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"content": "\u003cp>Gavin Grant didn’t set out to be a wood sculptor. In college, he signed up as a teacher’s assistant in a wood shop class—just to earn a few credits so he could graduate. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then he fell in love with the smell of sawdust. Almost two decades later, he’s been carving up things ever since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gavin’s work caught my eye as soon as I saw his sleek futuristic-looking woodcarvings. Most of them are roughly three to four feet in size. They can either stand alone or be mounted to a wall. It wouldn’t do justice to simply call his creations “s-like” figures—they’re more dragon-like.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13844741\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13844741\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"One of Gavin Grant's sculptures, fresh off the press.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1-1200x802.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1-1180x789.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1-960x642.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1-375x251.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1-520x348.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1.jpg 1616w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of Gavin Grant’s sculptures, fresh off the press. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As he told me \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13844737/gavin-grants-journey-in-wood-one-sculpture-at-a-time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">last time we met\u003c/a>, when Gavin first had the idea to make his curvaceous figures, he kept running into a problem of getting them to be 3D and curved. So, he devised a plan: he’d score wood diagonally, pair it with a symmetrical piece of wood, and then seal the two side together, using another piece of wood to create a spine between the two—propping them up and making his creation three-dimensional.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he breaks it down, it seems simple. A lot of very focused work, but simple still.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonetheless, I can’t do it. I’ve never even tried. And I don’t think I know any other African American folks who are professional woodworkers. But, according to Gavin, there are plenty of black craftsmen and women out there—they just don’t appear on your TV screens or radios too often.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All the more reason I’m glad to have him as my second guest on \u003cem>Rightnowish\u003c/em>. Click the link above to hear all about Gavin, or tune into \u003cem>Rightnowish\u003c/em> on KQED-FM on Sunday at 7:34am and 9:34am. And for more of Gavin’s work, check \u003ca href=\"http://archlineardesigns.com/\">his website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Gavin Grant didn’t set out to be a wood sculptor. In college, he signed up as a teacher’s assistant in a wood shop class—just to earn a few credits so he could graduate. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then he fell in love with the smell of sawdust. Almost two decades later, he’s been carving up things ever since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gavin’s work caught my eye as soon as I saw his sleek futuristic-looking woodcarvings. Most of them are roughly three to four feet in size. They can either stand alone or be mounted to a wall. It wouldn’t do justice to simply call his creations “s-like” figures—they’re more dragon-like.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13844741\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13844741\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"One of Gavin Grant's sculptures, fresh off the press.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1-1200x802.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1-1180x789.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1-960x642.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1-375x251.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1-520x348.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/11/0-1.jpg 1616w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of Gavin Grant’s sculptures, fresh off the press. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As he told me \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13844737/gavin-grants-journey-in-wood-one-sculpture-at-a-time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">last time we met\u003c/a>, when Gavin first had the idea to make his curvaceous figures, he kept running into a problem of getting them to be 3D and curved. So, he devised a plan: he’d score wood diagonally, pair it with a symmetrical piece of wood, and then seal the two side together, using another piece of wood to create a spine between the two—propping them up and making his creation three-dimensional.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he breaks it down, it seems simple. A lot of very focused work, but simple still.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonetheless, I can’t do it. I’ve never even tried. And I don’t think I know any other African American folks who are professional woodworkers. But, according to Gavin, there are plenty of black craftsmen and women out there—they just don’t appear on your TV screens or radios too often.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All the more reason I’m glad to have him as my second guest on \u003cem>Rightnowish\u003c/em>. Click the link above to hear all about Gavin, or tune into \u003cem>Rightnowish\u003c/em> on KQED-FM on Sunday at 7:34am and 9:34am. And for more of Gavin’s work, check \u003ca href=\"http://archlineardesigns.com/\">his website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Oakland High School's 'Hairspray' Finds a Home, for Now",
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"content": "\u003cp>When students at Oakland High learned that the teachers strike would \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13851076/first-musical-at-oakland-high-in-40-years-could-fall-victim-to-strike\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">likely derail their plans for the first-ever Broadway musical\u003c/a> at the budget-strapped school in 40 years, they could have lowered the curtain and gone dark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, not wanting to cross the picket line, they packed up and moved to Lake Merritt, where outside on the shore, they continued rehearsing. Then they moved to the Oakland Museum Theater for more rehearsals. Now, they’re at the Asian Cultural Center in Oakland’s Chinatown neighborhood, where they’ll perform \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hairspray-the-musical-a-preview-performance-by-oakland-high-school-tickets-57472428581?aff=efbneb&fbclid=IwAR2mOE49KnC646Hhyx1OVWiGZxRIh_gRoenEkcqjsDnyLqjXej3af83C4-s\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a free preview of \u003cem>Hairspray\u003c/em> on Saturday, March 2, at 7pm\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The “preview” in that announcement alludes to hopes that the full show will still run March 7 and 8. In addition to the strike, Oakland High School has been hammered by budget cuts and doesn’t have a drama program, making \u003cem>Hairspray\u003c/em> a volunteer effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m just so excited for this play. But if it’s not going to happen, I just don’t know what to say,” Trinity Chau, an 18-year-old in her senior year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13851076/first-musical-at-oakland-high-in-40-years-could-fall-victim-to-strike\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">told KQED\u003c/a> in February.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The preview performance on March 2 is free; \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hairspray-the-musical-a-preview-performance-by-oakland-high-school-tickets-57472428581?aff=efbneb&fbclid=IwAR2mOE49KnC646Hhyx1OVWiGZxRIh_gRoenEkcqjsDnyLqjXej3af83C4-s\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When students at Oakland High learned that the teachers strike would \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13851076/first-musical-at-oakland-high-in-40-years-could-fall-victim-to-strike\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">likely derail their plans for the first-ever Broadway musical\u003c/a> at the budget-strapped school in 40 years, they could have lowered the curtain and gone dark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, not wanting to cross the picket line, they packed up and moved to Lake Merritt, where outside on the shore, they continued rehearsing. Then they moved to the Oakland Museum Theater for more rehearsals. Now, they’re at the Asian Cultural Center in Oakland’s Chinatown neighborhood, where they’ll perform \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hairspray-the-musical-a-preview-performance-by-oakland-high-school-tickets-57472428581?aff=efbneb&fbclid=IwAR2mOE49KnC646Hhyx1OVWiGZxRIh_gRoenEkcqjsDnyLqjXej3af83C4-s\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a free preview of \u003cem>Hairspray\u003c/em> on Saturday, March 2, at 7pm\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The “preview” in that announcement alludes to hopes that the full show will still run March 7 and 8. In addition to the strike, Oakland High School has been hammered by budget cuts and doesn’t have a drama program, making \u003cem>Hairspray\u003c/em> a volunteer effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m just so excited for this play. But if it’s not going to happen, I just don’t know what to say,” Trinity Chau, an 18-year-old in her senior year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13851076/first-musical-at-oakland-high-in-40-years-could-fall-victim-to-strike\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">told KQED\u003c/a> in February.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The preview performance on March 2 is free; \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hairspray-the-musical-a-preview-performance-by-oakland-high-school-tickets-57472428581?aff=efbneb&fbclid=IwAR2mOE49KnC646Hhyx1OVWiGZxRIh_gRoenEkcqjsDnyLqjXej3af83C4-s\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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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\">W\u003c/span>hen former President Barack Obama came to Oakland last week for the national My Brothers Keeper convention, he had no idea he’d be sitting next to Leo Mercer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sure, he knew he’d be talking to Steph Curry during the town hall discussion at Oakland’s Scottish Rite Temple, where attendees from across all states would be in the house. And I’d imagine Obama was told he’d be asked questions by a few of the young men who sat around him on stage during the conversation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But then there was Leo Mercer, sitting just a few feet away from him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leo wore a blazer over his hoodie, his long locs done up as if they were defying gravity. I watched him go from wiggling in his seat as the microphone was passed his way to standing firm and delivering a sincere two-part question to the former leader of the free world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What role does music have in your life?” asked Leo, a 27-year-old Oakland native. “And what role can music have when it comes to liberation, policy change, social change and all those other items?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Are you a musician?” Obama said, answering Leo’s question with a question. “Yeah,” Leo replied. “I’ll have to listen to some of your tracks now,” Obama said, before going into riff about the discipline it takes to become a professional musician.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re like most people, you’d be thrilled to hear Obama say he’ll check out your music. But I couldn’t help but notice that after his pivot, Obama didn’t really answer Leo’s question at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851827\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851827\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3162-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Leo Mercer at Lake Merritt in Oakland.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3162-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3162-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3162-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3162-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3162-1200x802.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3162.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Leo Mercer at Lake Merritt in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\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\">A\u003c/span> couple days ago, I called Leo to chop it up about his experience. Just as I figured, it was business as usual on a Monday morning. He was on BART, headed to a healing circle with the organization he works for, Urban Peace Movement, taking time to honor the lives of those who had recently passed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I could hear the train doors open and close in the background as we talked about how it felt to be on that stage, sitting a church aisle’s distance from the first African-American President this country has seen. When he asked Obama about music, Leo said, he noticed the same thing I’d noticed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He didn’t answer the part about what role music can play in terms of social movements and liberation,” said Leo. “He answered the first part, ‘What role does music play in your life?’ So, that was cool—but it would’ve been dope if answered the other part.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leo went on to talk about another music reference Obama made while on stage, one that the media jumped on, when he implied that confident young men don’t need to act like rappers in music videos with gold jewelry and “eight women around you twerking.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just saw this article in the \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em> that was \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/23/opinion/my-brothers-keeper-obama.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">kind of shitting on us\u003c/a>. Basically saying Obama was scolding us. I disagree with that… talking about Obama was scolding us, talking about we don’t need to be wearing big chains,” said Leo. “They were basically misinterpreting how Obama was trying to get to us. And, to be honest, he was just keeping it real with us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leo noted that the whole conference was about supporting young men—and even if Obama’s “scolding” didn’t come off as supportive to some, Leo understood the intention behind the statement. He understood how that tied into the overall theme of the conference. Hell, that understanding of confidence is probably why he landed in the seat he was in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He told me he got turned down twice before his request to attend was accepted, once through an Instagram competition and again when he applied through Urban Peace Movement. He finally got the green light through the Urban Strategies Council. And when he walked in the door of that conference last week, he says he walked in there trying to gloat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ya’ll not about to just have this conference out here and exclude the Oakland cats—the authentic Oakland cats!” said Leo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851822\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851822\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3152-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Former president Barack Obama and the Warriors' Stephen Curry at the My Brither's Keeper conference in Oakland, Feb. 19, 2019.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3152-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3152-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3152-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3152-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3152-1200x802.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3152.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former president Barack Obama and the Warriors’ Stephen Curry at the My Brother’s Keeper conference in Oakland, Feb. 19, 2019. Photo credit Pendarvis Harshaw \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\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\">A\u003c/span>s far as being on stage with Obama, Leo, a performer in his own right, says he had some butterflies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was nervous, but I was nervous in a way that was like, this is the uncle I ain’t seen in a minute,” said Leo, with a laugh. “I was nervous, but not nervous enough to be shaking and shit. I felt like talking to him, it was just like talking to Prince.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leo wasn’t talking about the Prince of \u003cem>Purple Rain\u003c/em>. Dr. Prince White was one of Leo’s mentors; he was also a friend of mine. Prince \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandnorth.net/2018/09/04/remembering-the-social-justice-advocate-dr-prince-white/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">passed last August\u003c/a>. He’s one of the people Leo was headed to honor during the healing circle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before he passed, Dr. Prince White did all he could to push Leo into political arenas. About two years ago, Prince pulled strings and got Leo to \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf7PAlJm2x0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">perform a spoken word piece\u003c/a> in front of current State Superintendent of Schools Tony Thurmond, Assembly member Rob Bonta, and Senator Nancy Skinner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I took photos at that event. That’s about the time I took note of Leo’s potential. But I didn’t know too much of Leo’s backstory until we talked this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I didn’t know his father was killed in West Oakland’s Lower Bottoms neighborhood in 1993, while Leo’s mother was pregnant with his sister.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I didn’t know Leo and his family spent time homeless after losing their house in the Bushrod neighborhood, during the first wave of what we’ve come to realize is a massive overhaul of this town we call home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I didn’t even know that Leo had dropped a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzd-8gmWz2w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">new video for his latest song “Back”\u003c/a> just a few days ago. A song Leo says directly correlates to the question he posed to President Obama.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzd-8gmWz2w\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wanna see what the future holds / for a brother like me, with the truth in his soul,” he raps. Overall, he said, the song is about “how I’m doing community organizing and how I’m shut out of certain spaces because of my tenacity, and how I may intimidate people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve seen Leo’s fiery spirit firsthand. I’ve also seen how it can get things done. Case in point: when he and a number of other artists in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.determinationmedia.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DetermiNation Mens Group\u003c/a> dropped “\u003ca href=\"https://vimeo.com/235669867\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Free Young Baby Huey\u003c/a>.” The song raised awareness for Dajon Ford, then being \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/08/18/former-oakland-football-star-charged-as-an-adult-in-juvenile-armed-robbery-case-to-be-released/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">held in Santa Rita Jail for nearly four years without trial\u003c/a> for charges related to a robbery. Since he’d been charged as an adult for a crime committed as a juvenile, the implementation of Prop. 57 allowed Ford, Leo’s childhood friend, to be released.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In that music video, playing the role of a reporter is Nicole Lee, the executive director of the Urban Peace Movement. She was also in the building for Leo and Obama’s interaction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m really proud of him,” Lee said, talking about Leo. “This conference is amazing, and it’s a national conference that’s in Oakland, and there’s a lot of voices here from all over the country. And on one hand, that’s cool, and on the other hand, we want to make sure the voices of the people in our city of Oakland are represented. And I think Leo was the perfect person to rep the town and the East Bay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’d agree. And I’d also say that Leo already knows what role music has in working toward social change; he’s lived it. And after seeing him press Obama on the idea, and learning more about his story, I’d not only listen to his music—he’d have my vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/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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"excerpt": "When Leo Mercer, 27, sat onstage next to Obama last week in Oakland, there was no way the former president could have known his whole story.",
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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\">W\u003c/span>hen former President Barack Obama came to Oakland last week for the national My Brothers Keeper convention, he had no idea he’d be sitting next to Leo Mercer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sure, he knew he’d be talking to Steph Curry during the town hall discussion at Oakland’s Scottish Rite Temple, where attendees from across all states would be in the house. And I’d imagine Obama was told he’d be asked questions by a few of the young men who sat around him on stage during the conversation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But then there was Leo Mercer, sitting just a few feet away from him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leo wore a blazer over his hoodie, his long locs done up as if they were defying gravity. I watched him go from wiggling in his seat as the microphone was passed his way to standing firm and delivering a sincere two-part question to the former leader of the free world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What role does music have in your life?” asked Leo, a 27-year-old Oakland native. “And what role can music have when it comes to liberation, policy change, social change and all those other items?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Are you a musician?” Obama said, answering Leo’s question with a question. “Yeah,” Leo replied. “I’ll have to listen to some of your tracks now,” Obama said, before going into riff about the discipline it takes to become a professional musician.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re like most people, you’d be thrilled to hear Obama say he’ll check out your music. But I couldn’t help but notice that after his pivot, Obama didn’t really answer Leo’s question at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851827\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851827\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3162-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Leo Mercer at Lake Merritt in Oakland.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3162-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3162-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3162-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3162-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3162-1200x802.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3162.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Leo Mercer at Lake Merritt in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\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\">A\u003c/span> couple days ago, I called Leo to chop it up about his experience. Just as I figured, it was business as usual on a Monday morning. He was on BART, headed to a healing circle with the organization he works for, Urban Peace Movement, taking time to honor the lives of those who had recently passed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I could hear the train doors open and close in the background as we talked about how it felt to be on that stage, sitting a church aisle’s distance from the first African-American President this country has seen. When he asked Obama about music, Leo said, he noticed the same thing I’d noticed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He didn’t answer the part about what role music can play in terms of social movements and liberation,” said Leo. “He answered the first part, ‘What role does music play in your life?’ So, that was cool—but it would’ve been dope if answered the other part.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leo went on to talk about another music reference Obama made while on stage, one that the media jumped on, when he implied that confident young men don’t need to act like rappers in music videos with gold jewelry and “eight women around you twerking.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just saw this article in the \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em> that was \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/23/opinion/my-brothers-keeper-obama.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">kind of shitting on us\u003c/a>. Basically saying Obama was scolding us. I disagree with that… talking about Obama was scolding us, talking about we don’t need to be wearing big chains,” said Leo. “They were basically misinterpreting how Obama was trying to get to us. And, to be honest, he was just keeping it real with us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leo noted that the whole conference was about supporting young men—and even if Obama’s “scolding” didn’t come off as supportive to some, Leo understood the intention behind the statement. He understood how that tied into the overall theme of the conference. Hell, that understanding of confidence is probably why he landed in the seat he was in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He told me he got turned down twice before his request to attend was accepted, once through an Instagram competition and again when he applied through Urban Peace Movement. He finally got the green light through the Urban Strategies Council. And when he walked in the door of that conference last week, he says he walked in there trying to gloat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ya’ll not about to just have this conference out here and exclude the Oakland cats—the authentic Oakland cats!” said Leo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851822\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851822\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3152-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Former president Barack Obama and the Warriors' Stephen Curry at the My Brither's Keeper conference in Oakland, Feb. 19, 2019.