KQED’s Silicon Valley Unseen is a series that surveys the tech capital’s overlooked communities and subcultures from a local perspective. Edited by Alan Chazaro.
(Photo by Darius Riley/Hourvoyses)
How an All-Women’s Lowrider Club Formed in the Heart of Silicon Valley
KMEL’s G-Biz On How ‘Scrillacon’ Valley Shaped Him
This 36-Year-Old Market Is a Homey Destination for Iranian Food
Why Silicon Valley Is the Soccer Capital of the Bay Area
Fremont, My Hometown
Illicon Valley: Inside East Side San Jose's Rap Hustle
Silicon Valley Fashion Isn’t Just Patagonia Bros
East Palo Alto’s Hidden Beauty
Silicon Valley Unseen: As Told By Locals
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp class=\"has-small-font-size\">KQED’s \u003cem>Silicon Valley Unseen\u003c/em> is a series that surveys the tech capital’s overlooked communities and subcultures from a local perspective. Edited by Alan Chazaro.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1020\" height=\"574\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SVU_Paletas_2000-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-25374\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SVU_Paletas_2000-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SVU_Paletas_2000-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SVU_Paletas_2000-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SVU_Paletas_2000-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SVU_Paletas_2000-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SVU_Paletas_2000-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SVU_Paletas_2000.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1020px) 100vw, 1020px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u003cem>(Photo by Darius Riley/Hourvoyses)\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "duenas-all-womens-lowrider-club-silicon-valley-sunnyvale-angel-romero",
"title": "How an All-Women’s Lowrider Club Formed in the Heart of Silicon Valley",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/siliconvalleyunseen\">Silicon Valley Unseen\u003c/a> is a series of photo essays, original reporting and underreported histories that survey the tech capital’s overlooked communities and subcultures from a local perspective.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cstrong>Editor’s note\u003c/strong>: Angel Romero is the founder of the all-women’s car club Dueñas, which has been featured in lowrider events and exhibitions around the globe. Here, Romero shares her personal history with cars, her mother’s influence and the pains of gentrification.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>As told to Alan Chazaro.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13964538'][dropcap]I[/dropcap]’m proud to have grown up in Sunnyvale, where I’ve lived for most of my life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Starting with my grandparents, who were Mexican immigrants, my family first settled down in Texas in the late ’50s and early ’60s. That’s where my mom was born in 1963. My grandpa came to Sunnyvale later that year and found a job at a cannery, then sent for my grandma, mom and aunt Juanita. I lived here with them after I was born.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reason I got into lowriders was because my mom hung around her cousin Gustavo, who had a 1964 Impala. He started the Midnite Classics car club. My mom was always around that culture. It was all a family thing, you know?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965364\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1242px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965364\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9472.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1242\" height=\"1317\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9472.jpg 1242w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9472-800x848.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9472-1020x1082.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9472-160x170.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9472-768x814.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1242px) 100vw, 1242px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A family portrait of Angel Romero (left) with her mother, brother and younger sister in 1985. Romero and her siblings lived in Sunnyvale for their entire lives until recently having to leave due to the cost of living. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Angel Romero)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On her quinceañera, my mom was given a brand new 1977 Monte Carlo. My grandparents ordered it with a custom paint job. It had swivel bucket seats. A sunroof. Such a beautiful car. But my mom was like, I want it to be a lowrider. So she got some Truespoke rims and hydraulics, and had it lifted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortly after, when my mom was still very young, I popped out, and then my brother and sister. We’re each a year apart. My mom was a single mother who divorced early. She didn’t have a lot of money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Growing up, we would just cruise around in her car for fun. Three little ones — 3, 4, and 5 years old — just jumping around, messing with the switches. We did everything in that car back then as a family when we didn’t have much else, so I cherish it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At times, we’d go down to San Jose, and there were lots of lowrider events going, especially back then. San Jose doesn’t get the recognition it deserves for being the lowrider capital. \u003cem>Lowrider Magazine\u003c/em> was originally published by Sonny Madrid, a student of San Jose State University. It doesn’t get more obvious than that. People want to fight about where it all started. I get it. But\u003cem> Lowrider Magazine\u003c/em> was our social media back then. Seeing the cars and the drivers, where it’s from, that all came out of San Jose. And we got to see all that growing up here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965361\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1242px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965361\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9461.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1242\" height=\"625\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9461.jpg 1242w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9461-800x403.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9461-1020x513.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9461-160x81.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9461-768x386.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1242px) 100vw, 1242px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Angel Romero’s mother, Maricela Rodriguez, poses next to her 1977 Chevy Monte Carlo, which she received as a gift from her Mexican immigrant parents for her quinceañera. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Angel Romero)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That’s really when I fell in love with cars. I didn’t have money to get my own when I was younger, but my cousin had a mini truck with hydraulics. He would pick me up from high school in it and on weekends we would go cruising. There used to be these popular cruises on El Camino in Santa Clara in the early ’90s. The first time I really got in trouble was cause I went cruising there in my mom’s car and I got pulled over. I was driving with the high beams on. I was only 12 years old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One day when we were teenagers, we were in downtown Sunnyvale playing hooky, and we were looking through an old-school magazine that had advertisements. I saw a ’65 Impala for sale on Fair Oaks in Sunnyvale. That was close to where we lived. We called the number and the owner was a lady, and she confirmed that it was still available. We pulled up and I immediately fell in love with the car. It was all original and needed some work — the paint was scratched and it was on stock wheels — but I fell in love. It was cameo beige with original fawn interior, even though it was all ripped up. I was too scared to drive it, so my sister test-drove it. She pushed me to buy it, and later, to paint it. I’ve had it for 21 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13923205']That car is my true baby. Anyone who knows me knows about that ’65 Impala. My sister is on her sixth or seventh lowrider now. But I’ve only had that one. When I took it home, I immediately showed my momma. She absolutely loved it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back then, we didn’t see a lot of women driving lowriders. People would joke that the lowrider was my boyfriend’s or Daddy’s ride. My mom had a jumpsuit she kept with her, and if something happened with her car, she would work on it. We got into this lifestyle and culture very differently from most people. It wasn’t our dad or a male role model who taught us about cars. It was our mom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965358\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965358\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Angel Romero has owned her 1965 Impala, nicknamed ‘Saturday Love,’ for over 20 years. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Angel Romero)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>My mom passed away in 2019. Nowadays, lowriding is even more near and dear to my heart. It’s always a big reminder of her. My mom always instilled hard work and respect in us. She was doing things back then that weren’t really being done by women — going back to college to get her degree, and working full-time while raising three kids as a single mom and fixing up her lowrider. Meanwhile, my grandparents were working at a bar they purchased when they retired. They made a life for themselves in Sunnyvale. They worked hard their whole lives and always pushed us to earn what we’ve got. I think that’s something that we don’t see as much these days. We forget our struggles and where we came from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For nine years, I kept my ’65 all stock. One time, my brother Junior drove it during a Cinco de Mayo cruise and blew the rings. So I rebuilt the motor. Got a new interior, a new paint job. I wanted purple, since that’s my mom’s favorite color, and I wanted everyone to know it was a woman’s car. Then I joined my first car club, Aztec Creations, about a decade ago. A cousin on my dad’s side was the president. I didn’t know much about car clubs, and I learned the basics — the do’s and don’ts. But it seemed a little bit like a disconnect for me. I love my family and the car club was great, but I went back to being a solo rider.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965363\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1242px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965363\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9465.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1242\" height=\"673\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9465.jpg 1242w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9465-800x433.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9465-1020x553.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9465-160x87.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9465-768x416.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1242px) 100vw, 1242px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Angel Romero’s 1965 Impala as it looked in 2003, when she bought it from the classified ads in a local paper in Sunnyvale. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Angel Romero)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A few years later, I missed the whole camaraderie and unity of a car club, just riding with other people. So I reached out to a friend who was in the Str8 Riders. I became the first lady of that club, and I hoped to take it to a whole different level. More community, more things we could do like fundraisers and drives, bigger events. Giving back. My mom always told us from a young age that when she didn’t have much, other people helped her. Sunnyvale Community Services helped pay our bills and helped us on Christmas when we didn’t have much. Later on, when my mom got a better-paying job, she would always donate things and help people. My mom was very giving and loving, always helping the less fortunate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I wanted to honor her sense of giving and take the car club in a new direction, but it didn’t feel like a good fit for me at the time, so I decided to leave. After that, I started to help with the\u003ca href=\"https://ulcsj.com/\"> United Lowrider Council of San Jose\u003c/a>. In 2018, me and another girl helped to get the council started. Even then, lowriding still seemed to be male-dominated. Sometimes it felt like a woman’s voice wasn’t being heard. Nowadays, it’s great to see so many women on the council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I always dreamed of having an all-female car club — \u003cem>how badass would that be?\u003c/em> — so me, my sister, my niece and some friends got together and said “Let’s do this. We’ve been in the scene for years, it’s our lifestyle. We cruise and go to car shows already. We might as well put a name on it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965357\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1462px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965357\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1462\" height=\"1949\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-39.jpg 1462w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-39-800x1066.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-39-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-39-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-39-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-39-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1462px) 100vw, 1462px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A member of Dueñas lowrider club parked in a strip mall in Sunnyvale, close to the childhood neighborhood of group founder Angel Romero. Today, the area has changed drastically, but pockets of Spanish-speaking immigrants and Chicanos still gather at Tres Portillos Taqueria and Chavez Supermarket. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>We ordered plaques. We put things together. The hardest part was coming up with the name. We wanted people to know we were female owners of these cars. We were tired of the whole, “It’s your man’s ride.” Dueña means “owner” in Spanish. And we’re the proud female owners of all these cars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I told my mom, she was so excited. When we used to go out to events, I would be in the hallway bathroom getting ready, and my mom would always say I looked so beautiful. We’d wash our cars, polish them, and my mom would stand in the garage doorway cheering us on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the beginning everyone was like, whatever. We were just more cars on the road, people didn’t really pay attention. But eventually when we passed through, people were like, \u003cem>wait\u003c/em>. We knew people on the scene and everyone started to get excited. It’s all females, so we didn’t know what to expect. But we’ve been happy with how much support we’ve gotten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the ’65 was involved in an accident, I wanted to get a ’63 Impala convertible to dedicate to my mom, since she was born in ’63. I kept looking around for one. They’re very pricey. I decided to sell the ’65 to my brother. When I told her I was getting the ’63, she said “Those are effing ugly.” It broke my heart. We talked about it, but we didn’t get to finish our conversation, because we were in a rush, getting ready to hit a cruise. My mom stayed home. That night, she had a complete heart block and ended up on life support. She didn’t make it. That was one of the hardest times of my life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965360\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 645px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965360\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_4090.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"645\" height=\"581\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_4090.jpg 645w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_4090-160x144.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 645px) 100vw, 645px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural of Angel Romero’s mother, Maricela Rodriguez, on the back of Romero’s purple Chevy Impala. Known for her generosity, everyone in the neighborhood knew Rodriguez as Tia Mari, whose favorite color was purple. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Angel Romero)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So many things have just changed since she’s been gone. One thing is that I feel like lowriding isn’t just lowriding. It’s something I did with my mom, a love we shared. After that, me and the girls in my club, maybe five or six of us at the time — all of us close family friends for 30 years, sisters, nieces, cousins — we wanted to do something. It was our first year as a car club, and my mom was so big on giving back. We decided to do a toy drive. We got in contact with the San Jose Earthquakes who allowed us to use their parking lot to have the toy drive. We had an outpouring of support from the lowriding community, and the community in general. We donated to some of the local shelters and camps for union workers, for farmers. That was amazing. We couldn’t believe it. We got to do what we love with lowriding, being with my sisters, but also got to do things for the community. Helping people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We have a good relationship with all the car clubs around here. The lowrider community is all about unity. What most people don’t realize about our lifestyle is the family aspect. If you look at these car clubs, it’s dads, moms, grandpas, grandmas, grandchildren. It’s truly our family. The women in the lowriding community were extremely supportive when we first came out. We weren’t being passenger princesses who only helped to cook and get the kids dressed. This was different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I was growing up in Sunnyvale, people had classic cars here and there. There were more lowriders and more Chicanos in the area. Of course, that all started to change a little bit throughout the years with Google and Yahoo! and tech and all that stuff. People started to be driven out, or bought out. Neighbors could no longer afford those weekend cars, and maybe had to sell their rides or sell their homes. Sunnyvale changed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, San Jose’s love for lowriding was growing. It felt like more people were buying cars, and more women became involved over the years. Now, I go cruising and there’s so many women with cars. Women in general have evolved. I think tech had something to do with that around here, too. There are women CEOs, women out there doing more and getting more education, not just being a housewife. Now with technology you go on Facebook or Instagram and you can see lowriders here, or over there, everywhere. So it’s easier to network. That technology had a big impact on lowriding and where it’s at today going worldwide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965358\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965358\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Angel Romero’s has owned her 1965 Impala, nicknamed “Saturday Love” for over 20 years. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Angel Romero)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I recently saw a video about two sisters who built their car in Texas. That’s badass. When I work on my car, I get help from my family and I use YouTube. I learn stuff. Technology and the internet has really impacted the lowrider community in many good ways. Google sponsored an event I attended that was put on by\u003ca href=\"https://blogs.sjsu.edu/newsroom/2023/ricardo-cortez-and-the-abcs-of-lowrider-culture/\"> Ricardo Cortez\u003c/a>. He’s known as “Mr. Lowrider Fever” and he has hosted a few of his workshops in the area. But tech also makes it hard to live here like we used to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To this day, I visit my family home in Sunnyvale, even though we had to sell it. The new owners rent it out for $800 a night on Airbnb. It’s sad. It’s crazy, what the neighborhood has become. We used to go cruising in the Bay every weekend. Now, I feel like you can’t buy a house and build a car, it’s too expensive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With all this money here, how can we not do more for the middle class? You have all these rich techies moving in. When I visit my friends who are still in Sunnyvale, it’s just so different. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Last Friday we hosted a bake sale at a local high school as a fundraiser to help kids on the football team to get their helmets and equipment. Where is Silicon Valley for that? These kids don’t even have the proper equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13965374']I would’ve loved, \u003ci>loved\u003c/i> to have stayed in Sunnyvale around my family and friends. It’s impossible. So here I am in Modesto — it’s okay, but it isn’t home. There should be another solution. I wanted to move back, but I can’t even afford an apartment with a garage for my car (laugh out loud).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I moved to Modesto, everyone asked if I was going to create a Dueñas chapter here in the Central Valley. But we feel that what works for us — as we celebrate our five-year anniversary — is quality over quantity. Keeping it small with close friends and family who really have the passion for this. My sister is in Hollister, a few of us are in San Jose, I’m out in Modesto and the rest are in Sunnyvale. Nine total members. We also started a lowrider bike club. Our daughters were interested and helped us in building it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They wanted to cruise with us, too. They enjoy it just as much as we do, and it reminded us of growing up with our moms, aunts and older sisters. Let’s do something for them, for our girls. Something they can build and be proud of.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "How an All-Women’s Lowrider Club Formed in the Heart of Silicon Valley | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/siliconvalleyunseen\">Silicon Valley Unseen\u003c/a> is a series of photo essays, original reporting and underreported histories that survey the tech capital’s overlooked communities and subcultures from a local perspective.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cstrong>Editor’s note\u003c/strong>: Angel Romero is the founder of the all-women’s car club Dueñas, which has been featured in lowrider events and exhibitions around the globe. Here, Romero shares her personal history with cars, her mother’s influence and the pains of gentrification.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>As told to Alan Chazaro.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>’m proud to have grown up in Sunnyvale, where I’ve lived for most of my life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Starting with my grandparents, who were Mexican immigrants, my family first settled down in Texas in the late ’50s and early ’60s. That’s where my mom was born in 1963. My grandpa came to Sunnyvale later that year and found a job at a cannery, then sent for my grandma, mom and aunt Juanita. I lived here with them after I was born.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reason I got into lowriders was because my mom hung around her cousin Gustavo, who had a 1964 Impala. He started the Midnite Classics car club. My mom was always around that culture. It was all a family thing, you know?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965364\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1242px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965364\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9472.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1242\" height=\"1317\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9472.jpg 1242w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9472-800x848.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9472-1020x1082.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9472-160x170.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9472-768x814.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1242px) 100vw, 1242px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A family portrait of Angel Romero (left) with her mother, brother and younger sister in 1985. Romero and her siblings lived in Sunnyvale for their entire lives until recently having to leave due to the cost of living. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Angel Romero)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On her quinceañera, my mom was given a brand new 1977 Monte Carlo. My grandparents ordered it with a custom paint job. It had swivel bucket seats. A sunroof. Such a beautiful car. But my mom was like, I want it to be a lowrider. So she got some Truespoke rims and hydraulics, and had it lifted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortly after, when my mom was still very young, I popped out, and then my brother and sister. We’re each a year apart. My mom was a single mother who divorced early. She didn’t have a lot of money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Growing up, we would just cruise around in her car for fun. Three little ones — 3, 4, and 5 years old — just jumping around, messing with the switches. We did everything in that car back then as a family when we didn’t have much else, so I cherish it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At times, we’d go down to San Jose, and there were lots of lowrider events going, especially back then. San Jose doesn’t get the recognition it deserves for being the lowrider capital. \u003cem>Lowrider Magazine\u003c/em> was originally published by Sonny Madrid, a student of San Jose State University. It doesn’t get more obvious than that. People want to fight about where it all started. I get it. But\u003cem> Lowrider Magazine\u003c/em> was our social media back then. Seeing the cars and the drivers, where it’s from, that all came out of San Jose. And we got to see all that growing up here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965361\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1242px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965361\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9461.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1242\" height=\"625\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9461.jpg 1242w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9461-800x403.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9461-1020x513.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9461-160x81.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9461-768x386.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1242px) 100vw, 1242px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Angel Romero’s mother, Maricela Rodriguez, poses next to her 1977 Chevy Monte Carlo, which she received as a gift from her Mexican immigrant parents for her quinceañera. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Angel Romero)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That’s really when I fell in love with cars. I didn’t have money to get my own when I was younger, but my cousin had a mini truck with hydraulics. He would pick me up from high school in it and on weekends we would go cruising. There used to be these popular cruises on El Camino in Santa Clara in the early ’90s. The first time I really got in trouble was cause I went cruising there in my mom’s car and I got pulled over. I was driving with the high beams on. I was only 12 years old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One day when we were teenagers, we were in downtown Sunnyvale playing hooky, and we were looking through an old-school magazine that had advertisements. I saw a ’65 Impala for sale on Fair Oaks in Sunnyvale. That was close to where we lived. We called the number and the owner was a lady, and she confirmed that it was still available. We pulled up and I immediately fell in love with the car. It was all original and needed some work — the paint was scratched and it was on stock wheels — but I fell in love. It was cameo beige with original fawn interior, even though it was all ripped up. I was too scared to drive it, so my sister test-drove it. She pushed me to buy it, and later, to paint it. I’ve had it for 21 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That car is my true baby. Anyone who knows me knows about that ’65 Impala. My sister is on her sixth or seventh lowrider now. But I’ve only had that one. When I took it home, I immediately showed my momma. She absolutely loved it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back then, we didn’t see a lot of women driving lowriders. People would joke that the lowrider was my boyfriend’s or Daddy’s ride. My mom had a jumpsuit she kept with her, and if something happened with her car, she would work on it. We got into this lifestyle and culture very differently from most people. It wasn’t our dad or a male role model who taught us about cars. It was our mom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965358\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965358\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Angel Romero has owned her 1965 Impala, nicknamed ‘Saturday Love,’ for over 20 years. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Angel Romero)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>My mom passed away in 2019. Nowadays, lowriding is even more near and dear to my heart. It’s always a big reminder of her. My mom always instilled hard work and respect in us. She was doing things back then that weren’t really being done by women — going back to college to get her degree, and working full-time while raising three kids as a single mom and fixing up her lowrider. Meanwhile, my grandparents were working at a bar they purchased when they retired. They made a life for themselves in Sunnyvale. They worked hard their whole lives and always pushed us to earn what we’ve got. I think that’s something that we don’t see as much these days. We forget our struggles and where we came from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For nine years, I kept my ’65 all stock. One time, my brother Junior drove it during a Cinco de Mayo cruise and blew the rings. So I rebuilt the motor. Got a new interior, a new paint job. I wanted purple, since that’s my mom’s favorite color, and I wanted everyone to know it was a woman’s car. Then I joined my first car club, Aztec Creations, about a decade ago. A cousin on my dad’s side was the president. I didn’t know much about car clubs, and I learned the basics — the do’s and don’ts. But it seemed a little bit like a disconnect for me. I love my family and the car club was great, but I went back to being a solo rider.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965363\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1242px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965363\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9465.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1242\" height=\"673\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9465.jpg 1242w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9465-800x433.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9465-1020x553.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9465-160x87.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_9465-768x416.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1242px) 100vw, 1242px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Angel Romero’s 1965 Impala as it looked in 2003, when she bought it from the classified ads in a local paper in Sunnyvale. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Angel Romero)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A few years later, I missed the whole camaraderie and unity of a car club, just riding with other people. So I reached out to a friend who was in the Str8 Riders. I became the first lady of that club, and I hoped to take it to a whole different level. More community, more things we could do like fundraisers and drives, bigger events. Giving back. My mom always told us from a young age that when she didn’t have much, other people helped her. Sunnyvale Community Services helped pay our bills and helped us on Christmas when we didn’t have much. Later on, when my mom got a better-paying job, she would always donate things and help people. My mom was very giving and loving, always helping the less fortunate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I wanted to honor her sense of giving and take the car club in a new direction, but it didn’t feel like a good fit for me at the time, so I decided to leave. After that, I started to help with the\u003ca href=\"https://ulcsj.com/\"> United Lowrider Council of San Jose\u003c/a>. In 2018, me and another girl helped to get the council started. Even then, lowriding still seemed to be male-dominated. Sometimes it felt like a woman’s voice wasn’t being heard. Nowadays, it’s great to see so many women on the council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I always dreamed of having an all-female car club — \u003cem>how badass would that be?\u003c/em> — so me, my sister, my niece and some friends got together and said “Let’s do this. We’ve been in the scene for years, it’s our lifestyle. We cruise and go to car shows already. We might as well put a name on it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965357\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1462px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965357\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1462\" height=\"1949\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-39.jpg 1462w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-39-800x1066.