phresh poses for a photo beneath the BART tracks in East Oakland, across the street from where his legendary ‘Oakland Is Proud’ piece was originally painted nearly 40 years ago. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Before the Town’s scene got popping, Phresh honed his skills by hitting up the surfaces of AC Transit’s 82 bus, tagging his first graf handle “GERM” as he rode through East Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t until being arrested for painting the wall on E. 12th that he changed his name. Handcuffed and sitting in a patrol van, it hit him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fresh. I like that, because that’s gonna be synonymous with with hip-hop forever,” he remembers thinking. “But I gotta be original.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He added “Ph” in place of “F,” and “\u003cem>Bow!\u003c/em>,” he exclaims, “that’s how I got my name, sitting in the back of the paddy wagon.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Getting Active in Graffiti Crews\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While Phresh treated the Town as his playground — he was the first to do a piece in the \u003ca href=\"https://tiratana.org/a-truncated-history-of-graffiti-writing-in-oakland-and-the-23rd-yards/\">23rd Yard\u003c/a> of East Oakland — he really got his start by running around Berkeley and San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A fly kid named Dizzy D, known for sporting Pumas and Adidas suits, was the first to take Phresh around the Bay, bombing walls. Soon after, Phresh got his first paid gig, painting at a store under the old Leopold’s Records near Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was almost done,” says Phresh, reminiscing on his first paid job, “and this kid came in, and he’s like ‘I’m Kaos, I’m from TF.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mention of the well-known TF, or Task Force crew, caused Phresh to freak out, but he played it cool. When he was invited to join the crew, he calmly obliged.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/9WS6_pvyuIo'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/9WS6_pvyuIo'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>His work then started to spread all around the Bay, taking off after he met two kids who went by the names Style and West.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They arranged a meeting on that same concrete and grass median under the BART tracks on E. 12th. One of the trio had the idea to form their own crew. They called it the “Bomb Squad.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were bombing the shit out of the city,” says Phresh, noting that the crew’s acronym of “BSK” came together when they added the word “Kings” to their title.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“BSK was the first crew (in Oakland),” says Phresh, adding that other crews immediately popped up thereafter. “We had the fame, we had the notoriety, we had the stats.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>At the time, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDp38sltic8\">Mike “Dream” Francisco\u003c/a> was just starting his crew \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dreamtdk/\">TDK\u003c/a>, formed with a collection of his close friends and cousins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But as the ’80s and ’90s went on,” recalls Phresh, “TDK out-clipped BSK by a long shot.” TDK, originally known as “Those Damn Kids,” grew to dozens of members. Still strong today, they’ve created some of the best-known murals and pieces in the Bay Area, and behind the scenes have contributed vastly to the culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Respect of His Peers\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the late ’90s, Presh and Mike “Dream” Francisco used to hang out and sketch together at Built to Last Tattoo in East Oakland. “Before Mike passed, one day I was in there and I was like, ‘Dream, would you allow me to write TDK?'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Presh says the late graf legend looked at him and said, “Is you stupid, man? Of course you can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983755\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983755\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7965_720-scaled.jpg\" alt='A close up image of a mural that reads \"PROUD,\" painted in metallic silver and royal blue.' width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7965_720-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7965_720-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7965_720-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7965_720-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7965_720-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Del Phresh’s signature on the ‘OAKLAND IS PROUD 2’ piece.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>TDK’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13926619/spie-one-tdk-bay-area-graffiti-history-hip-hop\">Spie 1, a legendary graf writer in his own right\u003c/a>, recalls going to East Oakland to see Phresh’s “OAKLAND IS PROUD” piece. He met Phresh around the same time while attending an event at Stanford University, when \u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em> co-author Henry Chalfant hosted a screening of the seminal graffiti documentary he co-produced for PBS, \u003ca href=\"https://www.stylewars.com/\">\u003cem>Style Wars\u003c/em>.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s done a lot for putting Oakland on the map,” says Spie, telling me about Phresh on a recent phone call. He describes his old friend as funny, personable, fun-loving and down to earth, calling him “the one who cares.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two were part of a wave of artists fighting to end South African apartheid, and also collaborated on a piece in Berkeley’s Revolution Books.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, Spie says, you can’t overlook the impact of “OAKLAND IS PROUD.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The statement itself, it’s uplifting,” says Spie. “It totally gives an instillment of great pride to people in Oakland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a huge piece of art visible from BART and located in the economically disenfranchised flatlands of East Oakland, the mural tacitly acknowledged the city’s struggles, Spie says, while speaking to the historic resilience of its residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983720\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983720\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/DelPhresh2.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a jean jacket sitting by train tracks.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2041\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/DelPhresh2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/DelPhresh2-160x163.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/DelPhresh2-768x784.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/DelPhresh2-1505x1536.jpg 1505w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pioneering Oakland graf writer Del Phresh takes a seat on E.12th Street \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A Lasting Influence\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Since the late ’80s, Oakland has changed tenfold, as has the public perspective on graffiti. An art form once seen as a blight or public nuisance is now readily commissioned by developers and real estate agents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Phresh is happy that a few of his friends from back in the day are making money off their craft, explaining that when they were kids, that was their goal. “We all was hoping to do that when we started,” he says. “Parlay this art into making money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I ask if he himself has been properly compensated for his work, Phresh instantly replies, “Oh, hell no.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a BART train whizzes overhead, he clarifies that it’s not because he doesn’t understand his own worth. “With my art,” says Phresh, “I could charge three million for my stuff if I want to, based on my reputation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he’d rather give people something they can afford.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You gotta be sensible,” he says. “So, I always give my partners player prices for the work I do.” It doesn’t matter if it’s an auto body shop or a sign for a bakery, he says: “I could charge ’em more, and I know I’m worth more, but is that realistic?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983763\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983763\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7963.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7963.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7963-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7963-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/img_7963-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland graffiti artist Del Phresh shows off his custom jacket. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At 60, Phresh hasn’t stopped painting. He organized this gathering, and completed parts of the new mural, though he was largely assisted by painters from the community, including Dream’s son Akil and other members of TDK. Next summer, he and some of those same artists plan to hold an event titled \u003cem>The Kings of the East Bay\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Looking further ahead, to the future of the art form and the the next generation of graf writers, Phresh sounds slightly resigned as he says, “These new-school kids … I don’t really like a lot of the damage they do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taking a breath of accountability, he adds, “But at the same time, I can’t blame ’em,” he says, “‘Cause I influenced them.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "‘Bay Area Then’ Uplifts the Radical Artists of ’90s San Francisco",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13979732\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/X8cOfMeB.jpg\" alt=\"four people stand in front of a mural depicting scenes from Gaza and San Francisco, including Palestinians using bullhorns, self-driving cars, journalists being trampled and a tall red and white tower\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1323\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13979732\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/X8cOfMeB.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/X8cOfMeB-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/X8cOfMeB-768x508.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/X8cOfMeB-1536x1016.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rigo 23’s ‘Terra Nullius,’ which connects San Francisco’s tech industry to the destruction of Gaza, is a powerful highlight of ‘Bay Area Then,’ on view through Jan. 25, 2026 at YBCA. \u003ccite>(Robbie Sweeny)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/ybca\">Yerba Buena Center for the Arts\u003c/a>’ new exhibition \u003ca href=\"https://ybca.org/event/bay-area-then/\">\u003ci>Bay Area Then\u003c/i> \u003c/a>offers a glimpse of San Francisco in the ’90s, before tech and its hyper-driven version of capitalism overtook the city, and when rents were low enough for artists to thrive. Working-class young people could not only afford to live here — they also had the time and energy to run weird, experimental galleries and participate in revolutionary organizing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smartly curated by Eungie Joo, \u003cem>Bay Area Then\u003c/em> surveys the vibrant cultures that emerged from the AIDS crisis, the LAPD beating of Rodney King and the first Gulf War, connecting the dots from each to today’s political struggles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The show opens with clusters of ephemera: amateur film photos, graffiti zines and photocopied flyers. Whether protesting art censorship or advocating for squatting in abandoned properties, the flyers point to a hopeful radicalism that thrived in an age before ubiquitous AI and mass surveillance. These informal pieces — whose creators probably never thought they’d end up in a museum — lend \u003ci>Bay Area Then\u003c/i> a grassroots feel that’s rare for a white-walled, capital-A art institution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13979708\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1976px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13979708\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/IMG_0540-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1976\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/IMG_0540-scaled.jpg 1976w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/IMG_0540-160x207.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/IMG_0540-768x995.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/IMG_0540-1186x1536.jpg 1186w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/IMG_0540-1581x2048.jpg 1581w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1976px) 100vw, 1976px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flyers, photos and other ephemera from the ’90s in ‘Bay Area Then’ at YBCA document artist-run spaces and grassroots political movements. \u003ccite>(Nastia Voynovskaya for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Museums often examine protest movements of the past from a safe distance; rarely do they dare engage with what’s transgressive today. Refreshingly, \u003ci>Bay Area Then\u003c/i> features contemporary works from artists active since the ’90s, including Rigo 23, whose jaw-dropping \u003ci>Terra Nullius\u003c/i> is a centerpiece of the show. The mural depicts Palestinian civilians shouting through bullhorns while drones hover overhead. Juxtaposing San Francisco’s Sutro Tower with the West Bank wall — and self-driving cars with tanks — the piece forces the viewer to confront the reality of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11986136/demonstrators-rally-outside-google-conference-call-for-end-to-israel-contracts\">Bay Area tech giants’ military contracts\u003c/a>, which have helped create the infrastructure for Israel’s destruction of Gaza.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The inclusion of this piece and others marks a departure for YBCA, which changed leadership this year. In 2024, when \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13952460/artists-deface-work-ybca-pro-palestine-protest\">artists from an exhibition titled \u003ci>Bay Area Now\u003c/i> modified their own pieces\u003c/a> with messages like “Ceasefire Now,” the show closed down entirely for a month, prompting accusations of censorship. When the exhibition reopened, it contained tepid disclaimers stating that the work represented the opinions of the artists and not YBCA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13979706\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13979706\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Margaret-Kilgallen-Main-Drag-2001-photo-by-Robbie-Sweeny-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1475\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Margaret-Kilgallen-Main-Drag-2001-photo-by-Robbie-Sweeny-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Margaret-Kilgallen-Main-Drag-2001-photo-by-Robbie-Sweeny-2000x1152.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Margaret-Kilgallen-Main-Drag-2001-photo-by-Robbie-Sweeny-160x92.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Margaret-Kilgallen-Main-Drag-2001-photo-by-Robbie-Sweeny-768x442.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Margaret-Kilgallen-Main-Drag-2001-photo-by-Robbie-Sweeny-1536x885.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Margaret-Kilgallen-Main-Drag-2001-photo-by-Robbie-Sweeny-2048x1180.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Margaret Kilgallen, ‘Main Drag’ (2001). \u003ccite>(Robbie Sweeny)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In \u003ci>Bay Area Then\u003c/i>, the artists are given space to say things with their chests. A large-scale 2023 aerosol piece by graffiti artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13926619/spie-one-tdk-bay-area-graffiti-history-hip-hop\">Spie One\u003c/a> depicts seeds blossoming into raised fists of resistance on Palestinian soil; it hangs next to a 1997 work by the late graffiti legend \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/10141391/dream-but-dont-sleep-remembering-mike-dream-francisco\">Mike “Dream” Francisco\u003c/a> that criticizes U.S. colonialism in the Philippines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not all the art in the show is explicitly political. A gem of \u003ci>Bay Area Then\u003c/i> is \u003ci>Main Drag\u003c/i>, the last major installation by Mission School icon Margaret Kilgallen, who passed away in 2001. Across two walls, Kilgallen remixes sign-painting techniques with stylized illustrations of working-class people going about their everyday lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a loving approach, and one that’s felt throughout \u003ci>Bay Area Then\u003c/i>, as artists honor the extraordinary potential of everyday people to create a better world.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘\u003ca href=\"https://ybca.org/event/bay-area-then/\">Bay Area Then\u003c/a>’ is on view through Jan. 25, 2026, at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (701 Mission St., San Francisco). The exhibition features Nao Bustamante, Carolyn Castaño, Bill Daniel, Sergio De La Torre and Chris Treggiari, Beatrix Fowler, Mike “Dream” Francisco, Johanna Jackson, Chris Johanson and Ajax Oakford, Arnold Kemp, Margaret Kilgallen, Josh Lazcano, Alicia McCarthy, Barry McGee, Ruby Neri, Manuel Ocampo, Eamon Ore-Giron, Gina Osterloh, Rigo 23, Spie One and others. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13979732\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/X8cOfMeB.jpg\" alt=\"four people stand in front of a mural depicting scenes from Gaza and San Francisco, including Palestinians using bullhorns, self-driving cars, journalists being trampled and a tall red and white tower\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1323\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13979732\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/X8cOfMeB.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/X8cOfMeB-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/X8cOfMeB-768x508.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/X8cOfMeB-1536x1016.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rigo 23’s ‘Terra Nullius,’ which connects San Francisco’s tech industry to the destruction of Gaza, is a powerful highlight of ‘Bay Area Then,’ on view through Jan. 25, 2026 at YBCA. \u003ccite>(Robbie Sweeny)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/ybca\">Yerba Buena Center for the Arts\u003c/a>’ new exhibition \u003ca href=\"https://ybca.org/event/bay-area-then/\">\u003ci>Bay Area Then\u003c/i> \u003c/a>offers a glimpse of San Francisco in the ’90s, before tech and its hyper-driven version of capitalism overtook the city, and when rents were low enough for artists to thrive. Working-class young people could not only afford to live here — they also had the time and energy to run weird, experimental galleries and participate in revolutionary organizing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smartly curated by Eungie Joo, \u003cem>Bay Area Then\u003c/em> surveys the vibrant cultures that emerged from the AIDS crisis, the LAPD beating of Rodney King and the first Gulf War, connecting the dots from each to today’s political struggles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The show opens with clusters of ephemera: amateur film photos, graffiti zines and photocopied flyers. Whether protesting art censorship or advocating for squatting in abandoned properties, the flyers point to a hopeful radicalism that thrived in an age before ubiquitous AI and mass surveillance. These informal pieces — whose creators probably never thought they’d end up in a museum — lend \u003ci>Bay Area Then\u003c/i> a grassroots feel that’s rare for a white-walled, capital-A art institution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13979708\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1976px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13979708\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/IMG_0540-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1976\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/IMG_0540-scaled.jpg 1976w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/IMG_0540-160x207.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/IMG_0540-768x995.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/IMG_0540-1186x1536.jpg 1186w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/IMG_0540-1581x2048.jpg 1581w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1976px) 100vw, 1976px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flyers, photos and other ephemera from the ’90s in ‘Bay Area Then’ at YBCA document artist-run spaces and grassroots political movements. \u003ccite>(Nastia Voynovskaya for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Museums often examine protest movements of the past from a safe distance; rarely do they dare engage with what’s transgressive today. Refreshingly, \u003ci>Bay Area Then\u003c/i> features contemporary works from artists active since the ’90s, including Rigo 23, whose jaw-dropping \u003ci>Terra Nullius\u003c/i> is a centerpiece of the show. The mural depicts Palestinian civilians shouting through bullhorns while drones hover overhead. Juxtaposing San Francisco’s Sutro Tower with the West Bank wall — and self-driving cars with tanks — the piece forces the viewer to confront the reality of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11986136/demonstrators-rally-outside-google-conference-call-for-end-to-israel-contracts\">Bay Area tech giants’ military contracts\u003c/a>, which have helped create the infrastructure for Israel’s destruction of Gaza.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The inclusion of this piece and others marks a departure for YBCA, which changed leadership this year. In 2024, when \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13952460/artists-deface-work-ybca-pro-palestine-protest\">artists from an exhibition titled \u003ci>Bay Area Now\u003c/i> modified their own pieces\u003c/a> with messages like “Ceasefire Now,” the show closed down entirely for a month, prompting accusations of censorship. When the exhibition reopened, it contained tepid disclaimers stating that the work represented the opinions of the artists and not YBCA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13979706\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13979706\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Margaret-Kilgallen-Main-Drag-2001-photo-by-Robbie-Sweeny-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1475\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Margaret-Kilgallen-Main-Drag-2001-photo-by-Robbie-Sweeny-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Margaret-Kilgallen-Main-Drag-2001-photo-by-Robbie-Sweeny-2000x1152.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Margaret-Kilgallen-Main-Drag-2001-photo-by-Robbie-Sweeny-160x92.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Margaret-Kilgallen-Main-Drag-2001-photo-by-Robbie-Sweeny-768x442.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Margaret-Kilgallen-Main-Drag-2001-photo-by-Robbie-Sweeny-1536x885.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Margaret-Kilgallen-Main-Drag-2001-photo-by-Robbie-Sweeny-2048x1180.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Margaret Kilgallen, ‘Main Drag’ (2001). \u003ccite>(Robbie Sweeny)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In \u003ci>Bay Area Then\u003c/i>, the artists are given space to say things with their chests. A large-scale 2023 aerosol piece by graffiti artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13926619/spie-one-tdk-bay-area-graffiti-history-hip-hop\">Spie One\u003c/a> depicts seeds blossoming into raised fists of resistance on Palestinian soil; it hangs next to a 1997 work by the late graffiti legend \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/10141391/dream-but-dont-sleep-remembering-mike-dream-francisco\">Mike “Dream” Francisco\u003c/a> that criticizes U.S. colonialism in the Philippines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not all the art in the show is explicitly political. A gem of \u003ci>Bay Area Then\u003c/i> is \u003ci>Main Drag\u003c/i>, the last major installation by Mission School icon Margaret Kilgallen, who passed away in 2001. Across two walls, Kilgallen remixes sign-painting techniques with stylized illustrations of working-class people going about their everyday lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a loving approach, and one that’s felt throughout \u003ci>Bay Area Then\u003c/i>, as artists honor the extraordinary potential of everyday people to create a better world.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘\u003ca href=\"https://ybca.org/event/bay-area-then/\">Bay Area Then\u003c/a>’ is on view through Jan. 25, 2026, at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (701 Mission St., San Francisco). The exhibition features Nao Bustamante, Carolyn Castaño, Bill Daniel, Sergio De La Torre and Chris Treggiari, Beatrix Fowler, Mike “Dream” Francisco, Johanna Jackson, Chris Johanson and Ajax Oakford, Arnold Kemp, Margaret Kilgallen, Josh Lazcano, Alicia McCarthy, Barry McGee, Ruby Neri, Manuel Ocampo, Eamon Ore-Giron, Gina Osterloh, Rigo 23, Spie One and others. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "kalani-cecaci-mural-oakland-graffiti-angus-cloud-mike-dream",
"title": "A Massive Oakland Mural Uplifts the Town’s Culture of Resistance",