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3152-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3152-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3152-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3152-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3152-1200x802.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC3152.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former president Barack Obama and the Warriors’ Stephen Curry at the My Brother’s Keeper conference in Oakland, Feb. 19, 2019. Photo credit Pendarvis Harshaw \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\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\">A\u003c/span>s far as being on stage with Obama, Leo, a performer in his own right, says he had some butterflies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was nervous, but I was nervous in a way that was like, this is the uncle I ain’t seen in a minute,” said Leo, with a laugh. “I was nervous, but not nervous enough to be shaking and shit. I felt like talking to him, it was just like talking to Prince.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leo wasn’t talking about the Prince of \u003cem>Purple Rain\u003c/em>. Dr. Prince White was one of Leo’s mentors; he was also a friend of mine. Prince \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandnorth.net/2018/09/04/remembering-the-social-justice-advocate-dr-prince-white/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">passed last August\u003c/a>. He’s one of the people Leo was headed to honor during the healing circle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before he passed, Dr. Prince White did all he could to push Leo into political arenas. About two years ago, Prince pulled strings and got Leo to \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf7PAlJm2x0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">perform a spoken word piece\u003c/a> in front of current State Superintendent of Schools Tony Thurmond, Assembly member Rob Bonta, and Senator Nancy Skinner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I took photos at that event. That’s about the time I took note of Leo’s potential. But I didn’t know too much of Leo’s backstory until we talked this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I didn’t know his father was killed in West Oakland’s Lower Bottoms neighborhood in 1993, while Leo’s mother was pregnant with his sister.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I didn’t know Leo and his family spent time homeless after losing their house in the Bushrod neighborhood, during the first wave of what we’ve come to realize is a massive overhaul of this town we call home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I didn’t even know that Leo had dropped a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzd-8gmWz2w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">new video for his latest song “Back”\u003c/a> just a few days ago. A song Leo says directly correlates to the question he posed to President Obama.\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/Fzd-8gmWz2w'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/Fzd-8gmWz2w'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>“I wanna see what the future holds / for a brother like me, with the truth in his soul,” he raps. Overall, he said, the song is about “how I’m doing community organizing and how I’m shut out of certain spaces because of my tenacity, and how I may intimidate people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve seen Leo’s fiery spirit firsthand. I’ve also seen how it can get things done. Case in point: when he and a number of other artists in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.determinationmedia.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DetermiNation Mens Group\u003c/a> dropped “\u003ca href=\"https://vimeo.com/235669867\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Free Young Baby Huey\u003c/a>.” The song raised awareness for Dajon Ford, then being \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/08/18/former-oakland-football-star-charged-as-an-adult-in-juvenile-armed-robbery-case-to-be-released/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">held in Santa Rita Jail for nearly four years without trial\u003c/a> for charges related to a robbery. Since he’d been charged as an adult for a crime committed as a juvenile, the implementation of Prop. 57 allowed Ford, Leo’s childhood friend, to be released.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In that music video, playing the role of a reporter is Nicole Lee, the executive director of the Urban Peace Movement. She was also in the building for Leo and Obama’s interaction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m really proud of him,” Lee said, talking about Leo. “This conference is amazing, and it’s a national conference that’s in Oakland, and there’s a lot of voices here from all over the country. And on one hand, that’s cool, and on the other hand, we want to make sure the voices of the people in our city of Oakland are represented. And I think Leo was the perfect person to rep the town and the East Bay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’d agree. And I’d also say that Leo already knows what role music has in working toward social change; he’s lived it. And after seeing him press Obama on the idea, and learning more about his story, I’d not only listen to his music—he’d have my vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/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>In a parking garage below the Oakland teachers union headquarters on Sunday, dozens of volunteers labored over the banners, posters and picket signs illustrating a historic strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A crowd of retired and current educators, college students and district parents with their children turned out for the third “art build” supporting the Oakland Education Association, whose 3,000 members are currently \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11727551/oakland-teachers-go-on-strike-in-fight-for-higher-pay-more-resources\">on strike\u003c/a> as the union negotiates for higher wages and smaller class sizes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They spent the Sunday morning cutting canvas, assembling picket-signs and screen-printing images sourced from local artists, including Melanie Cervantes, Favianna Rodriguez and Micah Bazant. The dominant color was red, while the messages, rendered boldly alongside illustrations of women and backpacked children, centered on fighting for the schools teachers and students deserve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851747\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851747\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-4-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Local artists contributed imagery for Oakland teachers strike banners. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-4-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-4-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-4-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-4-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-4.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Local artists contributed imagery for Oakland teachers strike banners. \u003ccite>(Sam Lefebvre/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>David Solnit, an environmental-justice organizer who’s also married to an educator in Berkeley, brought materials and helped coordinate the event. “About 15 years ago I started reaching out to artists and performers to get involved with actions because, at their core, social movements are really about storytelling,” he said. “And the arts are the most powerful way to tell stories.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The model, common in activist circles, is gaining traction in public education advocacy. After organizing art builds in the Midwest, Joe Brusky and other workers with the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association got the attention of the National Education Association. Since, they’ve traveled to Los Angeles and Oakland to bring people together over pro-union artwork.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851749\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851749\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-6-800x533.jpg\" alt='Dozens of volunteers turned out for the third \"art build\" supporting striking Oakland teachers.' width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-6-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-6-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-6-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-6-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-6-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-6.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dozens of volunteers turned out for the third “art build” supporting striking Oakland teachers. \u003ccite>(Sam Lefebvre/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Generally a union gets 5,000 copies of the sign made at the union printer and everyone’s holding the same one,” said Brusky. “That can be powerful, but it’s not as connected, it’s not as grassroots as collecting multiple images from artists in the surrounding community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, Solnit and union supporters logged three 12-hour days to produce more than a thousand posters and signs, including several enormous, hand-painted banners. The event on Sunday served a practical purpose—more signs for picketers at school sites—but it was as much about continuing to build community and momentum for the labor struggle, according to Brusky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851751\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851751\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-David-Solnit-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"David Solnit, an environmental-justice organizer, co-organized the art build. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-David-Solnit-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-David-Solnit-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-David-Solnit-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-David-Solnit-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-David-Solnit-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-David-Solnit.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">David Solnit, an environmental-justice organizer, co-organized the art build. \u003ccite>(Sam Lefebvre/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It gets artists talking about the movement to their followers, who come to the actions,” said Brusky, crediting art builds with a significant role in striking Los Angeles teachers recent victory. “I do social media for my union, but here, everyone’s doing social media for the union.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what makes a good pro-labor design? Some artists, he noted, worked from portraits of actual California educators. “Privatizers have made the issue of education in this country really complex,” said Brusky. “So we need to humanize and personalize the issue. In today’s world, the social media world, it’s like memes: one image with a little text goes a long way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solnit brought his experience as an activist to the art build. Tall banners, seen resting against Oakland City Hall during recent rallies, were constructed similarly to ones at Standing Rock; they can withstand high-speed wind and rain. And the canvas is fairly thin, Solnit noted, the better to let backlight make the message pop. “So it’s like a stained-glass window,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851746\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851746\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-3-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Oakland teachers strike supporters rally at Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of Oakland City Hall. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-3-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-3-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-3-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-3.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland teachers strike supporters rally at Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of Oakland City Hall. \u003ccite>(Sam Lefebvre/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Solnit said he’s never seen a national union stress art in a labor struggle like the National Education Association, which is subsidizing Brusky and his fellow organizers to spread the art build model to other locals. On Sunday, it seemed to help with recruitment. For some volunteers, including a UC Berkeley student, it was with their first encounter with organized labor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s magic to seeing something on the picket line and knowing you made it,” Solnit said. “And as any teacher will you, at the end of the day humans are meant to make things together.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In a parking garage below the Oakland teachers union headquarters on Sunday, dozens of volunteers labored over the banners, posters and picket signs illustrating a historic strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A crowd of retired and current educators, college students and district parents with their children turned out for the third “art build” supporting the Oakland Education Association, whose 3,000 members are currently \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11727551/oakland-teachers-go-on-strike-in-fight-for-higher-pay-more-resources\">on strike\u003c/a> as the union negotiates for higher wages and smaller class sizes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They spent the Sunday morning cutting canvas, assembling picket-signs and screen-printing images sourced from local artists, including Melanie Cervantes, Favianna Rodriguez and Micah Bazant. The dominant color was red, while the messages, rendered boldly alongside illustrations of women and backpacked children, centered on fighting for the schools teachers and students deserve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851747\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851747\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-4-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Local artists contributed imagery for Oakland teachers strike banners. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-4-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-4-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-4-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-4-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-4.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Local artists contributed imagery for Oakland teachers strike banners. \u003ccite>(Sam Lefebvre/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>David Solnit, an environmental-justice organizer who’s also married to an educator in Berkeley, brought materials and helped coordinate the event. “About 15 years ago I started reaching out to artists and performers to get involved with actions because, at their core, social movements are really about storytelling,” he said. “And the arts are the most powerful way to tell stories.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The model, common in activist circles, is gaining traction in public education advocacy. After organizing art builds in the Midwest, Joe Brusky and other workers with the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association got the attention of the National Education Association. Since, they’ve traveled to Los Angeles and Oakland to bring people together over pro-union artwork.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851749\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851749\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-6-800x533.jpg\" alt='Dozens of volunteers turned out for the third \"art build\" supporting striking Oakland teachers.' width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-6-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-6-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-6-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-6-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-6-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-6.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dozens of volunteers turned out for the third “art build” supporting striking Oakland teachers. \u003ccite>(Sam Lefebvre/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Generally a union gets 5,000 copies of the sign made at the union printer and everyone’s holding the same one,” said Brusky. “That can be powerful, but it’s not as connected, it’s not as grassroots as collecting multiple images from artists in the surrounding community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, Solnit and union supporters logged three 12-hour days to produce more than a thousand posters and signs, including several enormous, hand-painted banners. The event on Sunday served a practical purpose—more signs for picketers at school sites—but it was as much about continuing to build community and momentum for the labor struggle, according to Brusky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851751\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851751\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-David-Solnit-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"David Solnit, an environmental-justice organizer, co-organized the art build. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-David-Solnit-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-David-Solnit-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-David-Solnit-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-David-Solnit-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-David-Solnit-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-David-Solnit.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">David Solnit, an environmental-justice organizer, co-organized the art build. \u003ccite>(Sam Lefebvre/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It gets artists talking about the movement to their followers, who come to the actions,” said Brusky, crediting art builds with a significant role in striking Los Angeles teachers recent victory. “I do social media for my union, but here, everyone’s doing social media for the union.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what makes a good pro-labor design? Some artists, he noted, worked from portraits of actual California educators. “Privatizers have made the issue of education in this country really complex,” said Brusky. “So we need to humanize and personalize the issue. In today’s world, the social media world, it’s like memes: one image with a little text goes a long way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solnit brought his experience as an activist to the art build. Tall banners, seen resting against Oakland City Hall during recent rallies, were constructed similarly to ones at Standing Rock; they can withstand high-speed wind and rain. And the canvas is fairly thin, Solnit noted, the better to let backlight make the message pop. “So it’s like a stained-glass window,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851746\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851746\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-3-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Oakland teachers strike supporters rally at Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of Oakland City Hall. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-3-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-3-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-3-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/OEA-Art-Build-3.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland teachers strike supporters rally at Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of Oakland City Hall. \u003ccite>(Sam Lefebvre/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Solnit said he’s never seen a national union stress art in a labor struggle like the National Education Association, which is subsidizing Brusky and his fellow organizers to spread the art build model to other locals. On Sunday, it seemed to help with recruitment. For some volunteers, including a UC Berkeley student, it was with their first encounter with organized labor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s magic to seeing something on the picket line and knowing you made it,” Solnit said. “And as any teacher will you, at the end of the day humans are meant to make things together.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "despite-doubling-budget-aggregate-space-gallery-faces-displacement",
"title": "Aggregate Space Gallery Faces Displacement, Despite Doubling Budget",
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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\">O\u003c/span>n Monday, Feb. 18, Conrad Meyers addressed roughly 40 supporters of Aggregate Space Gallery convened for dinner in the workshop adjacent to the nonprofit, artist-run space in Oakland. He wore paint-splattered jeans and a leather jacket, and apologized for the chill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Conrad and his partner Willis Meyers built out the warehouse themselves and opened Aggregate in 2011, offering conceptual and video artists a sharp curatorial eye and malleable exhibition space. Now they’re in the awkward position of doing better than ever, yet also facing an existential threat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So, our budget just ballooned by $100,000 from national funders who want us to stay in Oakland,” Meyers said, prompting applause. “But, the thing is, we’re still getting priced out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851541\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851541\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Budget-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Aggregate Space Gallery's budget has doubled every year since 2015, but it's still being displaced.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Budget-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Budget-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Budget-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Budget-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Budget-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Budget-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Budget.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aggregate Space Gallery’s budget has doubled every year since 2015, but it’s still being displaced. \u003ccite>(Sam Lefebvre/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The purpose of the invite-only supper, attended largely by artists and nonprofit professionals, was to turn an ending into a beginning. After two years of negotiations, Meyers said, the landlord is insisting on a $1,500 rent increase and for the tenants to absorb the cost of an estimated $50,000 in code-compliance work. So the Meyers anticipate leaving by the beginning of August, and they’re looking for somewhere to land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meyers wanted recommendations on temporary space for satellite programming—noting that, in the working timeline, one National Endowment for the Arts-supported Aggregate show doesn’t have a gallery—and to spread word of a wider search, perhaps with nonprofit partners, for property to buy. Meyers, a fabricator and project manager by trade, said his body can withstand one more from-scratch warehouse buildout.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Meyers want a similar mix of the studio and exhibition space, along with a small black-box theater, that’s currently housed at Aggregate, and to better accommodate event rentals and classes for a new revenue stream. “We know we don’t want to be in the all-windows bottom-floor of condos that’ll be a Gap by 2024,” added Meyers, perhaps referencing officials’ efforts to house displaced nonprofits in new developments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851211\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851211\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/5person-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Still from 'Between Beauty & Horror.'\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/5person-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/5person-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/5person-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/5person-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/5person-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/5person.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Still from ‘Between Beauty & Horror.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the artist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\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\">I\u003c/span>n the next room, Leila Weefur’s stirring video piece \u003cem>Between Beauty & Horror\u003c/em>, which critic Sarah Hotchkiss recently \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13851209/leila-weefur-positions-black-experience-between-beauty-horror\">lauded\u003c/a> for provoking productive discomfort, lit up the gallery. Lately, Meyers said, \u003ca href=\"https://aggregatespacegallery.org/\">Aggregate\u003c/a> has received national recognition. “Oakland has few spaces that offer the kind of support and attention to detail provided by Aggregate,” remarked the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, one of the space’s new funders, in a recent grant announcement. Aggregate’s budget has doubled every year for the past four years—in 2018 reaching $142,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meyers’ presentation, interjected by toasts and some corrections from Willis, moved on to fundraising. Early on, Aggregate found it difficult to raise more than several thousand with an annual event; the Meyers don’t know enough wealthy people, and they tired of feeling like they were shaking down their peers. So they focused on grant-making. Weefur’s show, for example, is supported by $32,800 from the Creative Work Fund. The trouble with many grants, though, is they don’t cover operations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Often, Meyers said, people encourage Aggregate to sell art. For one, he noted dryly, the Meyers don’t have relationships with people who buy art. And they tend to show artwork—not least the conceptual installations—that resist commodification. That’s part of the point, added Willis. From the other side of the room, she read an Andrew Simonet quote elevating art as the small portion of images made for reasons other than motivating the viewer to purchase something.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘We don’t want to be in the all-windows bottom-floor of condos that’ll be a Gap by 2024.’\u003ccite>Conrad Meyers\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Dinner ceded to tea and miniature ice-cream cones. Time-lapse video, taken by a camera mounted on the gallery ceiling, illustrated the hidden labor behind every show. On the tables were copies of \u003ca href=\"https://static1.squarespace.com/static/556101b3e4b0c18afa3f0a0f/t/5bf53e464ae2376294e4c0ef/1542798918571/2018+The+Lab+Papers+BAAEcosystem+Carrie+Hott.pdf\">a chart\u003c/a>, created for The Lab by Carrie Hott, showing the operating budgets of local arts organizations. In the East Bay, Meyers pointed out, there are few arts organizations with budgets between $200,000 and $4 million, and in a healthy cultural ecosystem the latter depend on the former to develop emerging artists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The talk broke into room-wide discussion. There were tips on schmoozing (“If I was a VC or an angel or incubator…”) and a brief consideration of pop-ups, plus encouragement, styled as businesslike pragmatism, to focus less on regional and more on national funders—such is the dearth of local arts patronage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At one point, several volunteer signup sheets for committees including real estate and fundraising circulated. “One’s to help us sell stuff on Craigslist,” Meyers said. “Another is to help us tear this place down.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "Aggregate Space Gallery Faces Displacement, Despite Doubling Budget | KQED",