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-39-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-39-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-39-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-39-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1462px) 100vw, 1462px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A member of Dueñas lowrider club parked in a strip mall in Sunnyvale, close to the childhood neighborhood of group founder Angel Romero. Today, the area has changed drastically, but pockets of Spanish-speaking immigrants and Chicanos still gather at Tres Portillos Taqueria and Chavez Supermarket. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>We ordered plaques. We put things together. The hardest part was coming up with the name. We wanted people to know we were female owners of these cars. We were tired of the whole, “It’s your man’s ride.” Dueña means “owner” in Spanish. And we’re the proud female owners of all these cars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I told my mom, she was so excited. When we used to go out to events, I would be in the hallway bathroom getting ready, and my mom would always say I looked so beautiful. We’d wash our cars, polish them, and my mom would stand in the garage doorway cheering us on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the beginning everyone was like, whatever. We were just more cars on the road, people didn’t really pay attention. But eventually when we passed through, people were like, \u003cem>wait\u003c/em>. We knew people on the scene and everyone started to get excited. It’s all females, so we didn’t know what to expect. But we’ve been happy with how much support we’ve gotten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the ’65 was involved in an accident, I wanted to get a ’63 Impala convertible to dedicate to my mom, since she was born in ’63. I kept looking around for one. They’re very pricey. I decided to sell the ’65 to my brother. When I told her I was getting the ’63, she said “Those are effing ugly.” It broke my heart. We talked about it, but we didn’t get to finish our conversation, because we were in a rush, getting ready to hit a cruise. My mom stayed home. That night, she had a complete heart block and ended up on life support. She didn’t make it. That was one of the hardest times of my life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965360\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 645px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965360\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_4090.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"645\" height=\"581\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_4090.jpg 645w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_4090-160x144.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 645px) 100vw, 645px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural of Angel Romero’s mother, Maricela Rodriguez, on the back of Romero’s purple Chevy Impala. Known for her generosity, everyone in the neighborhood knew Rodriguez as Tia Mari, whose favorite color was purple. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Angel Romero)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So many things have just changed since she’s been gone. One thing is that I feel like lowriding isn’t just lowriding. It’s something I did with my mom, a love we shared. After that, me and the girls in my club, maybe five or six of us at the time — all of us close family friends for 30 years, sisters, nieces, cousins — we wanted to do something. It was our first year as a car club, and my mom was so big on giving back. We decided to do a toy drive. We got in contact with the San Jose Earthquakes who allowed us to use their parking lot to have the toy drive. We had an outpouring of support from the lowriding community, and the community in general. We donated to some of the local shelters and camps for union workers, for farmers. That was amazing. We couldn’t believe it. We got to do what we love with lowriding, being with my sisters, but also got to do things for the community. Helping people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We have a good relationship with all the car clubs around here. The lowrider community is all about unity. What most people don’t realize about our lifestyle is the family aspect. If you look at these car clubs, it’s dads, moms, grandpas, grandmas, grandchildren. It’s truly our family. The women in the lowriding community were extremely supportive when we first came out. We weren’t being passenger princesses who only helped to cook and get the kids dressed. This was different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I was growing up in Sunnyvale, people had classic cars here and there. There were more lowriders and more Chicanos in the area. Of course, that all started to change a little bit throughout the years with Google and Yahoo! and tech and all that stuff. People started to be driven out, or bought out. Neighbors could no longer afford those weekend cars, and maybe had to sell their rides or sell their homes. Sunnyvale changed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, San Jose’s love for lowriding was growing. It felt like more people were buying cars, and more women became involved over the years. Now, I go cruising and there’s so many women with cars. Women in general have evolved. I think tech had something to do with that around here, too. There are women CEOs, women out there doing more and getting more education, not just being a housewife. Now with technology you go on Facebook or Instagram and you can see lowriders here, or over there, everywhere. So it’s easier to network. That technology had a big impact on lowriding and where it’s at today going worldwide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965358\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965358\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_2733-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Angel Romero’s has owned her 1965 Impala, nicknamed “Saturday Love” for over 20 years. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Angel Romero)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I recently saw a video about two sisters who built their car in Texas. That’s badass. When I work on my car, I get help from my family and I use YouTube. I learn stuff. Technology and the internet has really impacted the lowrider community in many good ways. Google sponsored an event I attended that was put on by\u003ca href=\"https://blogs.sjsu.edu/newsroom/2023/ricardo-cortez-and-the-abcs-of-lowrider-culture/\"> Ricardo Cortez\u003c/a>. He’s known as “Mr. Lowrider Fever” and he has hosted a few of his workshops in the area. But tech also makes it hard to live here like we used to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To this day, I visit my family home in Sunnyvale, even though we had to sell it. The new owners rent it out for $800 a night on Airbnb. It’s sad. It’s crazy, what the neighborhood has become. We used to go cruising in the Bay every weekend. Now, I feel like you can’t buy a house and build a car, it’s too expensive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With all this money here, how can we not do more for the middle class? You have all these rich techies moving in. When I visit my friends who are still in Sunnyvale, it’s just so different. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Last Friday we hosted a bake sale at a local high school as a fundraiser to help kids on the football team to get their helmets and equipment. Where is Silicon Valley for that? These kids don’t even have the proper equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>I would’ve loved, \u003ci>loved\u003c/i> to have stayed in Sunnyvale around my family and friends. It’s impossible. So here I am in Modesto — it’s okay, but it isn’t home. There should be another solution. I wanted to move back, but I can’t even afford an apartment with a garage for my car (laugh out loud).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I moved to Modesto, everyone asked if I was going to create a Dueñas chapter here in the Central Valley. But we feel that what works for us — as we celebrate our five-year anniversary — is quality over quantity. Keeping it small with close friends and family who really have the passion for this. My sister is in Hollister, a few of us are in San Jose, I’m out in Modesto and the rest are in Sunnyvale. Nine total members. We also started a lowrider bike club. Our daughters were interested and helped us in building it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They wanted to cruise with us, too. They enjoy it just as much as we do, and it reminded us of growing up with our moms, aunts and older sisters. Let’s do something for them, for our girls. Something they can build and be proud of.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "KMEL’s G-Biz On How ‘Scrillacon’ Valley Shaped Him",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/siliconvalleyunseen\">Silicon Valley Unseen\u003c/a> is a series of photo essays, original reporting and underreported histories that survey the tech capital’s overlooked communities and subcultures from a local perspective.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]I[/dropcap] first heard the phrase “Scrillacon Valley” at a record store on El Camino Real in Mountain View.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My friend had pulled a Norteño rap compilation off the discount CD rack. Like most Bay Area hip-hop during that era, the album’s cover displayed regional pride: a flamed-up crew of Chicano gang members in front of an all-red low rider in San Jose. Across the top, bold as a No Limit Records diamond-encrusted insignia, read the title: \u003ci>Scrillacon Valley.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Chicanos don’t have the same kind of presence in Mountain View, a city with no record stores left. But my memory of that time period endures, and particularly that phrase, a subversive play on Silicon Valley and its money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13964538']Indeed, this is one of the globe’s hubs of wealth — and, subsequently, wealth inequality. While \u003ca href=\"https://www.vox.com/2018/5/19/17370288/silicon-valley-how-many-billionaires-start-up-tech-bay-area\">more than half of the world’s tech billionaires live in Silicon Valley\u003c/a>, San Jose has \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/south-bay/san-jose-homeless-population/3579260/\">the fourth-highest rate of homelessness\u003c/a> in the United States. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scrillacon — a play on the ’90s hip-hop slang for money — is aspirational. It’s used by those on the fringes of Silicon Valley, who live among the region’s absurd wealth but don’t get the same access to it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So when I recently spoke on the phone with Gary Bizer, also known as KMEL’s G-Biz, I had to mention \u003ci>Scrillacon Valley\u003c/i>. We laughed at the bygone vestiges that shaped us in the ’90s and early aughts — the rap anthems, the house parties. And we mourned, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965163\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1170px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965163\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_5574.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1170\" height=\"831\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_5574.jpg 1170w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_5574-800x568.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_5574-1020x724.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_5574-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_5574-768x545.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1170px) 100vw, 1170px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gary Bizer (center bottom) graduated from Los Altos High School as a standout football player. He poses here with some of his closest friends and teammates. \u003ccite>(Courtesy G-Biz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Long before Gary became a fixture on local rap radio, we were friends in middle school. Raised in East Palo Alto, he moved to Mountain View to finish high school. At the time, our neighborhood marked the southeasternmost edge of the city, bounded by a confusing mix of U.S. Highway 101, former orchard fields, tech offices, motels, Section 8 housing, an RV park and an active military base. It’s where I once saw Gary break a grown man’s nose during a neighborhood boxing tilt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between the family of eight Samoan brothers in a two-bedroom home at the end of the block, Mexican kids like Pollo and Darby across the street, and football players like Gary in the nearby apartment complex, our neighborhood had no shortage of friendships — and fights. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back then, our corner of Scrillacon Valley felt like an actual community where everyone knew each other. None of us imagined that the fight we should’ve actually been preparing for was much bigger and more invisibly pernicious: the preservation of our home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13965311\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alan Chazaro: Man, it’s been a minute. What’ve you been up to these days?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>G-Biz: \u003c/b>My brother, I’ve just been putting in work. I hit the 10-year mark at KMEL last month. Been doing nonprofit youth development for a while. I oversee the digital music lab for \u003ca href=\"https://devmission.org/\">Dev Mission\u003c/a>, a free enrichment program in San Francisco, focused on getting more people of color and women actively working in the tech industry. As Bay Area natives, it’s so difficult to break into that field, and people are being pushed out. So we focus on education around tech skills and opportunities, especially for those youth and folks from underserved areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>That’s important. Especially since we grew up in the part of that Bay where tech work has really changed the affordability for local families.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It goes back to gentrification. To think that Mountain View and EPA [East Palo Alto] are so different from what they were growing up. Those pockets of culture that used to exist have dissipated. Back in the day, you could walk down to the club in Mountain View, \u003ca href=\"https://www.mv-voice.com/morgue/2003/2003_08_29.limelt.html\">Limelight\u003c/a>, do whatever the fuck you wanted to do, and walk the fuck home, bruh. They had those little clubs out in Sunnyvale, we would go down there. I remember my homie Nicar, when he got his very first car, we pushed that little thing down to the club and all over, just rolling down 101. That’s the type of shit you don’t really see anymore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s unaffordable. The culture has changed. So many of us have been pushed out, unless you were lucky enough to get a form of housing, or worked in the tech industry to sustain yourself. It’s just hard to keep up. It’s sad that it’s all dripped away. That sense of community leaves when the culture starts to fade. And we’re seeing it in the larger cities, too. Oakland, Richmond, San Francisco. You see that shit when someone new walking around and I’m like, hold on bruh, I ain’t never seen you before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965167\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 324px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965167\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_8220.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"324\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_8220.jpg 324w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_8220-160x237.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 324px) 100vw, 324px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Though Gary Bizer was born in the Bay Area, his mom migrated from Arkansas to East Palo Alto to live with relatives. His family poses for a classic family portrait. \u003ccite>(Courtesy G-Biz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/making-it-in-the-bay/mountain-view-rent-skyrockets/3472554/\">rent in Mountain View is among the highest in the country\u003c/a>. That’s the reality living in the Bay now, sadly. Where are you at these days?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I live in Oakland, been based here for the past 13 years. I moved to the East Bay around college. Still trying to figure out how to stay in the area and afford it. It’s ridiculous trying to make it. But it’s lively here; it’s where the action is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s your connection to Silicon Valley?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m originally from East Palo Alto. My mom came out from Arkansas when she graduated high school and moved to EPA with her auntie and uncle. I had four great aunties and uncles. Two of them still live there; they’re the last ones living. I was born and raised there, but we always went to school in Mountain View, starting in kindergarten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Education was always important in my home. My mom made sure that no matter what, we had access to it. Compared to EPA during that time, which was known as \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/newsletter/2024-01-10/how-east-palo-alto-went-from-u-s-murder-capital-to-murder-free-essential-california\">the murder capital\u003c/a>, Mountain View had better schools. We moved to Mountain View later on and lived there with my aunt and a few of my cousins. It made it easy during middle school and high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I got to develop a good understanding that a lot of folks don’t necessarily get. Lot of my family and friends in my old hood didn’t know how to interact with white people. I got to go to school and connect with all kinds of different people. That was extremely useful for me. But it wasn’t no easy walk in the park either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What brought your family to this region from Arkansas? And how have you seen it change?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My mom worked at Hewlett-Packard growing up. One of the biggest tech companies, the grandfather of what Apple is today. Having that insight, from her literally being in the tech industry, was major. I remember her talking about stuff in the ’90s that folks were just catching onto in the 2000s. I was able to see it continue to develop and grow firsthand, not realizing how massive it was getting. I remember when we finally got a computer at the house, that was big shit. From the days of dial-up internet to the first days of viruses and Napster and Limewire. We were that first generation that got to grow up with it and see the boom and impact. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mountain View and what it looks like now, you don’t even recognize parts of the city anymore. The astronomical prices. When I drive back to EPA, bruh, \u003ca href=\"https://localnewsmatters.org/2022/05/18/east-palo-altos-battle-to-thrive-the-growing-pains-of-a-young-majority-minority-city/\">I don’t even recognize the streets I grew up on\u003c/a>. Now you got three of the largest tech companies in the world within a few miles’ radius. Amazon, Facebook, Google. Humongous hubs, all near each other. They’ve taken over and pushed the living rate up. \u003ca href=\"https://stanforddaily.com/2018/11/28/east-palo-alto-median-home-price-to-reach-1-million/\">EPA is a million-dollar city now\u003c/a>. You can’t buy a house under a million. My dad is like, what? He bought his house for $200,000 (laughs). When the property value was low, people came through and bought it off for cheap. People sold off in mass in the early 2000s, moved out to Tracy and those areas. That happened from EPA to Vallejo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>How have your experiences of traveling all over the Bay Area reshaped the way you see Silicon Valley now?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With KMEL, I’m going hood to hood. From the Crest to Hunters Point. I have an understanding of those places. At the same time, I’m able to rub shoulders with folks in Santa Row, Danville, Blackhawk. I do a lot of work in different neighborhoods, and you can see that divide and who is under-resourced. There are people down the street with all the tools they need, but I’m over here working with kids who barely have running WiFi. As I’ve grown older, that divide has only gotten bigger and bigger in the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Silicon Valley was ground zero for all of that. We saw it happen here first. Now we’ve seen that ripple in Frisco, Oakland, Richmond. The Black population in SF is now around 5%, bruh. That’s ridiculous. Black, Asian, Latino folks have lived here for hella long. Earlier in the 20th century this is where you could get port jobs, working at the docks and offloading for the ships. Now that shift, from industrial to technological, has absolutely changed the makeup of folks who live here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965165\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 880px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965165\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_8216.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"880\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_8216.jpg 880w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_8216-800x931.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_8216-160x186.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_8216-768x894.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gary Bizer and his mother, who worked at Hewlett-Packard and raised her sons to value work and community. \u003ccite>(Courtesy G-Biz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Silicon Valley isn’t geographically listed on any map. It’s more of an idea than it is an actual place. But how would you define where it is for people who don’t know?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the Peninsula and South Bay is Silicon Valley. The true heart of it is San Jose. San Jose has been the hub for these mega companies. How many acres does Apple have out in Cupertino? Google is in Mountain View. Of course we know X [formerly Twitter] has been in Frisco for so long [and is now \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11998860/x-reportedly-closing-san-francisco-office-amid-elon-musks-anti-california-turn\">reportedly moving to San Jose\u003c/a>]. Lyft and Uber have hubs in Oakland. Tesla has a huge factory down in Fremont. And you can’t forget about San Bruno [with YouTube]. It’s sprinkled all over, but the most centralized part of Silicon Valley is definitely the San Jose area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I’ve heard people say things like “San Jose isn’t part of the Bay Area.” Why do you think this part of the Bay doesn’t get the same kind of love as our neighbors up north?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Folks just talk out the side of they neck. Unless you have family in these other parts of the Bay, you might not travel here. My first time at KMEL when I was younger was my first time in Richmond. People were like, you ain’t never been to Hilltop? Hell no. What I’mma do there, breh? My family wasn’t traveling like that. So imagine someone in Vallejo, a place with a namesake, where you got 40, Mac Dre, all them. Same with SF, Richmond, Oakland. People who grew up out there don’t always have business going down to San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A lot of it ties into the music, too. Folks show love to other places because they got Dru Down, San Quinn, Rappin 4-Tay, JT the Bigga, Too $hort. All them held it down for their cities hella hard. San Jose doesn’t have that [name recognition in rap]. But what people don’t understand is that Shark City is the source of some of the most influential and historic Bay Area songs ever made, by none other than The Slapp Addict himself. Rest in peace to the good brother, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13907735/remembering-traxamillion-whose-beats-defined-the-bay-area-sound\">Traxamillion\u003c/a>. He was from San Jose, and he had so much reach and pull and love around the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s easy for folks to not know that some of their favorite anthems came from San Jose, made by a guy from San Jose. Folks might not know about \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9wXMkmmapg\">Sean T out of EPA and what he produced [including Mac Dre’s “Feelin’ Myself”]\u003c/a>. Folks forget about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/10840192/hoodstarz\">Dem Hoodstarz\u003c/a> being some of the biggest hyphy stars. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936387/east-palo-alto-rap-tapes\">Totally Insane\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936387/east-palo-alto-rap-tapes\">Neva Legal\u003c/a>. That’s history. Folks might not know that. It’s funny because Pittsburg got rappers like Mob Figaz, so people say that’s the Bay, but then they turn around and say Antioch ain’t the Bay, even though it’s the next city over. Same thing happens with San Jose. There’s a separation of generations that contributes to it all. They might not know the musical history here. But they need to put some respect on this area.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/siliconvalleyunseen\">Silicon Valley Unseen\u003c/a> is a series of photo essays, original reporting and underreported histories that survey the tech capital’s overlooked communities and subcultures from a local perspective.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp> first heard the phrase “Scrillacon Valley” at a record store on El Camino Real in Mountain View.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My friend had pulled a Norteño rap compilation off the discount CD rack. Like most Bay Area hip-hop during that era, the album’s cover displayed regional pride: a flamed-up crew of Chicano gang members in front of an all-red low rider in San Jose. Across the top, bold as a No Limit Records diamond-encrusted insignia, read the title: \u003ci>Scrillacon Valley.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Chicanos don’t have the same kind of presence in Mountain View, a city with no record stores left. But my memory of that time period endures, and particularly that phrase, a subversive play on Silicon Valley and its money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Indeed, this is one of the globe’s hubs of wealth — and, subsequently, wealth inequality. While \u003ca href=\"https://www.vox.com/2018/5/19/17370288/silicon-valley-how-many-billionaires-start-up-tech-bay-area\">more than half of the world’s tech billionaires live in Silicon Valley\u003c/a>, San Jose has \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/south-bay/san-jose-homeless-population/3579260/\">the fourth-highest rate of homelessness\u003c/a> in the United States. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scrillacon — a play on the ’90s hip-hop slang for money — is aspirational. It’s used by those on the fringes of Silicon Valley, who live among the region’s absurd wealth but don’t get the same access to it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So when I recently spoke on the phone with Gary Bizer, also known as KMEL’s G-Biz, I had to mention \u003ci>Scrillacon Valley\u003c/i>. We laughed at the bygone vestiges that shaped us in the ’90s and early aughts — the rap anthems, the house parties. And we mourned, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965163\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1170px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965163\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_5574.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1170\" height=\"831\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_5574.jpg 1170w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_5574-800x568.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_5574-1020x724.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_5574-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_5574-768x545.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1170px) 100vw, 1170px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gary Bizer (center bottom) graduated from Los Altos High School as a standout football player. He poses here with some of his closest friends and teammates. \u003ccite>(Courtesy G-Biz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Long before Gary became a fixture on local rap radio, we were friends in middle school. Raised in East Palo Alto, he moved to Mountain View to finish high school. At the time, our neighborhood marked the southeasternmost edge of the city, bounded by a confusing mix of U.S. Highway 101, former orchard fields, tech offices, motels, Section 8 housing, an RV park and an active military base. It’s where I once saw Gary break a grown man’s nose during a neighborhood boxing tilt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between the family of eight Samoan brothers in a two-bedroom home at the end of the block, Mexican kids like Pollo and Darby across the street, and football players like Gary in the nearby apartment complex, our neighborhood had no shortage of friendships — and fights. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back then, our corner of Scrillacon Valley felt like an actual community where everyone knew each other. None of us imagined that the fight we should’ve actually been preparing for was much bigger and more invisibly pernicious: the preservation of our home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13965311\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alan Chazaro: Man, it’s been a minute. What’ve you been up to these days?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>G-Biz: \u003c/b>My brother, I’ve just been putting in work. I hit the 10-year mark at KMEL last month. Been doing nonprofit youth development for a while. I oversee the digital music lab for \u003ca href=\"https://devmission.org/\">Dev Mission\u003c/a>, a free enrichment program in San Francisco, focused on getting more people of color and women actively working in the tech industry. As Bay Area natives, it’s so difficult to break into that field, and people are being pushed out. So we focus on education around tech skills and opportunities, especially for those youth and folks from underserved areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>That’s important. Especially since we grew up in the part of that Bay where tech work has really changed the affordability for local families.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It goes back to gentrification. To think that Mountain View and EPA [East Palo Alto] are so different from what they were growing up. Those pockets of culture that used to exist have dissipated. Back in the day, you could walk down to the club in Mountain View, \u003ca href=\"https://www.mv-voice.com/morgue/2003/2003_08_29.limelt.html\">Limelight\u003c/a>, do whatever the fuck you wanted to do, and walk the fuck home, bruh. They had those little clubs out in Sunnyvale, we would go down there. I remember my homie Nicar, when he got his very first car, we pushed that little thing down to the club and all over, just rolling down 101. That’s the type of shit you don’t really see anymore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s unaffordable. The culture has changed. So many of us have been pushed out, unless you were lucky enough to get a form of housing, or worked in the tech industry to sustain yourself. It’s just hard to keep up. It’s sad that it’s all dripped away. That sense of community leaves when the culture starts to fade. And we’re seeing it in the larger cities, too. Oakland, Richmond, San Francisco. You see that shit when someone new walking around and I’m like, hold on bruh, I ain’t never seen you before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965167\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 324px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965167\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_8220.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"324\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_8220.jpg 324w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_8220-160x237.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 324px) 100vw, 324px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Though Gary Bizer was born in the Bay Area, his mom migrated from Arkansas to East Palo Alto to live with relatives. His family poses for a classic family portrait. \u003ccite>(Courtesy G-Biz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/making-it-in-the-bay/mountain-view-rent-skyrockets/3472554/\">rent in Mountain View is among the highest in the country\u003c/a>. That’s the reality living in the Bay now, sadly. Where are you at these days?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I live in Oakland, been based here for the past 13 years. I moved to the East Bay around college. Still trying to figure out how to stay in the area and afford it. It’s ridiculous trying to make it. But it’s lively here; it’s where the action is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s your connection to Silicon Valley?