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"headTitle": "A Massive Oakland Mural Uplifts the Town’s Culture of Resistance | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>No matter how much Oakland changes, the Town’s creative resistance remains irrepressible, from the \u003ca href=\"https://chavezfoundation.org/2024/02/19/cesar-chavez-and-the-black-panthers\">Black Panthers and United Farm Workers\u003c/a> of the ’60s to today’s hip-hop and graffiti movements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even amid ongoing gentrification and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12036919/barbara-lee-pledges-to-unite-oakland-in-first-remarks-as-mayor-elect\">political challenges\u003c/a>, long-time Oaklanders always find a way to find joy and support their own. [aside postid='arts_13973907']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s the idea behind a new, 3,500-square-foot \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/murals\">mural\u003c/a> standing tall and proud at the intersection of Thomas L. Berkley Way and Clay Street in Downtown Oakland. Third-generation East Oakland resident Kalani Cecaci creative-directed and painted the multi-panel piece with the help of over 50 self-taught aerosol artists, including Akil Francisco, the son of graffiti legend \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/mike-dream-francisco\">Mike “Dream” Francisco\u003c/a>. The wall also includes a homage to Cecaci’s close friend \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13932485/tributes-angus-cloud-euphoria-oakland-osa-kehlani-zendaya-kev-choice-jwalt\">Angus Cloud\u003c/a>, the late artist and actor whose final film, \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>, is currently in theaters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mural, commissioned by \u003ca href=\"https://www.abgartgroup.com/\">ABG Art Group\u003c/a>, is just as personal to the artists as it is to the wider community it depicts. It’s a representation of what Oakland means for people who grew up on this side of the tracks. For those less familiar, the wall serves as a guide to local culture and its significance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975376\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975376\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-14-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-14-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-14-BL-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-14-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-14-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-14-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-14-BL-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-14-BL-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A new mural on Thomas L. Berkley Way and Clay Street in downtown Oakland on April 24, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘Native Land Forever’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“This is my favorite wall,” Cecaci says, pointing to a panel with the phrase “Native Land Forever” and two indigenous figures, a young woman in ceremonial garb and a smiling elder. When given the opportunity to create a mural in Oakland, the recognition of tribal land and culture was a given for Cecaci.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a reminder that the land we walk on right now, Oakland, was something else before. It belonged to the Ohlone people, and people don’t think about that or how important it is,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The font, with feathers spelling out all 21 letters, is the creation of Oakland artist Tre Sorensen. He came up with it when he and Cecaci visited the Oglala Lakota tribe at Wounded Knee Reserve in South Dakota, where one of the tribe members asked him to design letters for a tattoo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bordering the phrase is the representation of an Ohlone chief holding a Miwok basket in honor of Cecaci’s friend’s father, a tribe member, who recently passed away. On the right is a woman, another friend of Cecaci’s, Sabina Vargas of the Mexica tribe, engaging in ceremony.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not scared to tell somebody, ‘Yo, you’re on stolen land, brother, like, it’s not your people’s [land], you feel me, so respect it,’” says the artist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975374\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975374\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-08-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-08-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-08-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-08-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-08-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-08-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-08-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-08-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Akil Francisco stands beside a mural designed by Kalani Cecaci in downtown Oakland on April 24, 2025, honoring fallen graffiti artists, including his father, Mike “Dream” Francisco. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Honoring Oakland’s fallen graffiti artists\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The second panel is dedicated to Oakland’s graffiti culture. The wall consists of over 60 individual tags in various styles, merging and fading into one another in a vibrant interwoven display.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The names at the very top layer of the piece form what Cecaci calls “Heaven’s Spot,” paying respects to well-known Bay Area graffiti writers who passed away in recent years. These late painters include Nautical, 3AYEM, Ghost51, Sern, DIEN, Shrooms, Math and Aneml. The ANGUS tag represents Angus Cloud, who used the moniker for his graffiti work. LUCHO pays respects to \u003ca href=\"https://missionlocal.org/2024/07/luis-manuel-arguello-inglis-dolores-park-homicide-victim-honored-with-mural-on-24th-and-folsom/\">Luis Manuel Arguello-Inglis\u003c/a>, a San Francisco teenager who was killed at Dolores Park last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Below Heaven’s Spot, there is a familiar name rendered in an earth-tone color scheme: Dream, a.k.a. Mike “Dream” Francisco. Dream and his crew, TDK, revolutionized the Bay Area graffiti scene by adding fine art elements to their work and using it to call out atrocities impacting communities of color. Nearly 25 years after his death, Dream’s legacy lives on through his son, Akil Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Graffiti] is just an art form that has been traditionally passed down from so many generations,” says Akil. “It’s really all just deeper than doing art. It all comes back to the friendships, the conversations, the stories.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975373\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975373\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-06-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-06-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-06-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-06-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-06-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-06-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-06-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-06-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Akil Francisco shows a tattoo dedicated to his father, Mike “Dream” Francisco. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The wall features the tags of 50 other artists who have achieved a high level of artistic expertise, manipulating spray paint to create saturation, fine lines and imitations of light patterns. For many, graffiti is a life-long practice, and the stakes of perfecting the craft are high in an artform that’s oftentimes criminalized. Viewers who pay attention to Oakland’s freeway overpasses and train yards might recognize some of the emblems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People don’t view graffiti as art, because all you see most of the time is all the quick tags. But go walk the train tracks, you’ll see some of the dopest artwork you’ll see in your lifetime,” Cecaci says. “When I look at the wall, I see people from different walks of life, different backgrounds, different everything, and they’re all here for one common purpose, and that’s to paint graffiti.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>An homage to bike culture\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On any warm day in Oakland, groups of mostly young men on ATVs, dirt bikes and motorcycles bring life to the streets with the rumblings of their engines. Sometimes they ride in twos and threes; other times dozens of riders take over the street. Although they may not always wear helmets or follow traffic laws, the way this subculture creates a sense of community is undeniable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like a beautiful dance of machines,” says Cecaci. “Seeing so many people from different parts of Oakland, different cliques, different hoods, and they’re all getting along for one common goal, and that’s the joy of the bikes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975370\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975370\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-16-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-16-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-16-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-16-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-16-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-16-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-16-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-16-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The new mural in downtown Oakland features an homage to bike culture. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The panel displays an ATV rider in a helmet and hoodie riding past the Fairyland sign, which Cecaci replaced with the words “Ohlone Land.” He says he chose the image because of how bike culture keeps the community together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“‘Bikes up, guns down’ is important, and it saves a lot of people,” he notes. “Sure people see it as a nuisance, but it’s something that unifies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The next tribute to Angus Cloud: a new skate park\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Throughout Oakland, Angus Cloud’s image has been immortalized in what feels like every few blocks. While many see the young actor who played Fezco on \u003cem>Euphoria\u003c/em>, those who grew up with him see Conor Angus Cloud Hickey — a brother, son, dear friend and multi-talented artist who gave back to his community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cecaci and Angus had been best friends since high school. Angus’ mother, Lisa Cloud, played an inspirational role in both of their careers. While some parents told their kids not to paint on the walls, Lisa provided the paint, and Angus invited his friends to join him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This fool is the sickest artist I’ve ever met. Like, the things that came out of his mind — he was a fucking dope poet, sick rapper,” he says. “Very talented, interested in the world, curious, and he always said yes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975372\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975372\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-03-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-03-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-03-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-03-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-03-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-03-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-03-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-03-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural honoring fallen graffiti artists, designed by Kalani Cecaci, features Angus Cloud, who passed away in 2023, in downtown Oakland on April 24, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lisa says she never pushed Angus in a particular direction; she just encouraged him to pursue his talents with rigor. “To belong makes you bloom, to fit in you have to wither a bit,” Lisa says. “Above all else, I gave him the permission and encouragement to go to the things that make him bloom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Cecaci and Lisa have vivid memories of Angus’ tenacious spirit and authenticity. Even through the fame, his nonchalant confidence showed that he was not there to impress, but to be himself and represent Oakland the entire way. When he came home, Lisa says he would buy bags of McDonald’s burgers, cigarettes and lighters to distribute to the unhoused people in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The public connected with him in a very different way. He meant a lot to them,” Lisa reflects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975367\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975367\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-02-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-02-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-02-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-02-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-02-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-02-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-02-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-02-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mural artist Kalani Cecaci spray paints the names of fellow artists on a mural he designed honoring fallen graffiti artists in downtown Oakland on April 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The panel displays a 30-foot-tall Angus over the backdrop of Town Park, a skate park in West Oakland that he frequented. There’s a replica of the last piece Angus ever painted, which he made for a friend who passed away known as DIEN.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Angus mural serves as a precursor for more homages to him to come. Just two blocks away, a plot of land sits barren with plans of a skate park and recreational area for Oakland School for the Arts (OSA), where Angus attended high school. This project, called Cloud Park, is backed by OSA. With the right funding and city approval, OSA Executive Director Mike Oz says they could break ground as soon as this summer. The school is currently organizing a fundraiser showing of \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> at the Grand Lake Theatre slated for June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s no Oakland for me without Conor. I’m just proud of him,” says Cecaci. “He represented his city well, so that’s why we paint him. … Fuck being famous, he was so much bigger than that to us and I wish people understood that.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>No matter how much Oakland changes, the Town’s creative resistance remains irrepressible, from the \u003ca href=\"https://chavezfoundation.org/2024/02/19/cesar-chavez-and-the-black-panthers\">Black Panthers and United Farm Workers\u003c/a> of the ’60s to today’s hip-hop and graffiti movements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even amid ongoing gentrification and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12036919/barbara-lee-pledges-to-unite-oakland-in-first-remarks-as-mayor-elect\">political challenges\u003c/a>, long-time Oaklanders always find a way to find joy and support their own. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s the idea behind a new, 3,500-square-foot \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/murals\">mural\u003c/a> standing tall and proud at the intersection of Thomas L. Berkley Way and Clay Street in Downtown Oakland. Third-generation East Oakland resident Kalani Cecaci creative-directed and painted the multi-panel piece with the help of over 50 self-taught aerosol artists, including Akil Francisco, the son of graffiti legend \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/mike-dream-francisco\">Mike “Dream” Francisco\u003c/a>. The wall also includes a homage to Cecaci’s close friend \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13932485/tributes-angus-cloud-euphoria-oakland-osa-kehlani-zendaya-kev-choice-jwalt\">Angus Cloud\u003c/a>, the late artist and actor whose final film, \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em>, is currently in theaters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mural, commissioned by \u003ca href=\"https://www.abgartgroup.com/\">ABG Art Group\u003c/a>, is just as personal to the artists as it is to the wider community it depicts. It’s a representation of what Oakland means for people who grew up on this side of the tracks. For those less familiar, the wall serves as a guide to local culture and its significance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975376\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975376\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-14-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-14-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-14-BL-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-14-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-14-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-14-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-14-BL-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-14-BL-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A new mural on Thomas L. Berkley Way and Clay Street in downtown Oakland on April 24, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘Native Land Forever’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“This is my favorite wall,” Cecaci says, pointing to a panel with the phrase “Native Land Forever” and two indigenous figures, a young woman in ceremonial garb and a smiling elder. When given the opportunity to create a mural in Oakland, the recognition of tribal land and culture was a given for Cecaci.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a reminder that the land we walk on right now, Oakland, was something else before. It belonged to the Ohlone people, and people don’t think about that or how important it is,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The font, with feathers spelling out all 21 letters, is the creation of Oakland artist Tre Sorensen. He came up with it when he and Cecaci visited the Oglala Lakota tribe at Wounded Knee Reserve in South Dakota, where one of the tribe members asked him to design letters for a tattoo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bordering the phrase is the representation of an Ohlone chief holding a Miwok basket in honor of Cecaci’s friend’s father, a tribe member, who recently passed away. On the right is a woman, another friend of Cecaci’s, Sabina Vargas of the Mexica tribe, engaging in ceremony.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not scared to tell somebody, ‘Yo, you’re on stolen land, brother, like, it’s not your people’s [land], you feel me, so respect it,’” says the artist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975374\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975374\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-08-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-08-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-08-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-08-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-08-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-08-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-08-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-08-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Akil Francisco stands beside a mural designed by Kalani Cecaci in downtown Oakland on April 24, 2025, honoring fallen graffiti artists, including his father, Mike “Dream” Francisco. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Honoring Oakland’s fallen graffiti artists\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The second panel is dedicated to Oakland’s graffiti culture. The wall consists of over 60 individual tags in various styles, merging and fading into one another in a vibrant interwoven display.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The names at the very top layer of the piece form what Cecaci calls “Heaven’s Spot,” paying respects to well-known Bay Area graffiti writers who passed away in recent years. These late painters include Nautical, 3AYEM, Ghost51, Sern, DIEN, Shrooms, Math and Aneml. The ANGUS tag represents Angus Cloud, who used the moniker for his graffiti work. LUCHO pays respects to \u003ca href=\"https://missionlocal.org/2024/07/luis-manuel-arguello-inglis-dolores-park-homicide-victim-honored-with-mural-on-24th-and-folsom/\">Luis Manuel Arguello-Inglis\u003c/a>, a San Francisco teenager who was killed at Dolores Park last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Below Heaven’s Spot, there is a familiar name rendered in an earth-tone color scheme: Dream, a.k.a. Mike “Dream” Francisco. Dream and his crew, TDK, revolutionized the Bay Area graffiti scene by adding fine art elements to their work and using it to call out atrocities impacting communities of color. Nearly 25 years after his death, Dream’s legacy lives on through his son, Akil Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Graffiti] is just an art form that has been traditionally passed down from so many generations,” says Akil. “It’s really all just deeper than doing art. It all comes back to the friendships, the conversations, the stories.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975373\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975373\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-06-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-06-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-06-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-06-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-06-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-06-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-06-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-06-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Akil Francisco shows a tattoo dedicated to his father, Mike “Dream” Francisco. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The wall features the tags of 50 other artists who have achieved a high level of artistic expertise, manipulating spray paint to create saturation, fine lines and imitations of light patterns. For many, graffiti is a life-long practice, and the stakes of perfecting the craft are high in an artform that’s oftentimes criminalized. Viewers who pay attention to Oakland’s freeway overpasses and train yards might recognize some of the emblems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People don’t view graffiti as art, because all you see most of the time is all the quick tags. But go walk the train tracks, you’ll see some of the dopest artwork you’ll see in your lifetime,” Cecaci says. “When I look at the wall, I see people from different walks of life, different backgrounds, different everything, and they’re all here for one common purpose, and that’s to paint graffiti.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>An homage to bike culture\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On any warm day in Oakland, groups of mostly young men on ATVs, dirt bikes and motorcycles bring life to the streets with the rumblings of their engines. Sometimes they ride in twos and threes; other times dozens of riders take over the street. Although they may not always wear helmets or follow traffic laws, the way this subculture creates a sense of community is undeniable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like a beautiful dance of machines,” says Cecaci. “Seeing so many people from different parts of Oakland, different cliques, different hoods, and they’re all getting along for one common goal, and that’s the joy of the bikes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975370\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975370\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-16-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-16-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-16-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-16-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-16-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-16-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-16-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-16-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The new mural in downtown Oakland features an homage to bike culture. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The panel displays an ATV rider in a helmet and hoodie riding past the Fairyland sign, which Cecaci replaced with the words “Ohlone Land.” He says he chose the image because of how bike culture keeps the community together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“‘Bikes up, guns down’ is important, and it saves a lot of people,” he notes. “Sure people see it as a nuisance, but it’s something that unifies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The next tribute to Angus Cloud: a new skate park\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Throughout Oakland, Angus Cloud’s image has been immortalized in what feels like every few blocks. While many see the young actor who played Fezco on \u003cem>Euphoria\u003c/em>, those who grew up with him see Conor Angus Cloud Hickey — a brother, son, dear friend and multi-talented artist who gave back to his community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cecaci and Angus had been best friends since high school. Angus’ mother, Lisa Cloud, played an inspirational role in both of their careers. While some parents told their kids not to paint on the walls, Lisa provided the paint, and Angus invited his friends to join him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This fool is the sickest artist I’ve ever met. Like, the things that came out of his mind — he was a fucking dope poet, sick rapper,” he says. “Very talented, interested in the world, curious, and he always said yes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975372\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975372\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-03-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-03-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-03-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-03-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-03-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-03-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-03-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250424-OAKLANDMURAL-03-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural honoring fallen graffiti artists, designed by Kalani Cecaci, features Angus Cloud, who passed away in 2023, in downtown Oakland on April 24, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lisa says she never pushed Angus in a particular direction; she just encouraged him to pursue his talents with rigor. “To belong makes you bloom, to fit in you have to wither a bit,” Lisa says. “Above all else, I gave him the permission and encouragement to go to the things that make him bloom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Cecaci and Lisa have vivid memories of Angus’ tenacious spirit and authenticity. Even through the fame, his nonchalant confidence showed that he was not there to impress, but to be himself and represent Oakland the entire way. When he came home, Lisa says he would buy bags of McDonald’s burgers, cigarettes and lighters to distribute to the unhoused people in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The public connected with him in a very different way. He meant a lot to them,” Lisa reflects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975367\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975367\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-02-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-02-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-02-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-02-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-02-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-02-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-02-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/250423-OAKLANDMURAL-02-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mural artist Kalani Cecaci spray paints the names of fellow artists on a mural he designed honoring fallen graffiti artists in downtown Oakland on April 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The panel displays a 30-foot-tall Angus over the backdrop of Town Park, a skate park in West Oakland that he frequented. There’s a replica of the last piece Angus ever painted, which he made for a friend who passed away known as DIEN.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Angus mural serves as a precursor for more homages to him to come. Just two blocks away, a plot of land sits barren with plans of a skate park and recreational area for Oakland School for the Arts (OSA), where Angus attended high school. This project, called Cloud Park, is backed by OSA. With the right funding and city approval, OSA Executive Director Mike Oz says they could break ground as soon as this summer. The school is currently organizing a fundraiser showing of \u003cem>Freaky Tales\u003c/em> at the Grand Lake Theatre slated for June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s no Oakland for me without Conor. I’m just proud of him,” says Cecaci. “He represented his city well, so that’s why we paint him. … Fuck being famous, he was so much bigger than that to us and I wish people understood that.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "spie-one-tdk-bay-area-graffiti-history-hip-hop",
"title": "‘Tax Dollars Kill’: Spie One’s Decades of Bay Area Graffiti Activism",
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"headTitle": "‘Tax Dollars Kill’: Spie One’s Decades of Bay Area Graffiti Activism | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>Editor’s note:\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003ci> This story is part of\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/bayareahiphop\"> That’s My Word\u003c/a>\u003ci>, KQED’s year-long exploration of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop history\u003c/a>, with new content dropping all throughout 2023.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he name Spie One has resonated in the Bay Area for nearly 40 years. The prolific graffiti artist, muralist and artivist may be less famous than his former painting partner, the late Mike “Dream” Francisco, but Spie is no less legendary. A mainstay of the TDK Collective, Irie Posse and FC — all with gravitas and legacy in the underground art world — Spie has been both observer and participant throughout the most dynamic eras in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop history\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But who is Spie? His \u003cem>nom de guerre\u003c/em> evokes subterfuge, counter-intelligence, covertness. Indeed, maintaining anonymity was imperative at the beginning of Spie’s career, during the formative stages of Bay Area graffiti itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the years, though, Spie evolved into a well-known force bridging activism and visual art in the streets. In recent years, he’s become an accomplished muralist working in different mediums, as well as a teacher, mentor and leader by example.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those who know Spie well enough to call him a friend talk a lot about his character — his ethics, his dedication to his craft and his belief in collective liberation. They also mention his idiosyncrasies — the bugged-out sketches he randomly emails folks, his insistence on using 20-year-old paint from his garage instead of modern spray cans, his continued willingness to get up on impromptu street art missions even though he’s married with children and has a day job as a high school art teacher.[aside postid='arts_13924167,arts_13925931,arts_13924109' label='More on Bay Area Hip-Hop Culture']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The words “community” and “family” invariably come up in conversations with and about Spie. While he can claim status in a field where toys are destroyed and respect is earned one piece at a time, one of his defining characteristics is humility. His ethos, he says, is a simple “each one teach one” philosophy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You got knowledge, you got to pass it on,” Spie continues. “I got something to share. That’s why I chose to take my work to the next generation, the youth, and to help cultivate their imagination, their radical thoughts… Hip-hop combined with that is what has shaped my pathway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>I, Spie\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Spie grew up in a multiracial household in San Francisco in the 1970s, when the city was still identified with the remnants of 1960s counterculture. His artist mother and bus driver father were both activists whose shared worldview was shaped by revolutionary ideals. While his mom encouraged his artistic sensibilities, his dad let him pal along on bus rides and introduced him to eclectic, cutting-edge music, like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PobrSpMwKk4\">The Message\u003c/a>” — with bristling, Reagan-era sociopolitical commentary that made a lasting impression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A tall, lanky youth, Spie was somewhat introverted, letting his artistic expressions manifest on notebooks and a dresser in his room. No one particular flashpoint led him to pursue graffiti. As a half-Asian kid, or \u003cem>hapa\u003c/em>, living in a diverse city, he was eager to carve out his own identity and find a community. The emergence of hip-hop and graffiti in the early ’80s gave him the sense of belonging and creative outlet he needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie’s first public attempt at a graffiti piece came in 1985, at the tennis courts of McAteer High School in San Francisco. It was a simple piece: a red and black rendering of his early moniker “Spy,” written boldly. Next to it were the words “one man bomber” — a testament to the fact that Spie painted it alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926652\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926652\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie’s first piece at San Francisco’s McAteer High School, circa late 1983 or early 1984. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a 2017 episode of Adam Fujita’s popular \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-6-season-2-spie-tdk-fc-tmc-irie-possee/id1170942266?i=1000408431397\">graffiti podcast \u003cem>My Life In Letters\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, Spie explained how the piece brought him local notoriety; he soon became an active tagger on Muni buses, as well as in the Excelsior and the Mission. A Muni Fast Pass afforded him the opportunity to visit other neighborhoods and write his graffiti name across the city, and as he grew more prolific, so did his stylistic ability and reputation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young Spie wasn’t alone in this endeavor. Alongside him in the 1980s were hundreds, maybe thousands of restless youth finding their way within graffiti. The status quo called them vandals. But graffiti was \u003cem>their\u003c/em> counterculture, and a way to find meaning and identity in a society that didn’t always see or hear them. [pullquote size='large' citation='Spie']‘I got something to share. That’s why I chose to take my work to the next generation, the youth, and to help cultivate their imagination, their radical thoughts.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 1982, graffiti had become known as one of hip-hop’s four elements. But it was also a standalone culture that preceded b-boying, MCing and DJ scratching. The \u003ca href=\"http://southsideprojections.org/2018/the-mural-movement-and-the-black-arts-movement/\">community mural movement\u003c/a> dated back to 1967 Chicago and aligned with the Black Arts Movement. Murals were already part of the cultural expression of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcet.org/arts-culture/el-movimiento\">El Movimiento\u003c/a>, a.k.a. the Chicano Movement, a push for ethnic identity and empowerment. The \u003ca href=\"https://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/ijt2106/moment-of-departure/the-emergence-of-modern-graffiti/\">modern graffiti movement\u003c/a> originated in Philadelphia in the late ’60s before spreading to New York. And gang-affiliated tags had long permeated SF’s Mission and Excelsior districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These cultural precedents were integral to graffiti’s evolution. In the late 1970s and early ’80s, New York’s aerosol kings conquered the subways of the five boroughs. Even though the Metropolitan Transit Authority combatted their wild styles with “the buff,” word spread around the country with films like 1983’s \u003cem>Wild Style\u003c/em>, along with the documentary \u003cem>Style Wars\u003c/em>, which aired nationally on PBS the same year. Its broadcast on KQED \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/artschool/52/bay-area-graffiti-the-early-days\">catalyzed the Bay Area graffiti scene\u003c/a>. “There was this gravitational pull toward what was happening coming out of these films,” Spie recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>One wall to rule them all\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By the mid-’80s, a series of walls in an unsecured downtown parking lot near Van Ness Avenue and Market Street became an unlikely ground zero for aspiring aerosol aficionados. A wall painted by Doug “Dug-1” Cunningham in 1986 entitled “Psycho City” became so iconic, the quasi-legal graffiti spot was soon named in its honor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When Dug hit it, it was a full-on burner,” Spie recalls, referring to a particularly impressive stylistic production that metaphorically burned competition. “It was like it was framed. It was very solidly panoramic, rectangular. It had characters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Afterwards, “[graffiti] just started to expand to all the neighboring walls, to the point where [Psycho City] became the place to go to paint,” Spie adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926653\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926653\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-800x550.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"550\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986.jpg 1011w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dug-1’s ‘Psycho City’ piece gave the legendary San Francisco graffiti spot its name in 1986. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Graffiti artists from all over the Bay Area, and even other states and countries, found their way to Psycho City. Over time, the scene became more competitive as wall space became more limited. A piece painted one night might be painted over the next. Needless to say, the competition fueled innovation, as productions became bolder, bigger and more ambitious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie recalls Psycho City remaining active up until November 1992, when a street festival featuring barbeque, DJs, and breakdancing by NYC’s Rock Steady Crew attracted police attention. In the ensuing confrontation, police vehicles were vandalized. The cops returned in greater numbers and began ticketing people. Soon after, “No Loitering” signs were put up, which allowed police to cite anyone in the area, effectively ending Psycho City’s reign. The irony, Spie says, is that instead of graffiti being contained within one centralized location, the police action “ended up pushing it to other parts of town.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13864059\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13864059\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-800x514.png\" alt='Mike \"Dream\" Francisco' width=\"800\" height=\"514\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-800x514.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-160x103.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-768x494.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-1020x656.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-1200x771.png 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-1920x1234.png 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie’s late painting partner, Mike ‘Dream’ Francisco. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Pieces of a Dream\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By 1987, Spie had earned a reputation as an up-and-coming artist with a versatile array of lettering styles. That reputation would only grow over time — and with the help of a legendary collaborator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over in Oakland, a Filipino American artist named Mike “Dream” Francisco had established himself as the king of the 23rd Yard, a popular graffiti destination. At the time, “I didn’t know Dream, but he was my hero,” Spie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In July 1987, Dream painted a massive mural at the 23rd Yard entitled “Best of Both Worlds.” The painting — which has since become the center spread of 2011’s \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/the-history-of-american-graffiti-from-subway-car-to-gallery\">The History of American Graffiti\u003c/a>\u003c/em> — consisted of two elaborately detailed letterforms, one in the computer-esque “New Wave” style and the other in the abstract “Funk” style. In mastering both styles, Dream was sending a not-so-subtle message to fellow artists of unity instead of division.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie and some artist pals journeyed to Oakland to see the wall. “Everyone was talking about it,” he says. He and Dream became friends that day, although it would be another two years before they would begin collaborating in earnest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon after, Phase 2’s widely respected magazine \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMM08067.html\">International Graffiti Times\u003c/a>\u003c/em> put out a call for artist submissions. “Dream won that one and it got really popularized. And then everybody knew that the Bay Area had a scene going on… Dream put the Bay Area on the map as far as graff,” Spie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926667\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13926667 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-800x145.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"145\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-800x145.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-1020x185.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-160x29.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-768x140.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-1536x279.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-2048x372.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-1920x349.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dream’s 1987 ‘Best of Both Worlds’ wall in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bay Area graffiti was growing exponentially, “but it was frowned upon,” says Susan Cervantes of Mission-based arts non-profit \u003ca href=\"https://www.precitaeyes.org/\">Precita Eyes\u003c/a>. “If you had a marker you were considered a criminal. Youth were taking a lot of risk trying to do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the subculture continued to thrive. In August 1987, Henry Chalfant and James Prigoff’s book \u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em> showcased local artists Crayone TWS, Del Phresh, Whisky and Daube alongside national and international talent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were in love with [\u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em>],” Spie says. He notes Prigoff, then a local resident, would sometimes invite Bay Area artists over to his house to view photographs of graffiti from other regions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cervantes, a community muralist since the ’70s, recognized that a new artistic movement was underway. Precita Eyes hosted a book release party for \u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em>, and Cervantes curated a graffiti art competition at Mission Cultural Center, which brought her into contact with 16-year-old Spie, who knew some of the artists in the competition. After the event, Spie stayed in touch with Cervantes and the organization as they started to integrate graffiti’s aesthetic into their youth programming. They’ve been connected ever since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1996, Spie and Dream participated in a panel during Precita Eyes’ first Urban Youth Arts Festival. “They discussed their experiences in the graffiti movement with all the young people who came to participate,” Cervantes says. “They were really good about the history of the graff movement and how important it was to show respect for each others’ work.” Their engagement with young people set a tone that Precita Eyes has followed for 27 years, with the annual festival as a linchpin of its programmatic activities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Spie] is a really special person,” Cervantes says. “I think he’s very articulate not only in his visual expression, but also in activism around the issues that are important to him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926650\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926650\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-800x528.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"528\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-800x528.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-1020x673.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-768x506.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-1536x1013.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mike “Dream” Francisco stands before his collaborative mural with Spie One, ‘Tax Dollars Kill,’ in 1995. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Fighting the power\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Spie has always viewed activism as a generational legacy. He tells a story of how, during the height of the anti-apartheid movement, Berkeley hosted a “Spirit of Soweto” street festival on Telegraph Avenue. Revolution Books provided canvases for artists to paint politically-themed works. Coincidentally, Spie and Dream both brought sketches of \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luVpsM3YAgw\">Steve Biko\u003c/a>, a martyred South African activist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clearly, the two artists were aligned in their politics and artistic sensibilities, and Spie and Dream began working together shortly after. By that point, Spie had become a master of letterforms, characters and backgrounds. In archival photographs of their many collaborations, the pair appear evenly matched; a 1992 co-production at Psycho City literally rises above lesser tags with blazingly vibrant colors and impeccable aerosol calligraphy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926654\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926654\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-800x517.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"517\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-800x517.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-1020x659.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-160x103.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-768x496.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-1536x993.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi.jpg 1685w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A collaborative piece by Spie and Dream at Psycho City in 1992. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Spie joined Dream’s crew TDK, influencing the collective’s aesthetic artistically and ideologically. The acronym originally stood for “Those Damn Kids,” but soon morphed into alternate meanings, among them “Teach Dem Knowledge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Francisco “Amend” Sanchez was still in high school when he met Dream, who was working at the Built to Last tattoo parlor, where aspiring young artists would often “hover” to watch the master at work. At the time, Sanchez had a different tag, but he switched to writing Amend after Dream told him, “Your name should represent. You should have some value to who you are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TDK, Amend says, isn’t just about the style of graffiti. “It’s also about just the culture within, an urban community that you want to represent and speak up for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Amend, Spie plays a unique role within the crew. “He doesn’t get enough credit on how influential he’s been in the Bay Area for multiple generations. As far as TDK goes, I think he’s the main guy who would push Mike Dream, to push the crew to go into that whole social justice point of view, speaking up for … people in the community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was the ‘Fight the Power’ era,” Spie recalls — a time when hip-hop often felt like a political movement, and rappers like Public Enemy and KRS-One pushed the envelope of sociopolitical commentary in pop culture. For Spie, it was a no-brainer to contribute visually, and inspire others to do the same. There were many causes to join: reproductive rights, opposing anti-immigration laws, protesting LAPD’s beating of Rodney King, pushing back against the Gulf War and resisting the 500-year anniversary of Columbus’ “discovery” of America in 1992.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was a great time of awareness,” Spie says. “I was very much in a learning mode of being aware of the Native struggle and needing to [let people] know that we are occupying Native peoples’ territories.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926719\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926719\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-800x580.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"580\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-800x580.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-1020x740.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-160x116.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-768x557.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-1536x1114.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy.jpg 1783w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie’s ‘Solidarity’ was commissioned by the Oakland Museum of California for the exhibition ‘Respect: Style and Wisdom of Hip-Hop’ in 2018. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>No justice, just us\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As political graffiti proliferated in the Bay Area, a January 1993 exhibition at Oakland’s Pro Arts gallery titled \u003cem>No Justice No Peace\u003c/em> became the first local gallery show to feature the artform. Eastside Arts Alliance co-founder Greg Morozumi organized it during the Rodney King protests, which raised profound questions about police accountability. The exhibition, Spie says, was a “proverbial middle finger” against the system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To enter the gallery, attendees had to walk over an American flag. “That was the welcome mat,” Spie says. Inside, viewers were greeted by paintings by Spie, Dream, Krash, Dug-1 and Refa One — most of which questioned the authority of law enforcement while reinforcing community resilience. Spie and Dream’s “No Justice” paid tribute to Jesse “Plan-B” Hall, an \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/7-NYa6SDNP8\">emerging rapper who was murdered in a still-unsolved drive-by shooting\u003c/a> in Oakland’s Sobrante Park. Juxtaposed with a Krash painting of a porcine-faced police officer pointing a gun, the piece addressed the emotional toll of inner-city violence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926659\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926659\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-800x554.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"554\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-800x554.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-1020x706.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-160x111.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-768x532.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-1536x1063.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93.jpg 1712w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A look inside the ‘No Justice, No Peace’ exhibition at ProArts in 1993. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1994, Dream and Spie painted an on-stage backdrop for KMEL’s annual Summer Jam concert. The show, headlined by Patti LaBelle, also featured locals E-40, Rappin’ 4-Tay, Tony! Toni! Toné! and A Lighter Shade of Brown, along with Public Enemy, OutKast and Queen Latifah. The backdrop proved that the duo weren’t always incendiary, with colorful letters spelling out “Respect” along with the message “peace follows.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1995, Spie and Dream collaborated on one of their most unflinching murals: “Tax Dollars Kill.” The names of the artists appeared in typical graffiti wildstyle fashion; above them was a depiction of lightning striking the U.S. Capitol building. The symbolism was inescapable, especially because the mural’s title was rendered boldly above the signatures in white lettering, like a masthead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout their association, Spie and Dream would “always try to bring some kind of message … something poetic to be a part of what people were reading, as far as the painting goes. And that just kind of kept manifesting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926708\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926708\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410.jpg 1224w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A copy of a 1994 edition of the \u003ci>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/i> saved by Spie One, showing Patti Labelle performing in front of his collaborative mural with Mike “Dream” Francisco. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In addition to political influence, artist Cece Carpio, who calls Spie a mentor, maintains that he helped establish a Bay Area-identified lettering style. In the pre-internet days, she explains, graffiti was less ubiquitous and regions were often associated with specific styles. “Back then, the Bay Area letters got kind of curvy, just stylized lettering. I actually believe that’s something that the Bay Area started, and Spie was one of the pioneers who did that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A controversial mural with a message\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While enrolled as an undergrad at San Francisco State University in 1996, Spie painted his first work with acrylic paint and brushes: a portrait of Malcolm X to commemorate the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#third-world-liberation-front-paves-the-way-for-black-and-brown-unity\">1968 Third World Liberation Front student strike\u003c/a>, which resulted in the creation of one of the country’s first ethnic studies departments. Working in the mode of a traditional painter caused some apprehension and soul-searching for Spie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was always just this back-and-forth around, ‘Are you staying true to this art form? Are you trying to do that other established thing that other people already consider art?’” he recalls. “That was something that I struggled with a lot of those years. But I think the Malcolm X piece really helped me to open up my own personal arts avenues much wider.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the mural’s unveiling was a success (Spie got to meet Malcolm’s widow, Betty Shabazz, who came out for the event), the project had a long and controversial backstory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An earlier version of the mural, painted by Oakland artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13851520/rightnowish-refa-one-spraypaint-in-hand-honors-west-oaklands-history\">Refa One\u003c/a>, included a border with dollar bills, a burning American flag, and a Star of David. Needless to say, this did not go over well with the university, whose spokesperson \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/27/us/san-francisco-state-destroys-malcolm-x-mural-after-furor.html\">called the piece “hateful” in \u003cem>The\u003c/em> \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. [ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The school administration ordered the mural to be covered up, but a group of students reclaimed it with a bucket of water and soap, and camped out in front of the mural to protect it from further harm. In response, the school brought in a tactical unit in riot gear, aided by the SFPD, Spie recalls. Eventually, the mural was sandblasted over. “It was like they were assassinating Malcolm twice,” Spie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years later, the university put out another call for artists, and Spie was selected. Facing pressure from student activists, the school administration asked him to work with a Black artist, Kamau Ayubbi, a friend he knew from the 23rd Yard. The completed mural, still visible today, features two portraits of Malcolm X, with the African continent surrounding the United States, painted in black, in the background. It also includes a Malcolm X quote: “Our objective is complete freedom, justice, and equality By Any Means Necessary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926660\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926660\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-800x570.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"570\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-800x570.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-1020x727.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-768x548.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-1536x1095.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-2048x1460.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-1920x1369.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie and Kama Ayubbo’s 1996 Malcolm X mural at San Francisco State University. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Rebel without a pause\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2000, the unthinkable happened: Mike Dream was murdered in West Oakland. The still-unsolved killing deprived the Bay Area of its most legendary graffiti artist. “It was a devastating blow when he left this world. … So much of my own kind of self-actualization came through his guidance,” Spie \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/a-dream-continued-1/\">later told the \u003cem>East Bay Express\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. Spie and the TDK crew have kept Dream alive and in their hearts for the past 23 years, organizing a series of annual “Dream Day” events in Oakland \u003ca href=\"https://hiphopandpolitics.com/tag/mike-dream/\">beginning in 2010\u003c/a>, benefitting Dream’s son Akil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDp38sltic8\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rather than slow down, though, TDK remained active. Amend, Vogue and Stash all became widely known artists in their own right. Dream protege Marty Aranaydo, a.k.a. Meut TDK, a.k.a. DJ Willie Maze, furthered hip-hop activism through painting and as a member of socially conscious DJ collective Local 1200. Meanwhile, Spie soldiered on, earning a teaching credential and landing a job teaching art at a regional high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the 2000s, a new generation of artist collectives emerged, building directly on Dream and Spie’s sociopolitical blueprint and the family values of TDK. \u003ca href=\"https://www.trustyourstruggle.org/\">Trust Your Struggle\u003c/a> member Carpio says Spie has gone out of his way to push her artistic efforts to the next level. And while \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13868732/cece-carpio\">Carpio’s work stands on its own\u003c/a>, Spie’s influence reflects in themes of Indigenous advocacy, resilience and racial solidarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two recently painted a commemorative project at UC Berkeley honoring the Third World Liberation Front. The project, which has yet to be installed, features vibrant portraits of revolutionary icons Richard Aoki, June Jordan, Lehman Brightman, Ron Takaki and LaNada War Jack. According to Carpio, “what makes [Spie’s art] different in comparison to a lot of other graffiti and street art is his accountability to the movement and his accountability to the community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926661\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926661\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-800x816.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"816\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-800x816.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-1020x1040.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-160x163.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-768x783.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-1506x1536.jpg 1506w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-1920x1958.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall.jpg 2006w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">2014’s ‘Key Tree,’ Spie’s contribution to Oakland’s Palestine Solidarity Wall, visualizes liberation of oppressed peoples. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Spie has painted in New York, Los Angeles, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Cuba, Costa Rica, Mexico and Portugal. Still, some of his most memorable work has been local. In 2007, he, Mike Ramos and H.O.M.E.Y. \u003ca href=\"https://digitalstories.famsf.org/teo/#teotihuacan-in-san-francisco\">painted\u003c/a> the mythical Aztec Feathered Serpent in the Mission. In 2014, he was one of 12 muralists who contributed to the “\u003ca href=\"https://artforces.org/projects/murals/usa/oakland-palestine-solidarity-mural/\">Oakland Palestine Solidarity Mural\u003c/a>” in Uptown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, he manifested a solidarity-themed mural as part of the Oakland Museum’s first-ever hip-hop exhibit, and a ruby-throated hummingbird for environmental justice organization PODER. During the pandemic, he and several family members volunteered to paint the exterior of the Precita Eyes building. In 2021, during the George Floyd protests, he was one of the first artists to turn downtown Oakland into an outdoor art gallery. And in 2022, he painted a work entitled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.artspanart.org/eric-norberg-eai-summer-2022\">Serve the People\u003c/a>” on the window of Casa De Apoyo, a transitional housing resource center in the Excelsior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As he’s become a more accomplished muralist, Spie has stayed true to his roots by including elements of graffiti even when working with other mediums. “I can remember that he started using acrylic paint with a brush to block in everything, and then he would do all the fine effects and details with the aerosol,” Cervantes says. “And that’s kind of what our youth arts program still does today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout his storied career, Spie says he “always chose the side of the earth, the subjected and the oppressed. And, you know, what they like to say: the voice of the voiceless.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926662\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926662\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie and Cece Carpio collaborated on a tribute to the Third World Liberation Front and other revolutionary activists. Their work will be installed at UC Berkeley at a later date. \u003ccite>(Cece Carpio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>TDK: The Dream Kontinues\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Spie can recount descriptive accounts of protests from decades past, but when asked about future projects, he simply sends over a link to YBCA’s recent “YBCA 100” celebration, with a visual art display by TDK Collective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the event, Spie held court on the venue’s second floor, dressed unassumingly in a Madow Futur jacket and \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/i5OX8pDTyow\">Bored Stiff\u003c/a> baseball hat. As he greeted attendees, including visual artist Agana and documentary filmmaker Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi, a monitor played \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/artschool/52/bay-area-graffiti-the-early-days\">Bay Area Graffiti: The Early Years\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, followed by \u003cem>Style Wars\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Art supplies were laid out on a table, along with various hardcover books on graffiti. Adjacent walls were decorated with TDK’s historical works: several Spie-Dream collaborations, including “Tax Dollars Kill,” and a tribute to the Rodney King uprisings that depicted an overturned police car, a colorful piece by Pak (R.I.P.), a tribute to Plan-B, and a late career piece by Dream. Several of Spie’s solo works were integrated, among them two vibrant “Spie” letterforms, linked by the word “vs.” (referencing the classic \u003cem>Mad\u003c/em> magazine cartoon “Spy vs. Spy”). The artist was clearly in his element.