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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\">O\u003c/span>n Monday, Feb. 18, Conrad Meyers addressed roughly 40 supporters of Aggregate Space Gallery convened for dinner in the workshop adjacent to the nonprofit, artist-run space in Oakland. He wore paint-splattered jeans and a leather jacket, and apologized for the chill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Conrad and his partner Willis Meyers built out the warehouse themselves and opened Aggregate in 2011, offering conceptual and video artists a sharp curatorial eye and malleable exhibition space. Now they’re in the awkward position of doing better than ever, yet also facing an existential threat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So, our budget just ballooned by $100,000 from national funders who want us to stay in Oakland,” Meyers said, prompting applause. “But, the thing is, we’re still getting priced out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851541\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851541\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Budget-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Aggregate Space Gallery's budget has doubled every year since 2015, but it's still being displaced.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Budget-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Budget-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Budget-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Budget-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Budget-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Budget-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Budget.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aggregate Space Gallery’s budget has doubled every year since 2015, but it’s still being displaced. \u003ccite>(Sam Lefebvre/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The purpose of the invite-only supper, attended largely by artists and nonprofit professionals, was to turn an ending into a beginning. After two years of negotiations, Meyers said, the landlord is insisting on a $1,500 rent increase and for the tenants to absorb the cost of an estimated $50,000 in code-compliance work. So the Meyers anticipate leaving by the beginning of August, and they’re looking for somewhere to land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meyers wanted recommendations on temporary space for satellite programming—noting that, in the working timeline, one National Endowment for the Arts-supported Aggregate show doesn’t have a gallery—and to spread word of a wider search, perhaps with nonprofit partners, for property to buy. Meyers, a fabricator and project manager by trade, said his body can withstand one more from-scratch warehouse buildout.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Meyers want a similar mix of the studio and exhibition space, along with a small black-box theater, that’s currently housed at Aggregate, and to better accommodate event rentals and classes for a new revenue stream. “We know we don’t want to be in the all-windows bottom-floor of condos that’ll be a Gap by 2024,” added Meyers, perhaps referencing officials’ efforts to house displaced nonprofits in new developments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851211\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851211\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/5person-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Still from 'Between Beauty & Horror.'\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/5person-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/5person-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/5person-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/5person-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/5person-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/5person.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Still from ‘Between Beauty & Horror.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the artist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\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\">I\u003c/span>n the next room, Leila Weefur’s stirring video piece \u003cem>Between Beauty & Horror\u003c/em>, which critic Sarah Hotchkiss recently \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13851209/leila-weefur-positions-black-experience-between-beauty-horror\">lauded\u003c/a> for provoking productive discomfort, lit up the gallery. Lately, Meyers said, \u003ca href=\"https://aggregatespacegallery.org/\">Aggregate\u003c/a> has received national recognition. “Oakland has few spaces that offer the kind of support and attention to detail provided by Aggregate,” remarked the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, one of the space’s new funders, in a recent grant announcement. Aggregate’s budget has doubled every year for the past four years—in 2018 reaching $142,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meyers’ presentation, interjected by toasts and some corrections from Willis, moved on to fundraising. Early on, Aggregate found it difficult to raise more than several thousand with an annual event; the Meyers don’t know enough wealthy people, and they tired of feeling like they were shaking down their peers. So they focused on grant-making. Weefur’s show, for example, is supported by $32,800 from the Creative Work Fund. The trouble with many grants, though, is they don’t cover operations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Often, Meyers said, people encourage Aggregate to sell art. For one, he noted dryly, the Meyers don’t have relationships with people who buy art. And they tend to show artwork—not least the conceptual installations—that resist commodification. That’s part of the point, added Willis. From the other side of the room, she read an Andrew Simonet quote elevating art as the small portion of images made for reasons other than motivating the viewer to purchase something.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘We don’t want to be in the all-windows bottom-floor of condos that’ll be a Gap by 2024.’\u003ccite>Conrad Meyers\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Dinner ceded to tea and miniature ice-cream cones. Time-lapse video, taken by a camera mounted on the gallery ceiling, illustrated the hidden labor behind every show. On the tables were copies of \u003ca href=\"https://static1.squarespace.com/static/556101b3e4b0c18afa3f0a0f/t/5bf53e464ae2376294e4c0ef/1542798918571/2018+The+Lab+Papers+BAAEcosystem+Carrie+Hott.pdf\">a chart\u003c/a>, created for The Lab by Carrie Hott, showing the operating budgets of local arts organizations. In the East Bay, Meyers pointed out, there are few arts organizations with budgets between $200,000 and $4 million, and in a healthy cultural ecosystem the latter depend on the former to develop emerging artists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The talk broke into room-wide discussion. There were tips on schmoozing (“If I was a VC or an angel or incubator…”) and a brief consideration of pop-ups, plus encouragement, styled as businesslike pragmatism, to focus less on regional and more on national funders—such is the dearth of local arts patronage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At one point, several volunteer signup sheets for committees including real estate and fundraising circulated. “One’s to help us sell stuff on Craigslist,” Meyers said. “Another is to help us tear this place down.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "First Musical at Oakland High in 40 Years Could Fall Victim to Strike",
"headTitle": "First Musical at Oakland High in 40 Years Could Fall Victim to Strike | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>It was in the third hour of rehearsal for \u003cem>Hairspray\u003c/em> at Oakland High School last Thursday when volunteer choreographer Kasondra Walsh rallied the students on stage for the big show-stopper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“OK, band, the cue is ‘I haven’t been out of this apartment in 20 years,'” she shouted, directing the actors into formation. “OK? Let’s go!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pit band counted off, the dancers broke into movement, and lead actress Trinity Chau began singing: \u003cem>Hey mama, hey mama, look around / Everybody’s groovin’ to a brand-new sound!\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland High School’s theater isn’t usually so active. In fact, the rehearsals currently underway for \u003cem>Hairspray\u003c/em> are a milestone: according to longtime faculty, Oakland High School hasn’t mounted a full Broadway musical in over 40 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851157\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851157\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS6-800x536.jpg\" alt=\"The cast of 'Hairspray' rehearses at Oakland High School.\" width=\"800\" height=\"536\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS6-800x536.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS6-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS6-768x515.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS6-1020x684.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS6-1200x804.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS6.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The cast of ‘Hairspray’ rehearses at Oakland High School. \u003ccite>(Gabe Meline/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But the looming teachers’ strike in Oakland could lower the curtain on the students’ hard work. Opening night is scheduled for March 1. Oakland teachers announced Saturday that unless something “dramatic” happens, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11726864/oakland-teachers-announce-plans-to-strike-starting-on-thursday\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">they’ll go on strike starting Thursday, Feb. 21\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m just so excited for this play. But if it’s not going to happen, I just don’t know what to say,” said Chau, an 18-year-old in her senior year. “All the money we’ve invested into this show is more than $10,000. And if the strike happens on the week that we’re performing, everything could just be lost.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chau added that the musical had made her more excited about coming to school each day, a feeling echoed by her co-star, 17-year-old Kimberly Wong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Before \u003cem>Hairspray\u003c/em>, there was nothing to do after school, and I was really bored sometimes,” said Wong. “Now, I always have something to look forward to, because we’re like a little family.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851153\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851153\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS4-800x485.jpg\" alt=\"Kimberly Wong rehearsing as Velma in 'Hairspray' at Oakland High School.\" width=\"800\" height=\"485\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS4-800x485.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS4-160x97.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS4-768x466.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS4-1020x619.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS4-1200x728.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS4.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kimberly Wong rehearsing as Velma in ‘Hairspray’ at Oakland High School. \u003ccite>(Gabe Meline/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It puts student actors and volunteers in a conflicted position: they believe in the show and want it to go on, but they also support the strike and don’t want to cross the picket line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barring a resolution, Christopher Johnston, \u003cem>Hairspray\u003c/em>‘s director, puts it plainly: “For me, and for these kids, it’s basically the worst timing possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘We Don’t Have a Drama Department’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Johnston hatched the idea for \u003cem>Hairspray\u003c/em> with fellow teacher David Byrd, who came to the school some five years ago and revitalized the music program. “We’ve had long periods here at Oakland High without any music program at all, and he’s really brought it back,” Johnston said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the past few years, students have thrown together glee club-type performances, writing and rehearsing themselves. “We don’t have a drama department, we don’t have a drama program,” said Johnston, who teaches English. “It’s always been a teacher doing it in addition to their normal program, which is a big lift.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nevertheless, he and Byrd decided the kids deserved more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851151\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851151\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS1-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"David Byrd consults with the pit band in rehearsals for 'Hairspray' at Oakland High School.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS1-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">David Byrd consults with the pit band in rehearsals for ‘Hairspray’ at Oakland High School. \u003ccite>(Gabe Meline/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The idea to mount \u003cem>Hairspray\u003c/em> had one major setback: there was no budget to produce a musical. “We had a grant a few years ago which gave us some money, but there’s no operating budget for music or theater arts here. So we had to scrounge it together ourselves, and right now it’s all out of pocket,” Johnston said.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignright\">\n\u003ch3>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/oaklandschools\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">See More of KQED’s Coverage of the Debates Surrounding Oakland Schools\u003c/a>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/oaklandschools\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/01/RootsIntlAcademy.jpg\" alt=\"\">\u003c/a>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>As word spread, the community supported the musical. That includes a special discounted rate from a rental company for lights, microphones and spotlights, all of which the school’s theater lacks. It also includes volunteer hours from a local choreographer and a vocal coach, both donating their time. There have been advance ticket sales for performances, and offers for help with sets and production on social media.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the strike starts, the 23-member cast of \u003cem>Hairspray\u003c/em> will likely move to a temporary rehearsal location. Johnston says he’s talked to a theater company, a museum and a church in the area about free use of space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for the scheduled performances of March 1 and 2, there’s only one theater in mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some people have thought, ‘Well, we could do the show someplace else,'” Johnston said. “And I’m like, the whole point is to have this show \u003cem>at\u003c/em> Oakland High School, because it’s about changing the culture here. But is that feasible? I don’t know.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851155\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851155\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS3-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Trevahn Srey leaps over Trinity Chau during rehearsals for 'Hairspray' at Oakland High School.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS3-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS3-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS3-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS3.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Trevahn Srey leaps over Trinity Chau during rehearsals for ‘Hairspray’ at Oakland High School. \u003ccite>(Gabe Meline/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Near the end of rehearsal, 14-year-old Trevonne Shanklin, who plays the character of Seaweed, sat on the side of the stage, consulting with the band on parts. “I want to be an actor when I grow up, so this is motivation, and inspiration,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It makes me want to come to school more, there’s a strong community in this,” added co-star Trevahn Srey, an 18-year-old senior who plays Link. “I don’t know how it’s going to work, we can’t really push back the show, since we already sold tickets. But it’s really affecting us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Chau, who’s already applied to colleges as a theater arts major, the inequality of funding for her school is as hard to take as the uncertainty of \u003cem>Hairspray\u003c/em>‘s opening night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like, other schools have something going on like this,” she said. “Why can’t \u003cem>we\u003c/em> have it, you know?”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Students at the budget-strapped school say 'Hairspray' has reinvigorated their spirit—but the show might not go on, due to the teachers' strike.",
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"description": "Students at the budget-strapped school say 'Hairspray' has reinvigorated their spirit—but the show might not go on, due to the teachers' strike.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It was in the third hour of rehearsal for \u003cem>Hairspray\u003c/em> at Oakland High School last Thursday when volunteer choreographer Kasondra Walsh rallied the students on stage for the big show-stopper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“OK, band, the cue is ‘I haven’t been out of this apartment in 20 years,'” she shouted, directing the actors into formation. “OK? Let’s go!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pit band counted off, the dancers broke into movement, and lead actress Trinity Chau began singing: \u003cem>Hey mama, hey mama, look around / Everybody’s groovin’ to a brand-new sound!\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland High School’s theater isn’t usually so active. In fact, the rehearsals currently underway for \u003cem>Hairspray\u003c/em> are a milestone: according to longtime faculty, Oakland High School hasn’t mounted a full Broadway musical in over 40 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851157\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851157\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS6-800x536.jpg\" alt=\"The cast of 'Hairspray' rehearses at Oakland High School.\" width=\"800\" height=\"536\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS6-800x536.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS6-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS6-768x515.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS6-1020x684.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS6-1200x804.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS6.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The cast of ‘Hairspray’ rehearses at Oakland High School. \u003ccite>(Gabe Meline/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But the looming teachers’ strike in Oakland could lower the curtain on the students’ hard work. Opening night is scheduled for March 1. Oakland teachers announced Saturday that unless something “dramatic” happens, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11726864/oakland-teachers-announce-plans-to-strike-starting-on-thursday\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">they’ll go on strike starting Thursday, Feb. 21\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m just so excited for this play. But if it’s not going to happen, I just don’t know what to say,” said Chau, an 18-year-old in her senior year. “All the money we’ve invested into this show is more than $10,000. And if the strike happens on the week that we’re performing, everything could just be lost.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chau added that the musical had made her more excited about coming to school each day, a feeling echoed by her co-star, 17-year-old Kimberly Wong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Before \u003cem>Hairspray\u003c/em>, there was nothing to do after school, and I was really bored sometimes,” said Wong. “Now, I always have something to look forward to, because we’re like a little family.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851153\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851153\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS4-800x485.jpg\" alt=\"Kimberly Wong rehearsing as Velma in 'Hairspray' at Oakland High School.\" width=\"800\" height=\"485\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS4-800x485.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS4-160x97.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS4-768x466.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS4-1020x619.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS4-1200x728.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS4.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kimberly Wong rehearsing as Velma in ‘Hairspray’ at Oakland High School. \u003ccite>(Gabe Meline/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It puts student actors and volunteers in a conflicted position: they believe in the show and want it to go on, but they also support the strike and don’t want to cross the picket line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barring a resolution, Christopher Johnston, \u003cem>Hairspray\u003c/em>‘s director, puts it plainly: “For me, and for these kids, it’s basically the worst timing possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘We Don’t Have a Drama Department’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Johnston hatched the idea for \u003cem>Hairspray\u003c/em> with fellow teacher David Byrd, who came to the school some five years ago and revitalized the music program. “We’ve had long periods here at Oakland High without any music program at all, and he’s really brought it back,” Johnston said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the past few years, students have thrown together glee club-type performances, writing and rehearsing themselves. “We don’t have a drama department, we don’t have a drama program,” said Johnston, who teaches English. “It’s always been a teacher doing it in addition to their normal program, which is a big lift.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nevertheless, he and Byrd decided the kids deserved more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851151\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851151\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS1-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"David Byrd consults with the pit band in rehearsals for 'Hairspray' at Oakland High School.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS1-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">David Byrd consults with the pit band in rehearsals for ‘Hairspray’ at Oakland High School. \u003ccite>(Gabe Meline/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The idea to mount \u003cem>Hairspray\u003c/em> had one major setback: there was no budget to produce a musical. “We had a grant a few years ago which gave us some money, but there’s no operating budget for music or theater arts here. So we had to scrounge it together ourselves, and right now it’s all out of pocket,” Johnston said.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignright\">\n\u003ch3>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/oaklandschools\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">See More of KQED’s Coverage of the Debates Surrounding Oakland Schools\u003c/a>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/oaklandschools\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2019/01/RootsIntlAcademy.jpg\" alt=\"\">\u003c/a>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>As word spread, the community supported the musical. That includes a special discounted rate from a rental company for lights, microphones and spotlights, all of which the school’s theater lacks. It also includes volunteer hours from a local choreographer and a vocal coach, both donating their time. There have been advance ticket sales for performances, and offers for help with sets and production on social media.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the strike starts, the 23-member cast of \u003cem>Hairspray\u003c/em> will likely move to a temporary rehearsal location. Johnston says he’s talked to a theater company, a museum and a church in the area about free use of space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for the scheduled performances of March 1 and 2, there’s only one theater in mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some people have thought, ‘Well, we could do the show someplace else,'” Johnston said. “And I’m like, the whole point is to have this show \u003cem>at\u003c/em> Oakland High School, because it’s about changing the culture here. But is that feasible? I don’t know.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13851155\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13851155\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS3-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Trevahn Srey leaps over Trinity Chau during rehearsals for 'Hairspray' at Oakland High School.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS3-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS3-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS3-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/HS3.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Trevahn Srey leaps over Trinity Chau during rehearsals for ‘Hairspray’ at Oakland High School. \u003ccite>(Gabe Meline/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Near the end of rehearsal, 14-year-old Trevonne Shanklin, who plays the character of Seaweed, sat on the side of the stage, consulting with the band on parts. “I want to be an actor when I grow up, so this is motivation, and inspiration,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It makes me want to come to school more, there’s a strong community in this,” added co-star Trevahn Srey, an 18-year-old senior who plays Link. “I don’t know how it’s going to work, we can’t really push back the show, since we already sold tickets. But it’s really affecting us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Chau, who’s already applied to colleges as a theater arts major, the inequality of funding for her school is as hard to take as the uncertainty of \u003cem>Hairspray\u003c/em>‘s opening night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like, other schools have something going on like this,” she said. “Why can’t \u003cem>we\u003c/em> have it, you know?”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "spurred-by-possible-sale-vulcan-arts-lofts-tenants-rally-for-rent-control",