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m originally from East Palo Alto. My mom came out from Arkansas when she graduated high school and moved to EPA with her auntie and uncle. I had four great aunties and uncles. Two of them still live there; they’re the last ones living. I was born and raised there, but we always went to school in Mountain View, starting in kindergarten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Education was always important in my home. My mom made sure that no matter what, we had access to it. Compared to EPA during that time, which was known as \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/newsletter/2024-01-10/how-east-palo-alto-went-from-u-s-murder-capital-to-murder-free-essential-california\">the murder capital\u003c/a>, Mountain View had better schools. We moved to Mountain View later on and lived there with my aunt and a few of my cousins. It made it easy during middle school and high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I got to develop a good understanding that a lot of folks don’t necessarily get. Lot of my family and friends in my old hood didn’t know how to interact with white people. I got to go to school and connect with all kinds of different people. That was extremely useful for me. But it wasn’t no easy walk in the park either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What brought your family to this region from Arkansas? And how have you seen it change?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My mom worked at Hewlett-Packard growing up. One of the biggest tech companies, the grandfather of what Apple is today. Having that insight, from her literally being in the tech industry, was major. I remember her talking about stuff in the ’90s that folks were just catching onto in the 2000s. I was able to see it continue to develop and grow firsthand, not realizing how massive it was getting. I remember when we finally got a computer at the house, that was big shit. From the days of dial-up internet to the first days of viruses and Napster and Limewire. We were that first generation that got to grow up with it and see the boom and impact. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mountain View and what it looks like now, you don’t even recognize parts of the city anymore. The astronomical prices. When I drive back to EPA, bruh, \u003ca href=\"https://localnewsmatters.org/2022/05/18/east-palo-altos-battle-to-thrive-the-growing-pains-of-a-young-majority-minority-city/\">I don’t even recognize the streets I grew up on\u003c/a>. Now you got three of the largest tech companies in the world within a few miles’ radius. Amazon, Facebook, Google. Humongous hubs, all near each other. They’ve taken over and pushed the living rate up. \u003ca href=\"https://stanforddaily.com/2018/11/28/east-palo-alto-median-home-price-to-reach-1-million/\">EPA is a million-dollar city now\u003c/a>. You can’t buy a house under a million. My dad is like, what? He bought his house for $200,000 (laughs). When the property value was low, people came through and bought it off for cheap. People sold off in mass in the early 2000s, moved out to Tracy and those areas. That happened from EPA to Vallejo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>How have your experiences of traveling all over the Bay Area reshaped the way you see Silicon Valley now?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With KMEL, I’m going hood to hood. From the Crest to Hunters Point. I have an understanding of those places. At the same time, I’m able to rub shoulders with folks in Santa Row, Danville, Blackhawk. I do a lot of work in different neighborhoods, and you can see that divide and who is under-resourced. There are people down the street with all the tools they need, but I’m over here working with kids who barely have running WiFi. As I’ve grown older, that divide has only gotten bigger and bigger in the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Silicon Valley was ground zero for all of that. We saw it happen here first. Now we’ve seen that ripple in Frisco, Oakland, Richmond. The Black population in SF is now around 5%, bruh. That’s ridiculous. Black, Asian, Latino folks have lived here for hella long. Earlier in the 20th century this is where you could get port jobs, working at the docks and offloading for the ships. Now that shift, from industrial to technological, has absolutely changed the makeup of folks who live here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965165\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 880px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965165\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_8216.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"880\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_8216.jpg 880w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_8216-800x931.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_8216-160x186.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_8216-768x894.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gary Bizer and his mother, who worked at Hewlett-Packard and raised her sons to value work and community. \u003ccite>(Courtesy G-Biz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Silicon Valley isn’t geographically listed on any map. It’s more of an idea than it is an actual place. But how would you define where it is for people who don’t know?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the Peninsula and South Bay is Silicon Valley. The true heart of it is San Jose. San Jose has been the hub for these mega companies. How many acres does Apple have out in Cupertino? Google is in Mountain View. Of course we know X [formerly Twitter] has been in Frisco for so long [and is now \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11998860/x-reportedly-closing-san-francisco-office-amid-elon-musks-anti-california-turn\">reportedly moving to San Jose\u003c/a>]. Lyft and Uber have hubs in Oakland. Tesla has a huge factory down in Fremont. And you can’t forget about San Bruno [with YouTube]. It’s sprinkled all over, but the most centralized part of Silicon Valley is definitely the San Jose area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I’ve heard people say things like “San Jose isn’t part of the Bay Area.” Why do you think this part of the Bay doesn’t get the same kind of love as our neighbors up north?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Folks just talk out the side of they neck. Unless you have family in these other parts of the Bay, you might not travel here. My first time at KMEL when I was younger was my first time in Richmond. People were like, you ain’t never been to Hilltop? Hell no. What I’mma do there, breh? My family wasn’t traveling like that. So imagine someone in Vallejo, a place with a namesake, where you got 40, Mac Dre, all them. Same with SF, Richmond, Oakland. People who grew up out there don’t always have business going down to San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A lot of it ties into the music, too. Folks show love to other places because they got Dru Down, San Quinn, Rappin 4-Tay, JT the Bigga, Too $hort. All them held it down for their cities hella hard. San Jose doesn’t have that [name recognition in rap]. But what people don’t understand is that Shark City is the source of some of the most influential and historic Bay Area songs ever made, by none other than The Slapp Addict himself. Rest in peace to the good brother, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13907735/remembering-traxamillion-whose-beats-defined-the-bay-area-sound\">Traxamillion\u003c/a>. He was from San Jose, and he had so much reach and pull and love around the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s easy for folks to not know that some of their favorite anthems came from San Jose, made by a guy from San Jose. Folks might not know about \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9wXMkmmapg\">Sean T out of EPA and what he produced [including Mac Dre’s “Feelin’ Myself”]\u003c/a>. Folks forget about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/10840192/hoodstarz\">Dem Hoodstarz\u003c/a> being some of the biggest hyphy stars. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936387/east-palo-alto-rap-tapes\">Totally Insane\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936387/east-palo-alto-rap-tapes\">Neva Legal\u003c/a>. That’s history. Folks might not know that. It’s funny because Pittsburg got rappers like Mob Figaz, so people say that’s the Bay, but then they turn around and say Antioch ain’t the Bay, even though it’s the next city over. Same thing happens with San Jose. There’s a separation of generations that contributes to it all. They might not know the musical history here. But they need to put some respect on this area.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "rose-market-iranian-persian-food-mountain-view",
"title": "This 36-Year-Old Market Is a Homey Destination for Iranian Food",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/siliconvalleyunseen\">Silicon Valley Unseen\u003c/a> is a series of photo essays, original reporting and underreported histories that survey the tech capital’s overlooked communities and subcultures from a local perspective.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My earliest childhood memories revolve around an apartment building near downtown Mountain View, populated by immigrant Asian families and, for a time, my Mexican dad. I vividly recall its details: tight quarters, cockroaches scattering between tiles, a shared backyard and the overpowering aroma of mixed diasporas trying to cook their way back to some faraway homeland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13964538']The most distinct sensory detail, though — one I’ve literally dreamt of as an adult — was the daily, charcoal-thick waft from the Persian market across the street, where Middle Eastern spices commingled with joojeh kabab and koobideh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rose Market is where we’d go for everything from bubblegum and Tahitian punch soda to fresh veggies and poultry. It was among the few places I was allowed to walk to, on my own or with my older brother. Though we moved out of those apartments in the late ’90s, my memory of that market has endured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965454\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965454\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-12-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-12-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-12-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-12-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-12-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-12-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-12-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-12-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Middle Eastern spices and seasonings greet customers inside the newly renovated Rose International Market on El Camino Real in Mountain View. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rose Market stood in that same location for decades. At the height of its popularity, Middle Eastern families would visit from all over the region. The market eventually expanded to nearby Saratoga, becoming Silicon Valley’s definitive outlet for Iranian foods and groceries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But over the years, as Silicon Valley underwent drastic redevelopment and a tech-induced real estate land grab, some smaller businesses clustered near Rose Market — including Clarke’s Burgers, Le’s Alterations, an auto shop and a liquor store — receded from the landscape. Clarke’s had been a no-frills neighborhood institution, and it was where my single dad would often take us to watch 49ers games. Prior to its closing in 2020, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Clarkes-Charcoal-Broiler-Mountain-View-closes-75-15184803.php\">near the start of the pandemic\u003c/a>, it had been the oldest restaurant in all of Mountain View, and perhaps the most universally beloved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By then, Rose had also disappeared in Mountain View. From 2015 to 2019, as rents skyrocketed and trendier properties sprouted up nearby, the humble Iranian market closed its doors, making way for a ritzy mixed-use apartment complex. For nearly half a decade, there was no scent of Persian-style kebabs in Mountain View.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Due to public outcry, however, the developer \u003ca href=\"https://www.paloaltoonline.com/blogs/2019/02/14/rose-international-market-returns-to-mountain-view/\">signed long-term leases for a handful of small businesses\u003c/a>, including Rose, to remain on the ground floor once construction was complete. Through all of those back-and-forth negotiations, and a temporary relocation to Cupertino, Rose Market was one of the lucky ones, able to endure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965462\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965462\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-59-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-59-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-59-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-59-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-59-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-59-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-59-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-59-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rose International Market’s new look is drastically different from its humble beginnings in 1988. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 2019, Rose finally reopened at the new site. Its exterior is modernized, an extension of a sterile, swanky campus-like structure, similar to those of adjacent small businesses like Le’s Alterations, the Asian-owned dry cleaner from my childhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fortunately, Rose Market continues to supply a busy clientele with imported specialty products, like Persian pistachio ice cream sandwiches and an extensive selection of hard-to-find teas from abroad. Though unfamiliar in its updated appearance, it still delivers the same aromatic sensory overload of the old market, offering a soupçon of Iranian culture I’ve always associated with my South Bay upbringing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13965311\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area — and Silicon Valley, in particular — has been a hotbed for Iranian immigrants and refugees for over half a century. The initial wave of Persians \u003ca href=\"https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/mapping-the-iranian-diaspora-in-america\">mass migrated to the United States in 1979 as a result of the Islamic Revolution\u003c/a>, with the highest concentrations in Los Angeles and San Jose. From 1980 to 1988, during the Iran-Iraq War, even more Iranians left their homeland for California. Today, the state boasts the highest population of Iranians nationwide with over 200,000 estimated residents (as the \u003ca href=\"https://cids.sfsu.edu/background-center\">Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies reports\u003c/a>, no official census data exists for Iranian Americans).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965493\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965493\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-10-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1684\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-10-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-10-800x526.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-10-1020x671.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-10-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-10-768x505.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-10-1536x1010.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-10-2048x1347.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-10-1920x1263.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rose water for sale at Rose International Market in Mountain View. The region has been home to one of the nation’s largest Iranian populations for nearly half a century. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After leaving Iran, Saied Mehranfar cofounded Rose Market with his brothers in 1988. You can usually find him bustling around the market, delegating tasks and overseeing the business. His English is limited and his storytelling is sparse, but during a recent visit he gave me a tour around the shop, pointing out the different sections of fresh produce, imported beverages and the store’s upgraded kitchen. He then directed me to his nephew, Ramin, a second-generation Iranian American who helps run daily operations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The developer came and bought up all this property piece by piece, and everything closed down for a few years,” Ramin said, recalling the period of time when the market’s future in Mountain View was uncertain. “[But] this place was always meant for us to come back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Mountain View had the first Rose Market,” he continued, referring to the shop’s previous iteration in another part of Mountain View. “Then [we] got a bigger place, and then the one that everybody knows from over 35 years ago.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965460\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965460\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-40-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-40-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-40-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-40-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-40-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-40-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-40-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-40-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mohsen Amiri, right, smiles at Ramin Mehranfar, both employees at Rose International Market in Mountain View. Ramin’s uncle, Saied, is an original co-owner who sometimes appears at the market. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I was one of those who grew up knowing Rose on Castro Street and Victor Way, when smells from the market wandered through my second-floor apartment’s bedroom window. (The view to the market has since been obstructed by a cookie-cutter development of homes in the adjacent lot, once a dirt field wonderland for kids like me.) Just as Rose offers a sense of connection to a lost homeland for Iranians and Middle Eastern immigrants, it simultaneously connects me to my own upbringing in pre-Googleplex Mountain View.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965453\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965453\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-6-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-6-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-6-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-6-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-6-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-6-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-6-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-6-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Middle Eastern stew at Rose International Market, a 37-year-old Iranian market, in Mountain View on September 23, 2024. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mohammad.earth/\">Mohammad Gorjestani\u003c/a> can relate. \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">An \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mohammad.earth/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Iranian born filmmaker\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, artist, and founder of production company and creative studio \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/evenodd.studio/?hl=en\">Even/Odd\u003c/a> in San Francisco, Gorjestani grew up in West San Jose immersed in Iranian traditions. After he and his parents arrived to the Bay Area from Iran in 1988, places like Rose Market became a destination.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was a little far from The Gardens [a Section 8 apartment complex in San Jose where many Iranian families lived], \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">but we would pick up food often at places like Chelokebabi, Yas, or Rose Market and picnic at Shoreline,\u003c/span>” says Gorjestani. “That was a tradition.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a filmmaker who spent this past summer in Iran capturing the nation’s affinity for wrestling during the 2024 Olympics, Gorjestani is aware of the various complexities and nuances that surround Iran, its migrants and its cultural norms. While the slang and customs have morphed in Iran — a nation which Gorjestani admits is “like a black box to Americans,” \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">due its portrayal, restricted access, and heavy Western sanctions — Iranians in the diaspora have been more stuck in a time of the past.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965459\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965459\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-37-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-37-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-37-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-37-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-37-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-37-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-37-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-37-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ibrahim Almamori, a Rose International Market employee of over 30 years, makes Kabob Koubideh, in Mountain View on September 23, 2024. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Iran has evolved, but the people who immigrated here are still mimicking what they left behind, I think it’s a natural way of finding comfort for my parents’ generation especially” he told me over the phone while still overseas. “There’s a curtain drawn around Iran by the West. It’s very particular what is seen and shared. That’s why, even being there, it’s like being in a portal. You feel totally transported.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gorjestani reflected on his recent trip to Tehran, Iran’s metropolitan capital, and how it was filled with younger “new wave” efforts, such as craft coffee shops and eateries excited to offer pizzas and burgers. He sees the art and culinary scene in Tehran as eclectic, worldly, experimental — on par with other major cities in the world. In Northern Iran, known for its food and especially sour flavor profiles, Gorjestani experienced things he didn’t even know existed like “Chanar,” distinctly regional dessert shops focused on creating pomegranate-only concoctions of shaved ice, slushies and regional lavashak (“fruit roll-ups”) that he’s never seen. It’s not the Iran that his parents or former generations may have remembered or ever known.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s even a word commonly used (“sonnati”) for anything traditional. It’s not that traditional foods and customs are no longer revered; they’re just no longer the \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">only\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> defining aspects of define Iran’s burgeoning multi-generational identity. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“When I was going out over there, people would ask, do you want to go to a sonnati — like a traditional place — or do you want to go to a contemporary place, like a fast food spot? I got asked that a lot by all the gracious hosts I had” he says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For Gorjestani, Rose Market is more sonnati. It’s a reflection of a time left behind by a certain generation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965492\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965492\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-55-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-55-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-55-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-55-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-55-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-55-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-55-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-55-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-55-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Traditional Middle Eastern pastries are plentiful at Rose International Market. The shop offers a variety of Iranian sweets. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“These Iranian markets [in Silicon Valley] were new at the time,” says Gorjestani. “These places were [being opened by] immigrants in their twenties, thirties, maybe forties and fifties if you’re pushing it. They had this energy to create something for the diaspora here and for themselves to deal with being homesick. Then they get older, their businesses get older, and maybe their kids don’t want to run a family business or do their own thing. They’re not as connected to the homeland as their parents are, and things start to fade, assimilate, move on. It’s natural for the ebb and flow of any diaspora. But I’m so grateful for places like Rose Market who kept us connected to our Vatan [motherland]. ”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dinner at Rose Market might begin with fesenjan, a sweet pomegranate stew bathing thick, uneven chunks of chicken and mixed with ground walnut. When scooped on top of an order of cabbage rice, it smacks harder than just about any dish I’ve ever had. You can pair that with koofteh Tabrizi, a delectable meatball bigger — and meatier — than my balled up fist. The saffron and cinnamon mingle with fresh herbs, onions and prunes, while a massive walnut stuffed at its core awaits. Unlike the average American meatball, which usually functions as a sidekick to pasta, the Iranian koofteh is a meal unto itself. Served in its own juices, it needn’t be accompanied by much more than your appetite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But you’ll want to add more anyway: ghormeh sabzi (a zesty, lemony stew of kidney beans and tender beef), kalam polo (rice and cabbage fried to a golden, auburn hue), tabouli salad, tahdig (crisp, pan-burnt rice), and the showstopping varieties of kebab plated in a to-go box with a generous side of traditional Persian lavash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These items won’t just fill an empty stomach. They’ll bring you closer to enlightenment, reminding you of all things good and holy about our corporeal existence. In that sense, Rose Market is about timelessness, and perhaps that’s why it has lasted for nearly 40 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965494\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965494\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-25-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-25-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-25-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-25-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-25-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-25-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-25-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-25-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-25-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pistachios are a favorite at Rose International Market. In addition to fresh items and produce, the hot food counter at the back of the shop is a key attraction at the longstanding grocery store. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In Silicon Valley — hyper-forward thinking, constantly transmorphing — sonnati is necessary. Rose Market may be stuck on a different Iranian timeline, but it represents a more tender version of Silicon Valley, before the dot-com arms race seized this region’s image, and dictated who gets to live and eat here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I walk into Rose Market now — as an adult, father, and journalist — it teleports me to a quondam time and place that I can never let go of. These days, that’s the kind of nourishment I rarely get anywhere else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13965311\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv dir=\"auto\">\u003cem>Rose International Market (801 W El Camino Real Suite B, Mountain View) is open daily for groceries from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and hot food from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/siliconvalleyunseen\">Silicon Valley Unseen\u003c/a> is a series of photo essays, original reporting and underreported histories that survey the tech capital’s overlooked communities and subcultures from a local perspective.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My earliest childhood memories revolve around an apartment building near downtown Mountain View, populated by immigrant Asian families and, for a time, my Mexican dad. I vividly recall its details: tight quarters, cockroaches scattering between tiles, a shared backyard and the overpowering aroma of mixed diasporas trying to cook their way back to some faraway homeland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The most distinct sensory detail, though — one I’ve literally dreamt of as an adult — was the daily, charcoal-thick waft from the Persian market across the street, where Middle Eastern spices commingled with joojeh kabab and koobideh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rose Market is where we’d go for everything from bubblegum and Tahitian punch soda to fresh veggies and poultry. It was among the few places I was allowed to walk to, on my own or with my older brother. Though we moved out of those apartments in the late ’90s, my memory of that market has endured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965454\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965454\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-12-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-12-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-12-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-12-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-12-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-12-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-12-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-12-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Middle Eastern spices and seasonings greet customers inside the newly renovated Rose International Market on El Camino Real in Mountain View. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rose Market stood in that same location for decades. At the height of its popularity, Middle Eastern families would visit from all over the region. The market eventually expanded to nearby Saratoga, becoming Silicon Valley’s definitive outlet for Iranian foods and groceries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But over the years, as Silicon Valley underwent drastic redevelopment and a tech-induced real estate land grab, some smaller businesses clustered near Rose Market — including Clarke’s Burgers, Le’s Alterations, an auto shop and a liquor store — receded from the landscape. Clarke’s had been a no-frills neighborhood institution, and it was where my single dad would often take us to watch 49ers games. Prior to its closing in 2020, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Clarkes-Charcoal-Broiler-Mountain-View-closes-75-15184803.php\">near the start of the pandemic\u003c/a>, it had been the oldest restaurant in all of Mountain View, and perhaps the most universally beloved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By then, Rose had also disappeared in Mountain View. From 2015 to 2019, as rents skyrocketed and trendier properties sprouted up nearby, the humble Iranian market closed its doors, making way for a ritzy mixed-use apartment complex. For nearly half a decade, there was no scent of Persian-style kebabs in Mountain View.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Due to public outcry, however, the developer \u003ca href=\"https://www.paloaltoonline.com/blogs/2019/02/14/rose-international-market-returns-to-mountain-view/\">signed long-term leases for a handful of small businesses\u003c/a>, including Rose, to remain on the ground floor once construction was complete. Through all of those back-and-forth negotiations, and a temporary relocation to Cupertino, Rose Market was one of the lucky ones, able to endure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965462\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965462\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-59-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-59-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-59-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-59-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-59-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-59-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-59-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-59-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rose International Market’s new look is drastically different from its humble beginnings in 1988. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 2019, Rose finally reopened at the new site. Its exterior is modernized, an extension of a sterile, swanky campus-like structure, similar to those of adjacent small businesses like Le’s Alterations, the Asian-owned dry cleaner from my childhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fortunately, Rose Market continues to supply a busy clientele with imported specialty products, like Persian pistachio ice cream sandwiches and an extensive selection of hard-to-find teas from abroad. Though unfamiliar in its updated appearance, it still delivers the same aromatic sensory overload of the old market, offering a soupçon of Iranian culture I’ve always associated with my South Bay upbringing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13965311\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area — and Silicon Valley, in particular — has been a hotbed for Iranian immigrants and refugees for over half a century. The initial wave of Persians \u003ca href=\"https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/mapping-the-iranian-diaspora-in-america\">mass migrated to the United States in 1979 as a result of the Islamic Revolution\u003c/a>, with the highest concentrations in Los Angeles and San Jose. From 1980 to 1988, during the Iran-Iraq War, even more Iranians left their homeland for California. Today, the state boasts the highest population of Iranians nationwide with over 200,000 estimated residents (as the \u003ca href=\"https://cids.sfsu.edu/background-center\">Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies reports\u003c/a>, no official census data exists for Iranian Americans).