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie pulled out a binder he’d assembled, consisting of Dream’s pieces, sketches, quotes and airbrush work. The collection held serious gravitas; all that it needed to be included in a library alongside \u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Dondi White: Style Master General\u003c/em> and similar graffiti books was a hardcover binding and written essays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whatever the future holds – a comprehensive TDK retrospective, the publication of his Dream book or some other legacy project – Spie doesn’t reveal exact plans. It’s understandable, and completely in character, that after five decades as an artist, he seems to take satisfaction in maintaining his mystique, revealing only what he deems necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>Editor’s note:\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003ci> This story is part of\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/bayareahiphop\"> That’s My Word\u003c/a>\u003ci>, KQED’s year-long exploration of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop history\u003c/a>, with new content dropping all throughout 2023.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">T\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>he name Spie One has resonated in the Bay Area for nearly 40 years. The prolific graffiti artist, muralist and artivist may be less famous than his former painting partner, the late Mike “Dream” Francisco, but Spie is no less legendary. A mainstay of the TDK Collective, Irie Posse and FC — all with gravitas and legacy in the underground art world — Spie has been both observer and participant throughout the most dynamic eras in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop\">Bay Area hip-hop history\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But who is Spie? His \u003cem>nom de guerre\u003c/em> evokes subterfuge, counter-intelligence, covertness. Indeed, maintaining anonymity was imperative at the beginning of Spie’s career, during the formative stages of Bay Area graffiti itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the years, though, Spie evolved into a well-known force bridging activism and visual art in the streets. In recent years, he’s become an accomplished muralist working in different mediums, as well as a teacher, mentor and leader by example.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those who know Spie well enough to call him a friend talk a lot about his character — his ethics, his dedication to his craft and his belief in collective liberation. They also mention his idiosyncrasies — the bugged-out sketches he randomly emails folks, his insistence on using 20-year-old paint from his garage instead of modern spray cans, his continued willingness to get up on impromptu street art missions even though he’s married with children and has a day job as a high school art teacher.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The words “community” and “family” invariably come up in conversations with and about Spie. While he can claim status in a field where toys are destroyed and respect is earned one piece at a time, one of his defining characteristics is humility. His ethos, he says, is a simple “each one teach one” philosophy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You got knowledge, you got to pass it on,” Spie continues. “I got something to share. That’s why I chose to take my work to the next generation, the youth, and to help cultivate their imagination, their radical thoughts… Hip-hop combined with that is what has shaped my pathway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>I, Spie\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Spie grew up in a multiracial household in San Francisco in the 1970s, when the city was still identified with the remnants of 1960s counterculture. His artist mother and bus driver father were both activists whose shared worldview was shaped by revolutionary ideals. While his mom encouraged his artistic sensibilities, his dad let him pal along on bus rides and introduced him to eclectic, cutting-edge music, like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PobrSpMwKk4\">The Message\u003c/a>” — with bristling, Reagan-era sociopolitical commentary that made a lasting impression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A tall, lanky youth, Spie was somewhat introverted, letting his artistic expressions manifest on notebooks and a dresser in his room. No one particular flashpoint led him to pursue graffiti. As a half-Asian kid, or \u003cem>hapa\u003c/em>, living in a diverse city, he was eager to carve out his own identity and find a community. The emergence of hip-hop and graffiti in the early ’80s gave him the sense of belonging and creative outlet he needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie’s first public attempt at a graffiti piece came in 1985, at the tennis courts of McAteer High School in San Francisco. It was a simple piece: a red and black rendering of his early moniker “Spy,” written boldly. Next to it were the words “one man bomber” — a testament to the fact that Spie painted it alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926652\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926652\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Spy-McAteer-e1679434426890.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie’s first piece at San Francisco’s McAteer High School, circa late 1983 or early 1984. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a 2017 episode of Adam Fujita’s popular \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-6-season-2-spie-tdk-fc-tmc-irie-possee/id1170942266?i=1000408431397\">graffiti podcast \u003cem>My Life In Letters\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, Spie explained how the piece brought him local notoriety; he soon became an active tagger on Muni buses, as well as in the Excelsior and the Mission. A Muni Fast Pass afforded him the opportunity to visit other neighborhoods and write his graffiti name across the city, and as he grew more prolific, so did his stylistic ability and reputation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young Spie wasn’t alone in this endeavor. Alongside him in the 1980s were hundreds, maybe thousands of restless youth finding their way within graffiti. The status quo called them vandals. But graffiti was \u003cem>their\u003c/em> counterculture, and a way to find meaning and identity in a society that didn’t always see or hear them. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 1982, graffiti had become known as one of hip-hop’s four elements. But it was also a standalone culture that preceded b-boying, MCing and DJ scratching. The \u003ca href=\"http://southsideprojections.org/2018/the-mural-movement-and-the-black-arts-movement/\">community mural movement\u003c/a> dated back to 1967 Chicago and aligned with the Black Arts Movement. Murals were already part of the cultural expression of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcet.org/arts-culture/el-movimiento\">El Movimiento\u003c/a>, a.k.a. the Chicano Movement, a push for ethnic identity and empowerment. The \u003ca href=\"https://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/ijt2106/moment-of-departure/the-emergence-of-modern-graffiti/\">modern graffiti movement\u003c/a> originated in Philadelphia in the late ’60s before spreading to New York. And gang-affiliated tags had long permeated SF’s Mission and Excelsior districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These cultural precedents were integral to graffiti’s evolution. In the late 1970s and early ’80s, New York’s aerosol kings conquered the subways of the five boroughs. Even though the Metropolitan Transit Authority combatted their wild styles with “the buff,” word spread around the country with films like 1983’s \u003cem>Wild Style\u003c/em>, along with the documentary \u003cem>Style Wars\u003c/em>, which aired nationally on PBS the same year. Its broadcast on KQED \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/artschool/52/bay-area-graffiti-the-early-days\">catalyzed the Bay Area graffiti scene\u003c/a>. “There was this gravitational pull toward what was happening coming out of these films,” Spie recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>One wall to rule them all\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By the mid-’80s, a series of walls in an unsecured downtown parking lot near Van Ness Avenue and Market Street became an unlikely ground zero for aspiring aerosol aficionados. A wall painted by Doug “Dug-1” Cunningham in 1986 entitled “Psycho City” became so iconic, the quasi-legal graffiti spot was soon named in its honor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When Dug hit it, it was a full-on burner,” Spie recalls, referring to a particularly impressive stylistic production that metaphorically burned competition. “It was like it was framed. It was very solidly panoramic, rectangular. It had characters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Afterwards, “[graffiti] just started to expand to all the neighboring walls, to the point where [Psycho City] became the place to go to paint,” Spie adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926653\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926653\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-800x550.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"550\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Psycho-City-DUG-TMF-1986.jpg 1011w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dug-1’s ‘Psycho City’ piece gave the legendary San Francisco graffiti spot its name in 1986. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Graffiti artists from all over the Bay Area, and even other states and countries, found their way to Psycho City. Over time, the scene became more competitive as wall space became more limited. A piece painted one night might be painted over the next. Needless to say, the competition fueled innovation, as productions became bolder, bigger and more ambitious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie recalls Psycho City remaining active up until November 1992, when a street festival featuring barbeque, DJs, and breakdancing by NYC’s Rock Steady Crew attracted police attention. In the ensuing confrontation, police vehicles were vandalized. The cops returned in greater numbers and began ticketing people. Soon after, “No Loitering” signs were put up, which allowed police to cite anyone in the area, effectively ending Psycho City’s reign. The irony, Spie says, is that instead of graffiti being contained within one centralized location, the police action “ended up pushing it to other parts of town.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13864059\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13864059\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-800x514.png\" alt='Mike \"Dream\" Francisco' width=\"800\" height=\"514\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-800x514.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-160x103.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-768x494.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-1020x656.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-1200x771.png 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM-1920x1234.png 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/Screen-Shot-2019-08-14-at-7.32.36-AM.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie’s late painting partner, Mike ‘Dream’ Francisco. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Pieces of a Dream\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By 1987, Spie had earned a reputation as an up-and-coming artist with a versatile array of lettering styles. That reputation would only grow over time — and with the help of a legendary collaborator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over in Oakland, a Filipino American artist named Mike “Dream” Francisco had established himself as the king of the 23rd Yard, a popular graffiti destination. At the time, “I didn’t know Dream, but he was my hero,” Spie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In July 1987, Dream painted a massive mural at the 23rd Yard entitled “Best of Both Worlds.” The painting — which has since become the center spread of 2011’s \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/the-history-of-american-graffiti-from-subway-car-to-gallery\">The History of American Graffiti\u003c/a>\u003c/em> — consisted of two elaborately detailed letterforms, one in the computer-esque “New Wave” style and the other in the abstract “Funk” style. In mastering both styles, Dream was sending a not-so-subtle message to fellow artists of unity instead of division.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie and some artist pals journeyed to Oakland to see the wall. “Everyone was talking about it,” he says. He and Dream became friends that day, although it would be another two years before they would begin collaborating in earnest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon after, Phase 2’s widely respected magazine \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMM08067.html\">International Graffiti Times\u003c/a>\u003c/em> put out a call for artist submissions. “Dream won that one and it got really popularized. And then everybody knew that the Bay Area had a scene going on… Dream put the Bay Area on the map as far as graff,” Spie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926667\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13926667 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-800x145.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"145\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-800x145.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-1020x185.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-160x29.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-768x140.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-1536x279.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-2048x372.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Dream-Best-of-Both-Worlds_Spie-One-1920x349.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dream’s 1987 ‘Best of Both Worlds’ wall in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bay Area graffiti was growing exponentially, “but it was frowned upon,” says Susan Cervantes of Mission-based arts non-profit \u003ca href=\"https://www.precitaeyes.org/\">Precita Eyes\u003c/a>. “If you had a marker you were considered a criminal. Youth were taking a lot of risk trying to do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the subculture continued to thrive. In August 1987, Henry Chalfant and James Prigoff’s book \u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em> showcased local artists Crayone TWS, Del Phresh, Whisky and Daube alongside national and international talent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were in love with [\u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em>],” Spie says. He notes Prigoff, then a local resident, would sometimes invite Bay Area artists over to his house to view photographs of graffiti from other regions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cervantes, a community muralist since the ’70s, recognized that a new artistic movement was underway. Precita Eyes hosted a book release party for \u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em>, and Cervantes curated a graffiti art competition at Mission Cultural Center, which brought her into contact with 16-year-old Spie, who knew some of the artists in the competition. After the event, Spie stayed in touch with Cervantes and the organization as they started to integrate graffiti’s aesthetic into their youth programming. They’ve been connected ever since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1996, Spie and Dream participated in a panel during Precita Eyes’ first Urban Youth Arts Festival. “They discussed their experiences in the graffiti movement with all the young people who came to participate,” Cervantes says. “They were really good about the history of the graff movement and how important it was to show respect for each others’ work.” Their engagement with young people set a tone that Precita Eyes has followed for 27 years, with the annual festival as a linchpin of its programmatic activities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Spie] is a really special person,” Cervantes says. “I think he’s very articulate not only in his visual expression, but also in activism around the issues that are important to him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926650\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926650\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-800x528.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"528\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-800x528.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-1020x673.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-768x506.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878-1536x1013.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/TAXdollarsKILLportrait95-Final300dpi-e1679434266878.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mike “Dream” Francisco stands before his collaborative mural with Spie One, ‘Tax Dollars Kill,’ in 1995. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Fighting the power\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Spie has always viewed activism as a generational legacy. He tells a story of how, during the height of the anti-apartheid movement, Berkeley hosted a “Spirit of Soweto” street festival on Telegraph Avenue. Revolution Books provided canvases for artists to paint politically-themed works. Coincidentally, Spie and Dream both brought sketches of \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luVpsM3YAgw\">Steve Biko\u003c/a>, a martyred South African activist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clearly, the two artists were aligned in their politics and artistic sensibilities, and Spie and Dream began working together shortly after. By that point, Spie had become a master of letterforms, characters and backgrounds. In archival photographs of their many collaborations, the pair appear evenly matched; a 1992 co-production at Psycho City literally rises above lesser tags with blazingly vibrant colors and impeccable aerosol calligraphy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926654\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926654\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-800x517.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"517\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-800x517.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-1020x659.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-160x103.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-768x496.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi-1536x993.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spiedream@psycho11_92-300dpi.jpg 1685w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A collaborative piece by Spie and Dream at Psycho City in 1992. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Spie joined Dream’s crew TDK, influencing the collective’s aesthetic artistically and ideologically. The acronym originally stood for “Those Damn Kids,” but soon morphed into alternate meanings, among them “Teach Dem Knowledge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Francisco “Amend” Sanchez was still in high school when he met Dream, who was working at the Built to Last tattoo parlor, where aspiring young artists would often “hover” to watch the master at work. At the time, Sanchez had a different tag, but he switched to writing Amend after Dream told him, “Your name should represent. You should have some value to who you are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TDK, Amend says, isn’t just about the style of graffiti. “It’s also about just the culture within, an urban community that you want to represent and speak up for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Amend, Spie plays a unique role within the crew. “He doesn’t get enough credit on how influential he’s been in the Bay Area for multiple generations. As far as TDK goes, I think he’s the main guy who would push Mike Dream, to push the crew to go into that whole social justice point of view, speaking up for … people in the community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was the ‘Fight the Power’ era,” Spie recalls — a time when hip-hop often felt like a political movement, and rappers like Public Enemy and KRS-One pushed the envelope of sociopolitical commentary in pop culture. For Spie, it was a no-brainer to contribute visually, and inspire others to do the same. There were many causes to join: reproductive rights, opposing anti-immigration laws, protesting LAPD’s beating of Rodney King, pushing back against the Gulf War and resisting the 500-year anniversary of Columbus’ “discovery” of America in 1992.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was a great time of awareness,” Spie says. “I was very much in a learning mode of being aware of the Native struggle and needing to [let people] know that we are occupying Native peoples’ territories.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926719\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926719\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-800x580.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"580\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-800x580.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-1020x740.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-160x116.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-768x557.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy-1536x1114.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-2018-oakland-museum-solidarity-copy.jpg 1783w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie’s ‘Solidarity’ was commissioned by the Oakland Museum of California for the exhibition ‘Respect: Style and Wisdom of Hip-Hop’ in 2018. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>No justice, just us\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As political graffiti proliferated in the Bay Area, a January 1993 exhibition at Oakland’s Pro Arts gallery titled \u003cem>No Justice No Peace\u003c/em> became the first local gallery show to feature the artform. Eastside Arts Alliance co-founder Greg Morozumi organized it during the Rodney King protests, which raised profound questions about police accountability. The exhibition, Spie says, was a “proverbial middle finger” against the system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To enter the gallery, attendees had to walk over an American flag. “That was the welcome mat,” Spie says. Inside, viewers were greeted by paintings by Spie, Dream, Krash, Dug-1 and Refa One — most of which questioned the authority of law enforcement while reinforcing community resilience. Spie and Dream’s “No Justice” paid tribute to Jesse “Plan-B” Hall, an \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/7-NYa6SDNP8\">emerging rapper who was murdered in a still-unsolved drive-by shooting\u003c/a> in Oakland’s Sobrante Park. Juxtaposed with a Krash painting of a porcine-faced police officer pointing a gun, the piece addressed the emotional toll of inner-city violence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926659\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926659\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-800x554.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"554\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-800x554.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-1020x706.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-160x111.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-768x532.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93-1536x1063.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/noJUSTICEcolorEnhanced93.jpg 1712w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A look inside the ‘No Justice, No Peace’ exhibition at ProArts in 1993. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1994, Dream and Spie painted an on-stage backdrop for KMEL’s annual Summer Jam concert. The show, headlined by Patti LaBelle, also featured locals E-40, Rappin’ 4-Tay, Tony! Toni! Toné! and A Lighter Shade of Brown, along with Public Enemy, OutKast and Queen Latifah. The backdrop proved that the duo weren’t always incendiary, with colorful letters spelling out “Respect” along with the message “peace follows.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1995, Spie and Dream collaborated on one of their most unflinching murals: “Tax Dollars Kill.” The names of the artists appeared in typical graffiti wildstyle fashion; above them was a depiction of lightning striking the U.S. Capitol building. The symbolism was inescapable, especially because the mural’s title was rendered boldly above the signatures in white lettering, like a masthead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout their association, Spie and Dream would “always try to bring some kind of message … something poetic to be a part of what people were reading, as far as the painting goes. And that just kind of kept manifesting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926708\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926708\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/IMG_6410.jpg 1224w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A copy of a 1994 edition of the \u003ci>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/i> saved by Spie One, showing Patti Labelle performing in front of his collaborative mural with Mike “Dream” Francisco. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In addition to political influence, artist Cece Carpio, who calls Spie a mentor, maintains that he helped establish a Bay Area-identified lettering style. In the pre-internet days, she explains, graffiti was less ubiquitous and regions were often associated with specific styles. “Back then, the Bay Area letters got kind of curvy, just stylized lettering. I actually believe that’s something that the Bay Area started, and Spie was one of the pioneers who did that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A controversial mural with a message\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While enrolled as an undergrad at San Francisco State University in 1996, Spie painted his first work with acrylic paint and brushes: a portrait of Malcolm X to commemorate the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareahiphop/timeline#third-world-liberation-front-paves-the-way-for-black-and-brown-unity\">1968 Third World Liberation Front student strike\u003c/a>, which resulted in the creation of one of the country’s first ethnic studies departments. Working in the mode of a traditional painter caused some apprehension and soul-searching for Spie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was always just this back-and-forth around, ‘Are you staying true to this art form? Are you trying to do that other established thing that other people already consider art?’” he recalls. “That was something that I struggled with a lot of those years. But I think the Malcolm X piece really helped me to open up my own personal arts avenues much wider.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the mural’s unveiling was a success (Spie got to meet Malcolm’s widow, Betty Shabazz, who came out for the event), the project had a long and controversial backstory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An earlier version of the mural, painted by Oakland artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13851520/rightnowish-refa-one-spraypaint-in-hand-honors-west-oaklands-history\">Refa One\u003c/a>, included a border with dollar bills, a burning American flag, and a Star of David. Needless to say, this did not go over well with the university, whose spokesperson \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/27/us/san-francisco-state-destroys-malcolm-x-mural-after-furor.html\">called the piece “hateful” in \u003cem>The\u003c/em> \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The school administration ordered the mural to be covered up, but a group of students reclaimed it with a bucket of water and soap, and camped out in front of the mural to protect it from further harm. In response, the school brought in a tactical unit in riot gear, aided by the SFPD, Spie recalls. Eventually, the mural was sandblasted over. “It was like they were assassinating Malcolm twice,” Spie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years later, the university put out another call for artists, and Spie was selected. Facing pressure from student activists, the school administration asked him to work with a Black artist, Kamau Ayubbi, a friend he knew from the 23rd Yard. The completed mural, still visible today, features two portraits of Malcolm X, with the African continent surrounding the United States, painted in black, in the background. It also includes a Malcolm X quote: “Our objective is complete freedom, justice, and equality By Any Means Necessary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926660\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926660\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-800x570.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"570\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-800x570.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-1020x727.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-768x548.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-1536x1095.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-2048x1460.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/Malcolm-X-sfsu-1996-1920x1369.