"title": "Spurred by Possible Sale, Tenants of Vulcan Arts Lofts Rally for Rent Control",
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"content": "\u003cp>“Is this your whip?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Andrew Pulkrabek was on the dancefloor of his neighbor Bri Crabtree’s loft at the Vulcan, a sprawling live-work community of some 200 residents in East Oakland, inspecting a hot-pink whip. Mirrors lined a wall near the storage nook known as “clown corner,” all beneath the vaulted ceilings that accommodate Crabtree’s weekly juggling club. Confidently, Pulkrabek cracked the whip. “Not my first rodeo,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pulkrabek is a musician and a stuntman, a juggler and a roller-skater—an “entertainer,” he said—whose residence in the Vulcan, a onetime foundry in the Fruitvale district, provides necessary space for his multi-hyphenate circus arts practice. At his kitchen table, overlooking another mirror-lined dancefloor, Pulkrabek stressed the significance of the Vulcan to Burning Man-associated artists internationally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s probably the largest concentration of circus performers living and working under one roof,” he said, adding that there’s “without a doubt” more jugglers in residence than anywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lately, though, Pulkrabek has met plenty of his non-Burner neighbors. He’s an organizer of the Vulcan Tenants Union, which formed after the property, owned by politically connected developer Madison Park Financial, hit the market last year for $16,250,000. Now, the union, representing approximately 100 tenants, is working with attorneys and a private investigator to acquire rent-control protections. They say dozens of homes and workspaces are on the line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850955\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850955\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Whip_-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Andrew Pulkrabek in a studio at the Vulcan artist complex in East Oakland. Andrew Pulkrabek in a studio at the Vulcan artist complex in East Oakland. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Whip_-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Whip_-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Whip_-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Whip_-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Whip_-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Whip_.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Andrew Pulkrabek in a studio at the Vulcan artist complex in East Oakland. \u003ccite>(Sam Lefebvre/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At a time of skyhigh housing costs and intense competition for performing arts-appropriate space in Oakland, the tenants union hopes to preserve a longtime live-work community for artists and craftspeople dependent on its relative affordability, high ceilings and communal ambiance. Sale to a commercial investor, they say, means near-certain displacement, and they point to Madison Park’s own marketing materials as proof.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Madison Park’s offering memorandum for investors, acquired by KQED, advertises the Vulcan property as “Rent Control Exempt: A rare opportunity in Oakland.” The pitch goes on to explain that, by increasing rent 15 percent and passing more utilities costs on to tenants, a buyer could nearly double the Vulcan’s current gross profit annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s part of what brokers do,” said Simon Chen, Madison Park’s chief operating officer. “I don’t think you’ll find an offering memo that doesn’t have that kind of sales approach.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tenants also worry they’ll absorb the cost of necessary repairs. Chen said Madison Park has invested in life-safety improvements, including fire sprinklers, but conceded that the place needs work. “It was converted in 1987, and even brand new buildings from 1987 have been renovated,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At $16.2 million, the Vulcan isn’t for a buyer who wants to keep it as it is. The push for rent control, Pulkrabek explained, is about effectively lowering the sale price in order to attract a nonprofit developer—a buyer motivated by stewardship instead of speculation. To that end, live-work advocacy organization Safer DIY Spaces helped the tenants retain attorneys to challenge the property’s rent control exemption before the city’s Rent Adjustment Program board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Oakland, new construction or residential conversions completed after 1983 are generally exempt from rent control protections. Though the Vulcan’s live-work conversion occurred in 1987, argued the tenants’ attorney, Leah Hess, the exemption is invalid because people were actually living there previously. The rent board will consider the 27 petitions in April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A negative ruling will put people out of their homes,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850954\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850954\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Mural_-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Outside at the Vulcan in East Oakland.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Mural_-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Mural_-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Mural_-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Mural_-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Mural_-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Mural_.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Outside at the Vulcan in East Oakland. \u003ccite>(Sam Lefebvre/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To Chen, the 1987 certificates of occupancy settle the matter. An earlier group of Vulcan tenants unsuccessfully petitioned the rent board on similar grounds in 2005, he said, and an appeals court upheld the denial. According to Hess, this time is different. “The thrust of the petitions back then was a lack of certificates of occupancy,” she said. “We’re saying the rent control exemption was issued through mistake or fraud.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lia Walker moved into the Vulcan in 2006, and in 2011 the photographer started working as on-site manager for Madison Park. The company is owned and operated by John Protopappas, who’s served as a campaign fundraiser for Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, and it has overseen several live-work conversions and new market-rate construction projects in the city. The company also managed an artists’ live-work complex at 1919 Market St. before officials deemed it uninhabitable, resulting in the displacement of dozens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years, Walker said, Madison Park and the Vulcan tenants got along well, but relations worsened as the real estate market improved. The rent started increasing, sometimes dramatically; Madison Park hiked the cost of her darkroom, housed in a separate workspace, by 55 percent, she said. After clashing with a new supervisor, Walker was fired in 2014. “We didn’t share a philosophy or sense of fairness anymore,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drea Lusion, who lives at the Vulcan in a unit with six people, said Madison Park’s decision last year to ban the “free zone,” a hallway area where tenants left art supplies and household goods for communal sharing, also helped inspire the tenants to organize. It was around the time of 7- to 10-percent rent increases for many units, she said. Prospective buyers were regularly touring the property; Madison Park called the free pile a fire hazard. “That was galvanizing,” she said. “Like, what will they take next?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850952\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850952\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Freezone-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A tenants' shrine to the "Free Zone" at the Vulcan in East Oakland.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Freezone-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Freezone-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Freezone-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Freezone-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Freezone-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Freezone.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tenants’ shrine to the “Free Zone” at the Vulcan in East Oakland. \u003ccite>(Sam Lefebvre/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Currently, there is no sale pending for the Vulcan. But it seems clear that, at $16.2 million, the property is out of reach to anyone but a commercial investor. Last year, the Community Arts Stabilization Trust, which develops property for arts uses, partnered with affordable housing developer East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation to explore purchasing the property, but EBALDC said in a statement that they “did not have the resources.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelley Kahn, Oakland’s policy director for art spaces, helped bring EBALDC and CAST to the table with Madison Park, and she said the real estate company has been cooperative and open to considering nonprofit buyers. As an industrial live-work space, though, Kahn said the project doesn’t align neatly with the traditional financing models for affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The project requires identifying both innovative funding sources and creative development partners with expertise in preserving arts and culture spaces—ideally with a pathway for the tenants themselves to become owners,” she said. “This work remains ongoing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850956\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850956\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.sitting-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Andrew Pulkrabek and TKTKTK in the courtyard at the Vulcan in East Oakland.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.sitting-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.sitting-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.sitting-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.sitting-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.sitting-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.sitting.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Andrew Pulkrabek and Drea Lusion in a courtyard at the Vulcan in East Oakland. \u003ccite>(Sam Lefebvre/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>David Keenan of Safer DIY Spaces, the organization funding the Vulcan’s petition effort, said overturning the rent-control exemption would set a significant precedent. Other multiunit buildings formalized as live-work after 1983 were previously used residentially in the common tradition of artists living in warehouses, and the rent board could open the door for them to seek rent control protections. “It’s going to have a ripple effect,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, Keenan said, Safer DIY Spaces can’t afford to underwrite the petitions for much longer, so the Vulcan Tenants Union recently launched a $50,000 fundraiser. The figure covers the work of two attorneys, two paralegals and a private investigator, according to Pulkrabek. They have anecdotal evidence of residential use at the Vulcan before 1987, but more research will bolster their case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lusion and Pulkrabek walked through the maze-like hallways of the Vulcan, pointing out murals by friends, and a plant-laden courtyard. Behind one building was a small park lined with broken pianos. The tenants once tended to atomize along subcultural lines, they explained, the circus artists mingling little with, say, the musicians—until the tenants union. “If anything, this has brought us together,” Lusion said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Added Pulkrabek, “It’s reminded us of what we’re trying to preserve.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The 52-unit East Oakland live-work complex, currently housing some 200 artists, is being marketed as a rare, rent-control exempt investment opportunity. ",
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"title": "Spurred by Possible Sale, Tenants of Vulcan Arts Lofts Rally for Rent Control | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>“Is this your whip?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Andrew Pulkrabek was on the dancefloor of his neighbor Bri Crabtree’s loft at the Vulcan, a sprawling live-work community of some 200 residents in East Oakland, inspecting a hot-pink whip. Mirrors lined a wall near the storage nook known as “clown corner,” all beneath the vaulted ceilings that accommodate Crabtree’s weekly juggling club. Confidently, Pulkrabek cracked the whip. “Not my first rodeo,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pulkrabek is a musician and a stuntman, a juggler and a roller-skater—an “entertainer,” he said—whose residence in the Vulcan, a onetime foundry in the Fruitvale district, provides necessary space for his multi-hyphenate circus arts practice. At his kitchen table, overlooking another mirror-lined dancefloor, Pulkrabek stressed the significance of the Vulcan to Burning Man-associated artists internationally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s probably the largest concentration of circus performers living and working under one roof,” he said, adding that there’s “without a doubt” more jugglers in residence than anywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lately, though, Pulkrabek has met plenty of his non-Burner neighbors. He’s an organizer of the Vulcan Tenants Union, which formed after the property, owned by politically connected developer Madison Park Financial, hit the market last year for $16,250,000. Now, the union, representing approximately 100 tenants, is working with attorneys and a private investigator to acquire rent-control protections. They say dozens of homes and workspaces are on the line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850955\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850955\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Whip_-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Andrew Pulkrabek in a studio at the Vulcan artist complex in East Oakland. Andrew Pulkrabek in a studio at the Vulcan artist complex in East Oakland. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Whip_-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Whip_-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Whip_-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Whip_-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Whip_-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Whip_.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Andrew Pulkrabek in a studio at the Vulcan artist complex in East Oakland. \u003ccite>(Sam Lefebvre/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At a time of skyhigh housing costs and intense competition for performing arts-appropriate space in Oakland, the tenants union hopes to preserve a longtime live-work community for artists and craftspeople dependent on its relative affordability, high ceilings and communal ambiance. Sale to a commercial investor, they say, means near-certain displacement, and they point to Madison Park’s own marketing materials as proof.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Madison Park’s offering memorandum for investors, acquired by KQED, advertises the Vulcan property as “Rent Control Exempt: A rare opportunity in Oakland.” The pitch goes on to explain that, by increasing rent 15 percent and passing more utilities costs on to tenants, a buyer could nearly double the Vulcan’s current gross profit annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s part of what brokers do,” said Simon Chen, Madison Park’s chief operating officer. “I don’t think you’ll find an offering memo that doesn’t have that kind of sales approach.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tenants also worry they’ll absorb the cost of necessary repairs. Chen said Madison Park has invested in life-safety improvements, including fire sprinklers, but conceded that the place needs work. “It was converted in 1987, and even brand new buildings from 1987 have been renovated,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At $16.2 million, the Vulcan isn’t for a buyer who wants to keep it as it is. The push for rent control, Pulkrabek explained, is about effectively lowering the sale price in order to attract a nonprofit developer—a buyer motivated by stewardship instead of speculation. To that end, live-work advocacy organization Safer DIY Spaces helped the tenants retain attorneys to challenge the property’s rent control exemption before the city’s Rent Adjustment Program board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Oakland, new construction or residential conversions completed after 1983 are generally exempt from rent control protections. Though the Vulcan’s live-work conversion occurred in 1987, argued the tenants’ attorney, Leah Hess, the exemption is invalid because people were actually living there previously. The rent board will consider the 27 petitions in April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A negative ruling will put people out of their homes,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850954\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850954\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Mural_-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Outside at the Vulcan in East Oakland.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Mural_-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Mural_-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Mural_-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Mural_-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Mural_-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Mural_.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Outside at the Vulcan in East Oakland. \u003ccite>(Sam Lefebvre/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To Chen, the 1987 certificates of occupancy settle the matter. An earlier group of Vulcan tenants unsuccessfully petitioned the rent board on similar grounds in 2005, he said, and an appeals court upheld the denial. According to Hess, this time is different. “The thrust of the petitions back then was a lack of certificates of occupancy,” she said. “We’re saying the rent control exemption was issued through mistake or fraud.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lia Walker moved into the Vulcan in 2006, and in 2011 the photographer started working as on-site manager for Madison Park. The company is owned and operated by John Protopappas, who’s served as a campaign fundraiser for Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, and it has overseen several live-work conversions and new market-rate construction projects in the city. The company also managed an artists’ live-work complex at 1919 Market St. before officials deemed it uninhabitable, resulting in the displacement of dozens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years, Walker said, Madison Park and the Vulcan tenants got along well, but relations worsened as the real estate market improved. The rent started increasing, sometimes dramatically; Madison Park hiked the cost of her darkroom, housed in a separate workspace, by 55 percent, she said. After clashing with a new supervisor, Walker was fired in 2014. “We didn’t share a philosophy or sense of fairness anymore,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drea Lusion, who lives at the Vulcan in a unit with six people, said Madison Park’s decision last year to ban the “free zone,” a hallway area where tenants left art supplies and household goods for communal sharing, also helped inspire the tenants to organize. It was around the time of 7- to 10-percent rent increases for many units, she said. Prospective buyers were regularly touring the property; Madison Park called the free pile a fire hazard. “That was galvanizing,” she said. “Like, what will they take next?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850952\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850952\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Freezone-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A tenants' shrine to the "Free Zone" at the Vulcan in East Oakland.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Freezone-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Freezone-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Freezone-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Freezone-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Freezone-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.Freezone.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tenants’ shrine to the “Free Zone” at the Vulcan in East Oakland. \u003ccite>(Sam Lefebvre/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Currently, there is no sale pending for the Vulcan. But it seems clear that, at $16.2 million, the property is out of reach to anyone but a commercial investor. Last year, the Community Arts Stabilization Trust, which develops property for arts uses, partnered with affordable housing developer East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation to explore purchasing the property, but EBALDC said in a statement that they “did not have the resources.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelley Kahn, Oakland’s policy director for art spaces, helped bring EBALDC and CAST to the table with Madison Park, and she said the real estate company has been cooperative and open to considering nonprofit buyers. As an industrial live-work space, though, Kahn said the project doesn’t align neatly with the traditional financing models for affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The project requires identifying both innovative funding sources and creative development partners with expertise in preserving arts and culture spaces—ideally with a pathway for the tenants themselves to become owners,” she said. “This work remains ongoing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850956\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850956\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.sitting-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Andrew Pulkrabek and TKTKTK in the courtyard at the Vulcan in East Oakland.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.sitting-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.sitting-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.sitting-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.sitting-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.sitting-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/Vulcan.sitting.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Andrew Pulkrabek and Drea Lusion in a courtyard at the Vulcan in East Oakland. \u003ccite>(Sam Lefebvre/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>David Keenan of Safer DIY Spaces, the organization funding the Vulcan’s petition effort, said overturning the rent-control exemption would set a significant precedent. Other multiunit buildings formalized as live-work after 1983 were previously used residentially in the common tradition of artists living in warehouses, and the rent board could open the door for them to seek rent control protections. “It’s going to have a ripple effect,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, Keenan said, Safer DIY Spaces can’t afford to underwrite the petitions for much longer, so the Vulcan Tenants Union recently launched a $50,000 fundraiser. The figure covers the work of two attorneys, two paralegals and a private investigator, according to Pulkrabek. They have anecdotal evidence of residential use at the Vulcan before 1987, but more research will bolster their case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lusion and Pulkrabek walked through the maze-like hallways of the Vulcan, pointing out murals by friends, and a plant-laden courtyard. Behind one building was a small park lined with broken pianos. The tenants once tended to atomize along subcultural lines, they explained, the circus artists mingling little with, say, the musicians—until the tenants union. “If anything, this has brought us together,” Lusion said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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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>ree Thomas has always been a shapeshifter. He grew up in East Oakland, on Peach Street. After graduating college in Portland, he played pro basketball for two years in the Mediterranean island country of Malta. He came home, retired from sports, and started working with the Calculated Clothing brand and collaborating with Louisiana rapper Kevin Gates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even then, I was a little surprised to hear about Tree’s latest incarnation as an R&B singer. The kid from way out on 96th Ave., the pro baller, the rapper on his grind—he’s just released a melodic love-laced album titled \u003cem>B4ULUVME\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, ya’ll know, I had to ask: \u003cem>who hurt you?\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850864\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850864\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/TreeThomas.MAIN_.1-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Tree Thomas.