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965493\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965493\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-10-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1684\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-10-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-10-800x526.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-10-1020x671.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-10-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-10-768x505.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-10-1536x1010.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-10-2048x1347.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-10-1920x1263.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rose water for sale at Rose International Market in Mountain View. The region has been home to one of the nation’s largest Iranian populations for nearly half a century. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After leaving Iran, Saied Mehranfar cofounded Rose Market with his brothers in 1988. You can usually find him bustling around the market, delegating tasks and overseeing the business. His English is limited and his storytelling is sparse, but during a recent visit he gave me a tour around the shop, pointing out the different sections of fresh produce, imported beverages and the store’s upgraded kitchen. He then directed me to his nephew, Ramin, a second-generation Iranian American who helps run daily operations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The developer came and bought up all this property piece by piece, and everything closed down for a few years,” Ramin said, recalling the period of time when the market’s future in Mountain View was uncertain. “[But] this place was always meant for us to come back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Mountain View had the first Rose Market,” he continued, referring to the shop’s previous iteration in another part of Mountain View. “Then [we] got a bigger place, and then the one that everybody knows from over 35 years ago.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965460\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965460\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-40-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-40-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-40-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-40-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-40-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-40-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-40-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-40-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mohsen Amiri, right, smiles at Ramin Mehranfar, both employees at Rose International Market in Mountain View. Ramin’s uncle, Saied, is an original co-owner who sometimes appears at the market. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I was one of those who grew up knowing Rose on Castro Street and Victor Way, when smells from the market wandered through my second-floor apartment’s bedroom window. (The view to the market has since been obstructed by a cookie-cutter development of homes in the adjacent lot, once a dirt field wonderland for kids like me.) Just as Rose offers a sense of connection to a lost homeland for Iranians and Middle Eastern immigrants, it simultaneously connects me to my own upbringing in pre-Googleplex Mountain View.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965453\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965453\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-6-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-6-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-6-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-6-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-6-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-6-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-6-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-6-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Middle Eastern stew at Rose International Market, a 37-year-old Iranian market, in Mountain View on September 23, 2024. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mohammad.earth/\">Mohammad Gorjestani\u003c/a> can relate. \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">An \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mohammad.earth/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Iranian born filmmaker\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, artist, and founder of production company and creative studio \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/evenodd.studio/?hl=en\">Even/Odd\u003c/a> in San Francisco, Gorjestani grew up in West San Jose immersed in Iranian traditions. After he and his parents arrived to the Bay Area from Iran in 1988, places like Rose Market became a destination.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was a little far from The Gardens [a Section 8 apartment complex in San Jose where many Iranian families lived], \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">but we would pick up food often at places like Chelokebabi, Yas, or Rose Market and picnic at Shoreline,\u003c/span>” says Gorjestani. “That was a tradition.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a filmmaker who spent this past summer in Iran capturing the nation’s affinity for wrestling during the 2024 Olympics, Gorjestani is aware of the various complexities and nuances that surround Iran, its migrants and its cultural norms. While the slang and customs have morphed in Iran — a nation which Gorjestani admits is “like a black box to Americans,” \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">due its portrayal, restricted access, and heavy Western sanctions — Iranians in the diaspora have been more stuck in a time of the past.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965459\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965459\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-37-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-37-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-37-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-37-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-37-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-37-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-37-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IRANIANMARKET_GC-37-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ibrahim Almamori, a Rose International Market employee of over 30 years, makes Kabob Koubideh, in Mountain View on September 23, 2024. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Iran has evolved, but the people who immigrated here are still mimicking what they left behind, I think it’s a natural way of finding comfort for my parents’ generation especially” he told me over the phone while still overseas. “There’s a curtain drawn around Iran by the West. It’s very particular what is seen and shared. That’s why, even being there, it’s like being in a portal. You feel totally transported.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gorjestani reflected on his recent trip to Tehran, Iran’s metropolitan capital, and how it was filled with younger “new wave” efforts, such as craft coffee shops and eateries excited to offer pizzas and burgers. He sees the art and culinary scene in Tehran as eclectic, worldly, experimental — on par with other major cities in the world. In Northern Iran, known for its food and especially sour flavor profiles, Gorjestani experienced things he didn’t even know existed like “Chanar,” distinctly regional dessert shops focused on creating pomegranate-only concoctions of shaved ice, slushies and regional lavashak (“fruit roll-ups”) that he’s never seen. It’s not the Iran that his parents or former generations may have remembered or ever known.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s even a word commonly used (“sonnati”) for anything traditional. It’s not that traditional foods and customs are no longer revered; they’re just no longer the \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">only\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> defining aspects of define Iran’s burgeoning multi-generational identity. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“When I was going out over there, people would ask, do you want to go to a sonnati — like a traditional place — or do you want to go to a contemporary place, like a fast food spot? I got asked that a lot by all the gracious hosts I had” he says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For Gorjestani, Rose Market is more sonnati. It’s a reflection of a time left behind by a certain generation.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965492\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965492\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-55-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-55-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-55-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-55-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-55-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-55-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-55-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-55-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-55-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Traditional Middle Eastern pastries are plentiful at Rose International Market. The shop offers a variety of Iranian sweets. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“These Iranian markets [in Silicon Valley] were new at the time,” says Gorjestani. “These places were [being opened by] immigrants in their twenties, thirties, maybe forties and fifties if you’re pushing it. They had this energy to create something for the diaspora here and for themselves to deal with being homesick. Then they get older, their businesses get older, and maybe their kids don’t want to run a family business or do their own thing. They’re not as connected to the homeland as their parents are, and things start to fade, assimilate, move on. It’s natural for the ebb and flow of any diaspora. But I’m so grateful for places like Rose Market who kept us connected to our Vatan [motherland]. ”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dinner at Rose Market might begin with fesenjan, a sweet pomegranate stew bathing thick, uneven chunks of chicken and mixed with ground walnut. When scooped on top of an order of cabbage rice, it smacks harder than just about any dish I’ve ever had. You can pair that with koofteh Tabrizi, a delectable meatball bigger — and meatier — than my balled up fist. The saffron and cinnamon mingle with fresh herbs, onions and prunes, while a massive walnut stuffed at its core awaits. Unlike the average American meatball, which usually functions as a sidekick to pasta, the Iranian koofteh is a meal unto itself. Served in its own juices, it needn’t be accompanied by much more than your appetite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But you’ll want to add more anyway: ghormeh sabzi (a zesty, lemony stew of kidney beans and tender beef), kalam polo (rice and cabbage fried to a golden, auburn hue), tabouli salad, tahdig (crisp, pan-burnt rice), and the showstopping varieties of kebab plated in a to-go box with a generous side of traditional Persian lavash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These items won’t just fill an empty stomach. They’ll bring you closer to enlightenment, reminding you of all things good and holy about our corporeal existence. In that sense, Rose Market is about timelessness, and perhaps that’s why it has lasted for nearly 40 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965494\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965494\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-25-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-25-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-25-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-25-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-25-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-25-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-25-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-25-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240923_IranianMarket_GC-25-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pistachios are a favorite at Rose International Market. In addition to fresh items and produce, the hot food counter at the back of the shop is a key attraction at the longstanding grocery store. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In Silicon Valley — hyper-forward thinking, constantly transmorphing — sonnati is necessary. Rose Market may be stuck on a different Iranian timeline, but it represents a more tender version of Silicon Valley, before the dot-com arms race seized this region’s image, and dictated who gets to live and eat here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I walk into Rose Market now — as an adult, father, and journalist — it teleports me to a quondam time and place that I can never let go of. These days, that’s the kind of nourishment I rarely get anywhere else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13965311\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv dir=\"auto\">\u003cem>Rose International Market (801 W El Camino Real Suite B, Mountain View) is open daily for groceries from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and hot food from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "silicon-valley-bay-area-san-jose-soccer-capital",
"title": "Why Silicon Valley Is the Soccer Capital of the Bay Area",
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"headTitle": "Why Silicon Valley Is the Soccer Capital of the Bay Area | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/siliconvalleyunseen/\">Silicon Valley Unseen\u003c/a> is a series of photo essays, original reporting and underreported histories that survey the tech capital’s overlooked communities and subcultures from a local perspective.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]L[/dropcap]et it be known: Silicon Valley is soccer country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here, our love of the net isn’t just limited to venture capitalist goals. Our passion and skills can also be seen on our soccer fields, where goals and nets of another kind abound.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963607\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963607\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_167-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"shirtless men cheer in stands with blue smoke behind them in stadium\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_167-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_167-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_167-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_167-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_167-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_167-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_167-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_167-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A group of ‘ultras’ cheer on the San Jose Earthquakes during a Leagues Cup Game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on July 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Take Fair Oaks Park in Sunnyvale, for example. Located off Hwy. 101 near Hwy. 237, it’s where you’ll find taqueros, paleteros, birthday parties, bootleg bartenders and even live mariachi bands setting up next to a gorgeous stretch of renovated turf fields. Despite being meant for football and baseball, it’s where soccer reigns supreme.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In maverick fashion, these players run — cutting straight down the clearly demarcated lines — as if to repurpose America’s pastime into a site of pilgrimage for renegade fútbolistas who might otherwise go unnoticed in suburbia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963601\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963601\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-12-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"two players chase the ball during a local soccer game\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-12-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-12-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-12-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-12-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-12-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-12-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-12-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-12-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two players chase after a soccer ball during a local league game in Sunnyvale on Aug. 24, 2024. This neighborhood field is just a few miles north of Levi’s Stadium and PayPal Park, where the Bay Area’s only Major League Soccer teams play. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Everyone shows up\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to realize that this kind of public soccer display in America is not so much about getting physical exercise as it is about exercising a sense identity through communal gathering. Everyone shows up to watch, to hang out and to feel a sense of home, even when home might actually be across another, more hardened boundary. And maybe that’s part of what makes the game such a necessity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nowhere else in the Bay has the same level of collective devotion and fanaticism for this sport as Silicon Valley. In my own daily life, it’s fervently rampant. I did, after all, grow up in a home with a single immigrant dad who revered the holy sport.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963602\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963602\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-16-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a teenage boy dribbles a soccer ball in his socks on the sidelines of a soccer field\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-16-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-16-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-16-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-16-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-16-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-16-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-16-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-16-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A teenager dribbles a ball in his socks while two local games occur on adjacent fields in Sunnyvale on Aug. 24, 2024. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>My dad, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13964538/silicon-valley-unseen-san-jose-south-bay-locals\">who migrated to Silicon Valley from Mexico and serendipitously landed a career in tech during the ’80s\u003c/a>, has participated in pick-up soccer games and company-funded leagues all over the Bay’s southern coastline for almost 40 years. In his later stages of playing, he belonged to a diverse group of diehards who played at a park in Mountain View every Saturday morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout college and into my adulthood, I would drive down from the East Bay, sometimes with friends of my own, to join in. Afterwards, we’d all go to a nearby Mexican restaurant to eat, drink and watch whatever international soccer matches were being aired on television that day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My dad was a regular of that group — as much a surrogate family unit of ragtags as they were soccer addicts — until he was over 70 years old, before finally hanging up his worn-out boots and giving way to the next crop of young footballers. (My dad likes to point out that an 80-year-old Italian man, known locally as “Tony the Tiger,” continues to play).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963600\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963600\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-10-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a soccer player rests on the sideline while his team plays on the field\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-10-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-10-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-10-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-10-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-10-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-10-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-10-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-10-1920x2880.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A soccer player watches his team from the sidelines during an adult league game in Sunnyvale on Aug. 24, 2024. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That kind of affinity for the sport isn’t uncommon in Silicon Valley, which boasts a population of immigrants, youth groups and local teams flourishing in the area. On a pragmatic level, there’s simply more terrain and literal space to kick the ball around Santa Clara Valley than in the more urbanized parts of the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps that’s why Silicon Valley has become Northern California’s unofficial capital of soccer, where FIFA, Major League Soccer and other notable entities have established their global presence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963604\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963604\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_018-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"professional soccer players take the field during a game at Levi's Stadium\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_018-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_018-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_018-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_018-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_018-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_018-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_018-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_018-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San Jose Earthquakes take the field against Club Deportivo Guadalajara during a Leagues Cup Game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on July 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A storied soccer history\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 1994, Silicon Valley — not Oakland or San Francisco — was selected to host World Cup games at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto. The region’s world cup committee, led by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13934415/8-over-80-derek-liecty\">local soccer advocate Derek Liecty\u003c/a>, who formerly captained Stanford’s varsity team, deemed it the best soccer venue in all of the region from his playing days. It would establish a tradition of international soccer in Silicon Valley that continues to this day, where Copa America and World Cup qualifiers are still commonly held at nearby Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, PayPal Park in San Jose is the home of the Bay Area’s only Major League Soccer squads for both men and women: the Earthquakes (formerly Clash) and Bay FC. Prior to that stadium’s opening in 2015 (which, by the way, includes the world’s largest outdoor bar that offers a gorgeous, eye-level view of the field), San Jose State University’s soccer complex has long represented a mecca of West Coast soccerdom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963608\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963608\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_169-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a stadium is filled with fans during a professional soccer game between the San Jose Earthquakes and Guadalajara Chivas\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_169-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_169-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_169-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_169-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_169-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_169-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_169-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_169-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San Jose Earthquakes compete against Club Deportivo Guadalajara during a Leagues Cup Game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on July 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1996, Major League Soccer held their first-ever game in San Jose at Spartan Stadium between the Clash and D.C. United.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ll say that again: \u003ca href=\"https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/how-dc-united-and-san-jose-clash-got-their-names-and-original-look\">the first official game in MLS’ national history was inaugurated in the heart of Silicon Valley\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Out of any site they could’ve chosen as the axis of a burgeoning soccer renaissance in the United States — Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Houston — MLS founders designated San Jose as the ideal destination to kick off their newly formed league. (San Jose’s team defeated D.C. with an 89th-minute Eric Wynalda goal to become the first-ever team and city to notch an MLS victory.) For years after, the Brazilian men’s soccer team made Los Gatos, on the furthest edge of Silicon Valley, \u003ca href=\"https://gostanford.com/news/2019/07/04/a-whole-new-world\">their preferred home base\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>An early home for women’s soccer\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s not just men’s soccer that has been cradled in Silicon Valley, either. According to Soccer History USA, the first-ever U.S. Women’s National Team appearance in this part of the country \u003ca href=\"https://soccerhistoryusa.org/asha/sanfrancisco.html\">took place in San Jose\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Later, in 1999, the Women’s World Cup semifinals (featuring the United States against Brazil) would transpire in Palo Alto. The U.S. won. In the very next game, Brandi Chastain scored the U.S. a game-winning penalty shot in the final against China. As destined by the Bay Area soccer gods, Chastain — a Women’s World Cup hero — just so happens to have been \u003ca href=\"https://medium.com/@oaklandroots/bay-area-womens-pro-soccer-a-history-6c335b28d28e\">born and raised in San Jose\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963606\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963606\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_082-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"fans cheering for the San Jose Earthquakes during a professional soccer game\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_082-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_082-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_082-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_082-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_082-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_082-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_082-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_082-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An intergenerational group of fans cheer on the San Jose Earthquakes against Club Deportivo Guadalajara during a Leagues Cup Game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on July 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Three years after, in 2001, riding the success of the Women’s World Cup, the country’s first women’s professional soccer league — the Women’s United Soccer Association — launched. Guess where the start-up league decided to add its first and only Bay Area squad? In San Jose. The Bay Area CyberRays (\u003ca href=\"https://sanjosesportschronicle.com/soccer/san-jose-cyberrays/\">later renamed San Jose CyberRays\u003c/a>) would win the league’s first championship in \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltDUTGdtbek\">dramatic penalty kicks against Atlanta\u003c/a>. Unfortunately, the WUSA shuttered in 2003.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CyberRays’ spiritual inheritors, FC Gold Pride, followed in 2008, a short-lived franchise that The Guardian once dubbed “\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/jul/05/fc-gold-pride-history-san-francisco\">women’s soccer’s forgotten dream team\u003c/a>.” The clubhouse featured some of the best women players from around the globe, including Brazilian legend Marta, a five-time FIFA Women’s Player of the Year who led Gold Pride to a national championship in the squad’s final season. The team started out playing by games in — you guessed it — Silicon Valley. They were \u003ca href=\"https://www.losaltosonline.com/archives/local-couple-buys-pro-soccer-team/article_8d2c91d3-2bb9-5c39-99f7-5791f61b21b5.html\">owned by Silicon Valley tech CEO Brian NeSmith and his wife, Nancy\u003c/a>, whose daughters played soccer locally. NeSmith ran a Sunnyvale-based cybersecurity company, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2008/09/15/killion-soccer-mom-and-dad-go-big-time/\">he compared to launching his soccer team\u003c/a> in the fledgling league.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And \u003ca href=\"https://artsandculture.google.com/story/for-club-and-country-san-jos%C3%A9-s-soccer-heroes-history-san-jose/CwXBxNeyigAA8A?hl=en\">the list goes on\u003c/a>. (I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the San Jose Earthquakes were originally founded in 1974, preceding the MLS by 21 years and making them among the nation’s oldest still-active soccer clubs at the professional level).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963605\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963605\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_063-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a San Jose Earthquakes fan celebrates a goal\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_063-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_063-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_063-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_063-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_063-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_063-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_063-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_063-1920x2880.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A San Jose Earthquakes fan sports a retro San Jose Clash jacket during a Leagues Cup Game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on July 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Full-circle, but even better\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When I think back on growing up in Silicon Valley with my soccer-loving dad, it all makes sense. He often took me and my older brother to games at Stanford Stadium and Spartan Stadium to see international matches and the San Jose Clash. (My dad attended a 1994 World Cup showdown, albeit without me or my brother at his side).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And now, decades later, with a toddler of my own, I’ve taken my dad and son to San Jose to root for the Bay FC, \u003ca href=\"https://www.allforxi.com/2024/4/2/24118167/third-times-the-charm-the-story-of-womens-soccer-in-the-bay-area\">the splashy new expansion team in the National Women’s Soccer League\u003c/a>. It was the first women’s pro soccer game my dad ever attended — a sign of the sport’s continued growth, popularity and evolution. Attending such games wouldn’t feel nearly as feasible if we had to make the commute from San Francisco, Berkeley or the North Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Luckily, we have it all right here in our backyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963603\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963603\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-39-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a taquero cuts al pastor meat from a spinning trompo during a local soccer game\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-39-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-39-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-39-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-39-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-39-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-39-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-39-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-39-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Taqueros cutting al pastor meat during a game on Aug. 24, 2024. Paleteros and mariachis also frequent this park in Sunnyvale, adding to the festive environment and fan experience. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13965311\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Alex Knowbody is a freelance photographer from East Side San Jose. As a Silicon Valley lifer, his work centers on documenting his community’s many sides. His photography can be viewed \u003ca href=\"https://www.alexknowbody.com/\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "A San Jose photographer captures Silicon Valley’s love affair with soccer — and its contributions to U.S. sports history.",