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie and Kama Ayubbo’s 1996 Malcolm X mural at San Francisco State University. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Rebel without a pause\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2000, the unthinkable happened: Mike Dream was murdered in West Oakland. The still-unsolved killing deprived the Bay Area of its most legendary graffiti artist. “It was a devastating blow when he left this world. … So much of my own kind of self-actualization came through his guidance,” Spie \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/a-dream-continued-1/\">later told the \u003cem>East Bay Express\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. Spie and the TDK crew have kept Dream alive and in their hearts for the past 23 years, organizing a series of annual “Dream Day” events in Oakland \u003ca href=\"https://hiphopandpolitics.com/tag/mike-dream/\">beginning in 2010\u003c/a>, benefitting Dream’s son Akil.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/cDp38sltic8'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/cDp38sltic8'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Rather than slow down, though, TDK remained active. Amend, Vogue and Stash all became widely known artists in their own right. Dream protege Marty Aranaydo, a.k.a. Meut TDK, a.k.a. DJ Willie Maze, furthered hip-hop activism through painting and as a member of socially conscious DJ collective Local 1200. Meanwhile, Spie soldiered on, earning a teaching credential and landing a job teaching art at a regional high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the 2000s, a new generation of artist collectives emerged, building directly on Dream and Spie’s sociopolitical blueprint and the family values of TDK. \u003ca href=\"https://www.trustyourstruggle.org/\">Trust Your Struggle\u003c/a> member Carpio says Spie has gone out of his way to push her artistic efforts to the next level. And while \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13868732/cece-carpio\">Carpio’s work stands on its own\u003c/a>, Spie’s influence reflects in themes of Indigenous advocacy, resilience and racial solidarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two recently painted a commemorative project at UC Berkeley honoring the Third World Liberation Front. The project, which has yet to be installed, features vibrant portraits of revolutionary icons Richard Aoki, June Jordan, Lehman Brightman, Ron Takaki and LaNada War Jack. According to Carpio, “what makes [Spie’s art] different in comparison to a lot of other graffiti and street art is his accountability to the movement and his accountability to the community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926661\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926661\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-800x816.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"816\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-800x816.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-1020x1040.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-160x163.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-768x783.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-1506x1536.jpg 1506w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall-1920x1958.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/spie-key-tree-palestine-liberation-wall.jpg 2006w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">2014’s ‘Key Tree,’ Spie’s contribution to Oakland’s Palestine Solidarity Wall, visualizes liberation of oppressed peoples. \u003ccite>(Spie One)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Spie has painted in New York, Los Angeles, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Cuba, Costa Rica, Mexico and Portugal. Still, some of his most memorable work has been local. In 2007, he, Mike Ramos and H.O.M.E.Y. \u003ca href=\"https://digitalstories.famsf.org/teo/#teotihuacan-in-san-francisco\">painted\u003c/a> the mythical Aztec Feathered Serpent in the Mission. In 2014, he was one of 12 muralists who contributed to the “\u003ca href=\"https://artforces.org/projects/murals/usa/oakland-palestine-solidarity-mural/\">Oakland Palestine Solidarity Mural\u003c/a>” in Uptown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, he manifested a solidarity-themed mural as part of the Oakland Museum’s first-ever hip-hop exhibit, and a ruby-throated hummingbird for environmental justice organization PODER. During the pandemic, he and several family members volunteered to paint the exterior of the Precita Eyes building. In 2021, during the George Floyd protests, he was one of the first artists to turn downtown Oakland into an outdoor art gallery. And in 2022, he painted a work entitled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.artspanart.org/eric-norberg-eai-summer-2022\">Serve the People\u003c/a>” on the window of Casa De Apoyo, a transitional housing resource center in the Excelsior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As he’s become a more accomplished muralist, Spie has stayed true to his roots by including elements of graffiti even when working with other mediums. “I can remember that he started using acrylic paint with a brush to block in everything, and then he would do all the fine effects and details with the aerosol,” Cervantes says. “And that’s kind of what our youth arts program still does today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout his storied career, Spie says he “always chose the side of the earth, the subjected and the oppressed. And, you know, what they like to say: the voice of the voiceless.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13926662\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13926662\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/3f.-twLF_whole_perspective-scaled-e1679437175726.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spie and Cece Carpio collaborated on a tribute to the Third World Liberation Front and other revolutionary activists. Their work will be installed at UC Berkeley at a later date. \u003ccite>(Cece Carpio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>TDK: The Dream Kontinues\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Spie can recount descriptive accounts of protests from decades past, but when asked about future projects, he simply sends over a link to YBCA’s recent “YBCA 100” celebration, with a visual art display by TDK Collective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the event, Spie held court on the venue’s second floor, dressed unassumingly in a Madow Futur jacket and \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/i5OX8pDTyow\">Bored Stiff\u003c/a> baseball hat. As he greeted attendees, including visual artist Agana and documentary filmmaker Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi, a monitor played \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/artschool/52/bay-area-graffiti-the-early-days\">Bay Area Graffiti: The Early Years\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, followed by \u003cem>Style Wars\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Art supplies were laid out on a table, along with various hardcover books on graffiti. Adjacent walls were decorated with TDK’s historical works: several Spie-Dream collaborations, including “Tax Dollars Kill,” and a tribute to the Rodney King uprisings that depicted an overturned police car, a colorful piece by Pak (R.I.P.), a tribute to Plan-B, and a late career piece by Dream. Several of Spie’s solo works were integrated, among them two vibrant “Spie” letterforms, linked by the word “vs.” (referencing the classic \u003cem>Mad\u003c/em> magazine cartoon “Spy vs. Spy”). The artist was clearly in his element.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spie pulled out a binder he’d assembled, consisting of Dream’s pieces, sketches, quotes and airbrush work. The collection held serious gravitas; all that it needed to be included in a library alongside \u003cem>Spraycan Art\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Dondi White: Style Master General\u003c/em> and similar graffiti books was a hardcover binding and written essays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whatever the future holds – a comprehensive TDK retrospective, the publication of his Dream book or some other legacy project – Spie doesn’t reveal exact plans. It’s understandable, and completely in character, that after five decades as an artist, he seems to take satisfaction in maintaining his mystique, revealing only what he deems necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC9915794114&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco lyricist and graffiti writer \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/dregs_one\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dregs One\u003c/a> is making sure Bay Area hip-hop culture is properly documented, and at the same time he’s becoming a recognized historian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a series of videos he simply calls “History of The Bay,” Dregs is using TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube to highlight aspects of Bay Area culture that are often overlooked. In one video he dives into the use of local slang, noting that music “slaps” and food doesn’t. Dregs has multiple videos honoring the work of legendary aerosol artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cfw_H0Mv8Fv/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike “Dream” Francisco\u003c/a> of the TDK crew, among numerous posts he’s done in dedication to local graff writers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dregs’ videos are short, often sprinkled with a touch of wry humor, and always laced with game straight from the soil. I talked to him about what it means to have thousands of views on his videos and how the work of documenting a culture that is often word of mouth inherently brings forth differing opinions. Dregs, who is still deep in the rap game and enmeshed in the world of visual arts, says it’s not easy to continuously make videos and do the heavy lifting of keeping the “Frisco-ism” alive, but he loves seeing how many people his work is influencing — and that’s what matters the most.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Below are some lightly edited excerpts of the episode with Dregs One.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pen: I love the first-person knowledge, firsthand historian, the person to say like, Nah, I was there, I lived it. And if I wasn’t there on that specific day, then I talked to the person who was there after, you know. There’s value in that. \u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dregs One: Yeah, I’m lucky, man. I mean, some of my big bros are legends. Some of my big bros been painting before I was born in 1983. And I’ve been to my boy Spy’s house, [of] TDK … in his basement. Where he’s just like, oh, what’s in this box? And it’s like, oh my God, it’s Mike Dream’s original notepaper pad from 1996 and where he wrote all these letters and he wrote all his thoughts down and he — what, oh, here’s a photo book of like, you know what I’m saying, graffiti in 1985. It’s like, I’ve been able to soak this stuff up from some really amazing people. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The San Francisco hip-hop culture, the rap culture, is really immersed in the community. So I grew up, you know, seeing some of this stuff around, I grew up seeing, you know, Rappin’ 4-tay stickers in my high school. I grew up seeing posters being put up.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>PEN: What was it like growing up in Lakeview? \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dregs One: It was dope. So it was like a foggy, desolate cut that was full of families, you know. You had to experience riding your bike, shooting hoops at the gym, you know, eating Now and Laters at the store. And then, you know, I lived on Randolph Street where the projects were right down the street, so it was a lot of, you know, drug activity. A lot of like, you know, kind of scary stuff for a little kid to be growing up around. But at the same time, you know, it was a beautiful community.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, [I was] running around, doing graffiti, going to graffiti parties, going to art shows. I was like 16 years old, drinking forties with people in their twenties, you know, legendary writers. They’re putting me up on stuff that I was too young to know about. … \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When you listen to music from the neighborhood by Cellski or Cougnut, it’s pretty accurate too — it sounds like what I saw.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Pen: You had a day, a specific day, where you jumped off the porch and got into the game — both as an artist, musician and as an artist, aerosol artist… \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dregs One: Obviously, I grew up seeing graffiti, fascinated by it. I knew kids who tagged, [but] I didn’t know that much about it. And then one day, I had a cast on my fingers. I broke my fingers. So I had a cast on my hand and this older kid was like, You know, I sign [people’s casts]. And he was like, Yeah, I’m gonna hit up my tag. But he wasn’t a tagger. So I just kind of clicked like, Oh, you can just have a tag! All right. Well, I’m finna make a tag! \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I told my friend in first period, and he was like, Here, I got a little … marker. I’ll sell it to you for five bucks. [It was] some dried up Magnum that he had already been using, but I’m like, Cool, I’m in the game. And then right after that class, I go to homeroom and my boy, Mike Ill is in there and I’m like, Check this out! I’m about to be a graffiti writer! And he was like, What? Okay, me too. Let’s go after school! So like after school, we went to his house and we just was tagging all along the way. And then I get to his house and — he was already a DJ. Had been DJ-ing since middle school. And he had wax and … he had Technic 1200s, and he was scratching and, and I’m like, learning all this stuff. I’m looking at all these records, it’s like local Frisco records. And then he was like, Check this out! And he played the documentary \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0143861/\">Scratch\u003c/a> on DVD, w\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">hich is all about Qbert and all the DJs. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that’s when everything went “Poof!” I was like, all right, can you help me make a demo tape with your turntables? \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I didn’t know how it worked. I just figured we get a microphone… And he was like, Yeah, let’s do it. So I was 14 years old and I was like, now I’m about to rap. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I would freestyle to myself. I would write little raps here and there. And I’m about to do graffiti. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The vinyl, the graffiti, the music — like it was all right there in front of me one day.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>***\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dregs One: There’s no denying that, like, the impact [of TikTok] is crazy. I went from like a hundred followers to about 40,000 on TikTok. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So it’s definitely reaching, um, new people. It’s crazy because what I’m really thankful for is that my audience goes literally from like 13 to 50, I’m reaching people who are like, Oh yeah, I remember we used to listen to that Spice 1 tape back in the day. And then I’m reaching like 13-year old kids who are like, Wow, this Spice 1 guy s\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ounds cool. I’m gonna go check him out.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s definitely taking things to a new level, but I do feel like this is just the beginning.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>***\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dregs One: I just started experimenting, just sharing my knowledge on some of these things that aren’t too heavily documented, in terms of the culture. What I could show people besides music [to] get them to know about me and what I’m about, which is Bay Area hip-hop culture, rap, and graffiti.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I can speak from these things from an authentic place. I might not have ever been the king of graffiti in Frisco, but like, no, I’m genuine, you know, been a genuine part of this culture. And I’m very thankful.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then at the same time, part of what I’m doing is how am I gonna keep this Frisco-ism alive? Right? I don’t want to see the culture … I thought it would be here forever. I took it for — just, there’s so many things. It’s hard to even put into words … Like the way the culture was, growing up — when you’re driving around in a little bucket, bumping RBL Posse, and you know, you get off on Market Street and you’re saying what’s up to Samoans and Filipinos, and then you gonna smob to the Mission. And … you know what I’m saying? Like that, I just want to see that continue. … I\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">f we can keep this culture alive, then you know, let’s just try our best. That’s how I see my role.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish\">NPR One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Rightnowish-p1258245/\">TuneIn\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish\">Stitcher\u003c/a> or wherever you get your podcasts. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC9915794114&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco lyricist and graffiti writer \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/dregs_one\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dregs One\u003c/a> is making sure Bay Area hip-hop culture is properly documented, and at the same time he’s becoming a recognized historian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a series of videos he simply calls “History of The Bay,” Dregs is using TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube to highlight aspects of Bay Area culture that are often overlooked. In one video he dives into the use of local slang, noting that music “slaps” and food doesn’t. Dregs has multiple videos honoring the work of legendary aerosol artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cfw_H0Mv8Fv/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike “Dream” Francisco\u003c/a> of the TDK crew, among numerous posts he’s done in dedication to local graff writers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dregs’ videos are short, often sprinkled with a touch of wry humor, and always laced with game straight from the soil. I talked to him about what it means to have thousands of views on his videos and how the work of documenting a culture that is often word of mouth inherently brings forth differing opinions. Dregs, who is still deep in the rap game and enmeshed in the world of visual arts, says it’s not easy to continuously make videos and do the heavy lifting of keeping the “Frisco-ism” alive, but he loves seeing how many people his work is influencing — and that’s what matters the most.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Below are some lightly edited excerpts of the episode with Dregs One.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pen: I love the first-person knowledge, firsthand historian, the person to say like, Nah, I was there, I lived it. And if I wasn’t there on that specific day, then I talked to the person who was there after, you know. There’s value in that. \u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dregs One: Yeah, I’m lucky, man. I mean, some of my big bros are legends. Some of my big bros been painting before I was born in 1983. And I’ve been to my boy Spy’s house, [of] TDK … in his basement. Where he’s just like, oh, what’s in this box? And it’s like, oh my God, it’s Mike Dream’s original notepaper pad from 1996 and where he wrote all these letters and he wrote all his thoughts down and he — what, oh, here’s a photo book of like, you know what I’m saying, graffiti in 1985. It’s like, I’ve been able to soak this stuff up from some really amazing people. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The San Francisco hip-hop culture, the rap culture, is really immersed in the community. So I grew up, you know, seeing some of this stuff around, I grew up seeing, you know, Rappin’ 4-tay stickers in my high school. I grew up seeing posters being put up.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>PEN: What was it like growing up in Lakeview? \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dregs One: It was dope. So it was like a foggy, desolate cut that was full of families, you know. You had to experience riding your bike, shooting hoops at the gym, you know, eating Now and Laters at the store. And then, you know, I lived on Randolph Street where the projects were right down the street, so it was a lot of, you know, drug activity. A lot of like, you know, kind of scary stuff for a little kid to be growing up around. But at the same time, you know, it was a beautiful community.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You know, [I was] running around, doing graffiti, going to graffiti parties, going to art shows. I was like 16 years old, drinking forties with people in their twenties, you know, legendary writers. They’re putting me up on stuff that I was too young to know about. … \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When you listen to music from the neighborhood by Cellski or Cougnut, it’s pretty accurate too — it sounds like what I saw.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Pen: You had a day, a specific day, where you jumped off the porch and got into the game — both as an artist, musician and as an artist, aerosol artist… \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dregs One: Obviously, I grew up seeing graffiti, fascinated by it. I knew kids who tagged, [but] I didn’t know that much about it. And then one day, I had a cast on my fingers. I broke my fingers. So I had a cast on my hand and this older kid was like, You know, I sign [people’s casts]. And he was like, Yeah, I’m gonna hit up my tag. But he wasn’t a tagger. So I just kind of clicked like, Oh, you can just have a tag! All right. Well, I’m finna make a tag! \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I told my friend in first period, and he was like, Here, I got a little … marker. I’ll sell it to you for five bucks. [It was] some dried up Magnum that he had already been using, but I’m like, Cool, I’m in the game. And then right after that class, I go to homeroom and my boy, Mike Ill is in there and I’m like, Check this out! I’m about to be a graffiti writer! And he was like, What? Okay, me too. Let’s go after school! So like after school, we went to his house and we just was tagging all along the way. And then I get to his house and — he was already a DJ. Had been DJ-ing since middle school. And he had wax and … he had Technic 1200s, and he was scratching and, and I’m like, learning all this stuff. I’m looking at all these records, it’s like local Frisco records. And then he was like, Check this out! And he played the documentary \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0143861/\">Scratch\u003c/a> on DVD, w\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">hich is all about Qbert and all the DJs. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that’s when everything went “Poof!” I was like, all right, can you help me make a demo tape with your turntables? \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I didn’t know how it worked. I just figured we get a microphone… And he was like, Yeah, let’s do it. So I was 14 years old and I was like, now I’m about to rap. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I would freestyle to myself. I would write little raps here and there. And I’m about to do graffiti. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The vinyl, the graffiti, the music — like it was all right there in front of me one day.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>***\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dregs One: There’s no denying that, like, the impact [of TikTok] is crazy. I went from like a hundred followers to about 40,000 on TikTok. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So it’s definitely reaching, um, new people. It’s crazy because what I’m really thankful for is that my audience goes literally from like 13 to 50, I’m reaching people who are like, Oh yeah, I remember we used to listen to that Spice 1 tape back in the day. And then I’m reaching like 13-year old kids who are like, Wow, this Spice 1 guy s\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ounds cool. I’m gonna go check him out.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s definitely taking things to a new level, but I do feel like this is just the beginning.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>***\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dregs One: I just started experimenting, just sharing my knowledge on some of these things that aren’t too heavily documented, in terms of the culture. What I could show people besides music [to] get them to know about me and what I’m about, which is Bay Area hip-hop culture, rap, and graffiti.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And I can speak from these things from an authentic place. I might not have ever been the king of graffiti in Frisco, but like, no, I’m genuine, you know, been a genuine part of this culture. And I’m very thankful.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then at the same time, part of what I’m doing is how am I gonna keep this Frisco-ism alive? Right? I don’t want to see the culture … I thought it would be here forever. I took it for — just, there’s so many things. It’s hard to even put into words … Like the way the culture was, growing up — when you’re driving around in a little bucket, bumping RBL Posse, and you know, you get off on Market Street and you’re saying what’s up to Samoans and Filipinos, and then you gonna smob to the Mission. And … you know what I’m saying? Like that, I just want to see that continue. … I\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">f we can keep this culture alive, then you know, let’s just try our best. That’s how I see my role.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Rightnowish is an arts and culture podcast produced at KQED. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or click the play button at the top of this page and subscribe to the show on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish\">NPR One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I\">Spotify\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Rightnowish-p1258245/\">TuneIn\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish\">Stitcher\u003c/a> or wherever you get your podcasts. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Guapdad 4000 isn’t your prototypical rapper. For starters, the West Oakland artist is part of the Marvel Universe’s \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> soundtrack, something he’s proud about as a comic head.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I’m a huge Marvel fan and it was the first Asian American movie. I knew they was finna go crazy,” he says. “I was juiced. Especially to champion my Filipino side as a part of that. And it takes place in the Bay? Not even Thanos could snap me out of that.” [aside postid='arts_13902470']\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you don’t know Guap, he’s an essential player in the Bay Area’s latest wave of Filipino American artists who’ve taken over the scene with their eclectically unparalleled vibrancy. You can’t talk about Bay Area music in 2021 without mentioning him or the “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SeZHOqSsZA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">same squad, same squad\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">” of Fil Ams from here, including H.E.R, Ruby Ibarra, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13924828/rocky-rivera-ruckus-magazine-hyphy-movement-hip-hop\">Rocky Rivera\u003c/a>, P-Lo, Kuya Beats and Saweetie, to name a a few. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Saweetie has \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/9446648/saweetie-tap-in-top-10-rb-hip-hop-songs-chart\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">two chart-topping singles\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and a McDonald’s meal with her name on it. P-Lo \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13899945/how-the-bay-area-reshaped-a-classic-soundtrack\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">produced “About That Time,”\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> the most-streamed song from this summer’s \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Space Jam: A New Legacy\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> soundtrack, featuring verses from NBA All Star Damian Lillard, G-Eazy and White Dave. H.E.R won four Grammys and launched the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13903394/photos-h-e-r-erykah-badu-and-other-rb-stars-shine-at-lights-on-festival\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lights On Festival\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, with nearly 6 million followers on Instagram. Rivera added “author” to her resume with the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13894648/rapper-and-activist-rocky-rivera-embraces-growth-in-her-first-book-snakeskin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">publication of her debut book\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Ibarra is literally \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13887169/whats-on-your-ballot-ruby-ibarra-rapper-and-scientist\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a scientist\u003c/a> and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/community/asian-pacific-america/scientist-and-rapper-ruby-ibarra-on-asian-pacific-america/2580781/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">co-founded the Pinays Rising Scholarship Program\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. And that’s just in the past few months.