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/TreeThomas.MAIN_.1.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/TreeThomas.MAIN_.1-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/TreeThomas.MAIN_.1-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tree Thomas. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\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\">F\u003c/span>irst, though, you’ve got to understand Tree’s approach to love: it’s a serendipitous action shown through his heart’s desire to see some good in the world. Even if it’s done in an unusual way. At least that’s what I gathered from how he found his closest companion, a dog named Chef.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was a homeless guy dragging him and kicking him up and down the street at a Warriors parade,” Tree told me, as he held a leash attached to Chef’s collar. He said that’s when he and a friend approached the police, asking if the boys in blue were going to do something about this case of animal cruelty. “They told us no, shrugged their shoulders. So we did something,” said Tree.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His friend grabbed the abusive owner. Tree grabbed the dog. The abusive owner tried to push back, but in the end, Tree and his friend won out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whoa, that’s a bit aggressive,” I said. Tree agreed, but said that seeing a 4-month-old puppy being beaten was something he couldn’t take.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I saw that abuse, I immediately had to step in,” said Tree. “I didn’t even want a dog at the time. It just happened.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And now the duo is inseparable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tree said that despite the dog’s history, and the preconceived notion about his breed, his pit bull Chef is a big lover; it just needed to be in the right environment to show it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuYTzysAeis\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under Chef’s paws and Tree’s feet, on the corner where we met, sat a spray-painted stencil image of the words “Lakeshore by Tree Thomas.” It’s the remnants of a campaign from last summer, when the artist dropped a song highlighting Oakland’s lakeside strip. The track is like much of Tree’s work: lyrical, smooth, about Oakland, and something you’d kind of expect from him, given his track record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His track record? Well, that’s where you’ll find songs with artists like Kevin Gates, Mozzy, Prezi, Mistah F.A.B. and Kevin Allen. He even has a track with NBA star Dame Lillard. (At 6’3″, Lillard is probably the only artist that’s worked with Thomas, 6’8″, who doesn’t have to change the height of the mic when they switch places in the sound booth.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of the aforementioned are rap tracks. There’s some harmonizing, a bit of singing. But nothing like this new \u003cem>B4ULUVME\u003c/em> project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850863\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850863\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC2803-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Tree Thomas in Oakland with his dog Chef.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC2803-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC2803-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC2803-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC2803-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC2803-1200x802.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC2803.jpg 1616w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tree Thomas in Oakland with his dog Chef. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So, when I heard Tree singing lyrics like “I wasn’t even lonely, those feelings wasn’t hungry,” I had to spin the track back like a DJ in the club. Is… Is he singing? The whole time? What’s going on? \u003cem>Tree, are you an R&B artist now?\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without flinching, Tree responded, yeah. “I’ve been getting great response from it and I think that’s the main direction I’mma go from now,” he said, sitting in front of Café Lakeview, on Lakeshore near Embarcadero.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I sat across the coffee table, damn near interrogating him at this point: So you’re an R&B singer now. How’d you get here? \u003cem>Who hurt you?\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was a relationship, I just got out of it,” said Tree, as Chef sat at his feet. “Like, a long relationship actually, and it has inspired a lot of the music on this project and my previous project.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the move toward R&B also comes from Tree simply wanting to push himself further in his craft. His father and sister are both R&B singers, he grew up in a church, and he’s taking vocal lessons to develop his singing further.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He may jump from basketball to fashion to rapping to singing, but he always seems to do it 100 percent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx2c4qGMXOA\u003c/p>\n\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\">J\u003c/span>udging from the video for the album’s first single, “YUCALLME” (why you call me?), he certainly has the R&B look down, for sure. Shirt open. Staring at the camera. I watched it and immediately \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZARV7rJy-4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">thought of Jodeci\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But unlike the majority of ’90s R&B that I grew up on, “YUCALLME” isn’t about being destroyed by love lost. Instead, Tree says the uptempo track is like: Man, I moved past this relationship, I’ve got my stuff together and bossed up. So, why are you calling me?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I kind of switch the emotion, where you’re not just feeling the sadness,” said Tree. “You’re kind of uplifted, you’re kind of like: why’d you call me?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tree says his aim was to pen a jam that’s relatable. After all, everyone has experienced some sort of heartbreak. And everyone knows that feeling of picking himself or herself back up and getting back out there. Myself included.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I just didn’t have the talent to write an R&B song about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want to be able to touch as many people as I can with my music,” he explains. “That’s why I want to be able to touch as many genres as I can with my music: rapping, singing, and I have some pop records coming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even after doing so much already, Tree’s a growing artist, using different angles to reach different people in different positions. He understands that he can’t save every puppy in an abusive relationship, but maybe—just maybe, if he tells the story of bossing up and overcoming hurt—he’ll be able to help people move away from fear of abuse, and toward a healthier environment of showing love.\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>ree Thomas has always been a shapeshifter. He grew up in East Oakland, on Peach Street. After graduating college in Portland, he played pro basketball for two years in the Mediterranean island country of Malta. He came home, retired from sports, and started working with the Calculated Clothing brand and collaborating with Louisiana rapper Kevin Gates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even then, I was a little surprised to hear about Tree’s latest incarnation as an R&B singer. The kid from way out on 96th Ave., the pro baller, the rapper on his grind—he’s just released a melodic love-laced album titled \u003cem>B4ULUVME\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, ya’ll know, I had to ask: \u003cem>who hurt you?\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850864\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850864\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/TreeThomas.MAIN_.1-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Tree Thomas.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/TreeThomas.MAIN_.1.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/TreeThomas.MAIN_.1-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/TreeThomas.MAIN_.1-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tree Thomas. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\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\">F\u003c/span>irst, though, you’ve got to understand Tree’s approach to love: it’s a serendipitous action shown through his heart’s desire to see some good in the world. Even if it’s done in an unusual way. At least that’s what I gathered from how he found his closest companion, a dog named Chef.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was a homeless guy dragging him and kicking him up and down the street at a Warriors parade,” Tree told me, as he held a leash attached to Chef’s collar. He said that’s when he and a friend approached the police, asking if the boys in blue were going to do something about this case of animal cruelty. “They told us no, shrugged their shoulders. So we did something,” said Tree.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His friend grabbed the abusive owner. Tree grabbed the dog. The abusive owner tried to push back, but in the end, Tree and his friend won out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whoa, that’s a bit aggressive,” I said. Tree agreed, but said that seeing a 4-month-old puppy being beaten was something he couldn’t take.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I saw that abuse, I immediately had to step in,” said Tree. “I didn’t even want a dog at the time. It just happened.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And now the duo is inseparable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tree said that despite the dog’s history, and the preconceived notion about his breed, his pit bull Chef is a big lover; it just needed to be in the right environment to show it.\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/vuYTzysAeis'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/vuYTzysAeis'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Under Chef’s paws and Tree’s feet, on the corner where we met, sat a spray-painted stencil image of the words “Lakeshore by Tree Thomas.” It’s the remnants of a campaign from last summer, when the artist dropped a song highlighting Oakland’s lakeside strip. The track is like much of Tree’s work: lyrical, smooth, about Oakland, and something you’d kind of expect from him, given his track record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His track record? Well, that’s where you’ll find songs with artists like Kevin Gates, Mozzy, Prezi, Mistah F.A.B. and Kevin Allen. He even has a track with NBA star Dame Lillard. (At 6’3″, Lillard is probably the only artist that’s worked with Thomas, 6’8″, who doesn’t have to change the height of the mic when they switch places in the sound booth.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of the aforementioned are rap tracks. There’s some harmonizing, a bit of singing. But nothing like this new \u003cem>B4ULUVME\u003c/em> project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850863\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850863\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC2803-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Tree Thomas in Oakland with his dog Chef.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC2803-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC2803-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC2803-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC2803-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC2803-1200x802.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/LRG-DSC2803.jpg 1616w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tree Thomas in Oakland with his dog Chef. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So, when I heard Tree singing lyrics like “I wasn’t even lonely, those feelings wasn’t hungry,” I had to spin the track back like a DJ in the club. Is… Is he singing? The whole time? What’s going on? \u003cem>Tree, are you an R&B artist now?\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without flinching, Tree responded, yeah. “I’ve been getting great response from it and I think that’s the main direction I’mma go from now,” he said, sitting in front of Café Lakeview, on Lakeshore near Embarcadero.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I sat across the coffee table, damn near interrogating him at this point: So you’re an R&B singer now. How’d you get here? \u003cem>Who hurt you?\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was a relationship, I just got out of it,” said Tree, as Chef sat at his feet. “Like, a long relationship actually, and it has inspired a lot of the music on this project and my previous project.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the move toward R&B also comes from Tree simply wanting to push himself further in his craft. His father and sister are both R&B singers, he grew up in a church, and he’s taking vocal lessons to develop his singing further.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He may jump from basketball to fashion to rapping to singing, but he always seems to do it 100 percent.\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/Sx2c4qGMXOA'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/Sx2c4qGMXOA'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\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\">J\u003c/span>udging from the video for the album’s first single, “YUCALLME” (why you call me?), he certainly has the R&B look down, for sure. Shirt open. Staring at the camera. I watched it and immediately \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZARV7rJy-4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">thought of Jodeci\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But unlike the majority of ’90s R&B that I grew up on, “YUCALLME” isn’t about being destroyed by love lost. Instead, Tree says the uptempo track is like: Man, I moved past this relationship, I’ve got my stuff together and bossed up. So, why are you calling me?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I kind of switch the emotion, where you’re not just feeling the sadness,” said Tree. “You’re kind of uplifted, you’re kind of like: why’d you call me?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tree says his aim was to pen a jam that’s relatable. After all, everyone has experienced some sort of heartbreak. And everyone knows that feeling of picking himself or herself back up and getting back out there. 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"content": "\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr />\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://www.npr.org/player/embed/692823424/693851818\" width=\"100%\" height=\"290\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" 0=\"title="NPR\" 1=\"embedded\" 2=\"audio\" 3=\"player"></iframe\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the nation marks one year since the Parkland school shooting, many Americans are thinking about how the conversation about kids and gun violence has shifted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the weeks and months after a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., students took to the streets and the airwaves to call for fundamental change in America’s gun laws. Stoneman Douglas students and students nationwide rallied in an effort to prevent that kind of massacre from happening again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=”WTfQuekzzxIPqsBrz9uxOGDjmIff8WE4″]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so far in 2019, according to an analysis by Pacific Standard, \u003ca href=\"https://psmag.com/social-justice/the-116th-congress-is-refocused-on-gun-control-in-the-wake-of-parkland\">the 116th Congress has already introduced 33 gun control bills\u003c/a>, a number not seen since the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for some young people, a year’s attention on events like Parkland hasn’t turned into the attention they’re asking for: a spotlight on the everyday gun violence they experience in their neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We might not see all of our friends die at the same time, but we’re definitely seeing people fade away to the same fate, just on multiple occasions,” says Gabriel Patten, 18, a student at Castlemont High School in East Oakland, Calif. “You’re like, I just hope I make the right decisions today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850836\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850836\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_072_slide-09948e29876a5df6cc29855ecddbaa0e0b18b5b2-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Memorial crosses for homicide victims are erected at St. Columba Catholic Church in Oakland, Calif. In East Oakland, where gun violence is chronic, some are grateful that America is paying more attention to it — but they would also like a focus on neighborhoods like theirs.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_072_slide-09948e29876a5df6cc29855ecddbaa0e0b18b5b2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_072_slide-09948e29876a5df6cc29855ecddbaa0e0b18b5b2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_072_slide-09948e29876a5df6cc29855ecddbaa0e0b18b5b2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_072_slide-09948e29876a5df6cc29855ecddbaa0e0b18b5b2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_072_slide-09948e29876a5df6cc29855ecddbaa0e0b18b5b2-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_072_slide-09948e29876a5df6cc29855ecddbaa0e0b18b5b2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_072_slide-09948e29876a5df6cc29855ecddbaa0e0b18b5b2.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Memorial crosses for homicide victims are erected at St. Columba Catholic Church in Oakland, Calif. In East Oakland, where gun violence is chronic, some are grateful that America is paying more attention to it — but they would also like a focus on neighborhoods like theirs. \u003ccite>(James Tensuan for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“Distorted our perception of reality”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patten and other students from Castlemont High have conflicted feelings at the first anniversary of the Parkland shooting. On one hand, they say, they are grateful that America is paying more attention to gun violence. On the other, they know that the gun violence that affects them, sometimes daily, gets much less attention than mass shootings that happen at places like Parkland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland had 75 homicides in 2017, with \u003ca href=\"https://issuu.com/youthalive/docs/ya_annualreport2018.print\">46 of those in East Oakland\u003c/a>, where Patten and classmates Ajahnay Cooper, 17, and Armon Hurst, 18, attend school. That’s about one homicide per week in the youths’ neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850834\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850834\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_351_slide-3780cf5f8096b0e74940f268ca7ff6b00825c1ac-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Ajahnay Cooper, 17, can point out the corner store near campus she is still afraid to visit after someone she knew was shot there, and she remembers that the shooting got so bad in the neighborhood on New Year's Eve, she and her family were forced out of their home for the night.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_351_slide-3780cf5f8096b0e74940f268ca7ff6b00825c1ac-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_351_slide-3780cf5f8096b0e74940f268ca7ff6b00825c1ac-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_351_slide-3780cf5f8096b0e74940f268ca7ff6b00825c1ac-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_351_slide-3780cf5f8096b0e74940f268ca7ff6b00825c1ac-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_351_slide-3780cf5f8096b0e74940f268ca7ff6b00825c1ac-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_351_slide-3780cf5f8096b0e74940f268ca7ff6b00825c1ac-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_351_slide-3780cf5f8096b0e74940f268ca7ff6b00825c1ac.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ajahnay Cooper, 17, can point out the corner store near campus she is still afraid to visit after someone she knew was shot there, and she remembers that the shooting got so bad in the neighborhood on New Year’s Eve, she and her family were forced out of their home for the night. \u003ccite>(James Tensuan for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cooper, Hurst and Patten all have vivid memories of the multiple times gun violence has touched their lives. All three students are members of an Oakland-based violence intervention program called Youth ALIVE! and they remember when one of their program counselors was shot just outside the high school. Hurst can recall being held up at gunpoint at an East Oakland McDonald’s and the multiple times he had to run from bullets in his neighborhood. Cooper can point out the corner store near campus she is still afraid to visit after someone she knew was shot there, and she says that the shooting got so bad in the neighborhood on New Year’s Eve, she and her family were forced out of their home for the night. She sometimes carries a knife or pepper spray in her neighborhood to feel safer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850839\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850839\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/untitled-1_custom-d3fe293ff7044c6f91df33c29108aab01d0852dc-800x266.jpg\" alt=\"Memorials for victims of gun-related homicide in Oakland.\" width=\"800\" height=\"266\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/untitled-1_custom-d3fe293ff7044c6f91df33c29108aab01d0852dc-800x266.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/untitled-1_custom-d3fe293ff7044c6f91df33c29108aab01d0852dc-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/untitled-1_custom-d3fe293ff7044c6f91df33c29108aab01d0852dc-768x255.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/untitled-1_custom-d3fe293ff7044c6f91df33c29108aab01d0852dc-1020x339.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/untitled-1_custom-d3fe293ff7044c6f91df33c29108aab01d0852dc-1200x398.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/untitled-1_custom-d3fe293ff7044c6f91df33c29108aab01d0852dc-1920x637.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/untitled-1_custom-d3fe293ff7044c6f91df33c29108aab01d0852dc.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Memorials for victims of gun-related homicide in Oakland. \u003ccite>(James Tensuan for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s actually, like, numbing,” Hurst says. “You don’t even feel the pain no more. You know something might go on today. When people really ask me if I feel safe at home or at school, it’s neither.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They say they’re never really sure which classmate may have brought a gun to school. They say they aren’t sure when they may have to run from gunfire. And they say they don’t know when a small high school dispute might turn into violence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The students say the kind of day-to-day gun violence they experience is under-covered in the press. And they have a point. A mass shooting anywhere in the country usually garners more national media attention than a single shooting or homicide that happens regularly in neighborhoods like East Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850835\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850835\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_299_slide-c63a8784d4cddd8044950db7c39a277238b76502-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Gabriel Patten, 18, a student at Castlemont High School in East Oakland, Calif., is a member of an Oakland-based violence intervention program called Youth ALIVE! He remembers when one of the program counselors was shot just outside the school.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gabriel Patten, 18, a student at Castlemont High School in East Oakland, Calif., is a member of an Oakland-based violence intervention program called Youth ALIVE! He remembers when one of the program counselors was shot just outside the school. \u003ccite>(James Tensuan for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The higher the shooting’s death toll, the greater the coverage, says Joel A. Capellan at Rowan University, who studies mass shootings. “No. 1 is how lethal the shooting is,” Capellan says. “That’s the most predictive factor when it comes to not only which shootings get presented by the news but also how much they are presented.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This already makes the everyday violence in places like East Oakland less likely to get widespread attention. And then there are other elements that seem to determine coverage, he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When the victims are younger … particularly white children and white teenagers, that seems to be a pretty big factor,” Capellan says. “When they’re black and poor, they get no attention, or very little attention.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The way mass shootings are covered has “fundamentally distorted our perception of reality,” he says. “The public generally thinks that there are more mass shootings than there actually are in real life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850840\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850840\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_113-1eb764aaaa97e227bda3a190202937a139f743c2-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Crosses erected at a local church for every homicide victim in Oakland, Calif.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_113-1eb764aaaa97e227bda3a190202937a139f743c2-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_113-1eb764aaaa97e227bda3a190202937a139f743c2-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_113-1eb764aaaa97e227bda3a190202937a139f743c2-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_113-1eb764aaaa97e227bda3a190202937a139f743c2-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_113-1eb764aaaa97e227bda3a190202937a139f743c2-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_113-1eb764aaaa97e227bda3a190202937a139f743c2-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_113-1eb764aaaa97e227bda3a190202937a139f743c2.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crosses erected at a local church for every homicide victim in Oakland, Calif. \u003ccite>(James Tensuan for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“It’s our time to talk”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The vast majority of gun deaths — \u003ca href=\"https://www.bradycampaign.org/sites/default/files/Brady-Guns-Suicide-Report-2016.pdf\">more than two-thirds\u003c/a> — in America every year are suicides. Mass shootings account for about \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/02/01/170872321/study-most-gun-deaths-happen-outside-of-mass-shootings\">1 percent of all gun-related deaths \u003c/a>in the U.S. every year. Even as the rate of mass shootings has increased over the past several years, they are a small fraction of gun deaths in America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t solve a problem when we don’t know what’s happening,” says Pamela Mejia, head of research at the Berkeley Media Studies Group, which examines mass media and its connection to public health. “If the coverage is overwhelmingly driven by very high profile but fundamentally fairly rare issues … what people, voters, policymakers … are learning about and having a sense of as the norm is only those very isolated incidences. And then the solutions that they’re thinking about are really solutions that only address those specific problems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850837\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850837\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_571_slide-af13a56c3f8af5edd924b6f59be2f9e2f32405dd-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A memorial for a victim of gun-related homicide outside Castlemont High School.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_571_slide-af13a56c3f8af5edd924b6f59be2f9e2f32405dd-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_571_slide-af13a56c3f8af5edd924b6f59be2f9e2f32405dd-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_571_slide-af13a56c3f8af5edd924b6f59be2f9e2f32405dd-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_571_slide-af13a56c3f8af5edd924b6f59be2f9e2f32405dd-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_571_slide-af13a56c3f8af5edd924b6f59be2f9e2f32405dd-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_571_slide-af13a56c3f8af5edd924b6f59be2f9e2f32405dd-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_571_slide-af13a56c3f8af5edd924b6f59be2f9e2f32405dd.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A memorial for a victim of gun-related homicide outside Castlemont High School. \u003ccite>(James Tensuan for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Hurst, Cooper and Patten, the students at Castlemont High, hope that the Parkland shooting anniversary is a moment for all Americans to think about the ways gun violence affects people in communities like theirs and to look farther than Parkland to see the reality of gun violence all over America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They also have a few words for the students at Parkland, who have galvanized the nation over the past year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have to respect them for their leadership,” Hurst says. “I would just say that you were blessed with all that media attention.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patten echoes the sentiment. “I would tell them, I’m sorry for what you went through,” he says, “but it’s our time to talk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr />\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Anjuli Sastry and Jordana Hochman produced and edited the broadcast version of this \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510317/its-been-a-minute-with-sam-sanders\">It’s Been A Minute\u003c/a>\u003cem> episode. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2019 \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003c/div>\n",