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"title": "Why Silicon Valley Is the Soccer Capital of the Bay Area | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/siliconvalleyunseen/\">Silicon Valley Unseen\u003c/a> is a series of photo essays, original reporting and underreported histories that survey the tech capital’s overlooked communities and subcultures from a local perspective.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">L\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>et it be known: Silicon Valley is soccer country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here, our love of the net isn’t just limited to venture capitalist goals. Our passion and skills can also be seen on our soccer fields, where goals and nets of another kind abound.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963607\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963607\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_167-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"shirtless men cheer in stands with blue smoke behind them in stadium\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_167-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_167-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_167-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_167-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_167-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_167-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_167-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_167-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A group of ‘ultras’ cheer on the San Jose Earthquakes during a Leagues Cup Game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on July 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Take Fair Oaks Park in Sunnyvale, for example. Located off Hwy. 101 near Hwy. 237, it’s where you’ll find taqueros, paleteros, birthday parties, bootleg bartenders and even live mariachi bands setting up next to a gorgeous stretch of renovated turf fields. Despite being meant for football and baseball, it’s where soccer reigns supreme.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In maverick fashion, these players run — cutting straight down the clearly demarcated lines — as if to repurpose America’s pastime into a site of pilgrimage for renegade fútbolistas who might otherwise go unnoticed in suburbia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963601\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963601\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-12-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"two players chase the ball during a local soccer game\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-12-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-12-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-12-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-12-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-12-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-12-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-12-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-12-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two players chase after a soccer ball during a local league game in Sunnyvale on Aug. 24, 2024. This neighborhood field is just a few miles north of Levi’s Stadium and PayPal Park, where the Bay Area’s only Major League Soccer teams play. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Everyone shows up\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to realize that this kind of public soccer display in America is not so much about getting physical exercise as it is about exercising a sense identity through communal gathering. Everyone shows up to watch, to hang out and to feel a sense of home, even when home might actually be across another, more hardened boundary. And maybe that’s part of what makes the game such a necessity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nowhere else in the Bay has the same level of collective devotion and fanaticism for this sport as Silicon Valley. In my own daily life, it’s fervently rampant. I did, after all, grow up in a home with a single immigrant dad who revered the holy sport.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963602\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963602\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-16-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a teenage boy dribbles a soccer ball in his socks on the sidelines of a soccer field\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-16-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-16-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-16-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-16-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-16-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-16-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-16-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-16-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A teenager dribbles a ball in his socks while two local games occur on adjacent fields in Sunnyvale on Aug. 24, 2024. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>My dad, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13964538/silicon-valley-unseen-san-jose-south-bay-locals\">who migrated to Silicon Valley from Mexico and serendipitously landed a career in tech during the ’80s\u003c/a>, has participated in pick-up soccer games and company-funded leagues all over the Bay’s southern coastline for almost 40 years. In his later stages of playing, he belonged to a diverse group of diehards who played at a park in Mountain View every Saturday morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout college and into my adulthood, I would drive down from the East Bay, sometimes with friends of my own, to join in. Afterwards, we’d all go to a nearby Mexican restaurant to eat, drink and watch whatever international soccer matches were being aired on television that day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My dad was a regular of that group — as much a surrogate family unit of ragtags as they were soccer addicts — until he was over 70 years old, before finally hanging up his worn-out boots and giving way to the next crop of young footballers. (My dad likes to point out that an 80-year-old Italian man, known locally as “Tony the Tiger,” continues to play).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963600\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963600\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-10-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a soccer player rests on the sideline while his team plays on the field\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-10-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-10-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-10-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-10-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-10-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-10-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-10-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-10-1920x2880.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A soccer player watches his team from the sidelines during an adult league game in Sunnyvale on Aug. 24, 2024. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That kind of affinity for the sport isn’t uncommon in Silicon Valley, which boasts a population of immigrants, youth groups and local teams flourishing in the area. On a pragmatic level, there’s simply more terrain and literal space to kick the ball around Santa Clara Valley than in the more urbanized parts of the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps that’s why Silicon Valley has become Northern California’s unofficial capital of soccer, where FIFA, Major League Soccer and other notable entities have established their global presence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963604\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963604\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_018-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"professional soccer players take the field during a game at Levi's Stadium\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_018-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_018-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_018-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_018-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_018-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_018-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_018-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_018-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San Jose Earthquakes take the field against Club Deportivo Guadalajara during a Leagues Cup Game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on July 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A storied soccer history\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 1994, Silicon Valley — not Oakland or San Francisco — was selected to host World Cup games at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto. The region’s world cup committee, led by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13934415/8-over-80-derek-liecty\">local soccer advocate Derek Liecty\u003c/a>, who formerly captained Stanford’s varsity team, deemed it the best soccer venue in all of the region from his playing days. It would establish a tradition of international soccer in Silicon Valley that continues to this day, where Copa America and World Cup qualifiers are still commonly held at nearby Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, PayPal Park in San Jose is the home of the Bay Area’s only Major League Soccer squads for both men and women: the Earthquakes (formerly Clash) and Bay FC. Prior to that stadium’s opening in 2015 (which, by the way, includes the world’s largest outdoor bar that offers a gorgeous, eye-level view of the field), San Jose State University’s soccer complex has long represented a mecca of West Coast soccerdom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963608\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963608\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_169-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a stadium is filled with fans during a professional soccer game between the San Jose Earthquakes and Guadalajara Chivas\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_169-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_169-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_169-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_169-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_169-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_169-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_169-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_169-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San Jose Earthquakes compete against Club Deportivo Guadalajara during a Leagues Cup Game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on July 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 1996, Major League Soccer held their first-ever game in San Jose at Spartan Stadium between the Clash and D.C. United.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ll say that again: \u003ca href=\"https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/how-dc-united-and-san-jose-clash-got-their-names-and-original-look\">the first official game in MLS’ national history was inaugurated in the heart of Silicon Valley\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Out of any site they could’ve chosen as the axis of a burgeoning soccer renaissance in the United States — Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Houston — MLS founders designated San Jose as the ideal destination to kick off their newly formed league. (San Jose’s team defeated D.C. with an 89th-minute Eric Wynalda goal to become the first-ever team and city to notch an MLS victory.) For years after, the Brazilian men’s soccer team made Los Gatos, on the furthest edge of Silicon Valley, \u003ca href=\"https://gostanford.com/news/2019/07/04/a-whole-new-world\">their preferred home base\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>An early home for women’s soccer\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s not just men’s soccer that has been cradled in Silicon Valley, either. According to Soccer History USA, the first-ever U.S. Women’s National Team appearance in this part of the country \u003ca href=\"https://soccerhistoryusa.org/asha/sanfrancisco.html\">took place in San Jose\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Later, in 1999, the Women’s World Cup semifinals (featuring the United States against Brazil) would transpire in Palo Alto. The U.S. won. In the very next game, Brandi Chastain scored the U.S. a game-winning penalty shot in the final against China. As destined by the Bay Area soccer gods, Chastain — a Women’s World Cup hero — just so happens to have been \u003ca href=\"https://medium.com/@oaklandroots/bay-area-womens-pro-soccer-a-history-6c335b28d28e\">born and raised in San Jose\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963606\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963606\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_082-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"fans cheering for the San Jose Earthquakes during a professional soccer game\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_082-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_082-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_082-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_082-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_082-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_082-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_082-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_082-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An intergenerational group of fans cheer on the San Jose Earthquakes against Club Deportivo Guadalajara during a Leagues Cup Game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on July 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Three years after, in 2001, riding the success of the Women’s World Cup, the country’s first women’s professional soccer league — the Women’s United Soccer Association — launched. Guess where the start-up league decided to add its first and only Bay Area squad? In San Jose. The Bay Area CyberRays (\u003ca href=\"https://sanjosesportschronicle.com/soccer/san-jose-cyberrays/\">later renamed San Jose CyberRays\u003c/a>) would win the league’s first championship in \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltDUTGdtbek\">dramatic penalty kicks against Atlanta\u003c/a>. Unfortunately, the WUSA shuttered in 2003.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CyberRays’ spiritual inheritors, FC Gold Pride, followed in 2008, a short-lived franchise that The Guardian once dubbed “\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/jul/05/fc-gold-pride-history-san-francisco\">women’s soccer’s forgotten dream team\u003c/a>.” The clubhouse featured some of the best women players from around the globe, including Brazilian legend Marta, a five-time FIFA Women’s Player of the Year who led Gold Pride to a national championship in the squad’s final season. The team started out playing by games in — you guessed it — Silicon Valley. They were \u003ca href=\"https://www.losaltosonline.com/archives/local-couple-buys-pro-soccer-team/article_8d2c91d3-2bb9-5c39-99f7-5791f61b21b5.html\">owned by Silicon Valley tech CEO Brian NeSmith and his wife, Nancy\u003c/a>, whose daughters played soccer locally. NeSmith ran a Sunnyvale-based cybersecurity company, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2008/09/15/killion-soccer-mom-and-dad-go-big-time/\">he compared to launching his soccer team\u003c/a> in the fledgling league.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And \u003ca href=\"https://artsandculture.google.com/story/for-club-and-country-san-jos%C3%A9-s-soccer-heroes-history-san-jose/CwXBxNeyigAA8A?hl=en\">the list goes on\u003c/a>. (I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the San Jose Earthquakes were originally founded in 1974, preceding the MLS by 21 years and making them among the nation’s oldest still-active soccer clubs at the professional level).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963605\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963605\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_063-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a San Jose Earthquakes fan celebrates a goal\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_063-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_063-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_063-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_063-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_063-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_063-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_063-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SJvsChivas_063-1920x2880.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A San Jose Earthquakes fan sports a retro San Jose Clash jacket during a Leagues Cup Game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on July 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Full-circle, but even better\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When I think back on growing up in Silicon Valley with my soccer-loving dad, it all makes sense. He often took me and my older brother to games at Stanford Stadium and Spartan Stadium to see international matches and the San Jose Clash. (My dad attended a 1994 World Cup showdown, albeit without me or my brother at his side).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And now, decades later, with a toddler of my own, I’ve taken my dad and son to San Jose to root for the Bay FC, \u003ca href=\"https://www.allforxi.com/2024/4/2/24118167/third-times-the-charm-the-story-of-womens-soccer-in-the-bay-area\">the splashy new expansion team in the National Women’s Soccer League\u003c/a>. It was the first women’s pro soccer game my dad ever attended — a sign of the sport’s continued growth, popularity and evolution. Attending such games wouldn’t feel nearly as feasible if we had to make the commute from San Francisco, Berkeley or the North Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Luckily, we have it all right here in our backyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963603\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963603\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-39-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a taquero cuts al pastor meat from a spinning trompo during a local soccer game\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-39-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-39-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-39-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-39-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-39-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-39-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-39-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/FairOaksPark_SoccerSession-39-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Taqueros cutting al pastor meat during a game on Aug. 24, 2024. Paleteros and mariachis also frequent this park in Sunnyvale, adding to the festive environment and fan experience. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13965311\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Alex Knowbody is a freelance photographer from East Side San Jose. As a Silicon Valley lifer, his work centers on documenting his community’s many sides. His photography can be viewed \u003ca href=\"https://www.alexknowbody.com/\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "fremont-immigrant-suburb-idealism-my-hometown",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/siliconvalleyunseen/\">Silicon Valley Unseen\u003c/a> is a series of photo essays, original reporting and underreported histories that survey the tech capital’s overlooked communities and subcultures from a local perspective.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]M[/dropcap]y pride in hailing from a sprawling suburb has always left people puzzled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fremont isn’t exactly a Bay Area centerpiece. Still, I eagerly defend it by mentioning that it’s the fourth-most populous city in the Bay Area, and that yes, indeed it \u003ci>is \u003c/i>the Bay (it’s Alameda County! We’ve always had a BART station! We have our own stinky marsh bridge!). Our food is multicultural and peerless, and our dusty hills can be transcendent when their summer brown molts to green after a few healthy rainstorms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My exuberance has been matched only by a 52-year-old man I once met at a West Berkeley homeless shelter. I noted his “Flying A’s Niles” T-shirt while I interviewed residents prior to the shelter’s closing, and he shared stories about the car club in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11789138/how-charlie-chaplin-and-silent-films-flourished-in-the-east-bay\">Fremont’s historic Niles district, made famous a century ago as a studio town for dozens of Charlie Chaplin films\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965201\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965201\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12320544-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12320544-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12320544-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12320544-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12320544-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12320544-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12320544-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12320544-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12320544-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Author Supriya Yelimeli (right) plays with her sister and cousin in a creek at Fremont’s Central Park. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Supriya Yelimeli)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Though the man grew up in a very different Fremont than I did, we giddily swapped tales about shared haunts, and he told me — with only a hint of pride — that Lake Elizabeth is about the same size as Lake Merritt. This trivia is most interesting to someone who has enjoyed innumerable sunset walks while dodging geese droppings at both parks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We regarded the city of his youth — and of mine — as something of a sanctuary. A safe and comfortable place, frozen in time, with ducks and vintage cars and bountiful food and quality family moments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13964538']Fremont’s reputation seems to be manufactured this way, under the generous umbrella of “boring.” It benefits both immigrant families who hope to create bubbles of safety by raising children in familiar environments, and the many forces that reap the rewards of inflated real estate prices — pinned to shiny signifiers like top schools, safe neighborhoods and the entirely inexplicable (repeat!) ranking of “Happiest City in America” as \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/fremont-happiest-city-2024-18693776.php\">dubiously graded by WalletHub, a personal finance company\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this notion of Fremont’s exceptionalism is insidious. It harms all of us to silo suburbs away from the greater context of the Bay Area, especially when sweetness and safety should be easy to come by for everyone. It’s a microcosm of how Silicon Valley — of which Fremont is a part, culturally, industrially and economically — often isolates itself from the Bay, as if impervious to any ills or faults of its own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965199\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965199\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12163155-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12163155-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12163155-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12163155-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12163155-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12163155-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12163155-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12163155-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12163155-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A quintessential Bay Area immigrant family photo in front of the San Francisco skyline. The author (center) is flanked by her sister and mom. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Supriya Yelimeli)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I remember my childhood as cozy and simple. My main preoccupation was what my older sister was doing at any given moment, then my parents, then our cat, in that order. I liked going to school, watching Bollywood films at Naz 8 (a famed local theater \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/bollywood-goes-hollywood-1/\">formerly run by a Pakistani immigrant who cameoed in Bollywood B-films\u003c/a>, since replaced by another Desi-centric moviehouse) and taking weekend BART trips to San Francisco to ogle sea lions with visiting cousins. I practiced riding a Ripstik around the park with my dad, who followed patiently on foot and didn’t think to tell me that skateboarding would make me a cooler teen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My parents moved to Fremont in the late ’90s because the homes were still cheaper than South Bay cities like Sunnyvale and Cupertino, which had already established themselves in Silicon Valley’s tech empire extending just beyond San Jose’s outskirts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In contrast, Fremont was on the east side of the Bay’s marshy waters, reachable only by crossing the Dumbarton Bridge or curving around the Bay’s southern shoreline past the stretches of garbage landfill in Milpitas. Geographically, it rested in slightly undefined territory — neither claimed by the East Bay nor Silicon Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965216\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965216\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/image000000.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1199\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/image000000.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/image000000-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/image000000-1020x764.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/image000000-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/image000000-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/image000000-1536x1151.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The author plays with her late father, who immigrated to the U.S. from India in 1993, eventually making his way to Silicon Valley via Illinois, Kansas, Ohio and New Jersey. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Supriya Yelimeli)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s hard to imagine Fremont in this up-and-coming era, when my parents bought a three-bedroom home for $275,000. Sadly, they lost that home in the recession, struggling to pay the mortgage, and thereafter remained renters in the city. Being a studious Zillow-scroller (I blame the housing beat, but it’s really just nosiness), I’m never thrilled to see that it last sold in 2018 for $1.3 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I credit journalism with helping me understand Fremont and its relationship to the fractured region I grew up in. In 2011, during a high school newspaper trip, I interviewed protesters at the Occupy San Francisco camp and passersby in the Financial District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='forum_2010101906515']I stopped a platinum-haired, older woman on the street, who was wearing what my 15-year-old mind imagined to be a Chanel suit. I asked what she thought of the movement, and she told me frankly, “Well, I am the 1%.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Years later, as I covered anti-homeless actions by neighbors in San Jose, San Francisco and Berkeley, I took note of Fremont neighbors in the midst of their own attempts to block a homeless navigation center in that neighborhood made so famous by silent films, where subsidized housing (as in the rest of the city) constitutes a tiny fraction of available homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Occupying the same county as Berkeley and Oakland, where the highest percentage of our homeless neighbors live, Fremont was doing its best to replicate the behaviors of so many Silicon Valley cities that have made it clear that their doors are closed to those who are not affluent, not tech-aligned, not worthy of sharing space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965198\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965198\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12024470-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12024470-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12024470-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12024470-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12024470-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12024470-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12024470-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12024470-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12024470-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The author sitting at her dad’s desk, surrounded by 90s and 2000s paraphernalia, along with issues of Silicon India and the San Francisco Chronicle. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Supriya Yelimeli)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They didn’t have the brash self-awareness of my interviewee in San Francisco, whose generationally wealthy peers have historically driven efforts of exclusion in the Bay. But it seemed Fremont residents had adopted this playbook for their own efforts to distance themselves from anything uncomfortable, or unfamiliar, while allowing the immigrant narrative of struggle to obscure the way we wield power in very similar ways after obtaining a home, income and stability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a 10-hour Fremont Unified School District Board meeting in 2018, I listened as parent after parent, almost exclusively immigrants, insisted that education on sexual assault, affirmative consent, gender, puberty, abortion and intercourse would irreparably corrupt fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders. One Asian American alum of Fremont schools countered at that meeting: without education, how was a young girl supposed to cope if she got her period before middle school? The district would go without a sexual education curriculum for all elementary schoolers that year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13964383']It comes at a cost to cling to comfort and familiarity for only \u003ci>our\u003c/i> communities, pretending that everything that exists outside of them — a housing crisis, a drug crisis, overlapping homelessness and mental health crises, all exacerbated by a pandemic — are not part of our lives too. That the comforts we have are due to perseverance alone, and not a system of privilege that is tenuous at best, and could easily turn on us like it has in the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This particular form of clinging in Fremont, and many of our most affluent suburbs sprinkled throughout Silicon Valley’s zip codes, makes the Bay Area worse for everyone. It keeps the Bay from functioning as a cohesive unit, where people can move and live in different types of neighborhoods as their lives change and families grow. Where people can access resources away from the city, and easily find a nice big patch of green space to dodge geese droppings with a kid still finding their feet on a pair of quad skates (amid the Great Ripstik Abandonment of 2009).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965093\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965093\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The author (middle) rides a Fremont-line BART train. Here she is pictured with older sister (left) and older cousin. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Supriya Yelimeli)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>My mom lives in Milpitas now, and I only stop by Fremont to get treats at India Cash & Carry; make a biannual, masochistic trudge up Mission Peak; or ride the train to the (still new-to-me) Warm Springs BART station to grimly observe the rash of new condos and apartments just barely blocking my precious dusty hill view (as is my right).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A promise of “luxury right to your doorstep” glares back at me from the myriad advertisements wrapped around scaffolding. It’s a sign that — without intervention — the sweet comforts of my childhood in Fremont will become even more distant for those who want to live and flourish in my hometown.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/siliconvalleyunseen/\">Silicon Valley Unseen\u003c/a> is a series of photo essays, original reporting and underreported histories that survey the tech capital’s overlooked communities and subcultures from a local perspective.