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This list doesn’t even include the unquantifiable amount of genuine community work, activism and representation each artist has provided throughout Northern California and beyond over their careers and lifetimes. It also doesn’t even touch on the OG Pinoys and Pinays who certainly paved the path for this ascendance to happen.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13903463\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13903463\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/D7A5910.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/D7A5910.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/D7A5910-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/D7A5910-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">H.E.R. performs at Lights On Festival at Concord Pavilion on Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A-Side: Chicken Adobo\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“My mother’s side is Filipino. My grandma is a short, 5’3” lady from Zambales in the Philippines. My grandfather is Black and was a merchant marine out there on a military base. They met and decided to move to Oakland and that’s how my roots started in the Bay,” Guap says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s a relatable truth for many Bay Area locals, who’ve grown up here with mixed backgrounds and a fluid sense of self across the generations. Alongside his Fil Am peers, Guap is voicing his multi-ethnic experience in an idiosyncratic, hyphy-melodic way, narrating where he’s from and his journey navigating the world as a Black Pinoy.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/1DaovaJgytE\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With his popular single “Chicken Adobo” (a love song inspired by his lola’s cooking) and his feature on Thundercat’s “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/T2bcUZj6LAc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dragonball Durag\u003c/a>” (a tribute to the classic anime), Guap is constantly dropping hints about his Asian American upbringing and identity—though, most people admittedly don’t perceive him as Filipino upon initially seeing him.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“My direct portion is one-fourth Filipino,” he says. “I don’t use that mindstate though. I’m equal Black and Filipino. My lola raised me in a biracial household, cooking and speaking both languages. I went to an all-Filipino church for 15 years. I was immersed in the culture. Hella [stuff] in my upbringing comes straight from my Filipino side.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Guap’s style and albums are reflective of his modern Filipino upbringing in the Bay Area—which is to say, it’s not singularly limited. It’s multidimensional and authentic, an unapologetic fusion. And it’s helping to put Filipino Americans back on the map. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But he’s not alone. He just happens to be one \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQuajCfNBA8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alpha\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in this group of trendsetters. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13867199\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13867199\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/Saweetie-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Saweetie performs at Rolling Loud 2018 in Oakland.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/Saweetie.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/Saweetie-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/Saweetie-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Saweetie performs at Rolling Loud 2018 in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“If you look at every pillar in hip-hop that exists, all of ’em, it’s gonna be at least one Filipino in there that’s a legend,” Guapdad says. “Chad Hugo [from The Neptunes]. H.E.R. Qbert. Jabbawockeez. Over the years Filipinos have found ways to integrate themselves seamlessly. It’s global but it’s also bringing that back to a local scale.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In other words, they got roots.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>B-Side: Origins and Migrations\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With over 310,000 Filipino residents, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.asianjournal.com/usa/dateline-usa/pew-research-over-4-2m-filipino-americans-in-the-us/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the San Francisco Bay Area boasts the second-largest population of the diaspora in the United States\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Per capita, it’s among the most densely populated Filipino areas outside of the Philippines. It’s no surprise then that \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.vox.com/2020/3/10/21172993/filipino-neighborhood-san-francisco-destroyed-i-hotel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">there was once a Manilatown in San Francisco\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which blossomed from the 1920s through the 1970s until it was systematically dismantled and cannibalized as part of the “Manhattanization” of downtown’s Financial District. Starting in the 1950s, low-income Filipinos were evicted to make room for “a Wall Street of the West.” The story is just one chapter of the ongoing battle to maintain affordable housing in one of the world’s most expensive cities. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/tcsdglJFT0M\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Still, Filipinos have thrived along the Bay Area’s shorelines, allowing for many artists, activists and changemakers to emerge and collaboratively grow here—especially through the rebellion of hip-hop.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We were raised by brown immigrants in America, but immigrants who were educated in American colonial systems,” says \u003ca href=\"https://barbarajanereyes.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Barbara Jane Reyes\u003c/a>, a Manila-born poet and professor at the University of San Francisco. “Our parents’ aesthetic preferences were rooted in colonial whiteness. So seeing brown kids having a good time while listening to what we were told was the music of Black people seemed scary to them.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">By adopting hip-hop as a form of self expression, many Filipinos during the 1980s were able to create a sense of selfhood that might’ve otherwise felt trampled on or neglected by previous generations and institutional ideologies. [aside postid='arts_13812554']\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But how exactly did so many Filipinos like Reyes, who grew up in the East Bay, and her family end up migrating to the San Francisco Bay Area—where they’ve been able to directly participate in hip-hop’s growth—to begin with? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The story spans centuries, but Reyes tells me there was a turning point in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/us-immigration-since-1965\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Immigration and Nationality Act\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. In an effort to attract skilled labor, the law abolished discriminatory quotas that once prevented Asians and Pacific Islanders from entering the country after World War II. The decision might’ve been the most influential factor in allowing Filipino families to spread across California, forever changing the demographics of coastal North America.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We had migrant laborers who came to the territory of Hawai’i in 1905. Then laborers who came to the continental West Coast in the ’20s and ’30s,” says Professor Reyes. “Then World War II happened and there’s another wave of migration with [Filipino] Americans who enlist in the military, go to the Philippines to fight, and come back with war brides to the States and raise their families here. It wasn’t until ’65 til that all opened up more. And we’ve been here ever since.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Importantly, the 1965 Act was largely a result of monumental liberation efforts made during the Civil Rights, Chicano and United Farmworkers Movements. That unity among multi-ethnic, working-class communities foreshadowed an allyship that would eventually coalesce organically into hip-hop.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It wasn’t about popular entertainment but had something to do with making cultural and political statements,” says Reyes. “Listening to hip-hop, I realized something else was happening that made me have to look at my parents’ colonial education and love for whiteness. Going to rap was part of that exploration of asking, ‘Why do you love whiteness so much and why is Blackness so scary to you?’ How do we find kinship in those communities?” [aside postid=\"arts_13895462']\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">By the late 1980s, Filipinos had fully integrated themselves into Bay Area shipyards and city centers as military personnel and blue-collar workers. They also moved into suburbs and middle-class areas with access to college and professional careers in health, education and other fields. Their proliferation led to more intersectional involvement in Americanized cultures, such as\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.undiscoveredsf.com/blog/2019/7/13/a-look-back-at-filipino-american-rampb-music-of-the-1990s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> freestyle and R&B of the ’90s\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With a visible community already established, and clearly growing, conditions led to the formation of tightly-connected enclaves in places like Fremont, Vallejo and, most famously, Daly City.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>C-Side: Spinning Records, Breaking Barriers\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Filipinos have always been present in Bay Area hip-hop. Ever since the artform emerged as a vehicle for social justice and cultural empowerment, they’ve been among the most active participants in DJing, breakdancing, graffiti and MCing—from Daly City to Vallejo and back down to San Jose. Like many diverse immigrant diasporas who serendipitously arrive in the Golden State, Fil Ams have been a true staple in our neighborhoods, and their role in hip-hop is a reflection of that shared, liberating transcendence.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“My aunt, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.hopclear.com/filipino-amerian-mom-goes-viral-for-being-an-awesome-dj/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">DJ Lady Ames\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, was one of the first Pinay DJs to come out of San Francisco. She went to Balboa High \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbnDXp4lYuk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">during the ’80s while the mobile DJing scene was happening\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and she started a crew with her friends,” says Delrokz.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905237\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 512px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905237\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/delrokz.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"341\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/delrokz.jpg 512w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/delrokz-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Delrokz in his Hayward record shop, The Stacks. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Del is a DJ and b-boy who has lived all over the “Yay Area,” but is currently posted up in downtown Hayward, where he owns his new record shop, \u003ca href=\"https://www.thestacksrecordshop.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Stacks\u003c/a>.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“To be Filipina and have a whole crew of DJs, that was revolutionary at its time in the early ’80s,” he says. “They were an all Pinay group, The GoGos. There really weren’t that many women DJs getting attention back then. But I grew up around her and my uncles and that whole culture. It’s part of who I am.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Del is the founder and organizer of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/breakthebay/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Break the Bay\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, an annual five-on-five breakdance competition that spins on principles of community, fun and “healthy competition.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s yet another manifestation of how the Filipino homies have not only been a part of the culture, but have pioneered spaces for others to be a part of the culture, too—regardless of gender or age.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Del emphasizes that he is a second-generation Fil Am, whose mom immigrated from the islands at a very early age, and whose dad was born here. It’s an important detail to distinguish.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“My parents listened to hip-hop,” he explains. “I had a different experience than someone who’s parents immigrated here directly. Hip-hop culture is so deep within the Filipino Bay Area because it’s been passed for so long. We also just have a lot of parties, so having good DJs makes a lot of sense for us.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://vimeo.com/239151243\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To say Bay Area Filipinos have become good DJs is an understatement. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Widely credited as the most innovative turntablists in modern hip-hop history, the Invisibl Skratch Piklz symbolize everything that Bay Area Filipinos have meant to the world of DJing. Their members—DJ QBert, Mixmaster Mike, DJ Apollo, Shortkut and D-Styles, to name some—have been dominant in global competitions such as the International Turntablist Federation battles since the ’80s. At one point, they received so many awards that other crews didn’t even show up to compete. By the late 90s, their members were frequently asked to be \u003ca href=\"https://www.mtv.com/news/tmaa3x/infamous-scratches-out-victory-in-us-dj-competition\">judges for the nation’s best DJ competitions\u003c/a>.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.factmag.com/2016/09/08/invisibl-skratch-piklz-the-13th-floor/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Underground hip-hip historian Laurent Fintoni\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—the author of \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bedroom Beats & B-Sides: Instrumental Hip-Hop and Electronic Music at the Turn of the Century\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—lauded the Piklz as the original group who “invented the concept of a DJ band, elevated the turntablist art form to new technical and creative heights and helped drive technological innovation.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Connecting five turntables to scratch, mix and fade all at once, live on stage? Yup. These Filipino DJs are known for popularizing that. Their craft went on to birth future groups in the genre of turntablism, such as The X-Ecutioners from New York City.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Between the Piklz, DJ Lady Ames, Delrokz and so many other Filipino Americans from this time and place, DJing went from inside the garages of Daly City’s battling crews to a globally revolutionized way of life.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10345320\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10345320\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2015/01/QBertMain-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/01/QBertMain.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/01/QBertMain-400x225.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ QBert. \u003ccite>(Thud Rumble)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>D-Side: Underground Legends\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you’ve ever noticed “TDK” tagged on any Bay Area surface, then you’ve likely seen the work of Vogue and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13863999/dream-day-2019-celebrating-mike-dream-franciscos-50th-birthday\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the late Mike Dream Francisco\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. They are—in the opinion of every Bay Area graffiti artist I know—two of the most iconic dudes to ever wield cans of aerosol. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You shouldn’t be surprised to learn that they’re Filipinos. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Here are a few more Pinoy names you may or may not have heard about who have helped to shape, or are currently shaping, Bay Area culture: \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reyresurreccion/?hl=en\">Rey Resurrection\u003c/a>, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/10445851/from-gangs-to-glory-bambus-political-hip-hop-for-the-people\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bambu\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Celskiii, Deeandroid, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dj_bitesize/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">DJ Bitesize\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://dothebay.com/artists/knuckle-neck-tribe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Knuckle Neck Tribe\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And who can forget one of the most influential sound architects of the entire hyphy movement?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dustin “Nump” Perfetto is a 707 product who has been inside studios with everyone’s favorite musicians, from E-40 to Green Day. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13924042/nump-hyphy-i-gott-grapes-interview\">He operated as the recording engineer\u003c/a> on countless albums from that glorious era in Bay Area music history, including \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rick Rock Presents Federation: The Album\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which features the timeless anthem, “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/oe7ohnlZhBc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hyphy\u003c/a>.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Filipinos play a major part behind the scenes but it hasn’t always been as popular for us to be mainstream,” Perfetto says. “I won’t stop ’til we get that respect.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887463\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13887463\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/RubyIbarra.MAIN_.jpg\" alt=\"Ruby Ibarra in an East Bay park.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/RubyIbarra.MAIN_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/RubyIbarra.MAIN_-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/RubyIbarra.MAIN_-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ruby Ibarra. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">By promoting his pride in launching his own clothing line, Gorillapino, and collaborating with former and current Fil Am artists (including Ruby Ibarra on her incisive 2017 album, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://pinoyhiphopsuperstar.com/ruby-ibarra-circa-91-album-review/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">CIRCA91\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which includes extensive verses in Tagalog) Perfetto personifies the undying grit and collective strength of the Fil Am hip hop community that has always been \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccm73eJo2_U\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Going Off”\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for the Bay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“\u003ca href=\"https://theculturetrip.com/asia/philippines/articles/the-story-of-lapu-lapu-the-legendary-filipino-hero/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lapulapu\u003c/a> is the original Filipino warrior who cut off Magellan’s head when they tried to conquer us,” Perfetto says. “That’s the energy I move with. That’s who we are.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Translation: Filipinos stand united for anything they believe in. And local history underscores how they’ve always utilized the powers of music and community for good.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/xOrYbSM1ArI\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Perfetto and the rest of these artists making waves out here can definitely wreck microphones, but they can just as easily build across communities to reach audiences of any background. More than anything, they represent how the Bay is a soil of innovation and solidarity—how we’re all building towards communal celebration.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We have a lot of similarities with other cultures,” Guapdad reminds me. “It’s just something we need to celebrate more.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Guapdad, Saweetie and some of today's best-known Bay Area artists rep their Filipino heritage, continuing a tradition going back to the '80s.",
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"title": "A New Generation of Filipino Hip-Hop Builds On a Deep Bay Area Legacy | KQED",
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"headline": "A New Generation of Filipino Hip-Hop Builds On a Deep Bay Area Legacy",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Guapdad 4000 isn’t your prototypical rapper. For starters, the West Oakland artist is part of the Marvel Universe’s \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> soundtrack, something he’s proud about as a comic head.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I’m a huge Marvel fan and it was the first Asian American movie. I knew they was finna go crazy,” he says. “I was juiced. Especially to champion my Filipino side as a part of that. And it takes place in the Bay? Not even Thanos could snap me out of that.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you don’t know Guap, he’s an essential player in the Bay Area’s latest wave of Filipino American artists who’ve taken over the scene with their eclectically unparalleled vibrancy. You can’t talk about Bay Area music in 2021 without mentioning him or the “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SeZHOqSsZA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">same squad, same squad\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">” of Fil Ams from here, including H.E.R, Ruby Ibarra, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13924828/rocky-rivera-ruckus-magazine-hyphy-movement-hip-hop\">Rocky Rivera\u003c/a>, P-Lo, Kuya Beats and Saweetie, to name a a few. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Saweetie has \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/9446648/saweetie-tap-in-top-10-rb-hip-hop-songs-chart\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">two chart-topping singles\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and a McDonald’s meal with her name on it. P-Lo \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13899945/how-the-bay-area-reshaped-a-classic-soundtrack\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">produced “About That Time,”\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> the most-streamed song from this summer’s \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Space Jam: A New Legacy\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> soundtrack, featuring verses from NBA All Star Damian Lillard, G-Eazy and White Dave. H.E.R won four Grammys and launched the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13903394/photos-h-e-r-erykah-badu-and-other-rb-stars-shine-at-lights-on-festival\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lights On Festival\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, with nearly 6 million followers on Instagram. Rivera added “author” to her resume with the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13894648/rapper-and-activist-rocky-rivera-embraces-growth-in-her-first-book-snakeskin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">publication of her debut book\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Ibarra is literally \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13887169/whats-on-your-ballot-ruby-ibarra-rapper-and-scientist\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a scientist\u003c/a> and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/community/asian-pacific-america/scientist-and-rapper-ruby-ibarra-on-asian-pacific-america/2580781/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">co-founded the Pinays Rising Scholarship Program\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. And that’s just in the past few months.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This list doesn’t even include the unquantifiable amount of genuine community work, activism and representation each artist has provided throughout Northern California and beyond over their careers and lifetimes. It also doesn’t even touch on the OG Pinoys and Pinays who certainly paved the path for this ascendance to happen.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13903463\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13903463\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/D7A5910.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/D7A5910.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/D7A5910-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/D7A5910-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">H.E.R. performs at Lights On Festival at Concord Pavilion on Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A-Side: Chicken Adobo\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“My mother’s side is Filipino. My grandma is a short, 5’3” lady from Zambales in the Philippines. My grandfather is Black and was a merchant marine out there on a military base. They met and decided to move to Oakland and that’s how my roots started in the Bay,” Guap says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s a relatable truth for many Bay Area locals, who’ve grown up here with mixed backgrounds and a fluid sense of self across the generations. Alongside his Fil Am peers, Guap is voicing his multi-ethnic experience in an idiosyncratic, hyphy-melodic way, narrating where he’s from and his journey navigating the world as a Black Pinoy.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/1DaovaJgytE'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/1DaovaJgytE'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With his popular single “Chicken Adobo” (a love song inspired by his lola’s cooking) and his feature on Thundercat’s “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/T2bcUZj6LAc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dragonball Durag\u003c/a>” (a tribute to the classic anime), Guap is constantly dropping hints about his Asian American upbringing and identity—though, most people admittedly don’t perceive him as Filipino upon initially seeing him.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“My direct portion is one-fourth Filipino,” he says. “I don’t use that mindstate though. I’m equal Black and Filipino. My lola raised me in a biracial household, cooking and speaking both languages. I went to an all-Filipino church for 15 years. I was immersed in the culture. Hella [stuff] in my upbringing comes straight from my Filipino side.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Guap’s style and albums are reflective of his modern Filipino upbringing in the Bay Area—which is to say, it’s not singularly limited. It’s multidimensional and authentic, an unapologetic fusion. And it’s helping to put Filipino Americans back on the map. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But he’s not alone. He just happens to be one \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQuajCfNBA8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alpha\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in this group of trendsetters. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13867199\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13867199\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/Saweetie-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Saweetie performs at Rolling Loud 2018 in Oakland.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/Saweetie.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/Saweetie-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/Saweetie-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Saweetie performs at Rolling Loud 2018 in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“If you look at every pillar in hip-hop that exists, all of ’em, it’s gonna be at least one Filipino in there that’s a legend,” Guapdad says. “Chad Hugo [from The Neptunes]. H.E.R. Qbert. Jabbawockeez. Over the years Filipinos have found ways to integrate themselves seamlessly. It’s global but it’s also bringing that back to a local scale.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In other words, they got roots.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>B-Side: Origins and Migrations\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With over 310,000 Filipino residents, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.asianjournal.com/usa/dateline-usa/pew-research-over-4-2m-filipino-americans-in-the-us/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the San Francisco Bay Area boasts the second-largest population of the diaspora in the United States\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Per capita, it’s among the most densely populated Filipino areas outside of the Philippines. It’s no surprise then that \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.vox.com/2020/3/10/21172993/filipino-neighborhood-san-francisco-destroyed-i-hotel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">there was once a Manilatown in San Francisco\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which blossomed from the 1920s through the 1970s until it was systematically dismantled and cannibalized as part of the “Manhattanization” of downtown’s Financial District. Starting in the 1950s, low-income Filipinos were evicted to make room for “a Wall Street of the West.” The story is just one chapter of the ongoing battle to maintain affordable housing in one of the world’s most expensive cities. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/tcsdglJFT0M'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/tcsdglJFT0M'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Still, Filipinos have thrived along the Bay Area’s shorelines, allowing for many artists, activists and changemakers to emerge and collaboratively grow here—especially through the rebellion of hip-hop.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We were raised by brown immigrants in America, but immigrants who were educated in American colonial systems,” says \u003ca href=\"https://barbarajanereyes.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Barbara Jane Reyes\u003c/a>, a Manila-born poet and professor at the University of San Francisco. “Our parents’ aesthetic preferences were rooted in colonial whiteness. So seeing brown kids having a good time while listening to what we were told was the music of Black people seemed scary to them.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">By adopting hip-hop as a form of self expression, many Filipinos during the 1980s were able to create a sense of selfhood that might’ve otherwise felt trampled on or neglected by previous generations and institutional ideologies. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But how exactly did so many Filipinos like Reyes, who grew up in the East Bay, and her family end up migrating to the San Francisco Bay Area—where they’ve been able to directly participate in hip-hop’s growth—to begin with? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The story spans centuries, but Reyes tells me there was a turning point in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/us-immigration-since-1965\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Immigration and Nationality Act\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. In an effort to attract skilled labor, the law abolished discriminatory quotas that once prevented Asians and Pacific Islanders from entering the country after World War II. The decision might’ve been the most influential factor in allowing Filipino families to spread across California, forever changing the demographics of coastal North America.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We had migrant laborers who came to the territory of Hawai’i in 1905. Then laborers who came to the continental West Coast in the ’20s and ’30s,” says Professor Reyes. “Then World War II happened and there’s another wave of migration with [Filipino] Americans who enlist in the military, go to the Philippines to fight, and come back with war brides to the States and raise their families here. It wasn’t until ’65 til that all opened up more. And we’ve been here ever since.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Importantly, the 1965 Act was largely a result of monumental liberation efforts made during the Civil Rights, Chicano and United Farmworkers Movements. That unity among multi-ethnic, working-class communities foreshadowed an allyship that would eventually coalesce organically into hip-hop.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It wasn’t about popular entertainment but had something to do with making cultural and political statements,” says Reyes. “Listening to hip-hop, I realized something else was happening that made me have to look at my parents’ colonial education and love for whiteness. Going to rap was part of that exploration of asking, ‘Why do you love whiteness so much and why is Blackness so scary to you?’ How do we find kinship in those communities?” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">By the late 1980s, Filipinos had fully integrated themselves into Bay Area shipyards and city centers as military personnel and blue-collar workers. They also moved into suburbs and middle-class areas with access to college and professional careers in health, education and other fields. Their proliferation led to more intersectional involvement in Americanized cultures, such as\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.undiscoveredsf.com/blog/2019/7/13/a-look-back-at-filipino-american-rampb-music-of-the-1990s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> freestyle and R&B of the ’90s\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With a visible community already established, and clearly growing, conditions led to the formation of tightly-connected enclaves in places like Fremont, Vallejo and, most famously, Daly City.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>C-Side: Spinning Records, Breaking Barriers\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Filipinos have always been present in Bay Area hip-hop. Ever since the artform emerged as a vehicle for social justice and cultural empowerment, they’ve been among the most active participants in DJing, breakdancing, graffiti and MCing—from Daly City to Vallejo and back down to San Jose. Like many diverse immigrant diasporas who serendipitously arrive in the Golden State, Fil Ams have been a true staple in our neighborhoods, and their role in hip-hop is a reflection of that shared, liberating transcendence.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“My aunt, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.hopclear.com/filipino-amerian-mom-goes-viral-for-being-an-awesome-dj/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">DJ Lady Ames\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, was one of the first Pinay DJs to come out of San Francisco. She went to Balboa High \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbnDXp4lYuk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">during the ’80s while the mobile DJing scene was happening\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and she started a crew with her friends,” says Delrokz.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13905237\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 512px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13905237\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/delrokz.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"341\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/delrokz.jpg 512w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/delrokz-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Delrokz in his Hayward record shop, The Stacks. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Del is a DJ and b-boy who has lived all over the “Yay Area,” but is currently posted up in downtown Hayward, where he owns his new record shop, \u003ca href=\"https://www.thestacksrecordshop.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Stacks\u003c/a>.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“To be Filipina and have a whole crew of DJs, that was revolutionary at its time in the early ’80s,” he says. “They were an all Pinay group, The GoGos. There really weren’t that many women DJs getting attention back then. But I grew up around her and my uncles and that whole culture. It’s part of who I am.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Del is the founder and organizer of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/breakthebay/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Break the Bay\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, an annual five-on-five breakdance competition that spins on principles of community, fun and “healthy competition.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s yet another manifestation of how the Filipino homies have not only been a part of the culture, but have pioneered spaces for others to be a part of the culture, too—regardless of gender or age.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Del emphasizes that he is a second-generation Fil Am, whose mom immigrated from the islands at a very early age, and whose dad was born here. It’s an important detail to distinguish.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“My parents listened to hip-hop,” he explains. “I had a different experience than someone who’s parents immigrated here directly. Hip-hop culture is so deep within the Filipino Bay Area because it’s been passed for so long. We also just have a lot of parties, so having good DJs makes a lot of sense for us.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To say Bay Area Filipinos have become good DJs is an understatement. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Widely credited as the most innovative turntablists in modern hip-hop history, the Invisibl Skratch Piklz symbolize everything that Bay Area Filipinos have meant to the world of DJing. Their members—DJ QBert, Mixmaster Mike, DJ Apollo, Shortkut and D-Styles, to name some—have been dominant in global competitions such as the International Turntablist Federation battles since the ’80s. At one point, they received so many awards that other crews didn’t even show up to compete. By the late 90s, their members were frequently asked to be \u003ca href=\"https://www.mtv.com/news/tmaa3x/infamous-scratches-out-victory-in-us-dj-competition\">judges for the nation’s best DJ competitions\u003c/a>.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.factmag.com/2016/09/08/invisibl-skratch-piklz-the-13th-floor/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Underground hip-hip historian Laurent Fintoni\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—the author of \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bedroom Beats & B-Sides: Instrumental Hip-Hop and Electronic Music at the Turn of the Century\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—lauded the Piklz as the original group who “invented the concept of a DJ band, elevated the turntablist art form to new technical and creative heights and helped drive technological innovation.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Connecting five turntables to scratch, mix and fade all at once, live on stage? Yup. These Filipino DJs are known for popularizing that. Their craft went on to birth future groups in the genre of turntablism, such as The X-Ecutioners from New York City.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Between the Piklz, DJ Lady Ames, Delrokz and so many other Filipino Americans from this time and place, DJing went from inside the garages of Daly City’s battling crews to a globally revolutionized way of life.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10345320\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10345320\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2015/01/QBertMain-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/01/QBertMain.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/01/QBertMain-400x225.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ QBert. \u003ccite>(Thud Rumble)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>D-Side: Underground Legends\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you’ve ever noticed “TDK” tagged on any Bay Area surface, then you’ve likely seen the work of Vogue and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13863999/dream-day-2019-celebrating-mike-dream-franciscos-50th-birthday\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the late Mike Dream Francisco\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. They are—in the opinion of every Bay Area graffiti artist I know—two of the most iconic dudes to ever wield cans of aerosol. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You shouldn’t be surprised to learn that they’re Filipinos. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Here are a few more Pinoy names you may or may not have heard about who have helped to shape, or are currently shaping, Bay Area culture: \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reyresurreccion/?hl=en\">Rey Resurrection\u003c/a>, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/10445851/from-gangs-to-glory-bambus-political-hip-hop-for-the-people\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bambu\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Celskiii, Deeandroid, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dj_bitesize/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">DJ Bitesize\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://dothebay.com/artists/knuckle-neck-tribe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Knuckle Neck Tribe\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And who can forget one of the most influential sound architects of the entire hyphy movement?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dustin “Nump” Perfetto is a 707 product who has been inside studios with everyone’s favorite musicians, from E-40 to Green Day. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13924042/nump-hyphy-i-gott-grapes-interview\">He operated as the recording engineer\u003c/a> on countless albums from that glorious era in Bay Area music history, including \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rick Rock Presents Federation: The Album\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which features the timeless anthem, “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/oe7ohnlZhBc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hyphy\u003c/a>.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Filipinos play a major part behind the scenes but it hasn’t always been as popular for us to be mainstream,” Perfetto says. “I won’t stop ’til we get that respect.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887463\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13887463\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/RubyIbarra.MAIN_.jpg\" alt=\"Ruby Ibarra in an East Bay park.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/RubyIbarra.MAIN_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/RubyIbarra.MAIN_-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/RubyIbarra.MAIN_-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ruby Ibarra. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">By promoting his pride in launching his own clothing line, Gorillapino, and collaborating with former and current Fil Am artists (including Ruby Ibarra on her incisive 2017 album, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://pinoyhiphopsuperstar.com/ruby-ibarra-circa-91-album-review/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">CIRCA91\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which includes extensive verses in Tagalog) Perfetto personifies the undying grit and collective strength of the Fil Am hip hop community that has always been \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccm73eJo2_U\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Going Off”\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for the Bay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“\u003ca href=\"https://theculturetrip.com/asia/philippines/articles/the-story-of-lapu-lapu-the-legendary-filipino-hero/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lapulapu\u003c/a> is the original Filipino warrior who cut off Magellan’s head when they tried to conquer us,” Perfetto says. “That’s the energy I move with. That’s who we are.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Translation: Filipinos stand united for anything they believe in. And local history underscores how they’ve always utilized the powers of music and community for good.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/xOrYbSM1ArI'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/xOrYbSM1ArI'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Perfetto and the rest of these artists making waves out here can definitely wreck microphones, but they can just as easily build across communities to reach audiences of any background. More than anything, they represent how the Bay is a soil of innovation and solidarity—how we’re all building towards communal celebration.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We have a lot of similarities with other cultures,” Guapdad reminds me. “It’s just something we need to celebrate more.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Dream Day 2019: Celebrating Mike 'Dream' Francisco's 50th Birthday",
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"content": "\u003cp>On Aug. 17, Mosswood Park in Oakland will be full of people gathered in celebration of the 50th birthday of the late, great Mike “Dream” Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dream, a legendary graffiti writer, was raised in Alameda and spent time all over the Bay Area. But he found a home on the walls of Oakland—specifically those near 23rd Avenue and East 12th Street, in what’s known as Oakland’s 23rd Yards. He got his first taste of writing in 1983, and from that moment on, Dream used the walls of the Bay Area as a canvas to create artwork so impressive that publications around the world took note.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His notable hand styles and clever messages, as well as the proliferation of pieces that simply read DREAM, helped to spread his name in the graffiti writing world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13864061\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13864061\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/DSC01619-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"Best Of Both Worlds-Dream\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/DSC01619-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/DSC01619-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/DSC01619-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/DSC01619-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/DSC01619-1200x797.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/DSC01619-1920x1276.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/DSC01619.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two of Dream’s more popular pieces, ‘The Best Of Both Worlds’ and ‘Sweet Dreams.’ \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Much more than just a writer, Dream was a hustler who grew to be politicized. He had the Bay Area vernacular and charisma, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zklG2h4B86o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">and used it in conversation\u003c/a>. He was a proud first-generation Filipino guy who loved hip-hop, and kicked it with folks of all nationalities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was also a founding member of a crew of writers known as TDK, which originally stood for “Those Damn Kids.” But you know how it is: multiple meanings for an acronym emerge, depending on what the crew got into. So, when they did devious things, they were “The Dark Knights.” When they were talking politics, it was “Tax Dollars Kill.” When they were bragging about how dope they were, they were “The Damn Kings.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Years have passed and the crew has grown. A lot of them still paint; you can find TDK pieces in all corners of the Town. Some have used their artistic ability for other things, like becoming tattoo artists. And a few of them became teachers, still carrying the TDK name—you know, “Teach Da Kids.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13864060\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13864060\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/IMG_1636-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Dream memorial at the front door of East Side Arts Alliance\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/IMG_1636-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/IMG_1636-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/IMG_1636-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/IMG_1636-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/IMG_1636-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/IMG_1636-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/IMG_1636.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dream memorial at the front door of East Side Arts Alliance. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After Mike ‘Dream’ Francisco was killed on Feb. 17, 2000, in Oakland, the City of Oakland \u003ca href=\"http://nvrovr.blogspot.com/2010/02/city-of-oakland-honors-dream-day.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">officially designated\u003c/a> that day as Dream Day in 2010. His legacy not only lives on in the photos of his work and his crew’s continued contributions to the arts, but through his son Akil as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I have a close connection to Dream’s story: my 2014 documentary film, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDp38sltic8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>TDK: The Dream Kontinues\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, highlights just a bit of his life and artistry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for a real sense of his legacy in the Bay Area, there’s nothing like being around the people he worked with, and the writers he inspired. At Mosswood Park this Saturday, friends, family and writers from around the world will share signatures, tell stories and listen to golden-era hip-hop, with music by DJ Qbert, Wes, Nump and more. It’s all to honor the life of one of the most well-loved graffiti artists of the region.\u003cem>—Pendarvis Harshaw\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"startTimeString": "Aug. 17, 11am-7pm",
"venueName": "Mosswood Park",
"venueAddress": "3612 Webster St., Oakland",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On Aug. 17, Mosswood Park in Oakland will be full of people gathered in celebration of the 50th birthday of the late, great Mike “Dream” Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dream, a legendary graffiti writer, was raised in Alameda and spent time all over the Bay Area. But he found a home on the walls of Oakland—specifically those near 23rd Avenue and East 12th Street, in what’s known as Oakland’s 23rd Yards. He got his first taste of writing in 1983, and from that moment on, Dream used the walls of the Bay Area as a canvas to create artwork so impressive that publications around the world took note.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His notable hand styles and clever messages, as well as the proliferation of pieces that simply read DREAM, helped to spread his name in the graffiti writing world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13864061\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13864061\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/DSC01619-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"Best Of Both Worlds-Dream\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/DSC01619-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/DSC01619-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/DSC01619-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/DSC01619-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/DSC01619-1200x797.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/DSC01619-1920x1276.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/DSC01619.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two of Dream’s more popular pieces, ‘The Best Of Both Worlds’ and ‘Sweet Dreams.’ \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Much more than just a writer, Dream was a hustler who grew to be politicized. He had the Bay Area vernacular and charisma, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zklG2h4B86o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">and used it in conversation\u003c/a>. He was a proud first-generation Filipino guy who loved hip-hop, and kicked it with folks of all nationalities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was also a founding member of a crew of writers known as TDK, which originally stood for “Those Damn Kids.” But you know how it is: multiple meanings for an acronym emerge, depending on what the crew got into. So, when they did devious things, they were “The Dark Knights.” When they were talking politics, it was “Tax Dollars Kill.” When they were bragging about how dope they were, they were “The Damn Kings.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Years have passed and the crew has grown. A lot of them still paint; you can find TDK pieces in all corners of the Town. Some have used their artistic ability for other things, like becoming tattoo artists. And a few of them became teachers, still carrying the TDK name—you know, “Teach Da Kids.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13864060\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13864060\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/IMG_1636-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Dream memorial at the front door of East Side Arts Alliance\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/IMG_1636-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/IMG_1636-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/IMG_1636-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/IMG_1636-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/IMG_1636-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/IMG_1636-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/08/IMG_1636.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dream memorial at the front door of East Side Arts Alliance. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After Mike ‘Dream’ Francisco was killed on Feb. 17, 2000, in Oakland, the City of Oakland \u003ca href=\"http://nvrovr.blogspot.com/2010/02/city-of-oakland-honors-dream-day.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">officially designated\u003c/a> that day as Dream Day in 2010. His legacy not only lives on in the photos of his work and his crew’s continued contributions to the arts, but through his son Akil as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I have a close connection to Dream’s story: my 2014 documentary film, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDp38sltic8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>TDK: The Dream Kontinues\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, highlights just a bit of his life and artistry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for a real sense of his legacy in the Bay Area, there’s nothing like being around the people he worked with, and the writers he inspired. At Mosswood Park this Saturday, friends, family and writers from around the world will share signatures, tell stories and listen to golden-era hip-hop, with music by DJ Qbert, Wes, Nump and more. It’s all to honor the life of one of the most well-loved graffiti artists of the region.\u003cem>—Pendarvis Harshaw\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Sign on Bernal Hill Questions Just Who is Allowed to Dream",