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"excerpt": "In East Oakland, Calif., where gun violence is chronic, some are grateful that after Parkland, America pays more attention to the issue. But as an East Oakland youth says, \"It's our time to talk.\"",
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"title": "Far From Parkland Spotlight, Teens In East Oakland Want To Tell Their Stories | KQED",
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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\" src=\"https://www.npr.org/player/embed/692823424/693851818\" width=\"100%\" height=\"290\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" 0=\"title="NPR\" 1=\"embedded\" 2=\"audio\" 3=\"player"></iframe\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the nation marks one year since the Parkland school shooting, many Americans are thinking about how the conversation about kids and gun violence has shifted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the weeks and months after a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., students took to the streets and the airwaves to call for fundamental change in America’s gun laws. Stoneman Douglas students and students nationwide rallied in an effort to prevent that kind of massacre from happening again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so far in 2019, according to an analysis by Pacific Standard, \u003ca href=\"https://psmag.com/social-justice/the-116th-congress-is-refocused-on-gun-control-in-the-wake-of-parkland\">the 116th Congress has already introduced 33 gun control bills\u003c/a>, a number not seen since the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for some young people, a year’s attention on events like Parkland hasn’t turned into the attention they’re asking for: a spotlight on the everyday gun violence they experience in their neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We might not see all of our friends die at the same time, but we’re definitely seeing people fade away to the same fate, just on multiple occasions,” says Gabriel Patten, 18, a student at Castlemont High School in East Oakland, Calif. “You’re like, I just hope I make the right decisions today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850836\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850836\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_072_slide-09948e29876a5df6cc29855ecddbaa0e0b18b5b2-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Memorial crosses for homicide victims are erected at St. Columba Catholic Church in Oakland, Calif. In East Oakland, where gun violence is chronic, some are grateful that America is paying more attention to it — but they would also like a focus on neighborhoods like theirs.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_072_slide-09948e29876a5df6cc29855ecddbaa0e0b18b5b2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_072_slide-09948e29876a5df6cc29855ecddbaa0e0b18b5b2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_072_slide-09948e29876a5df6cc29855ecddbaa0e0b18b5b2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_072_slide-09948e29876a5df6cc29855ecddbaa0e0b18b5b2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_072_slide-09948e29876a5df6cc29855ecddbaa0e0b18b5b2-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_072_slide-09948e29876a5df6cc29855ecddbaa0e0b18b5b2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_072_slide-09948e29876a5df6cc29855ecddbaa0e0b18b5b2.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Memorial crosses for homicide victims are erected at St. Columba Catholic Church in Oakland, Calif. In East Oakland, where gun violence is chronic, some are grateful that America is paying more attention to it — but they would also like a focus on neighborhoods like theirs. \u003ccite>(James Tensuan for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“Distorted our perception of reality”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patten and other students from Castlemont High have conflicted feelings at the first anniversary of the Parkland shooting. On one hand, they say, they are grateful that America is paying more attention to gun violence. On the other, they know that the gun violence that affects them, sometimes daily, gets much less attention than mass shootings that happen at places like Parkland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland had 75 homicides in 2017, with \u003ca href=\"https://issuu.com/youthalive/docs/ya_annualreport2018.print\">46 of those in East Oakland\u003c/a>, where Patten and classmates Ajahnay Cooper, 17, and Armon Hurst, 18, attend school. That’s about one homicide per week in the youths’ neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850834\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850834\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_351_slide-3780cf5f8096b0e74940f268ca7ff6b00825c1ac-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Ajahnay Cooper, 17, can point out the corner store near campus she is still afraid to visit after someone she knew was shot there, and she remembers that the shooting got so bad in the neighborhood on New Year's Eve, she and her family were forced out of their home for the night.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_351_slide-3780cf5f8096b0e74940f268ca7ff6b00825c1ac-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_351_slide-3780cf5f8096b0e74940f268ca7ff6b00825c1ac-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_351_slide-3780cf5f8096b0e74940f268ca7ff6b00825c1ac-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_351_slide-3780cf5f8096b0e74940f268ca7ff6b00825c1ac-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_351_slide-3780cf5f8096b0e74940f268ca7ff6b00825c1ac-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_351_slide-3780cf5f8096b0e74940f268ca7ff6b00825c1ac-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_351_slide-3780cf5f8096b0e74940f268ca7ff6b00825c1ac.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ajahnay Cooper, 17, can point out the corner store near campus she is still afraid to visit after someone she knew was shot there, and she remembers that the shooting got so bad in the neighborhood on New Year’s Eve, she and her family were forced out of their home for the night. \u003ccite>(James Tensuan for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cooper, Hurst and Patten all have vivid memories of the multiple times gun violence has touched their lives. All three students are members of an Oakland-based violence intervention program called Youth ALIVE! and they remember when one of their program counselors was shot just outside the high school. Hurst can recall being held up at gunpoint at an East Oakland McDonald’s and the multiple times he had to run from bullets in his neighborhood. Cooper can point out the corner store near campus she is still afraid to visit after someone she knew was shot there, and she says that the shooting got so bad in the neighborhood on New Year’s Eve, she and her family were forced out of their home for the night. She sometimes carries a knife or pepper spray in her neighborhood to feel safer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850839\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850839\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/untitled-1_custom-d3fe293ff7044c6f91df33c29108aab01d0852dc-800x266.jpg\" alt=\"Memorials for victims of gun-related homicide in Oakland.\" width=\"800\" height=\"266\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/untitled-1_custom-d3fe293ff7044c6f91df33c29108aab01d0852dc-800x266.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/untitled-1_custom-d3fe293ff7044c6f91df33c29108aab01d0852dc-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/untitled-1_custom-d3fe293ff7044c6f91df33c29108aab01d0852dc-768x255.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/untitled-1_custom-d3fe293ff7044c6f91df33c29108aab01d0852dc-1020x339.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/untitled-1_custom-d3fe293ff7044c6f91df33c29108aab01d0852dc-1200x398.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/untitled-1_custom-d3fe293ff7044c6f91df33c29108aab01d0852dc-1920x637.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/untitled-1_custom-d3fe293ff7044c6f91df33c29108aab01d0852dc.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Memorials for victims of gun-related homicide in Oakland. \u003ccite>(James Tensuan for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s actually, like, numbing,” Hurst says. “You don’t even feel the pain no more. You know something might go on today. When people really ask me if I feel safe at home or at school, it’s neither.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They say they’re never really sure which classmate may have brought a gun to school. They say they aren’t sure when they may have to run from gunfire. And they say they don’t know when a small high school dispute might turn into violence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The students say the kind of day-to-day gun violence they experience is under-covered in the press. And they have a point. A mass shooting anywhere in the country usually garners more national media attention than a single shooting or homicide that happens regularly in neighborhoods like East Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850835\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850835\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_299_slide-c63a8784d4cddd8044950db7c39a277238b76502-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Gabriel Patten, 18, a student at Castlemont High School in East Oakland, Calif., is a member of an Oakland-based violence intervention program called Youth ALIVE! He remembers when one of the program counselors was shot just outside the school.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gabriel Patten, 18, a student at Castlemont High School in East Oakland, Calif., is a member of an Oakland-based violence intervention program called Youth ALIVE! He remembers when one of the program counselors was shot just outside the school. \u003ccite>(James Tensuan for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The higher the shooting’s death toll, the greater the coverage, says Joel A. Capellan at Rowan University, who studies mass shootings. “No. 1 is how lethal the shooting is,” Capellan says. “That’s the most predictive factor when it comes to not only which shootings get presented by the news but also how much they are presented.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This already makes the everyday violence in places like East Oakland less likely to get widespread attention. And then there are other elements that seem to determine coverage, he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When the victims are younger … particularly white children and white teenagers, that seems to be a pretty big factor,” Capellan says. “When they’re black and poor, they get no attention, or very little attention.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The way mass shootings are covered has “fundamentally distorted our perception of reality,” he says. “The public generally thinks that there are more mass shootings than there actually are in real life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850840\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850840\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_113-1eb764aaaa97e227bda3a190202937a139f743c2-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Crosses erected at a local church for every homicide victim in Oakland, Calif.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_113-1eb764aaaa97e227bda3a190202937a139f743c2-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_113-1eb764aaaa97e227bda3a190202937a139f743c2-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_113-1eb764aaaa97e227bda3a190202937a139f743c2-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_113-1eb764aaaa97e227bda3a190202937a139f743c2-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_113-1eb764aaaa97e227bda3a190202937a139f743c2-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_113-1eb764aaaa97e227bda3a190202937a139f743c2-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190209_oakland_jt_113-1eb764aaaa97e227bda3a190202937a139f743c2.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crosses erected at a local church for every homicide victim in Oakland, Calif. \u003ccite>(James Tensuan for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“It’s our time to talk”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The vast majority of gun deaths — \u003ca href=\"https://www.bradycampaign.org/sites/default/files/Brady-Guns-Suicide-Report-2016.pdf\">more than two-thirds\u003c/a> — in America every year are suicides. Mass shootings account for about \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/02/01/170872321/study-most-gun-deaths-happen-outside-of-mass-shootings\">1 percent of all gun-related deaths \u003c/a>in the U.S. every year. Even as the rate of mass shootings has increased over the past several years, they are a small fraction of gun deaths in America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t solve a problem when we don’t know what’s happening,” says Pamela Mejia, head of research at the Berkeley Media Studies Group, which examines mass media and its connection to public health. “If the coverage is overwhelmingly driven by very high profile but fundamentally fairly rare issues … what people, voters, policymakers … are learning about and having a sense of as the norm is only those very isolated incidences. And then the solutions that they’re thinking about are really solutions that only address those specific problems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850837\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850837\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_571_slide-af13a56c3f8af5edd924b6f59be2f9e2f32405dd-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A memorial for a victim of gun-related homicide outside Castlemont High School.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_571_slide-af13a56c3f8af5edd924b6f59be2f9e2f32405dd-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_571_slide-af13a56c3f8af5edd924b6f59be2f9e2f32405dd-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_571_slide-af13a56c3f8af5edd924b6f59be2f9e2f32405dd-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_571_slide-af13a56c3f8af5edd924b6f59be2f9e2f32405dd-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_571_slide-af13a56c3f8af5edd924b6f59be2f9e2f32405dd-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_571_slide-af13a56c3f8af5edd924b6f59be2f9e2f32405dd-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/20190208_oakland_jt_571_slide-af13a56c3f8af5edd924b6f59be2f9e2f32405dd.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A memorial for a victim of gun-related homicide outside Castlemont High School. \u003ccite>(James Tensuan for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Hurst, Cooper and Patten, the students at Castlemont High, hope that the Parkland shooting anniversary is a moment for all Americans to think about the ways gun violence affects people in communities like theirs and to look farther than Parkland to see the reality of gun violence all over America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They also have a few words for the students at Parkland, who have galvanized the nation over the past year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have to respect them for their leadership,” Hurst says. “I would just say that you were blessed with all that media attention.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patten echoes the sentiment. “I would tell them, I’m sorry for what you went through,” he says, “but it’s our time to talk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr />\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Anjuli Sastry and Jordana Hochman produced and edited the broadcast version of this \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510317/its-been-a-minute-with-sam-sanders\">It’s Been A Minute\u003c/a>\u003cem> episode. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2019 \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "looking-good-is-pricy-flygurlzclub-helps-oakland-teens-dress-the-part",
"title": "Looking Good is Pricy; FLYGURLZCLUB Helps Oakland Teens Dress the Part",
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"headTitle": "Looking Good is Pricy; FLYGURLZCLUB Helps Oakland Teens Dress the Part | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Last September, Oakland’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.e14gallery.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">E14 Gallery\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> buzzed with the back-to-school frenzy that surrounds Labor Day weekend. The unlikely venue, located on a rustic, brick-lined street in Old Oakland, had its doors wide open, giving passersby a view of the dozens of enthusiastic high-school girls sorting through clothes amid festive decorations and upbeat music. [contextly_sidebar id=”gHjg4dZF5VlopFFyaZDyyfmsnfziUGvE”]\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The group behind the event was \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.flygurlzclub.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">FLYGURLZCLUB\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a platform created in 2017 by Vallejo-native Stephanie Torres with the intention of providing under-resourced girls and young women with opportunities to empower themselves through fashion. Their event last Labor Day was the grassroots organization’s official launch. They introduced the platform with a back-to-school donation drive that invited female students from Fremont High School and United for Success to stock up on donated apparel, pamper themselves for free and, most importantly, have fun. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850724\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850724\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5600-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"Nail artist Nakira Glasgow offered free manicures to high school girls at FLYGURLZCLUB's back-to-school event.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5600-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5600-768x1152.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nail artist Nakira Glasgow offered free manicures to high school girls at FLYGURLZCLUB’s back-to-school event. \u003ccite>(Amina El Kabbany)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The wholly volunteer- and women-run clothing drive included DJ sets from local artists \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/arumi.cloud/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Arumi\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/genevieve.diaz/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Genevieve Diaz\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, plus nail techs and makeup artists giving girls sparkly manicures and bejeweled makeovers. FLYGURLZCLUB, which is throwing a \u003ca href=\"https://www.flygurlzclub.org/events\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">party and fundraiser\u003c/a> for their next drive at Taylor/Monroe on Feb. 16, offers a space for young women to share their skills with one another and lend a mentor-like hand to the teen participants.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For founder Torres, the idea for FLYGURLZCLUB came while cleaning out her closet. She was suddenly struck with the idea that she didn’t necessarily need to donate her clothes to Goodwill or sell them to a consignment shop. Rather, she could use her old clothes to give back directly to her own community—a desire that stems from Torres’ own background.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I experienced firsthand what it was like never being able to buy nice clothes when I was younger,” says Torres, who works as a PR and social media coordinator by day. “I’ve always shopped for cheap clothes—my grandma taught me how to budget—so I knew girls in middle school and high school would appreciate it.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Considering the immense pressure that young girls feel to look or dress a certain way, especially in our age of ubiquitous social media, Torres hopes FLYGURLZCLUB can help level the playing field. In that way, the clothing drive has potential to foster real-life connections and build self-esteem in a generation of girls under more pressure to have a social media presence than ever before. It’s not just about looks, either: for millennials and Gen Z-ers, how one presents on social media can make one more employable or marketable as an artist, and maintaining that polished image is expensive. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850725\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850725\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5541-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Stylists, nail techs and DJs other creatives volunteered for FLYGURLZCLUB's clothing giveaway for under-resourced girls.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5541-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5541-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5541-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5541-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5541-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5541.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stylists, nail techs and DJs other creatives volunteered for FLYGURLZCLUB’s clothing giveaway for under-resourced girls. \u003ccite>(Amina El Kabbany)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Torres recounted how, after securing E14 as the venue space, she was shocked at the outpouring of support she received from other femmes online and in person. Local makeup artists, nail techs, DJs and stylists volunteered their efforts, building a creative hub of women supporting other women.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I think that’s the power of social media and the beauty of it. At times it can be a superficial thing, but there are people who want to connect,” Torres says. “The goal was just to showcase that women can work together—especially here in the Bay Area. Women of different backgrounds and different industries can produce a project like this with the common goal of helping younger girls.”[contextly_sidebar id=”TM4zNxD4uF3LrqZnmpgbeELZjNTqrV2p”]\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the drive itself, that willingness for connection felt clear. Volunteers were open and friendly, helping high school students sort through the piles and piles of ripped jeans, fluffy coats and neon tops. Stylists were open and friendly, giving the girls tips on which belt went better with which top, and helped girls feel comfortable in clothes they otherwise wouldn’t have known how to wear. Resources and warmth were in abundance, and every person in attendance seemed dedicated to encouraging an uplifting and inclusive environment.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850726\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850726\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5333-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"FLYGURLZCLUB's mission is to help high school girls from low-income backgrounds look and feel confident. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5333-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5333-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5333-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5333-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5333-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5333.