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">M\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>y pride in hailing from a sprawling suburb has always left people puzzled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fremont isn’t exactly a Bay Area centerpiece. Still, I eagerly defend it by mentioning that it’s the fourth-most populous city in the Bay Area, and that yes, indeed it \u003ci>is \u003c/i>the Bay (it’s Alameda County! We’ve always had a BART station! We have our own stinky marsh bridge!). Our food is multicultural and peerless, and our dusty hills can be transcendent when their summer brown molts to green after a few healthy rainstorms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My exuberance has been matched only by a 52-year-old man I once met at a West Berkeley homeless shelter. I noted his “Flying A’s Niles” T-shirt while I interviewed residents prior to the shelter’s closing, and he shared stories about the car club in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11789138/how-charlie-chaplin-and-silent-films-flourished-in-the-east-bay\">Fremont’s historic Niles district, made famous a century ago as a studio town for dozens of Charlie Chaplin films\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965201\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965201\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12320544-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12320544-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12320544-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12320544-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12320544-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12320544-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12320544-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12320544-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12320544-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Author Supriya Yelimeli (right) plays with her sister and cousin in a creek at Fremont’s Central Park. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Supriya Yelimeli)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Though the man grew up in a very different Fremont than I did, we giddily swapped tales about shared haunts, and he told me — with only a hint of pride — that Lake Elizabeth is about the same size as Lake Merritt. This trivia is most interesting to someone who has enjoyed innumerable sunset walks while dodging geese droppings at both parks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We regarded the city of his youth — and of mine — as something of a sanctuary. A safe and comfortable place, frozen in time, with ducks and vintage cars and bountiful food and quality family moments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Fremont’s reputation seems to be manufactured this way, under the generous umbrella of “boring.” It benefits both immigrant families who hope to create bubbles of safety by raising children in familiar environments, and the many forces that reap the rewards of inflated real estate prices — pinned to shiny signifiers like top schools, safe neighborhoods and the entirely inexplicable (repeat!) ranking of “Happiest City in America” as \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/fremont-happiest-city-2024-18693776.php\">dubiously graded by WalletHub, a personal finance company\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this notion of Fremont’s exceptionalism is insidious. It harms all of us to silo suburbs away from the greater context of the Bay Area, especially when sweetness and safety should be easy to come by for everyone. It’s a microcosm of how Silicon Valley — of which Fremont is a part, culturally, industrially and economically — often isolates itself from the Bay, as if impervious to any ills or faults of its own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965199\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965199\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12163155-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12163155-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12163155-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12163155-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12163155-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12163155-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12163155-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12163155-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12163155-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A quintessential Bay Area immigrant family photo in front of the San Francisco skyline. The author (center) is flanked by her sister and mom. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Supriya Yelimeli)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I remember my childhood as cozy and simple. My main preoccupation was what my older sister was doing at any given moment, then my parents, then our cat, in that order. I liked going to school, watching Bollywood films at Naz 8 (a famed local theater \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/bollywood-goes-hollywood-1/\">formerly run by a Pakistani immigrant who cameoed in Bollywood B-films\u003c/a>, since replaced by another Desi-centric moviehouse) and taking weekend BART trips to San Francisco to ogle sea lions with visiting cousins. I practiced riding a Ripstik around the park with my dad, who followed patiently on foot and didn’t think to tell me that skateboarding would make me a cooler teen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My parents moved to Fremont in the late ’90s because the homes were still cheaper than South Bay cities like Sunnyvale and Cupertino, which had already established themselves in Silicon Valley’s tech empire extending just beyond San Jose’s outskirts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In contrast, Fremont was on the east side of the Bay’s marshy waters, reachable only by crossing the Dumbarton Bridge or curving around the Bay’s southern shoreline past the stretches of garbage landfill in Milpitas. Geographically, it rested in slightly undefined territory — neither claimed by the East Bay nor Silicon Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965216\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965216\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/image000000.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1199\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/image000000.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/image000000-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/image000000-1020x764.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/image000000-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/image000000-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/image000000-1536x1151.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The author plays with her late father, who immigrated to the U.S. from India in 1993, eventually making his way to Silicon Valley via Illinois, Kansas, Ohio and New Jersey. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Supriya Yelimeli)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s hard to imagine Fremont in this up-and-coming era, when my parents bought a three-bedroom home for $275,000. Sadly, they lost that home in the recession, struggling to pay the mortgage, and thereafter remained renters in the city. Being a studious Zillow-scroller (I blame the housing beat, but it’s really just nosiness), I’m never thrilled to see that it last sold in 2018 for $1.3 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I credit journalism with helping me understand Fremont and its relationship to the fractured region I grew up in. In 2011, during a high school newspaper trip, I interviewed protesters at the Occupy San Francisco camp and passersby in the Financial District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>I stopped a platinum-haired, older woman on the street, who was wearing what my 15-year-old mind imagined to be a Chanel suit. I asked what she thought of the movement, and she told me frankly, “Well, I am the 1%.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Years later, as I covered anti-homeless actions by neighbors in San Jose, San Francisco and Berkeley, I took note of Fremont neighbors in the midst of their own attempts to block a homeless navigation center in that neighborhood made so famous by silent films, where subsidized housing (as in the rest of the city) constitutes a tiny fraction of available homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Occupying the same county as Berkeley and Oakland, where the highest percentage of our homeless neighbors live, Fremont was doing its best to replicate the behaviors of so many Silicon Valley cities that have made it clear that their doors are closed to those who are not affluent, not tech-aligned, not worthy of sharing space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965198\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965198\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12024470-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12024470-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12024470-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12024470-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12024470-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12024470-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12024470-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12024470-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12024470-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The author sitting at her dad’s desk, surrounded by 90s and 2000s paraphernalia, along with issues of Silicon India and the San Francisco Chronicle. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Supriya Yelimeli)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They didn’t have the brash self-awareness of my interviewee in San Francisco, whose generationally wealthy peers have historically driven efforts of exclusion in the Bay. But it seemed Fremont residents had adopted this playbook for their own efforts to distance themselves from anything uncomfortable, or unfamiliar, while allowing the immigrant narrative of struggle to obscure the way we wield power in very similar ways after obtaining a home, income and stability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a 10-hour Fremont Unified School District Board meeting in 2018, I listened as parent after parent, almost exclusively immigrants, insisted that education on sexual assault, affirmative consent, gender, puberty, abortion and intercourse would irreparably corrupt fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders. One Asian American alum of Fremont schools countered at that meeting: without education, how was a young girl supposed to cope if she got her period before middle school? The district would go without a sexual education curriculum for all elementary schoolers that year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>It comes at a cost to cling to comfort and familiarity for only \u003ci>our\u003c/i> communities, pretending that everything that exists outside of them — a housing crisis, a drug crisis, overlapping homelessness and mental health crises, all exacerbated by a pandemic — are not part of our lives too. That the comforts we have are due to perseverance alone, and not a system of privilege that is tenuous at best, and could easily turn on us like it has in the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This particular form of clinging in Fremont, and many of our most affluent suburbs sprinkled throughout Silicon Valley’s zip codes, makes the Bay Area worse for everyone. It keeps the Bay from functioning as a cohesive unit, where people can move and live in different types of neighborhoods as their lives change and families grow. Where people can access resources away from the city, and easily find a nice big patch of green space to dodge geese droppings with a kid still finding their feet on a pair of quad skates (amid the Great Ripstik Abandonment of 2009).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965093\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965093\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The author (middle) rides a Fremont-line BART train. Here she is pictured with older sister (left) and older cousin. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Supriya Yelimeli)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>My mom lives in Milpitas now, and I only stop by Fremont to get treats at India Cash & Carry; make a biannual, masochistic trudge up Mission Peak; or ride the train to the (still new-to-me) Warm Springs BART station to grimly observe the rash of new condos and apartments just barely blocking my precious dusty hill view (as is my right).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A promise of “luxury right to your doorstep” glares back at me from the myriad advertisements wrapped around scaffolding. It’s a sign that — without intervention — the sweet comforts of my childhood in Fremont will become even more distant for those who want to live and flourish in my hometown.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "east-side-san-jose-rap-hustle",
"title": "Illicon Valley: Inside East Side San Jose's Rap Hustle",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/series/silicon-valley-unseen\">Silicon Valley Unseen\u003c/a> is a series of photo essays, original reporting and underreported histories that survey the tech capital’s overlooked communities and subcultures from a local perspective.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]P[/dropcap]roTribe Stretch takes a pull from his Black & Mild as he stands under the blazing summer sun in the Tak Food & Liquor parking lot in East Side San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A tall, thin brown-skinned Eritrean brother in sunglasses and a black shirt, Stretch’s hair is cut short with deep waves, except for the back where a long patch will soon become a set of ducktails. As he moves through the cutty parking lot, he talks about his neighborhood with reverence, noting the sites of music videos and childhood football games.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13964538']Stretch is a proud representative of East Side San Jose, an active but often overlooked pocket of the Bay Area. Geographically, it’s near the sprawling campuses that make up Silicon Valley, but culturally it’s closer to parts of the soil that raised me — East Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a multicultural working-class enclave full of families and small businesses, religious centers and corner stores. It’s over-policed and under-resourced, facing an inflated cost of living and the constant threat of redevelopment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rightfully, East Side San Jose should be mentioned in the same breath as other Bay Area cultural hubs known for their grit and resilience, like Hunters Point, North Vallejo and Central Richmond. But for many, the idea of Silicon Valley overshadows East Side San Jose. Existing in that shadow keeps local artists from shining, and leaves many outsiders in the dark about the city within the Bay Area’s largest city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965429\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965429\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08947.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08947.jpg 1616w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08947-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08947-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08947-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08947-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08947-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">ProTribe Stretch says what his neighborhood lacks in resources, it makes up for in culture. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Stretch puts out the lit cherry of his cigar before going to work on a plate of beef tacos from Cali Spartan Mexican Kitchen, simultaneously explaining his connection to this part of San Jose and its community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Members of Stretch’s family first immigrated from Eritrea to San Jose in the 1970s. By the end of the 1980s, the extended family owned multiple houses in the cul-de-sac just a block away from the liquor store parking lot. The street’s name is Luke Court. But Stretch calls it “Little Eritrea.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born in San Jose in 1991, the year Eritrea won its independence from Ethiopia, Stretch is proud of his heritage. And though he’s clear on the importance of history, and the cause of conflicts in the East African region, he’s just as versed in the conflicts happening in San Jose right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13964439']He knows the turf wars and longstanding beefs. He speaks from experience when discussing the ever-present tension between law enforcement and Black and Brown folks in the South Bay — and America, for that matter. He’s opinionated about the lack of resources in local schools and the region’s high housing costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s this one conflict Stretch tells me about that causes my ears to perk up: San Jose’s East Side existing at odds with the concept of “Silicon Valley.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Jose is the tech capital of the world. Its suburbs and surrounding cities are home to some of the world’s wealthiest people. Fortune 500 companies dot the southern tip and western peninsula of The Bay. The cost of living is astronomical, and plenty have no issue paying it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That Silicon Valley brand doesn’t apply to Stretch’s neighborhood. And it hasn’t since the term was first coined in the ’70s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965422\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965422\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07708.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07708.jpg 1616w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07708-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07708-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07708-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07708-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07708-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Jose, known locally as Shark City, hasn’t always gotten the same cultural recognition as its neighboring cities. But as the Bay Area’s largest city in both size and population, it’s home to plenty of aspiring artists and hustlers. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We weren’t going to Mountain View or other parts of San Jose,” says Stretch when asked about his teenage years, which coincided with the dot-com boom of the late ’90s and early 2000s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of us on this side feel like we got robbed of those opportunities,” Stretch laments. “They’re flying people in from all around the world to come and do these tech jobs, when they really should’ve had us doing them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead of learning to code as a teen, Stretch played basketball. He hustled. He bumped his head and got into legal trouble. He depended on friends for inspiration and family for finances. He started rapping and his mom invested in his plans to sell merch. He created a group called \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pro_tribe/\">ProTribe\u003c/a>, a nod to the diverse community of Filipino, Vietnamese, Mexican and Somali folks he grew up amongst. And he started building with his people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13951001']Rhyming over mobbish, synth-laced beats, Stretch expresses himself through expletives, drug references and poetry about escaping oppression. He only has one full solo album, but a gang of singles and features. He’s done shows all around the Bay, and has worked with some top-tier names, including opening for the most famous Eritrean rapper ever, the late Nipsey Hussle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s done a lot of work in his neighborhood, an area he didn’t leave much as a kid. “We were always in the East,” says Stretch. “Right off King and Story.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s the heart of the East Side, not too far from where I first met him six months ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13965311\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a light February rain comes down on the Mt. Pleasant Shopping Center on Story and White, a group of men stand in the parking lot outside \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/jeanspalaceinc/?hl=en\">San Jose Blue Jeans\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The store is a community staple, where schoolkids buy uniforms and homies from around the way buy rags to rep their set. Displayed inside is a piece of artwork that shows the names of prominent local street signs all mounted together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965424\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965424\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07727.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07727.jpg 1616w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07727-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07727-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07727-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07727-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07727-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A man in the Mt. Pleasant Shopping Center parking lot stops to show me a tattoo of his late daughter. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last year, the shopping center where the business is located \u003ca href=\"https://www.siliconvalley.com/2023/02/03/san-jose-retail-center-develop-build-buy-sell-restaurant-real-estate/\">was purchased by a new owner\u003c/a>. Like many things in Silicon Valley, it’s now scheduled for redevelopment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But on this late winter Sunday afternoon, the store’s parking lot is the site of a memorial. A bunch of tattooed guys ranging from their 20s to late 40s stand outside smoking and drinking, paying homage to a fallen friend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We go through everything that every other trench goes through,” says \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/amoneymuzic/\">Amoneymuzic\u003c/a>, a Latino rapper who’s worked with ProTribe Stretch. Raised in East Side San Jose, and sporting an olive green windbreaker and a black backwards baseball hat, Amoneymuzic talks candidly about the streets: police brutality, fentanyl deaths, homicides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not the side of Silicon Valley that many see. Unless you grew up in it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965423\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965423\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07719.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07719.jpg 1616w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07719-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07719-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07719-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07719-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07719-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amoneymuzic, in a green jacket and hat, stands alongside two others gathered to mourn the passing of a friend. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He notes that while the vast sprawl of San Jose has a population of over a million people, \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastside-fund.org/east_side_alliance\">the concentrated East Side alone has around 300,000 residents\u003c/a>. That population density creates a world unto itself: “A city within a city,” as Amoneymuzic says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Jose is layered. It’s\u003ca href=\"https://censusreporter.org/profiles/16000US0668000-san-jose-ca/\"> one of the most diverse places in the U.S\u003c/a>., with a population of nearly 40% Asian, 30% Latino and over 20% white. But African Americans account for just about 2% of the city’s residents. The city’s median income is over $130,000, but it’s also \u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2023-AHAR-Part-1.pdf\">home to one of the largest populations of unsheltered people\u003c/a> in the nation. With \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/mayor-says-san-jose-is-safest-bay-area-city-18665432.php\">one of the smallest police forces for a city its size\u003c/a> and only a handful of homicides this year, San Jose was recently \u003ca href=\"https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurabegleybloom/2023/01/31/report-ranks-americas-15-safest-and-most-dangerous-cities-for-2023/\">named by Forbes\u003c/a> as one of the safest major cities in the U.S.; the same article listed the city as one of the most likely for a mass shooting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The East Side, a community of hardworking people, a world removed from the headquarters of Intel, Apple and Google, catches a lot of the negative attributions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='news_12000464']To fully understand the inner workings of this community, Amoneymuzic says you have to “push up here” to see it. That’s why there’s a misconception about it, he says: “People don’t come through here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Having grown up in Oakland, I know where Amoneymuzic is coming from. Outsiders didn’t understand the story of my hometown, so I took it upon myself to show them the nuances of the soil through photos, written pieces and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local artists and storytellers are important. People from places that are historically overlooked and underreported have a story to tell — one with more layers than are easily found on the internet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When you type the words “East San Jose” into the Google search tab, the words that autofill are “shooting” and “ghetto.” Just like when you search for “East Oakland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s when I knew I had to push up and see it for myself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965421\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13965421 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07695.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07695.jpg 1616w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07695-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07695-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07695-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07695-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07695-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Justin Engel, Joe Fresco, San Jose Blue Jeans store owner Sam Masoud, and Jamori ‘Laze’ Ringold at San Jose Blue Jeans. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That afternoon I rode along with \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/Joefresco\">Joe Fresco\u003c/a>, Jamori “Laze” Ringold, and Justin Engel — a collage of musicians, rappers and producers who grew up on San Jose’s East Side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We bent corners in an SUV, driving down King Road and under the 680 overpass, where it’s customary for drivers to honk their horns as they go by. While passing Eastridge Mall, the trio of Black men shared stories about their teenage years. They pointed toward places in East Side San Jose where their families once lived before being priced out and relocating to Sacramento, Las Vegas and other places.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joe Fresco is a bigger dude who wears fly chains, a gold watch, and a two-finger ring. As a rapper, his music is all about player-isms delivered over ’90s-style West Coast synthesizers and heavy bass, full of references to Zapco boards and Daytons. Over the past two years he’s dropped multiple albums, including two duo projects with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13923766/rbl-posse-a-lesson-to-be-learned-album-cover\">RBL Posse’s Black C\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13939767']Fresco says that outside of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13939767/peanut-butter-wolf-san-jose-hip-hop-1980s-1990s\">Peanut Butter Wolf\u003c/a>, and later, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13907735/remembering-traxamillion-whose-beats-defined-the-bay-area-sound\">Traxamillion\u003c/a>, San Jose didn’t have much of a national footprint when it came to hip-hop. He had to choose between being a gangsta rapper like NWA, a backpacker like Hieroglyphics or a player like Too $hort. He went with $hort. It was his way of telling the story of what he witnessed happening in San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As was the case for Black folks in many major U.S. cities in the 1980s, the crack cocaine epidemic hit Fresco’s family hard. His father, a former serviceman who’d been stationed nearby at Moffett Field in Mountain View, became addicted once he left the service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My dad was so strung out on crack that he sold everything in the house,” reflects Fresco. “My mom had to go and collect everything from people around the apartments.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965426\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965426\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07755.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07755.jpg 1616w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07755-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07755-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07755-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07755-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07755-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joe Fresco with the fresh two-finger ring. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As a youngster, Fresco also learned that East Side San Jose was “political.” Southern California gang culture hit San Jose like no other city in the Bay, where gang colors have never been as critical an issue as in Los Angeles. But in San Jose, particularly throughout the massive East Side, colors mattered. “If you ain’t bangin’, you ain’t hangin’” was the saying back then, says Fresco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had to survive in East Side culture, which is gang culture,” says Justin Engel, from the back seat of the car. “It’s only so many times you’re gonna get punked on the 71 [bus] before you clique up. And then you have to protect your section.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The “protection” wasn’t just from people in their own area. It also came from people in neighboring turfs — most notably East Palo Alto, which was dubbed \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11610493/murder-rate-in-east-palo-alto-so-far-this-year-zero\">the “murder capital” of the United States in 1992\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People think San Jose is a suburb,” says Laze from the back seat, adding the nickname of “Scrill-a-con Valley.” He theorizes that’s why some violent conflicts and robberies that happen in the community don’t hit the news: “They want to protect the tech companies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it’s not just the tech companies, but the entire San Jose brand — and the investment in major construction projects and sprawling new neighborhoods instead of the neglected East Side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965430\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13965430 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-17-at-7.14.38%E2%80%AFAM-800x959.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"959\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-17-at-7.14.38 AM-800x959.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-17-at-7.14.38 AM-1020x1223.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-17-at-7.14.38 AM-160x192.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-17-at-7.14.38 AM-768x921.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-17-at-7.14.38 AM-1281x1536.png 1281w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-17-at-7.14.38 AM.png 1416w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A makeshift street sign inside San Jose Blue Jeans displays prominent intersections and neighborhoods from San Jose’s unseen sides. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Just outside the north side of the city is Levi’s Stadium, home to the 49ers, and the upcoming 2026 Super Bowl – its second Super Bowl since it opened 10 years ago. A multi-billion dollar investment in the future of the region, it also hosts concerts by stars like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, and is a future site for the World Cup. The San Jose metro area is \u003ca href=\"https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/cities/23131/san-jose/population#google_vignette\">growing by about 10,000 people per year\u003c/a>, and with that growth comes change. New buildings — often without the history or connection to what existed before it — have replaced old community fabrics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The kids are growing up in a different San Jose than we grew up in,” says Joe Fresco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along the ride, the guys point to spots where shops used to be. They talk about who passed, and who moved away. All are reasons they cling even harder to what’s left.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For now, the hub of the East Side is still Mt. Pleasant Shopping Center, anchored by San Jose Blue Jeans. That’s where the guys bump into old classmates, and reminisce about the grocery store back in the day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965425\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965425\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07739.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07739.jpg 1616w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07739-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07739-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07739-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07739-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07739-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Getting sideways in San Jose on a Sunday. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>All conversation stops when a Mustang 5.0 starts to swing donuts during the memorial. As the car dances in the light rain, the men with tattoos and 49ers gear take their phones out and record as the screeching tires send smoke skyward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moments later, police sirens approach. We assume it’s in response to the car swinging donuts, but it turns out to be for an unhoused person in the alley next to the FoodMaxx.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People pivot their phones from the sideshow activity and start documenting a short-lived police foot pursuit that results in the unhoused person being forcibly apprehended. Joe Fresco and company decide to get out of there — their East Side senses kicking in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their decision proves to be wise. Later that evening, Joe Fresco texts me to say that multiple people were shot near that same parking lot, and one of them passed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13965311\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It takes a lot to survive over here, bruh.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So says Stretch in the summer of 2024, six months after we’d first met in a parking lot on a drizzling day. He’s parked in front of his brother-in-law’s business, Pro Styles Barbershop on the West Side of the sprawling town. Before going into the shop to get a quick lineup, Stretch lists all the hurdles he faces as an artist — and as a working adult — trying to stay above water in San Jose. “You need a job to fund the art, and to live,” he says. He uses his fingers to count on the steering wheel: “The cameraman, the producer, the studio time, all that shit costs. It takes a lot financially and mentally. It’s draining.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965427\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965427\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08905.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08905.jpg 1616w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08905-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08905-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08905-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08905-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08905-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">ProTribe Stretch sitting in the chair at Pro Styles Barbershop in San Jose. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On top of the cost of living, it’s hard for a rapper to get a foothold out of the shark tank. In a region of millions, home to major video and music tech companies, plus some of the Bay Area’s largest live music venues, only a few artists have achieved national recognition. Why?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Consistency,” Stretch says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He adds that over-saturation of MCs is an issue — too many people want to be the star — and there’s a lack of connection to the rest of the Bay, both geographically and culturally. Plus, the brand of “Silicon Valley” doesn’t exactly play well for gangsta rappers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stretch takes accountability for where his own career is. He’s got one foot in music and the other pounding the pavement to make sure his bills are paid. There’s a real reason for the inconsistencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deeper than that is the mindset he’s ascribed from living in East Side San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I grew up where niggas was supposed to be under; we were trying to blend in,” says Stretch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[But] you can’t blend in if you’re trying to rap.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Listen to the stories in his music, and you’ll understand why he wanted to be under. Take a drive through his neighborhood, and you’ll understand just how far it is from Silicon Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Majority of the time when people visit, they be like, ‘I didn’t know San Jose get down like this.’” says Stretch. “That’s why I tell people to come pay a visit.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Pendarvis Harshaw visits the overlooked enclave where aspiring rappers face twin obstacles of tech and neglect.",