"headTitle": "Sign on Bernal Hill Questions Just Who is Allowed to Dream | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://anateresafernandez.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ana Teresa Fernández\u003c/a>’ revelation came while driving on 280, as she exited the freeway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Traveling between her home in the Excelsior and her studio at Hunters Point, she discovered the work of the late Oakland graffiti artist Mike “Dream” Francisco (and \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/cDp38sltic8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">his TDK acolytes\u003c/a>) on a building by the side of the offramp. Over and over again, multicolored tags reading “DREAM” run along the building’s concrete block wall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was such a beautiful piece, and such an incredible moment every time I drove past it,” Fernández says, “because it says what art can do best: create a sense of introspection and awareness within ourselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13812694\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13812694\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Photo-credit-Rebeka-Rodriguez_1200.jpg\" alt=\"Ana Teresa Fernández with part of 'Dream' in progress behind her.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Photo-credit-Rebeka-Rodriguez_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Photo-credit-Rebeka-Rodriguez_1200-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Photo-credit-Rebeka-Rodriguez_1200-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Photo-credit-Rebeka-Rodriguez_1200-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Photo-credit-Rebeka-Rodriguez_1200-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Photo-credit-Rebeka-Rodriguez_1200-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Photo-credit-Rebeka-Rodriguez_1200-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Photo-credit-Rebeka-Rodriguez_1200-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Photo-credit-Rebeka-Rodriguez_1200-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Photo-credit-Rebeka-Rodriguez_1200-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ana Teresa Fernández with part of ‘Dream’ in progress behind her. \u003ccite>(Rebeka Rodriguez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Not unlike Francisco, whose vital graffiti pieces spark joy and unity in places off the beaten path, Fernández creates art that disrupts our traditional idea of what exists on the fringes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her \u003ci>Borrando la Frontera (Erasing the Border)\u003c/i> series, she paints the metal posts imposed between the United States and Mexico to blend with their natural surroundings: a skyline in one, the ocean in another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this, she imagines the possibility of a utopia unfettered by the formation of boundaries, an allusion to the seminal works of Chicana feminist thinker \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_E._Anzald%C3%BAa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gloria Anzaldúa\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For \u003ci>DREAM\u003c/i>, she says, she sought to create a hopeful vision for her neighborhood by transposing Francisco’s sentiment onto a larger space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13812701\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1440px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13812701\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/dream_publicart_hero_c_2400-1440x720.jpg\" alt=\"'Dream' installation in progress.\" width=\"1440\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/dream_publicart_hero_c_2400-1440x720.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/dream_publicart_hero_c_2400-1440x720-160x80.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/dream_publicart_hero_c_2400-1440x720-800x400.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/dream_publicart_hero_c_2400-1440x720-768x384.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/dream_publicart_hero_c_2400-1440x720-1020x510.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/dream_publicart_hero_c_2400-1440x720-1180x590.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/dream_publicart_hero_c_2400-1440x720-960x480.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/dream_publicart_hero_c_2400-1440x720-240x120.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/dream_publicart_hero_c_2400-1440x720-375x188.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/dream_publicart_hero_c_2400-1440x720-520x260.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Dream’ installation in progress. \u003ccite>(Gizmo Art Production/Ariya Bunyapamai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There’s murals here in Alemany Market, and the Dream murals, but there wasn’t a piece that spoke louder for the community, that was visible, that was for and about the community,” Fernández says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She pitched her ideas to \u003ca href=\"https://ybca.org/dream-public-art\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Yerba Buena Center of the Arts\u003c/a> and San Francisco Public Works. First, she imagined the word “DREAM” atop the building, then — with encouragement from YBCA’s civic engagement manager Rebeka Rodriguez — atop the hill. That was three years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fernández partnered with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School for the ambitious project. As part of YBCA’s Youth in the City initiative, select middle schoolers were tasked with attaching the sculpture’s individual aluminum panels. They made regular visits to her studio, working intimately with Fernández to understand the process of creating art — from conception to final product.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13812693\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13812693\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Dream-Install_1200.jpg\" alt=\"'Dream' installation in progress.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"633\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Dream-Install_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Dream-Install_1200-160x84.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Dream-Install_1200-800x422.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Dream-Install_1200-768x405.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Dream-Install_1200-1020x538.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Dream-Install_1200-1180x622.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Dream-Install_1200-960x506.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Dream-Install_1200-240x127.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Dream-Install_1200-375x198.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Dream-Install_1200-520x274.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘DREAM’ installation in progress. \u003ccite>(Gizmo Art Production/Ariya Bunyapamai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The school implemented a yearlong artistic and academic curriculum on the concept of dreams. Students designed architectural mockups, made posters, and wrote songs and poems exploring what it means to dream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then came the election — and Donald Trump’s divisive, often exclusionary campaign promises came to life, which wasn’t lost on the students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the artists involved in this project, kids and adults alike, dreams often give way to the unforgiving conditions of material reality. Fernández was evicted from her home. Trump’s DACA repeal was implemented mere weeks before San Francisco officials approved the installation of her \u003cem>DREAM\u003c/em> sign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those realities, and their accompanying uncertainty, hit close to the project’s home: According to data published by the San Francisco Unified School District, 95 percent of students at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. are students of color, 75 percent come from “socioeconomically disadvantaged” backgrounds, and 23 percent are categorized as English learners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13812837\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13812837\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200.jpg\" alt=\"Students from Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School perform "Big Dreams" at the public unveiling of 'Dream.'\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students from Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School perform “Big Dreams” at the public unveiling of ‘DREAM.’ \u003ccite>(Tommy Lau)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The installation itself was originally envisioned as a beacon of hope for those who travel through and reside in the Excelsior neighborhood. Now, \u003ci>DREAM\u003c/i> has taken on a more vital undercurrent of urgency and resistance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a real privilege to be able to use art and the creative process to make space for young people to be critical thinkers and to be able to dream about a future that is, for the most part, not really easily visible in our current climate,” says YBCA’s Rodriguez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The term itself has gained a political currency with mixed implications. Certainly, it provides a unified rallying cry for proponents of DACA and other allies of undocumented immigrants – and yet the term dismisses others who fail to meet the exhaustive hurdles of the current American immigration process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I spoke to CultureStrike filmmaker and undocumented activist \u003ca href=\"http://www.culturestrike.org/staff/jes%C3%BAs-i%C3%B1iguez\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jesús Iñiguez\u003c/a> soon after Trump’s DACA repeal, he critiqued the failure of “viral” DREAMer narratives to capture the multiplicity of the experiences of undocumented immigrants. Their heroic stories elicit sympathy, he says, but fail to create a humanizing perspective that lifts up all undocumented immigrants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a narrative. There are some ‘good’ immigrants and there are some ‘bad’ immigrants,” he says. “All you need to do is make one mistake, and then you get lumped in with the ‘bad’ immigrants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13812838\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13812838\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200b.jpg\" alt=\"Students from Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School perform "Big Dreams" at the public unveiling of 'Dream.'\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200b.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200b-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200b-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200b-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200b-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200b-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200b-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200b-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200b-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200b-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students from Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School perform “Big Dreams” at the public unveiling of ‘DREAM.’ \u003ccite>(Tommy Lau)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But on the south side of Bernal Hill, \u003ci>DREAM\u003c/i> stands not for respectability, nor for exclusion. Rather, Fernández poses it as a question of access, of who is granted the ability to dream in this current political landscape, of who is permitted to exist in particular public spaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With the travel ban, with who can serve in the military, with DACA and DREAMers, it becomes a question of who is allowed to dream,” Fernández says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dreams, by virtue of space and context and opportunity, are political. Mike “Dream” Francisco recognized this; every click of his aerosol can built community and solidarity through his singular graffiti art. His art was his activism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fernández’ \u003ci>DREAM\u003c/i> exists on a smaller scale, especially in comparison to her work that explicitly presents grander political possibilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sign itself is a modest, unimposing thing. Even at its most visible vantage point — standing in the easternmost corner of the Alemany Market — it is overshadowed by a billboard hanging above it. (During the opening ceremony, the billboard advertised a developers’ conference sponsored by Samsung.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It doesn’t speak loudly as much as it rings like a dull siren. Sunlight reflects onto the sculpture, reflecting onto the passerby. It is a quiet insistence of Fernández’ message not just to dream, but to reflect on these dreams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the accelerated pace of the world in 2017, \u003ci>DREAM\u003c/i> may not achieve the original vision Fernández set forth. But, now, in this political moment, the message taps into the same spirit of defiant, exuberant hope as Francisco’s graffiti. It’s an homage that befits the artist, and the community he believed in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>For more information about Ana Teresa Fernández’ ‘DREAM,’ \u003ca href=\"https://ybca.org/dream-public-art\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">click here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Ana Teresa Fernández' Bernal Hill sculpture is both an invitation to the community and an homage to the hopeful art of Mike \"Dream\" Francisco.",
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"description": "Ana Teresa Fernández' Bernal Hill sculpture is both an invitation to the community and an homage to the hopeful art of Mike "Dream" Francisco.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://anateresafernandez.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ana Teresa Fernández\u003c/a>’ revelation came while driving on 280, as she exited the freeway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Traveling between her home in the Excelsior and her studio at Hunters Point, she discovered the work of the late Oakland graffiti artist Mike “Dream” Francisco (and \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/cDp38sltic8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">his TDK acolytes\u003c/a>) on a building by the side of the offramp. Over and over again, multicolored tags reading “DREAM” run along the building’s concrete block wall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was such a beautiful piece, and such an incredible moment every time I drove past it,” Fernández says, “because it says what art can do best: create a sense of introspection and awareness within ourselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13812694\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13812694\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Photo-credit-Rebeka-Rodriguez_1200.jpg\" alt=\"Ana Teresa Fernández with part of 'Dream' in progress behind her.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Photo-credit-Rebeka-Rodriguez_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Photo-credit-Rebeka-Rodriguez_1200-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Photo-credit-Rebeka-Rodriguez_1200-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Photo-credit-Rebeka-Rodriguez_1200-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Photo-credit-Rebeka-Rodriguez_1200-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Photo-credit-Rebeka-Rodriguez_1200-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Photo-credit-Rebeka-Rodriguez_1200-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Photo-credit-Rebeka-Rodriguez_1200-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Photo-credit-Rebeka-Rodriguez_1200-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Photo-credit-Rebeka-Rodriguez_1200-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ana Teresa Fernández with part of ‘Dream’ in progress behind her. \u003ccite>(Rebeka Rodriguez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Not unlike Francisco, whose vital graffiti pieces spark joy and unity in places off the beaten path, Fernández creates art that disrupts our traditional idea of what exists on the fringes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her \u003ci>Borrando la Frontera (Erasing the Border)\u003c/i> series, she paints the metal posts imposed between the United States and Mexico to blend with their natural surroundings: a skyline in one, the ocean in another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this, she imagines the possibility of a utopia unfettered by the formation of boundaries, an allusion to the seminal works of Chicana feminist thinker \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_E._Anzald%C3%BAa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gloria Anzaldúa\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For \u003ci>DREAM\u003c/i>, she says, she sought to create a hopeful vision for her neighborhood by transposing Francisco’s sentiment onto a larger space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13812701\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1440px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13812701\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/dream_publicart_hero_c_2400-1440x720.jpg\" alt=\"'Dream' installation in progress.\" width=\"1440\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/dream_publicart_hero_c_2400-1440x720.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/dream_publicart_hero_c_2400-1440x720-160x80.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/dream_publicart_hero_c_2400-1440x720-800x400.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/dream_publicart_hero_c_2400-1440x720-768x384.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/dream_publicart_hero_c_2400-1440x720-1020x510.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/dream_publicart_hero_c_2400-1440x720-1180x590.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/dream_publicart_hero_c_2400-1440x720-960x480.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/dream_publicart_hero_c_2400-1440x720-240x120.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/dream_publicart_hero_c_2400-1440x720-375x188.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/dream_publicart_hero_c_2400-1440x720-520x260.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Dream’ installation in progress. \u003ccite>(Gizmo Art Production/Ariya Bunyapamai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There’s murals here in Alemany Market, and the Dream murals, but there wasn’t a piece that spoke louder for the community, that was visible, that was for and about the community,” Fernández says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She pitched her ideas to \u003ca href=\"https://ybca.org/dream-public-art\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Yerba Buena Center of the Arts\u003c/a> and San Francisco Public Works. First, she imagined the word “DREAM” atop the building, then — with encouragement from YBCA’s civic engagement manager Rebeka Rodriguez — atop the hill. That was three years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fernández partnered with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School for the ambitious project. As part of YBCA’s Youth in the City initiative, select middle schoolers were tasked with attaching the sculpture’s individual aluminum panels. They made regular visits to her studio, working intimately with Fernández to understand the process of creating art — from conception to final product.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13812693\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13812693\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Dream-Install_1200.jpg\" alt=\"'Dream' installation in progress.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"633\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Dream-Install_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Dream-Install_1200-160x84.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Dream-Install_1200-800x422.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Dream-Install_1200-768x405.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Dream-Install_1200-1020x538.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Dream-Install_1200-1180x622.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Dream-Install_1200-960x506.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Dream-Install_1200-240x127.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Dream-Install_1200-375x198.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/Dream-Install_1200-520x274.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘DREAM’ installation in progress. \u003ccite>(Gizmo Art Production/Ariya Bunyapamai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The school implemented a yearlong artistic and academic curriculum on the concept of dreams. Students designed architectural mockups, made posters, and wrote songs and poems exploring what it means to dream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then came the election — and Donald Trump’s divisive, often exclusionary campaign promises came to life, which wasn’t lost on the students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the artists involved in this project, kids and adults alike, dreams often give way to the unforgiving conditions of material reality. Fernández was evicted from her home. Trump’s DACA repeal was implemented mere weeks before San Francisco officials approved the installation of her \u003cem>DREAM\u003c/em> sign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those realities, and their accompanying uncertainty, hit close to the project’s home: According to data published by the San Francisco Unified School District, 95 percent of students at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. are students of color, 75 percent come from “socioeconomically disadvantaged” backgrounds, and 23 percent are categorized as English learners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13812837\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13812837\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200.jpg\" alt=\"Students from Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School perform "Big Dreams" at the public unveiling of 'Dream.'\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students from Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School perform “Big Dreams” at the public unveiling of ‘DREAM.’ \u003ccite>(Tommy Lau)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The installation itself was originally envisioned as a beacon of hope for those who travel through and reside in the Excelsior neighborhood. Now, \u003ci>DREAM\u003c/i> has taken on a more vital undercurrent of urgency and resistance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a real privilege to be able to use art and the creative process to make space for young people to be critical thinkers and to be able to dream about a future that is, for the most part, not really easily visible in our current climate,” says YBCA’s Rodriguez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The term itself has gained a political currency with mixed implications. Certainly, it provides a unified rallying cry for proponents of DACA and other allies of undocumented immigrants – and yet the term dismisses others who fail to meet the exhaustive hurdles of the current American immigration process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I spoke to CultureStrike filmmaker and undocumented activist \u003ca href=\"http://www.culturestrike.org/staff/jes%C3%BAs-i%C3%B1iguez\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jesús Iñiguez\u003c/a> soon after Trump’s DACA repeal, he critiqued the failure of “viral” DREAMer narratives to capture the multiplicity of the experiences of undocumented immigrants. Their heroic stories elicit sympathy, he says, but fail to create a humanizing perspective that lifts up all undocumented immigrants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a narrative. There are some ‘good’ immigrants and there are some ‘bad’ immigrants,” he says. “All you need to do is make one mistake, and then you get lumped in with the ‘bad’ immigrants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13812838\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13812838\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200b.jpg\" alt=\"Students from Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School perform "Big Dreams" at the public unveiling of 'Dream.'\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200b.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200b-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200b-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200b-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200b-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200b-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200b-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200b-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200b-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/10/092217_DREAM_byTommyLau_1200b-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students from Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School perform “Big Dreams” at the public unveiling of ‘DREAM.’ \u003ccite>(Tommy Lau)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But on the south side of Bernal Hill, \u003ci>DREAM\u003c/i> stands not for respectability, nor for exclusion. Rather, Fernández poses it as a question of access, of who is granted the ability to dream in this current political landscape, of who is permitted to exist in particular public spaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With the travel ban, with who can serve in the military, with DACA and DREAMers, it becomes a question of who is allowed to dream,” Fernández says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dreams, by virtue of space and context and opportunity, are political. Mike “Dream” Francisco recognized this; every click of his aerosol can built community and solidarity through his singular graffiti art. His art was his activism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fernández’ \u003ci>DREAM\u003c/i> exists on a smaller scale, especially in comparison to her work that explicitly presents grander political possibilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sign itself is a modest, unimposing thing. Even at its most visible vantage point — standing in the easternmost corner of the Alemany Market — it is overshadowed by a billboard hanging above it. (During the opening ceremony, the billboard advertised a developers’ conference sponsored by Samsung.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It doesn’t speak loudly as much as it rings like a dull siren. Sunlight reflects onto the sculpture, reflecting onto the passerby. It is a quiet insistence of Fernández’ message not just to dream, but to reflect on these dreams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the accelerated pace of the world in 2017, \u003ci>DREAM\u003c/i> may not achieve the original vision Fernández set forth. But, now, in this political moment, the message taps into the same spirit of defiant, exuberant hope as Francisco’s graffiti. It’s an homage that befits the artist, and the community he believed in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>For more information about Ana Teresa Fernández’ ‘DREAM,’ \u003ca href=\"https://ybca.org/dream-public-art\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">click here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Dream But Don't Sleep: Remembering Mike 'Dream' Francisco",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">T\u003c/span>he first time \u003ca href=\"http://ogtoldme.tumblr.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pendarvis Harshaw\u003c/a> ever cruised through the 23rd St. train yard in Oakland, he was just a kid from the Dubbs riding his bike with friends around the neighborhood. “And we had no idea that that was \u003cem>the\u003c/em> legendary 23rd St. yard,” Harshaw tells me of the famed graffiti spot. “We’d hang out in that area all the time, but we never knew the magnitude of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That magnitude is the subject of \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDp38sltic8\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Harshaw’s documentary \u003cem>The Dream Kontinues\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, a short film about late Bay Area graffiti pioneer Mike “Dream” Francisco, who was shot in an attempted robbery in 2000. The king of the train yard in the ’80s and ’90s, Dream’s influence presides over the spot, which today still serves as a hub of Bay Area graffiti writers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDp38sltic8\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A scholar of graffiti history, a creative stylist with an aerosol can, a Filipino embraced by the black community and a mentor to dozens, Dream is an icon of East Oakland. Tribute events honoring his influence are held annually. His remaining murals are strictly off-limits to tagging and throw-ups by other graffiti writers. And finally, with Harshaw’s film, the result of a thesis at UC Berkeley, a documentary collects archival footage of Dream with current-day interviews with those from his TDK crew.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tragedy of Dream’s death is underscored by the maturation of his outlook over time. His artwork became more political and community-minded in nature. He taught young aspiring upstarts line and shadow skills at his tattoo shop. He even changed the meaning of the acronym “TDK,” which initially stood for “Those Damn Kids” due to the crew’s hooliganism, to “Tax Dollars Kill,” and then, “Teach Dem Kulture.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even Harshaw says he was surprised at the depth of Dream’s story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I started, I thought I was gonna tell a story that bumped up against how police couldn’t control certain aspects of graffiti, or how there’s no art in schools,” Harshaw says. “I ended up having a documentary that really questions, ‘What is art?’ That’s an urban philosophical debate, of sorts, but with Dream and TDK, their story, there’s so many layers of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">T\u003c/span>he first time \u003ca href=\"http://ogtoldme.tumblr.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pendarvis Harshaw\u003c/a> ever cruised through the 23rd St. train yard in Oakland, he was just a kid from the Dubbs riding his bike with friends around the neighborhood. “And we had no idea that that was \u003cem>the\u003c/em> legendary 23rd St. yard,” Harshaw tells me of the famed graffiti spot. “We’d hang out in that area all the time, but we never knew the magnitude of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That magnitude is the subject of \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDp38sltic8\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Harshaw’s documentary \u003cem>The Dream Kontinues\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, a short film about late Bay Area graffiti pioneer Mike “Dream” Francisco, who was shot in an attempted robbery in 2000. The king of the train yard in the ’80s and ’90s, Dream’s influence presides over the spot, which today still serves as a hub of Bay Area graffiti writers.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/cDp38sltic8'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/cDp38sltic8'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>A scholar of graffiti history, a creative stylist with an aerosol can, a Filipino embraced by the black community and a mentor to dozens, Dream is an icon of East Oakland. Tribute events honoring his influence are held annually. His remaining murals are strictly off-limits to tagging and throw-ups by other graffiti writers. And finally, with Harshaw’s film, the result of a thesis at UC Berkeley, a documentary collects archival footage of Dream with current-day interviews with those from his TDK crew.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tragedy of Dream’s death is underscored by the maturation of his outlook over time. His artwork became more political and community-minded in nature. He taught young aspiring upstarts line and shadow skills at his tattoo shop. He even changed the meaning of the acronym “TDK,” which initially stood for “Those Damn Kids” due to the crew’s hooliganism, to “Tax Dollars Kill,” and then, “Teach Dem Kulture.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
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"order": 1
},
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"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
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"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"meta": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"order": 15
},
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
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},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
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},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
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"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
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"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
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"meta": {
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"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
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"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
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"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
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