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">FLYGURLZCLUB’s mission is to help high school girls from low-income backgrounds look and feel confident. \u003ccite>(Amina El Kabbany )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Torres recounts a particularly poignant anecdote from the event: “A student came up to the director of E14 Gallery and told her it was her birthday. She was like, ‘You don’t even know. This is the best day of my life.’ The director told me she wanted to tear up because she saw how this girl felt, and how much of an impact FLYGURLZCLUB made.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This year, FLYGURLZCLUB is planning on creating infrastructure, recruiting volunteers and putting on more events for young students to feel welcomed and inspired. Their “Galantine” Fundraiser Gala, a dedication to celebrating self-love and supporting their upcoming projects, is right around the corner. And this Labor Day, Torres intends to throw another back-to-school drive—this time including young boys and partnering with barber shops to give them free haircuts. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Boys deserve it too,” Torres says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">2019 holds a lot of promise for FLYGURLZCLUB. And Torres and her network of femme power seem ready to take it on.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We’re super excited,” she said. “It’s all happening so fast.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/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>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>FLYGURLZCLUB’s Galantine party and fundraiser gala takes place on Feb. 16 at Taylor/Monroe Salon. Details \u003ca href=\"https://www.flygurlzclub.org/events\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "Looking Good is Pricy; FLYGURLZCLUB Helps Oakland Teens Dress the Part | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Last September, Oakland’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.e14gallery.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">E14 Gallery\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> buzzed with the back-to-school frenzy that surrounds Labor Day weekend. The unlikely venue, located on a rustic, brick-lined street in Old Oakland, had its doors wide open, giving passersby a view of the dozens of enthusiastic high-school girls sorting through clothes amid festive decorations and upbeat music. \u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The group behind the event was \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.flygurlzclub.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">FLYGURLZCLUB\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a platform created in 2017 by Vallejo-native Stephanie Torres with the intention of providing under-resourced girls and young women with opportunities to empower themselves through fashion. Their event last Labor Day was the grassroots organization’s official launch. They introduced the platform with a back-to-school donation drive that invited female students from Fremont High School and United for Success to stock up on donated apparel, pamper themselves for free and, most importantly, have fun. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850724\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850724\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5600-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"Nail artist Nakira Glasgow offered free manicures to high school girls at FLYGURLZCLUB's back-to-school event.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5600-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5600-768x1152.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nail artist Nakira Glasgow offered free manicures to high school girls at FLYGURLZCLUB’s back-to-school event. \u003ccite>(Amina El Kabbany)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The wholly volunteer- and women-run clothing drive included DJ sets from local artists \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/arumi.cloud/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Arumi\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/genevieve.diaz/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Genevieve Diaz\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, plus nail techs and makeup artists giving girls sparkly manicures and bejeweled makeovers. FLYGURLZCLUB, which is throwing a \u003ca href=\"https://www.flygurlzclub.org/events\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">party and fundraiser\u003c/a> for their next drive at Taylor/Monroe on Feb. 16, offers a space for young women to share their skills with one another and lend a mentor-like hand to the teen participants.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For founder Torres, the idea for FLYGURLZCLUB came while cleaning out her closet. She was suddenly struck with the idea that she didn’t necessarily need to donate her clothes to Goodwill or sell them to a consignment shop. Rather, she could use her old clothes to give back directly to her own community—a desire that stems from Torres’ own background.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I experienced firsthand what it was like never being able to buy nice clothes when I was younger,” says Torres, who works as a PR and social media coordinator by day. “I’ve always shopped for cheap clothes—my grandma taught me how to budget—so I knew girls in middle school and high school would appreciate it.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Considering the immense pressure that young girls feel to look or dress a certain way, especially in our age of ubiquitous social media, Torres hopes FLYGURLZCLUB can help level the playing field. In that way, the clothing drive has potential to foster real-life connections and build self-esteem in a generation of girls under more pressure to have a social media presence than ever before. It’s not just about looks, either: for millennials and Gen Z-ers, how one presents on social media can make one more employable or marketable as an artist, and maintaining that polished image is expensive. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850725\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850725\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5541-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Stylists, nail techs and DJs other creatives volunteered for FLYGURLZCLUB's clothing giveaway for under-resourced girls.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5541-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5541-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5541-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5541-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5541-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5541.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stylists, nail techs and DJs other creatives volunteered for FLYGURLZCLUB’s clothing giveaway for under-resourced girls. \u003ccite>(Amina El Kabbany)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Torres recounted how, after securing E14 as the venue space, she was shocked at the outpouring of support she received from other femmes online and in person. Local makeup artists, nail techs, DJs and stylists volunteered their efforts, building a creative hub of women supporting other women.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I think that’s the power of social media and the beauty of it. At times it can be a superficial thing, but there are people who want to connect,” Torres says. “The goal was just to showcase that women can work together—especially here in the Bay Area. Women of different backgrounds and different industries can produce a project like this with the common goal of helping younger girls.”\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the drive itself, that willingness for connection felt clear. Volunteers were open and friendly, helping high school students sort through the piles and piles of ripped jeans, fluffy coats and neon tops. Stylists were open and friendly, giving the girls tips on which belt went better with which top, and helped girls feel comfortable in clothes they otherwise wouldn’t have known how to wear. Resources and warmth were in abundance, and every person in attendance seemed dedicated to encouraging an uplifting and inclusive environment.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850726\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850726\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5333-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"FLYGURLZCLUB's mission is to help high school girls from low-income backgrounds look and feel confident. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5333-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5333-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5333-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5333-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5333-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/ID7B5333.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">FLYGURLZCLUB’s mission is to help high school girls from low-income backgrounds look and feel confident. \u003ccite>(Amina El Kabbany )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Torres recounts a particularly poignant anecdote from the event: “A student came up to the director of E14 Gallery and told her it was her birthday. She was like, ‘You don’t even know. This is the best day of my life.’ The director told me she wanted to tear up because she saw how this girl felt, and how much of an impact FLYGURLZCLUB made.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This year, FLYGURLZCLUB is planning on creating infrastructure, recruiting volunteers and putting on more events for young students to feel welcomed and inspired. Their “Galantine” Fundraiser Gala, a dedication to celebrating self-love and supporting their upcoming projects, is right around the corner. And this Labor Day, Torres intends to throw another back-to-school drive—this time including young boys and partnering with barber shops to give them free haircuts. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Boys deserve it too,” Torres says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">2019 holds a lot of promise for FLYGURLZCLUB. And Torres and her network of femme power seem ready to take it on.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We’re super excited,” she said. “It’s all happening so fast.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/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>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>FLYGURLZCLUB’s Galantine party and fundraiser gala takes place on Feb. 16 at Taylor/Monroe Salon. Details \u003ca href=\"https://www.flygurlzclub.org/events\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "gentrification-and-cultural-tension-in-oakland-web-series-uneasy",
"title": "Gentrification and Cultural Tension in Oakland Web Series 'Uneasy'",
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"headTitle": "Gentrification and Cultural Tension in Oakland Web Series ‘Uneasy’ | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>What’s it like to be a first-generation college graduate surviving in a rapidly gentrifying Oakland, all while trying to navigate job-hunting, foster friendships and deal with the daily struggle of trying to stay put in The Town?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the new web series \u003cem>Uneasy\u003c/em>, local writers and filmmakers Samiat Salami and Vanessa Flores tackle this very question—with an added cultural layer. Salami is Nigerian-American, and Flores is Guatemalan-Mexican-American.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With this series, we wanted to showcase what it’s like to come from post-military Nigeria, and also what is like to be Latinx and not speak Spanish, and how it affects your culture,” Salami tells me during a recent chat at a local coffee shop in downtown Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some might see in \u003cem>Uneasy\u003c/em> a correlation to \u003cem>Insecure\u003c/em>, but unlike Issa Rae on her hit HBO show, don’t expect Ade (Samiat Salami), and Cat (Vanessa Flores) to be preoccupied with their love lives. The roommates’ biggest worries are housing, finances, and interpersonal discovery. (A closer comparison might be \u003cem>The North Pole\u003c/em>, the 2017 web series that tackled gentrification; both series are written and directed by people of color, and both are shot in familiar settings throughout Oakland.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850610\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850610\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/UNeven.Lake_-1-800x488.jpg\" alt=\"Vanessa Flores and Samiat Salami, writers and filmmakers behind the new web series 'Uneasy.'\" width=\"800\" height=\"488\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/UNeven.Lake_-1-800x488.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/UNeven.Lake_-1-160x98.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/UNeven.Lake_-1-768x469.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/UNeven.Lake_-1-1020x623.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/UNeven.Lake_-1-1200x733.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/UNeven.Lake_-1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vanessa Flores and Samiat Salami, writers and filmmakers behind the new web series ‘Uneasy.’ \u003ccite>(Jannah Manansala)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Uneasy\u003c/em>‘s two main characters are roommates. Ade is struggling to stay in the apartment with Cat; a recent graduate, she has yet to find a job, and can’t afford to pay rent. She wrestles with her friendship with Cat, and how to develop friendships with other women, and black women specifically—a conflict that Salami says came from real life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Grad school is very white,” Salami explains. After moving the the U.S. from Nigeria, going to school in Florida, and losing part of her identity while attending grad school, “I realized when I graduated that I had no black friends… I would go to the lake, and I would see all these women having a good time, and it felt like something I didn’t get an invitation to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Flores had felt “white-washed” because she doesn’t speak Spanish fluently. “It’s rejecting certain things to fit in,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_dyS4iMD0w&feature=youtu.be\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Salami and Flores are not roommates in real life. Salami is married and resides in Oakland, and Flores, priced out of Oakland, recently moved to the Sunset in San Francisco. But “getting to know each other [in real life] definitely shaped the show,” Flores says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, both Salami and Flores utilized certain situations from their time in grad school for the show. “In academia, especially in a writer’s workshop, you talk about your identity 24-7,” Salami says. For Flores, her early writing was defined by who was teaching her. “I was writing very white male fiction, and anything else that I was trying to write was nonsensical,” Flores says. “I had to assimilate my writing, and I did it, and I was pretty successful writing like a white man.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003cem>Uneasy\u003c/em>, Ade and Cat are up against being perceived as gentrifiers themselves, even though they both struggle financially. “Cat and Ade are each other’s people, but they will never fully know what it is like to be the other,” Salami explains. “This comes from a very real place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=”oOMfIFbUUpwTvC4LCU80NDC52yYXPeBD”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For those who noticed the Bay Area soundtrack anchoring the movies \u003cem>Blindspotting\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Sorry To Bother You\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Uneasy\u003c/em> will give a similar vibe. The episodes include music from local artists like Trey Coastal, Mlodic, Honey Gold Jasmine, Qing Qi, Caleborate, and others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For their second season, Salami and Flores aim to find more local women musicians, a challenge they encountered this time around. “When people watch the show, I want it to partner well with the music,” Salami explains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once Salami and Flores had their writing in motion, the first five episodes were entirely self-funded, with both Salami and Flores taking extra freelance work and maxing out their own credit cards. The remaining episodes (there are 8 total, roughly 10 minutes each) were funded by $10,000 in donations from a \u003ca href=\"https://www.seedandspark.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Seed & Spark\u003c/a> campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For Season Two we want make this bigger, involve more writers, have an actual writer’s room,” Flores says. “I would love for the show to stay grounded in Oakland and the experiences of living here,” Salami says. “Women of color have earned the right to be on television, and have our stories not be perfect.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/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>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Uneasy’ premieres in part on Sunday, Feb. 17, at the New Parkway in Oakland; \u003ca href=\"https://e.sparxo.com/uneasy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">details here\u003c/a>. It premieres in full on YouTube in March. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>What’s it like to be a first-generation college graduate surviving in a rapidly gentrifying Oakland, all while trying to navigate job-hunting, foster friendships and deal with the daily struggle of trying to stay put in The Town?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the new web series \u003cem>Uneasy\u003c/em>, local writers and filmmakers Samiat Salami and Vanessa Flores tackle this very question—with an added cultural layer. Salami is Nigerian-American, and Flores is Guatemalan-Mexican-American.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With this series, we wanted to showcase what it’s like to come from post-military Nigeria, and also what is like to be Latinx and not speak Spanish, and how it affects your culture,” Salami tells me during a recent chat at a local coffee shop in downtown Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some might see in \u003cem>Uneasy\u003c/em> a correlation to \u003cem>Insecure\u003c/em>, but unlike Issa Rae on her hit HBO show, don’t expect Ade (Samiat Salami), and Cat (Vanessa Flores) to be preoccupied with their love lives. The roommates’ biggest worries are housing, finances, and interpersonal discovery. (A closer comparison might be \u003cem>The North Pole\u003c/em>, the 2017 web series that tackled gentrification; both series are written and directed by people of color, and both are shot in familiar settings throughout Oakland.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13850610\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13850610\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/UNeven.Lake_-1-800x488.jpg\" alt=\"Vanessa Flores and Samiat Salami, writers and filmmakers behind the new web series 'Uneasy.'\" width=\"800\" height=\"488\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/UNeven.Lake_-1-800x488.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/UNeven.Lake_-1-160x98.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/UNeven.Lake_-1-768x469.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/UNeven.Lake_-1-1020x623.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/UNeven.Lake_-1-1200x733.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/UNeven.Lake_-1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vanessa Flores and Samiat Salami, writers and filmmakers behind the new web series ‘Uneasy.’ \u003ccite>(Jannah Manansala)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Uneasy\u003c/em>‘s two main characters are roommates. Ade is struggling to stay in the apartment with Cat; a recent graduate, she has yet to find a job, and can’t afford to pay rent. She wrestles with her friendship with Cat, and how to develop friendships with other women, and black women specifically—a conflict that Salami says came from real life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Grad school is very white,” Salami explains. After moving the the U.S. from Nigeria, going to school in Florida, and losing part of her identity while attending grad school, “I realized when I graduated that I had no black friends… I would go to the lake, and I would see all these women having a good time, and it felt like something I didn’t get an invitation to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Flores had felt “white-washed” because she doesn’t speak Spanish fluently. “It’s rejecting certain things to fit in,” she says.\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/d_dyS4iMD0w'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/d_dyS4iMD0w'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Salami and Flores are not roommates in real life. Salami is married and resides in Oakland, and Flores, priced out of Oakland, recently moved to the Sunset in San Francisco. But “getting to know each other [in real life] definitely shaped the show,” Flores says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, both Salami and Flores utilized certain situations from their time in grad school for the show. “In academia, especially in a writer’s workshop, you talk about your identity 24-7,” Salami says. For Flores, her early writing was defined by who was teaching her. “I was writing very white male fiction, and anything else that I was trying to write was nonsensical,” Flores says. “I had to assimilate my writing, and I did it, and I was pretty successful writing like a white man.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003cem>Uneasy\u003c/em>, Ade and Cat are up against being perceived as gentrifiers themselves, even though they both struggle financially. “Cat and Ade are each other’s people, but they will never fully know what it is like to be the other,” Salami explains. “This comes from a very real place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For those who noticed the Bay Area soundtrack anchoring the movies \u003cem>Blindspotting\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Sorry To Bother You\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Uneasy\u003c/em> will give a similar vibe. The episodes include music from local artists like Trey Coastal, Mlodic, Honey Gold Jasmine, Qing Qi, Caleborate, and others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For their second season, Salami and Flores aim to find more local women musicians, a challenge they encountered this time around. “When people watch the show, I want it to partner well with the music,” Salami explains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once Salami and Flores had their writing in motion, the first five episodes were entirely self-funded, with both Salami and Flores taking extra freelance work and maxing out their own credit cards. The remaining episodes (there are 8 total, roughly 10 minutes each) were funded by $10,000 in donations from a \u003ca href=\"https://www.seedandspark.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Seed & Spark\u003c/a> campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For Season Two we want make this bigger, involve more writers, have an actual writer’s room,” Flores says. “I would love for the show to stay grounded in Oakland and the experiences of living here,” Salami says. “Women of color have earned the right to be on television, and have our stories not be perfect.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/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>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Uneasy’ premieres in part on Sunday, Feb. 17, at the New Parkway in Oakland; \u003ca href=\"https://e.sparxo.com/uneasy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">details here\u003c/a>. It premieres in full on YouTube in March. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Righting the Wrongs from the War on Drugs in Oakland",