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"title": "Illicon Valley: Inside East Side San Jose's Rap Hustle | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/series/silicon-valley-unseen\">Silicon Valley Unseen\u003c/a> is a series of photo essays, original reporting and underreported histories that survey the tech capital’s overlooked communities and subcultures from a local perspective.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">P\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>roTribe Stretch takes a pull from his Black & Mild as he stands under the blazing summer sun in the Tak Food & Liquor parking lot in East Side San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A tall, thin brown-skinned Eritrean brother in sunglasses and a black shirt, Stretch’s hair is cut short with deep waves, except for the back where a long patch will soon become a set of ducktails. As he moves through the cutty parking lot, he talks about his neighborhood with reverence, noting the sites of music videos and childhood football games.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Stretch is a proud representative of East Side San Jose, an active but often overlooked pocket of the Bay Area. Geographically, it’s near the sprawling campuses that make up Silicon Valley, but culturally it’s closer to parts of the soil that raised me — East Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a multicultural working-class enclave full of families and small businesses, religious centers and corner stores. It’s over-policed and under-resourced, facing an inflated cost of living and the constant threat of redevelopment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rightfully, East Side San Jose should be mentioned in the same breath as other Bay Area cultural hubs known for their grit and resilience, like Hunters Point, North Vallejo and Central Richmond. But for many, the idea of Silicon Valley overshadows East Side San Jose. Existing in that shadow keeps local artists from shining, and leaves many outsiders in the dark about the city within the Bay Area’s largest city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965429\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965429\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08947.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08947.jpg 1616w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08947-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08947-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08947-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08947-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08947-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">ProTribe Stretch says what his neighborhood lacks in resources, it makes up for in culture. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Stretch puts out the lit cherry of his cigar before going to work on a plate of beef tacos from Cali Spartan Mexican Kitchen, simultaneously explaining his connection to this part of San Jose and its community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Members of Stretch’s family first immigrated from Eritrea to San Jose in the 1970s. By the end of the 1980s, the extended family owned multiple houses in the cul-de-sac just a block away from the liquor store parking lot. The street’s name is Luke Court. But Stretch calls it “Little Eritrea.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born in San Jose in 1991, the year Eritrea won its independence from Ethiopia, Stretch is proud of his heritage. And though he’s clear on the importance of history, and the cause of conflicts in the East African region, he’s just as versed in the conflicts happening in San Jose right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>He knows the turf wars and longstanding beefs. He speaks from experience when discussing the ever-present tension between law enforcement and Black and Brown folks in the South Bay — and America, for that matter. He’s opinionated about the lack of resources in local schools and the region’s high housing costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s this one conflict Stretch tells me about that causes my ears to perk up: San Jose’s East Side existing at odds with the concept of “Silicon Valley.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Jose is the tech capital of the world. Its suburbs and surrounding cities are home to some of the world’s wealthiest people. Fortune 500 companies dot the southern tip and western peninsula of The Bay. The cost of living is astronomical, and plenty have no issue paying it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That Silicon Valley brand doesn’t apply to Stretch’s neighborhood. And it hasn’t since the term was first coined in the ’70s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965422\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965422\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07708.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07708.jpg 1616w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07708-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07708-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07708-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07708-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07708-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Jose, known locally as Shark City, hasn’t always gotten the same cultural recognition as its neighboring cities. But as the Bay Area’s largest city in both size and population, it’s home to plenty of aspiring artists and hustlers. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We weren’t going to Mountain View or other parts of San Jose,” says Stretch when asked about his teenage years, which coincided with the dot-com boom of the late ’90s and early 2000s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of us on this side feel like we got robbed of those opportunities,” Stretch laments. “They’re flying people in from all around the world to come and do these tech jobs, when they really should’ve had us doing them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead of learning to code as a teen, Stretch played basketball. He hustled. He bumped his head and got into legal trouble. He depended on friends for inspiration and family for finances. He started rapping and his mom invested in his plans to sell merch. He created a group called \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/pro_tribe/\">ProTribe\u003c/a>, a nod to the diverse community of Filipino, Vietnamese, Mexican and Somali folks he grew up amongst. And he started building with his people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Rhyming over mobbish, synth-laced beats, Stretch expresses himself through expletives, drug references and poetry about escaping oppression. He only has one full solo album, but a gang of singles and features. He’s done shows all around the Bay, and has worked with some top-tier names, including opening for the most famous Eritrean rapper ever, the late Nipsey Hussle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s done a lot of work in his neighborhood, an area he didn’t leave much as a kid. “We were always in the East,” says Stretch. “Right off King and Story.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s the heart of the East Side, not too far from where I first met him six months ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13965311\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a light February rain comes down on the Mt. Pleasant Shopping Center on Story and White, a group of men stand in the parking lot outside \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/jeanspalaceinc/?hl=en\">San Jose Blue Jeans\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The store is a community staple, where schoolkids buy uniforms and homies from around the way buy rags to rep their set. Displayed inside is a piece of artwork that shows the names of prominent local street signs all mounted together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965424\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965424\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07727.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07727.jpg 1616w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07727-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07727-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07727-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07727-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07727-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A man in the Mt. Pleasant Shopping Center parking lot stops to show me a tattoo of his late daughter. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last year, the shopping center where the business is located \u003ca href=\"https://www.siliconvalley.com/2023/02/03/san-jose-retail-center-develop-build-buy-sell-restaurant-real-estate/\">was purchased by a new owner\u003c/a>. Like many things in Silicon Valley, it’s now scheduled for redevelopment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But on this late winter Sunday afternoon, the store’s parking lot is the site of a memorial. A bunch of tattooed guys ranging from their 20s to late 40s stand outside smoking and drinking, paying homage to a fallen friend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We go through everything that every other trench goes through,” says \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/amoneymuzic/\">Amoneymuzic\u003c/a>, a Latino rapper who’s worked with ProTribe Stretch. Raised in East Side San Jose, and sporting an olive green windbreaker and a black backwards baseball hat, Amoneymuzic talks candidly about the streets: police brutality, fentanyl deaths, homicides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not the side of Silicon Valley that many see. Unless you grew up in it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965423\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965423\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07719.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07719.jpg 1616w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07719-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07719-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07719-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07719-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07719-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amoneymuzic, in a green jacket and hat, stands alongside two others gathered to mourn the passing of a friend. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He notes that while the vast sprawl of San Jose has a population of over a million people, \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastside-fund.org/east_side_alliance\">the concentrated East Side alone has around 300,000 residents\u003c/a>. That population density creates a world unto itself: “A city within a city,” as Amoneymuzic says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Jose is layered. It’s\u003ca href=\"https://censusreporter.org/profiles/16000US0668000-san-jose-ca/\"> one of the most diverse places in the U.S\u003c/a>., with a population of nearly 40% Asian, 30% Latino and over 20% white. But African Americans account for just about 2% of the city’s residents. The city’s median income is over $130,000, but it’s also \u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2023-AHAR-Part-1.pdf\">home to one of the largest populations of unsheltered people\u003c/a> in the nation. With \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/mayor-says-san-jose-is-safest-bay-area-city-18665432.php\">one of the smallest police forces for a city its size\u003c/a> and only a handful of homicides this year, San Jose was recently \u003ca href=\"https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurabegleybloom/2023/01/31/report-ranks-americas-15-safest-and-most-dangerous-cities-for-2023/\">named by Forbes\u003c/a> as one of the safest major cities in the U.S.; the same article listed the city as one of the most likely for a mass shooting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The East Side, a community of hardworking people, a world removed from the headquarters of Intel, Apple and Google, catches a lot of the negative attributions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>To fully understand the inner workings of this community, Amoneymuzic says you have to “push up here” to see it. That’s why there’s a misconception about it, he says: “People don’t come through here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Having grown up in Oakland, I know where Amoneymuzic is coming from. Outsiders didn’t understand the story of my hometown, so I took it upon myself to show them the nuances of the soil through photos, written pieces and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local artists and storytellers are important. People from places that are historically overlooked and underreported have a story to tell — one with more layers than are easily found on the internet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When you type the words “East San Jose” into the Google search tab, the words that autofill are “shooting” and “ghetto.” Just like when you search for “East Oakland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s when I knew I had to push up and see it for myself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965421\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13965421 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07695.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07695.jpg 1616w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07695-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07695-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07695-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07695-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07695-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Justin Engel, Joe Fresco, San Jose Blue Jeans store owner Sam Masoud, and Jamori ‘Laze’ Ringold at San Jose Blue Jeans. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That afternoon I rode along with \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/Joefresco\">Joe Fresco\u003c/a>, Jamori “Laze” Ringold, and Justin Engel — a collage of musicians, rappers and producers who grew up on San Jose’s East Side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We bent corners in an SUV, driving down King Road and under the 680 overpass, where it’s customary for drivers to honk their horns as they go by. While passing Eastridge Mall, the trio of Black men shared stories about their teenage years. They pointed toward places in East Side San Jose where their families once lived before being priced out and relocating to Sacramento, Las Vegas and other places.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joe Fresco is a bigger dude who wears fly chains, a gold watch, and a two-finger ring. As a rapper, his music is all about player-isms delivered over ’90s-style West Coast synthesizers and heavy bass, full of references to Zapco boards and Daytons. Over the past two years he’s dropped multiple albums, including two duo projects with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13923766/rbl-posse-a-lesson-to-be-learned-album-cover\">RBL Posse’s Black C\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Fresco says that outside of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13939767/peanut-butter-wolf-san-jose-hip-hop-1980s-1990s\">Peanut Butter Wolf\u003c/a>, and later, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13907735/remembering-traxamillion-whose-beats-defined-the-bay-area-sound\">Traxamillion\u003c/a>, San Jose didn’t have much of a national footprint when it came to hip-hop. He had to choose between being a gangsta rapper like NWA, a backpacker like Hieroglyphics or a player like Too $hort. He went with $hort. It was his way of telling the story of what he witnessed happening in San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As was the case for Black folks in many major U.S. cities in the 1980s, the crack cocaine epidemic hit Fresco’s family hard. His father, a former serviceman who’d been stationed nearby at Moffett Field in Mountain View, became addicted once he left the service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My dad was so strung out on crack that he sold everything in the house,” reflects Fresco. “My mom had to go and collect everything from people around the apartments.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965426\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965426\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07755.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07755.jpg 1616w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07755-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07755-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07755-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07755-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07755-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joe Fresco with the fresh two-finger ring. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As a youngster, Fresco also learned that East Side San Jose was “political.” Southern California gang culture hit San Jose like no other city in the Bay, where gang colors have never been as critical an issue as in Los Angeles. But in San Jose, particularly throughout the massive East Side, colors mattered. “If you ain’t bangin’, you ain’t hangin’” was the saying back then, says Fresco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had to survive in East Side culture, which is gang culture,” says Justin Engel, from the back seat of the car. “It’s only so many times you’re gonna get punked on the 71 [bus] before you clique up. And then you have to protect your section.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The “protection” wasn’t just from people in their own area. It also came from people in neighboring turfs — most notably East Palo Alto, which was dubbed \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11610493/murder-rate-in-east-palo-alto-so-far-this-year-zero\">the “murder capital” of the United States in 1992\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People think San Jose is a suburb,” says Laze from the back seat, adding the nickname of “Scrill-a-con Valley.” He theorizes that’s why some violent conflicts and robberies that happen in the community don’t hit the news: “They want to protect the tech companies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it’s not just the tech companies, but the entire San Jose brand — and the investment in major construction projects and sprawling new neighborhoods instead of the neglected East Side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965430\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13965430 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-17-at-7.14.38%E2%80%AFAM-800x959.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"959\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-17-at-7.14.38 AM-800x959.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-17-at-7.14.38 AM-1020x1223.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-17-at-7.14.38 AM-160x192.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-17-at-7.14.38 AM-768x921.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-17-at-7.14.38 AM-1281x1536.png 1281w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-17-at-7.14.38 AM.png 1416w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A makeshift street sign inside San Jose Blue Jeans displays prominent intersections and neighborhoods from San Jose’s unseen sides. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Just outside the north side of the city is Levi’s Stadium, home to the 49ers, and the upcoming 2026 Super Bowl – its second Super Bowl since it opened 10 years ago. A multi-billion dollar investment in the future of the region, it also hosts concerts by stars like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, and is a future site for the World Cup. The San Jose metro area is \u003ca href=\"https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/cities/23131/san-jose/population#google_vignette\">growing by about 10,000 people per year\u003c/a>, and with that growth comes change. New buildings — often without the history or connection to what existed before it — have replaced old community fabrics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The kids are growing up in a different San Jose than we grew up in,” says Joe Fresco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along the ride, the guys point to spots where shops used to be. They talk about who passed, and who moved away. All are reasons they cling even harder to what’s left.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For now, the hub of the East Side is still Mt. Pleasant Shopping Center, anchored by San Jose Blue Jeans. That’s where the guys bump into old classmates, and reminisce about the grocery store back in the day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965425\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965425\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07739.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07739.jpg 1616w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07739-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07739-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07739-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07739-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC07739-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Getting sideways in San Jose on a Sunday. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>All conversation stops when a Mustang 5.0 starts to swing donuts during the memorial. As the car dances in the light rain, the men with tattoos and 49ers gear take their phones out and record as the screeching tires send smoke skyward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moments later, police sirens approach. We assume it’s in response to the car swinging donuts, but it turns out to be for an unhoused person in the alley next to the FoodMaxx.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People pivot their phones from the sideshow activity and start documenting a short-lived police foot pursuit that results in the unhoused person being forcibly apprehended. Joe Fresco and company decide to get out of there — their East Side senses kicking in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their decision proves to be wise. Later that evening, Joe Fresco texts me to say that multiple people were shot near that same parking lot, and one of them passed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13965311\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It takes a lot to survive over here, bruh.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So says Stretch in the summer of 2024, six months after we’d first met in a parking lot on a drizzling day. He’s parked in front of his brother-in-law’s business, Pro Styles Barbershop on the West Side of the sprawling town. Before going into the shop to get a quick lineup, Stretch lists all the hurdles he faces as an artist — and as a working adult — trying to stay above water in San Jose. “You need a job to fund the art, and to live,” he says. He uses his fingers to count on the steering wheel: “The cameraman, the producer, the studio time, all that shit costs. It takes a lot financially and mentally. It’s draining.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965427\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1616px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965427\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08905.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1616\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08905.jpg 1616w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08905-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08905-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08905-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08905-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSC08905-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">ProTribe Stretch sitting in the chair at Pro Styles Barbershop in San Jose. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On top of the cost of living, it’s hard for a rapper to get a foothold out of the shark tank. In a region of millions, home to major video and music tech companies, plus some of the Bay Area’s largest live music venues, only a few artists have achieved national recognition. Why?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Consistency,” Stretch says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He adds that over-saturation of MCs is an issue — too many people want to be the star — and there’s a lack of connection to the rest of the Bay, both geographically and culturally. Plus, the brand of “Silicon Valley” doesn’t exactly play well for gangsta rappers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stretch takes accountability for where his own career is. He’s got one foot in music and the other pounding the pavement to make sure his bills are paid. There’s a real reason for the inconsistencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deeper than that is the mindset he’s ascribed from living in East Side San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I grew up where niggas was supposed to be under; we were trying to blend in,” says Stretch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[But] you can’t blend in if you’re trying to rap.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Listen to the stories in his music, and you’ll understand why he wanted to be under. Take a drive through his neighborhood, and you’ll understand just how far it is from Silicon Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Majority of the time when people visit, they be like, ‘I didn’t know San Jose get down like this.’” says Stretch. “That’s why I tell people to come pay a visit.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Silicon Valley Fashion Isn’t Just Patagonia Bros",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/siliconvalleyunseen\">Silicon Valley Unseen\u003c/a> is a series of photo essays, original reporting and underreported histories that survey the tech capital’s overlooked communities and subcultures from a local perspective.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hey Siri, what defines Silicon Valley fashion?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you Google the phrase, you’ll get some obvious responses: “basic male,” “tech worker aesthetic,” “‘tech bro’ hoodie wardrobe.” But perhaps the most revealing result you’ll get is itself a question, one asked for years now: “Do people lack fashion sense in Silicon Valley?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Look, I’m not here to defend Silicon Valley’s fashion choices. But I can’t help but notice two things. First off, Silicon Valley style seems inextricably linked to tech culture, thereby erasing any other local presence, as if only tech workers wear clothes around here. And secondly, the tech workers being ridiculed are often white, well-off, middle-aged men — not exactly the best barometer of fashion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964340\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964340\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-8-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-8-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-8-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-8-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-8-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-8-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-8-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-8-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jesson Ny thrifts at Classic Loot. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Sure, there’s Santana Row — Silicon Valley’s Beverly Hills-esque shopping area — gleaming with high-end luxury brands and a Tesla dealership. It’s where you’ll find all the stereotypical tech-mogul outfits. That side of Silicon Valley is real.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there are nooks around here where the norm is not “Patagucci.” Cultivated by punk rockers, skaters, hip-hop heads, nightclub-goers, Chicano lowrider clubs, strip mall addicts, anime convention-goers and more, the styles around Silicon Valley vary just as much as its diverse population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964347\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964347\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-27-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-27-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-27-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-27-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-27-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-27-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-27-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-27-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Denim for sale at Classic Loot. The store features a mix of used and new clothes, as well as other handmade items from local artisans. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tam Tran, a first-generation Vietnamese American, is among them. Born in San Francisco in the ’80s, she moved to San Jose at age four and has gone back and forth between the cities ever since. After a career in graphic design, the fashionable millennial started a pop-up version of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/classicloot/?hl=en\">Classic Loot\u003c/a> in 2012. Her passion eventually turned into a quirky, glittery thrift shop in San Jose’s Japantown filled with vintage goods and hard-to-find collectibles, like a double-stacked Japanese claw machine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, like many adults in Silicon Valley who don’t work in tech, Tran recently had to move out of the area due to the high cost of living.