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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\">M\u003c/span>alcolm Turner is only half-joking when he says he can’t listen to Juvenile’s “Sets Go Up” anymore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s the song he was slapping at max volume when he and our mutual friend Darrell were pulled over by Oakland police back in 2006. You know how it goes: they were stopped for speeding, or maybe a tail light. Asked about any outstanding warrants. One officer smelled marijuana, and before you know it, they were both arrested on charges of possession.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Somehow they managed to call me to come pick up their car. When I pulled up, Malcolm and Darrell, friends who I’d known since before puberty, were both in the back of the patrol car, headed to jail. Even worse, they were en route to a decade of disenfranchisement due to a bag of some damn herbs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were 18 or 19,” Malcolm told me when we talked recently about the impact the arrest had on his life. “That was before I could get into a career. That hindered employment and all that… it damn near will make you want to go back to selling weed!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Malcolm has since had a few legal gigs: a couple stints at Home Depot, working as a security guard, and he’s gone through Laney College’s welding program—only to find that getting a job in that industry wasn’t as easy as they said it’d be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Late last year, though, Malcolm’s search for a career landed him right back where he started: selling weed. This time, legally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last December, I walked into Blunts + Moore marijuana dispensary in East Oakland, and there was my pal Malcolm, smiling, talking to customers and peddling marijuana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13849864\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13849864\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMalandCustomer-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Malcolm Turner helps a customer at Blunts + Moore in Oakland.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMalandCustomer-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMalandCustomer-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMalandCustomer-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMalandCustomer-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMalandCustomer-1200x802.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMalandCustomer.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Malcolm Turner helps a customer at Blunts + Moore in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\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\">B\u003c/span>ig Mal, as he’s known, was one of the first employees at Blunts + Moore, the first cannabis dispensary in Oakland given a license by way of Oakland’s Cannabis Equity Program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After California legalized the sale of recreational cannabis, Oakland passed a bill that would require at least 50 percent of all cannabis permits to go to applicants of the equity program. To qualify for that program, among other criteria, residents either had to live in a high-crime zone for the past decade, or have been charged with a marijuana-related offense anytime since November of 1996.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over 600 applicants applied. Six of them granted licenses opened in Oakland last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For those lucky few, the program not only opens the door to the industry, but also is supposed to work as a sort of business incubator, lending contacts and advice to the new entrepreneurs. They’ve also added no-interest loans as an aspect of the program (since currently no bank allows cannabis businesses to have a bank account, let alone grant them loans). Additionally, \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/can-the-state-help-oaklands-equity-program/Content?oid=23672657\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">according to the \u003cem>East Bay Express\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, the city is turning to the State of California to add funds to their effort, as last year’s SB 1294 allows cities with equity programs to tap into a $10 million state fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even with these efforts, the Cannabis Equity Program has gotten a lot of flack, mainly for being touted more as more progressive than it actually is. You have to imagine: you hear “equity program” and you’d think it’s something that levels the playing field. Six dispensaries in Oakland out of 600 applicants leaves a lot of victims of the war on drugs behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it \u003cem>is\u003c/em> a leg up. Brittany Moore, co-founder of Blunts + Moore, acknowledges that she benefits from the program, but says it’s not a standalone solution. “I feel like it’s a little boost. It isn’t a handout. It says, ‘Here is a shot that you would’ve never gotten if it weren’t for this program,’ so I’m grateful for it,” Moore told me as we stood in an office at Blunts + Moore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13849867\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13849867\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.MooreandBlunt-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Brittany Moore and Alphonso Blunt, cofounders of Blunts + Moore, got an assist from Oakland's Equity Program.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.MooreandBlunt-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.MooreandBlunt-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.MooreandBlunt-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.MooreandBlunt-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.MooreandBlunt-1200x802.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.MooreandBlunt.jpg 1616w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brittany Moore and Alphonso Blunt, cofounders of Blunts + Moore, got an assist from Oakland’s Equity Program. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Moore’s co-founder, East Oakland native Alphonso Blunt (yes, the owners’ real names are Blunt and Moore) agrees. “It’s not as bad as they say, it just needed funding and education. Because it works, you just need people who know how to talk, how to not give up any of their equity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Equity, in terms of making sure all parties have a fair shot in this “green rush,” as some call it, is important—especially for communities that have suffered due to the war on drugs. And equity, in terms of retaining ownership, is just as important.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California brought in a reported $2.5 billion from the marijuana industry last year. And although that was less than projected, the industry overall is growing. The Golden State is just one of 10 states where recreational marijuana currently is legal, and one of over 30 states where medical cannabis is legal. In the next six years, it’s predicted the industry will be worth $25 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13849866\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13849866\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.BluntandCustomer-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Alphonso Blunt and a customer.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.BluntandCustomer-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.BluntandCustomer-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.BluntandCustomer-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.BluntandCustomer-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.BluntandCustomer.jpg 1100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alphonso Blunt and a customer. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nationally, there are a number of people with political will pushing for further legalization of marijuana, including former New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders and Earl Blumenauer, a Democratic Representative from Oregon who authored H.R. 420, a bill that would remove marijuana from the federal Controlled Substances Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acknowledging the industry’s potential, as well as the history of over-policing people of color in low-income communities, is part of what led former Oakland council member Desley Brooks to introduce the Equity program. According to \u003ca href=\"http://openjustice.doj.ca.gov/downloads/pdfs/cd15.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a 2015 report\u003c/a> from then-Attorney General Kamala Harris’s Office, “18 percent of arrestees for marijuana-related felonies in 2014 in the state were black even though, according to the 2010 census, only about 6 percent of California’s population is black. Meanwhile, white people constituted 31 percent of arrestees even though they made up more than 40 percent of the state population in 2010.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To understand the situation in Alameda County—and specifically Oakland—take a look at \u003ca href=\"https://sparq.stanford.edu/opd-reports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a 2014 survey\u003c/a> of over 28,000 Oakland Police Department stops of drivers and pedestrians. It found that a ridiculous amount of the stops—60 percent—were of African Americans. Man, African Americans only make up 28 percent of Oakland’s population, and that’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/01/from-black-panthers-to-bbq-becky-the-displacement-of-black-oakland\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">constantly decreasing\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13849865\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13849865\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.Product-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Malcolm Turner is currently the top sales associate at Blunts + Moore.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.Product-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.Product-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.Product-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.Product-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.Product-1200x802.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.Product.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Malcolm Turner is currently the top sales associate at Blunts + Moore. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\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\">M\u003c/span>alcolm was arrested a few years prior to that study, back when the Oakland Police Department \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_v._City_of_Oakland\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">first landed under federal monitor\u003c/a> for malpractice in communities of color. (Sixteen years later, Oakland is still under that federal monitor.) And despite \u003ca href=\"https://a18.asmdc.org/press-releases/20181001-governor-signs-bonta-bill-reduce-or-remove-outdated-cannabis-convictions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an Assembly Bill passed last year\u003c/a> to expunge records of those who’ve had marijuana offenses, Malcolm still has his offense on his record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s why it’s wild to see him find his footing in this industry. He’s the reason why the legalization of marijuana is important, and even more reason why the Equity Program is important. I’d argue that without the Equity Program—without someone like Moore, who has a background in understanding corporate finance, and Blunt, who has a background in knowing just about everyone in East Oakland—Malcolm wouldn’t have been hired by a dispensary. Especially not by the growing number of \u003ca href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/california-makes-marijuana-a-wellness-industry\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">“luxury cannabis” operations\u003c/a> that have sprung up in California, largely white-owned, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.theganjayoga.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ganga yoga\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://mybestbudca.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">edibles for dogs\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moore told me the story of how Malcolm was hired, out of their pool of over 2,000 applicants. Of course, on the day of interviews, Malcolm showed up to the job fair without a resume. Instead of lying about his printer not working, he told them straight-up that he’d seen the job opening on Instagram and decided to just roll up to the joint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite his lack of preparation—a dealbreaker for most companies—it was wise of Blunts + Moore to hire him. In their first month of operation, with his product knowledge and natural connection with the customer base, Malcolm was their top “budtender.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it boils down to it, Malcolm’s story is just one of thousands, a microcosm of the widespread fallout from the war on drugs. That one traffic stop in 2006 needlessly ruined 10 years of Malcom’s life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while the Equity Program in Oakland has issues, from implementation to administration, after all those years of broken-taillight stops and disproportionate arrests, there’s finally a story of one time local government sort of got something right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, the question is how do you bring this to scale in Oakland? And how do you replicate it for other cities, and spread the reparations around?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s certainly helped Big Mal. During that phone call earlier this month, before he hung up, Malcolm laughed as he told me, “I’m staying in this industry; I could become a doctor, and I’d \u003cem>still\u003c/em> have a side gig doing this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/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\u003cp>\u003cem>Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that only four of 600 applicants to the equity program were granted licenses. According to Assistant City Administrator Gregory Minor, “the City of Oakland has locally authorized approximately 370 equity applicants for a temporary state license, and six of the eight dispensaries added last year by the City of Oakland are owned-or co-owned by equity applicants.” \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Big Mal was arrested selling weed 13 years ago, ruining his job prospects. Now, he's selling weed again—legally—thanks to Oakland's Equity Program. ",
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"title": "Righting the Wrongs from the War on Drugs in Oakland | KQED",
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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\">M\u003c/span>alcolm Turner is only half-joking when he says he can’t listen to Juvenile’s “Sets Go Up” anymore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s the song he was slapping at max volume when he and our mutual friend Darrell were pulled over by Oakland police back in 2006. You know how it goes: they were stopped for speeding, or maybe a tail light. Asked about any outstanding warrants. One officer smelled marijuana, and before you know it, they were both arrested on charges of possession.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Somehow they managed to call me to come pick up their car. When I pulled up, Malcolm and Darrell, friends who I’d known since before puberty, were both in the back of the patrol car, headed to jail. Even worse, they were en route to a decade of disenfranchisement due to a bag of some damn herbs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were 18 or 19,” Malcolm told me when we talked recently about the impact the arrest had on his life. “That was before I could get into a career. That hindered employment and all that… it damn near will make you want to go back to selling weed!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Malcolm has since had a few legal gigs: a couple stints at Home Depot, working as a security guard, and he’s gone through Laney College’s welding program—only to find that getting a job in that industry wasn’t as easy as they said it’d be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Late last year, though, Malcolm’s search for a career landed him right back where he started: selling weed. This time, legally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last December, I walked into Blunts + Moore marijuana dispensary in East Oakland, and there was my pal Malcolm, smiling, talking to customers and peddling marijuana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13849864\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13849864\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMalandCustomer-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Malcolm Turner helps a customer at Blunts + Moore in Oakland.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMalandCustomer-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMalandCustomer-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMalandCustomer-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMalandCustomer-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMalandCustomer-1200x802.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMalandCustomer.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Malcolm Turner helps a customer at Blunts + Moore in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\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\">B\u003c/span>ig Mal, as he’s known, was one of the first employees at Blunts + Moore, the first cannabis dispensary in Oakland given a license by way of Oakland’s Cannabis Equity Program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After California legalized the sale of recreational cannabis, Oakland passed a bill that would require at least 50 percent of all cannabis permits to go to applicants of the equity program. To qualify for that program, among other criteria, residents either had to live in a high-crime zone for the past decade, or have been charged with a marijuana-related offense anytime since November of 1996.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over 600 applicants applied. Six of them granted licenses opened in Oakland last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For those lucky few, the program not only opens the door to the industry, but also is supposed to work as a sort of business incubator, lending contacts and advice to the new entrepreneurs. They’ve also added no-interest loans as an aspect of the program (since currently no bank allows cannabis businesses to have a bank account, let alone grant them loans). Additionally, \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/can-the-state-help-oaklands-equity-program/Content?oid=23672657\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">according to the \u003cem>East Bay Express\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, the city is turning to the State of California to add funds to their effort, as last year’s SB 1294 allows cities with equity programs to tap into a $10 million state fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even with these efforts, the Cannabis Equity Program has gotten a lot of flack, mainly for being touted more as more progressive than it actually is. You have to imagine: you hear “equity program” and you’d think it’s something that levels the playing field. Six dispensaries in Oakland out of 600 applicants leaves a lot of victims of the war on drugs behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it \u003cem>is\u003c/em> a leg up. Brittany Moore, co-founder of Blunts + Moore, acknowledges that she benefits from the program, but says it’s not a standalone solution. “I feel like it’s a little boost. It isn’t a handout. It says, ‘Here is a shot that you would’ve never gotten if it weren’t for this program,’ so I’m grateful for it,” Moore told me as we stood in an office at Blunts + Moore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13849867\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13849867\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.MooreandBlunt-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Brittany Moore and Alphonso Blunt, cofounders of Blunts + Moore, got an assist from Oakland's Equity Program.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.MooreandBlunt-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.MooreandBlunt-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.MooreandBlunt-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.MooreandBlunt-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.MooreandBlunt-1200x802.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.MooreandBlunt.jpg 1616w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brittany Moore and Alphonso Blunt, cofounders of Blunts + Moore, got an assist from Oakland’s Equity Program. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Moore’s co-founder, East Oakland native Alphonso Blunt (yes, the owners’ real names are Blunt and Moore) agrees. “It’s not as bad as they say, it just needed funding and education. Because it works, you just need people who know how to talk, how to not give up any of their equity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Equity, in terms of making sure all parties have a fair shot in this “green rush,” as some call it, is important—especially for communities that have suffered due to the war on drugs. And equity, in terms of retaining ownership, is just as important.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California brought in a reported $2.5 billion from the marijuana industry last year. And although that was less than projected, the industry overall is growing. The Golden State is just one of 10 states where recreational marijuana currently is legal, and one of over 30 states where medical cannabis is legal. In the next six years, it’s predicted the industry will be worth $25 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13849866\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13849866\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.BluntandCustomer-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Alphonso Blunt and a customer.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.BluntandCustomer-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.BluntandCustomer-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.BluntandCustomer-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.BluntandCustomer-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.BluntandCustomer.jpg 1100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alphonso Blunt and a customer. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nationally, there are a number of people with political will pushing for further legalization of marijuana, including former New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders and Earl Blumenauer, a Democratic Representative from Oregon who authored H.R. 420, a bill that would remove marijuana from the federal Controlled Substances Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acknowledging the industry’s potential, as well as the history of over-policing people of color in low-income communities, is part of what led former Oakland council member Desley Brooks to introduce the Equity program. According to \u003ca href=\"http://openjustice.doj.ca.gov/downloads/pdfs/cd15.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a 2015 report\u003c/a> from then-Attorney General Kamala Harris’s Office, “18 percent of arrestees for marijuana-related felonies in 2014 in the state were black even though, according to the 2010 census, only about 6 percent of California’s population is black. Meanwhile, white people constituted 31 percent of arrestees even though they made up more than 40 percent of the state population in 2010.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To understand the situation in Alameda County—and specifically Oakland—take a look at \u003ca href=\"https://sparq.stanford.edu/opd-reports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a 2014 survey\u003c/a> of over 28,000 Oakland Police Department stops of drivers and pedestrians. It found that a ridiculous amount of the stops—60 percent—were of African Americans. Man, African Americans only make up 28 percent of Oakland’s population, and that’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/01/from-black-panthers-to-bbq-becky-the-displacement-of-black-oakland\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">constantly decreasing\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13849865\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13849865\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.Product-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Malcolm Turner is currently the top sales associate at Blunts + Moore.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.Product-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.Product-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.Product-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.Product-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.Product-1200x802.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/01/BigMal.Product.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Malcolm Turner is currently the top sales associate at Blunts + Moore. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\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\">M\u003c/span>alcolm was arrested a few years prior to that study, back when the Oakland Police Department \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_v._City_of_Oakland\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">first landed under federal monitor\u003c/a> for malpractice in communities of color. (Sixteen years later, Oakland is still under that federal monitor.) And despite \u003ca href=\"https://a18.asmdc.org/press-releases/20181001-governor-signs-bonta-bill-reduce-or-remove-outdated-cannabis-convictions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an Assembly Bill passed last year\u003c/a> to expunge records of those who’ve had marijuana offenses, Malcolm still has his offense on his record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s why it’s wild to see him find his footing in this industry. He’s the reason why the legalization of marijuana is important, and even more reason why the Equity Program is important. I’d argue that without the Equity Program—without someone like Moore, who has a background in understanding corporate finance, and Blunt, who has a background in knowing just about everyone in East Oakland—Malcolm wouldn’t have been hired by a dispensary. Especially not by the growing number of \u003ca href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/california-makes-marijuana-a-wellness-industry\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">“luxury cannabis” operations\u003c/a> that have sprung up in California, largely white-owned, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.theganjayoga.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ganga yoga\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://mybestbudca.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">edibles for dogs\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moore told me the story of how Malcolm was hired, out of their pool of over 2,000 applicants. Of course, on the day of interviews, Malcolm showed up to the job fair without a resume. Instead of lying about his printer not working, he told them straight-up that he’d seen the job opening on Instagram and decided to just roll up to the joint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite his lack of preparation—a dealbreaker for most companies—it was wise of Blunts + Moore to hire him. In their first month of operation, with his product knowledge and natural connection with the customer base, Malcolm was their top “budtender.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it boils down to it, Malcolm’s story is just one of thousands, a microcosm of the widespread fallout from the war on drugs. That one traffic stop in 2006 needlessly ruined 10 years of Malcom’s life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while the Equity Program in Oakland has issues, from implementation to administration, after all those years of broken-taillight stops and disproportionate arrests, there’s finally a story of one time local government sort of got something right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, the question is how do you bring this to scale in Oakland? And how do you replicate it for other cities, and spread the reparations around?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s certainly helped Big Mal. During that phone call earlier this month, before he hung up, Malcolm laughed as he told me, “I’m staying in this industry; I could become a doctor, and I’d \u003cem>still\u003c/em> have a side gig doing this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/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": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that only four of 600 applicants to the equity program were granted licenses. According to Assistant City Administrator Gregory Minor, “the City of Oakland has locally authorized approximately 370 equity applicants for a temporary state license, and six of the eight dispensaries added last year by the City of Oakland are owned-or co-owned by equity applicants.” \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"soldout": {
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