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It became unlivable,” she said. “I tried getting apartments out there, but it’s an arm and a leg to live in a box.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964485\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964485\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JapantownThriftShop-30-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JapantownThriftShop-30-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JapantownThriftShop-30-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JapantownThriftShop-30-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JapantownThriftShop-30-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JapantownThriftShop-30-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JapantownThriftShop-30-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JapantownThriftShop-30-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JapantownThriftShop-30-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Leyna Huynh shops at Classic Loot, which has been in San Jose’s Japantown for seven years.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That hasn’t stopped Tran from running her speciality shop. If anything, being away from Silicon Valley makes her appreciate the region’s culture more than ever (she especially misses \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13961537/san-jose-night-market-vietnamese-grand-century-mall\">the area’s vibrant Vietnamese food circuit\u003c/a>).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While juggling many roles and holding down her shop, Tran reflected on what she most enjoys about thrifting in the Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13965311\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ALAN CHAZARO: Tell us about your clothing shop, Classic Loot.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAM TRAN:\u003c/b> Classic Loot is a whole lot of everything. We’re an actual team now, but I started off doing pop-up events, table events, just selling vintage jewelry. That was back in 2012 when vintage wasn’t a major thing like it is today. I remember getting comments from people freaking out that everything [we sold] was used and worn. But now we’re a shop in Japantown, and we’ve been here for seven years. Everything blossomed from selling vintage clothing to handmade goods and art, to brand new stuff. It’s just a collection of everything I think is dope. And I’m honored to have a great team, girls who are a lot younger and know all the trends and cool things happening. They recommend what we should have, and then we get it. That’s the joy and freedom of having a small business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964349\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964349\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-35-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-35-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-35-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-35-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-35-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-35-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-35-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-35-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stickers for sale at Classic Loot. The shop also features a double-stacked Japanese claw machine, where customers can try their luck at winning small items. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s your connection to Silicon Valley? You were born in San Francisco, but moved to San Jose at a young age. Where do you feel most rooted, especially in terms of fashion?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I definitely spend more of my time in San Jose, but most of my adult life has also been inspired by San Francisco. I attended the San Francisco Art Institute for graphic design. Over there, people talk down on [Silicon Valley], like our fashion is lame, or whatever. During that period, there wasn’t social media quite yet, so people [outside of San Francisco] didn’t always get the same recognition. But because of social media nowadays, you can really be anywhere and be the dopest kid. It doesn’t matter where you’re from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I moved back to San Jose after graduating. I became a graphic designer for a while, freelancing and doing commercial real estate. It was boring and terrible, but it paid the bills. Actually, I would never change it for anything, because what I learned professionally, I apply it to Classic Loot to this day. But I didn’t like to work for “the man.” So I went to a garage sale and started buying stuff and selling it on Instagram. I quit the day job I had and moved into my mom’s house and started hustling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>There’s a popular opinion that Silicon Valley is fashion-less. People always joke about tech workers wearing Patagonia vests. But what does local style look like to you as an insider?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From an outsider’s perspective I can see how it might not seem like we have much going on down here besides the tech world. But we have the coolest kids who come here and we get to see how they express their fashion sense. Because of the markets and events we go to, we get to see that type of crowd all over this area. The scene is small and niche, but once you’re tapped in, you really appreciate everyone’s way of expressing themselves differently through clothes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The girls who work [at Classic Loot], they’re really an inspiration for me and the customers. I’m in my late 30s, so to see the younger generation experimenting every day is really cool. They like to mix new trends with things that I wore when I was growing up, and I love that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964343\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964343\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-16-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-16-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-16-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-16-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-16-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-16-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-16-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-16-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Classic Loot owner Tam Tran poses for a photo in her thrift store. Though born in San Francisco, she grew up in San Jose, and is proud to represent the region’s under appreciated fashion community. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Where do you find your inspiration in Silicon Valley as a thrifter?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are tons of Savers, Goodwills, those kinds of places around here. But those are hit or miss, because it’s thrifting. Japantown has a few small businesses with a local feel. There are lots of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13952476/san-jose-japantown-photo-night-cukui\">young entrepreneurs here with cool brands\u003c/a>. JUBO. Cukui. Headliners. We all support each other. Another heavy hitter is \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/blackandbrownsj/\">Black and Brown\u003c/a>. They have a solid curation of secondhand stuff like us, but with a different feel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, one of our friends at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/popupsj/?hl=en\">Pop Up SJ\u003c/a> has vendors come to The Garden at the [Berryessa] Flea [Market]. That’s \u003ca href=\"https://midpenpost.org/2024/06/30/san-joses-pop-up-sj-brings-local-vintage-community-together/\">a cool vintage market event\u003c/a>. Everyone is dressed to impress there. It’s an event to go thrifting there, but it’s also like a runway for our little area. They have some of the coolest vintage clothing finds there, and it’s close to BART.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But don’t sleep on the [West Wind] \u003ca href=\"https://www.sanjose.org/attraction/west-wind-capitol-flea-market\">Flea Market on Capitol\u003c/a>. That’s the best one. It’s the smaller flea market, but it’s where the good stuff is for the cheapest prices. We do team bonding there and thrift together sometimes. It used to be our hidden place, but that changed after \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/discover/capital-flea-market-san-jose\">TikTok blew up the spot\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>San Jose seems to have a thing for expensive brands, which you can find at Santana Row and Valley Fair — the high-end stuff that gives more of an L.A. vibe, as opposed to the grungy and artistic ethos often associated with San Francisco or Oakland. \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yeah, I feel like San Jose gets the reputation of being more bougie. Personally, I don’t set foot into a mall anymore. I try to shop small and stay within the thrift shops here. And I don’t really support the big box stuff online either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964351\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964351\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-41-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1309\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-41-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-41-KQED-800x524.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-41-KQED-1020x668.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-41-KQED-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-41-KQED-768x503.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-41-KQED-1536x1005.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-41-KQED-1920x1257.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Silicon Valley is often associated with high-end products, especially because of Santana Row and Westfield Valley Fair. Though these Gucci sneakers are for sale at Classic Loot, the store mostly focuses on quirky trends and offers all sorts of finds. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You showcase your local vendors very prominently on \u003c/b>\u003ca href=\"https://www.classicloot.com/vendor\">\u003cb>your website\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003cb>. How do you go about finding these vendors and what are you generally looking for in a potential vendor or thrifter to work with?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes we just go out to markets and see booths and tables whose aesthetic would match what we have going on. But most times they contact us through Instagram. We have a vendor manager and she goes out scouting for people, or people come in and apply to be with us. It’s not just thrifting, we deal with artists, too. I was in their shoes at one point, making stuff to sell at other stores. Starting off on eBay or Etsy, you sometimes just end up with 5 cents after paying all the fees. I wish I had a mentor back then. So we want to provide that opportunity, and to help newcomers with the process. A lot of artisans are great but don’t necessarily know the business side of things. Price points, materials, marketing. We like to exchange tips and help them get started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964345\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964345\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-18-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-18-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-18-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-18-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-18-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-18-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-18-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-18-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Classic Loot employee Annie Ng wears a heart choker. Shop owner Tam Tran is intentional about creating a work environment that is intergenerational, funky and “woman-powered.” \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Silicon Valley has a reputation as a male-dominated space. In contrast, your shop has a very strong, feminine energy. I’ve also heard you use the word “woman-powered.” What does that represent for you?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When you walk into our store, it’s super pink and glittery. Guys come in and kind of creep back out and we’re like “no, no, no, we have a little section for you in the back, we promise!” We have a very small curation of masculine items, because girls can dress masculine, too. We’re predominantly all women here. It’s a sisterhood. It’s not just about the skills or the knowledge, but matching the energy. My whole thing as a designer is that you spend a lot of time at work, so if you fucking hate the people there, it won’t last. I really appreciate taking care of your people, because they will take care of you. Having this small business, we can create a space for each other. That’s the beauty of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13965311\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Classic Loot (570 N. 6th St., San Jose) is open Monday–Friday from 12 to 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/siliconvalleyunseen\">Silicon Valley Unseen\u003c/a> is a series of photo essays, original reporting and underreported histories that survey the tech capital’s overlooked communities and subcultures from a local perspective.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hey Siri, what defines Silicon Valley fashion?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you Google the phrase, you’ll get some obvious responses: “basic male,” “tech worker aesthetic,” “‘tech bro’ hoodie wardrobe.” But perhaps the most revealing result you’ll get is itself a question, one asked for years now: “Do people lack fashion sense in Silicon Valley?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Look, I’m not here to defend Silicon Valley’s fashion choices. But I can’t help but notice two things. First off, Silicon Valley style seems inextricably linked to tech culture, thereby erasing any other local presence, as if only tech workers wear clothes around here. And secondly, the tech workers being ridiculed are often white, well-off, middle-aged men — not exactly the best barometer of fashion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964340\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964340\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-8-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-8-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-8-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-8-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-8-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-8-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-8-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-8-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jesson Ny thrifts at Classic Loot. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Sure, there’s Santana Row — Silicon Valley’s Beverly Hills-esque shopping area — gleaming with high-end luxury brands and a Tesla dealership. It’s where you’ll find all the stereotypical tech-mogul outfits. That side of Silicon Valley is real.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there are nooks around here where the norm is not “Patagucci.” Cultivated by punk rockers, skaters, hip-hop heads, nightclub-goers, Chicano lowrider clubs, strip mall addicts, anime convention-goers and more, the styles around Silicon Valley vary just as much as its diverse population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964347\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964347\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-27-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-27-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-27-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-27-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-27-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-27-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-27-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-27-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Denim for sale at Classic Loot. The store features a mix of used and new clothes, as well as other handmade items from local artisans. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tam Tran, a first-generation Vietnamese American, is among them. Born in San Francisco in the ’80s, she moved to San Jose at age four and has gone back and forth between the cities ever since. After a career in graphic design, the fashionable millennial started a pop-up version of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/classicloot/?hl=en\">Classic Loot\u003c/a> in 2012. Her passion eventually turned into a quirky, glittery thrift shop in San Jose’s Japantown filled with vintage goods and hard-to-find collectibles, like a double-stacked Japanese claw machine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, like many adults in Silicon Valley who don’t work in tech, Tran recently had to move out of the area due to the high cost of living.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It became unlivable,” she said. “I tried getting apartments out there, but it’s an arm and a leg to live in a box.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964485\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964485\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JapantownThriftShop-30-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JapantownThriftShop-30-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JapantownThriftShop-30-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JapantownThriftShop-30-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JapantownThriftShop-30-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JapantownThriftShop-30-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JapantownThriftShop-30-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JapantownThriftShop-30-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JapantownThriftShop-30-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Leyna Huynh shops at Classic Loot, which has been in San Jose’s Japantown for seven years.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That hasn’t stopped Tran from running her speciality shop. If anything, being away from Silicon Valley makes her appreciate the region’s culture more than ever (she especially misses \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13961537/san-jose-night-market-vietnamese-grand-century-mall\">the area’s vibrant Vietnamese food circuit\u003c/a>).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While juggling many roles and holding down her shop, Tran reflected on what she most enjoys about thrifting in the Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13965311\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>ALAN CHAZARO: Tell us about your clothing shop, Classic Loot.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>TAM TRAN:\u003c/b> Classic Loot is a whole lot of everything. We’re an actual team now, but I started off doing pop-up events, table events, just selling vintage jewelry. That was back in 2012 when vintage wasn’t a major thing like it is today. I remember getting comments from people freaking out that everything [we sold] was used and worn. But now we’re a shop in Japantown, and we’ve been here for seven years. Everything blossomed from selling vintage clothing to handmade goods and art, to brand new stuff. It’s just a collection of everything I think is dope. And I’m honored to have a great team, girls who are a lot younger and know all the trends and cool things happening. They recommend what we should have, and then we get it. That’s the joy and freedom of having a small business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964349\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964349\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-35-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-35-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-35-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-35-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-35-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-35-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-35-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-35-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stickers for sale at Classic Loot. The shop also features a double-stacked Japanese claw machine, where customers can try their luck at winning small items. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s your connection to Silicon Valley? You were born in San Francisco, but moved to San Jose at a young age. Where do you feel most rooted, especially in terms of fashion?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I definitely spend more of my time in San Jose, but most of my adult life has also been inspired by San Francisco. I attended the San Francisco Art Institute for graphic design. Over there, people talk down on [Silicon Valley], like our fashion is lame, or whatever. During that period, there wasn’t social media quite yet, so people [outside of San Francisco] didn’t always get the same recognition. But because of social media nowadays, you can really be anywhere and be the dopest kid. It doesn’t matter where you’re from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I moved back to San Jose after graduating. I became a graphic designer for a while, freelancing and doing commercial real estate. It was boring and terrible, but it paid the bills. Actually, I would never change it for anything, because what I learned professionally, I apply it to Classic Loot to this day. But I didn’t like to work for “the man.” So I went to a garage sale and started buying stuff and selling it on Instagram. I quit the day job I had and moved into my mom’s house and started hustling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>There’s a popular opinion that Silicon Valley is fashion-less. People always joke about tech workers wearing Patagonia vests. But what does local style look like to you as an insider?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From an outsider’s perspective I can see how it might not seem like we have much going on down here besides the tech world. But we have the coolest kids who come here and we get to see how they express their fashion sense. Because of the markets and events we go to, we get to see that type of crowd all over this area. The scene is small and niche, but once you’re tapped in, you really appreciate everyone’s way of expressing themselves differently through clothes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The girls who work [at Classic Loot], they’re really an inspiration for me and the customers. I’m in my late 30s, so to see the younger generation experimenting every day is really cool. They like to mix new trends with things that I wore when I was growing up, and I love that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964343\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964343\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-16-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-16-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-16-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-16-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-16-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-16-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-16-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-16-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Classic Loot owner Tam Tran poses for a photo in her thrift store. Though born in San Francisco, she grew up in San Jose, and is proud to represent the region’s under appreciated fashion community. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Where do you find your inspiration in Silicon Valley as a thrifter?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are tons of Savers, Goodwills, those kinds of places around here. But those are hit or miss, because it’s thrifting. Japantown has a few small businesses with a local feel. There are lots of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13952476/san-jose-japantown-photo-night-cukui\">young entrepreneurs here with cool brands\u003c/a>. JUBO. Cukui. Headliners. We all support each other. Another heavy hitter is \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/blackandbrownsj/\">Black and Brown\u003c/a>. They have a solid curation of secondhand stuff like us, but with a different feel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, one of our friends at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/popupsj/?hl=en\">Pop Up SJ\u003c/a> has vendors come to The Garden at the [Berryessa] Flea [Market]. That’s \u003ca href=\"https://midpenpost.org/2024/06/30/san-joses-pop-up-sj-brings-local-vintage-community-together/\">a cool vintage market event\u003c/a>. Everyone is dressed to impress there. It’s an event to go thrifting there, but it’s also like a runway for our little area. They have some of the coolest vintage clothing finds there, and it’s close to BART.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But don’t sleep on the [West Wind] \u003ca href=\"https://www.sanjose.org/attraction/west-wind-capitol-flea-market\">Flea Market on Capitol\u003c/a>. That’s the best one. It’s the smaller flea market, but it’s where the good stuff is for the cheapest prices. We do team bonding there and thrift together sometimes. It used to be our hidden place, but that changed after \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/discover/capital-flea-market-san-jose\">TikTok blew up the spot\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>San Jose seems to have a thing for expensive brands, which you can find at Santana Row and Valley Fair — the high-end stuff that gives more of an L.A. vibe, as opposed to the grungy and artistic ethos often associated with San Francisco or Oakland. \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yeah, I feel like San Jose gets the reputation of being more bougie. Personally, I don’t set foot into a mall anymore. I try to shop small and stay within the thrift shops here. And I don’t really support the big box stuff online either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964351\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964351\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-41-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1309\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-41-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-41-KQED-800x524.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-41-KQED-1020x668.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-41-KQED-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-41-KQED-768x503.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-41-KQED-1536x1005.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-41-KQED-1920x1257.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Silicon Valley is often associated with high-end products, especially because of Santana Row and Westfield Valley Fair. Though these Gucci sneakers are for sale at Classic Loot, the store mostly focuses on quirky trends and offers all sorts of finds. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You showcase your local vendors very prominently on \u003c/b>\u003ca href=\"https://www.classicloot.com/vendor\">\u003cb>your website\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003cb>. How do you go about finding these vendors and what are you generally looking for in a potential vendor or thrifter to work with?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes we just go out to markets and see booths and tables whose aesthetic would match what we have going on. But most times they contact us through Instagram. We have a vendor manager and she goes out scouting for people, or people come in and apply to be with us. It’s not just thrifting, we deal with artists, too. I was in their shoes at one point, making stuff to sell at other stores. Starting off on eBay or Etsy, you sometimes just end up with 5 cents after paying all the fees. I wish I had a mentor back then. So we want to provide that opportunity, and to help newcomers with the process. A lot of artisans are great but don’t necessarily know the business side of things. Price points, materials, marketing. We like to exchange tips and help them get started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964345\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964345\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-18-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-18-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-18-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-18-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-18-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-18-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-18-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/20240913_JAPANTOWNTHRIFTSHOP-18-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Classic Loot employee Annie Ng wears a heart choker. Shop owner Tam Tran is intentional about creating a work environment that is intergenerational, funky and “woman-powered.” \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Silicon Valley has a reputation as a male-dominated space. In contrast, your shop has a very strong, feminine energy. I’ve also heard you use the word “woman-powered.” What does that represent for you?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When you walk into our store, it’s super pink and glittery. Guys come in and kind of creep back out and we’re like “no, no, no, we have a little section for you in the back, we promise!” We have a very small curation of masculine items, because girls can dress masculine, too. We’re predominantly all women here. It’s a sisterhood. It’s not just about the skills or the knowledge, but matching the energy. My whole thing as a designer is that you spend a lot of time at work, so if you fucking hate the people there, it won’t last. I really appreciate taking care of your people, because they will take care of you. Having this small business, we can create a space for each other. That’s the beauty of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13965311\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-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>\u003ci>Classic Loot (570 N. 6th St., San Jose) is open Monday–Friday from 12 to 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "east-palo-alto-hidden-beauty-photography-darius-riley",
"title": "East Palo Alto’s Hidden Beauty",
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"headTitle": "East Palo Alto’s Hidden Beauty | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/siliconvalleyunseen\">Silicon Valley Unseen\u003c/a> is a series of photo essays, original reporting and underreported histories that survey the tech capital’s overlooked communities and subcultures from a local perspective.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s nothing like summertime in my hometown of East Palo Alto (better known as EPA). The California weather is ideal, the whips are out and everyone lingers around longer than usual. It’s when the city feels most alive, and \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/f1758uUJVGw\">when I can best capture its warm vibrancy with my camera\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past few weeks, I hopped on my skateboard and mobbed through the hood, making it my duty to touch each section, snapping shots with my Fuji GFX50S II.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I criss-crossed the new catwalk stretching above Hwy. 101 — a new structure that continues to reshape the city’s infrastructure. I swung by Flooda, a neighborhood where I grew up, to tap in with family. I visited the G — another of EPA’s many sections, home to my high school — where the tough roads make it hard to enjoy a smooth ride. It’s the kind of place where you’re forced to slow down, observe, and interact with people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965337\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965337\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8151-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8151-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8151-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8151-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8151-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8151-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8151-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8151-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8151-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Father and daughter, Leon Golden and Lisa Golden, pose in front of their home in The G. Leon has lived in EPA for more than six decades. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For anyone from East Palo Alto, it’s essential to emphasize the “E” in EPA. Palo Alto and East Palo Alto are two different cities in two different counties, with two different demographics, and may as well be located on two different planets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One five-mile stretch of road, University Avenue, directly connects Meta’s headquarters to Stanford’s campus. It shoots right through the heart of EPA, passing by an Amazon office complex, Silicon Valley’s only IKEA, and a ritzy Hilton Four Seasons hotel. But that’s not the EPA I remember. You’d never know that there used to be hella corner stores, family-owned shops, and a downtown community hub. Much of that local identity was replaced to cater to Silicon Valley’s corporate image.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After graduating high school, I attended Bowdoin College, a small liberal arts school in Maine. Whenever I’d tell my peers where I was from, they’d often fixate on the perception of tech companies founded in garages, or of Stanford and James Franco. That’s not the case for us. EPA breeds our own kind of history and innovation. If Palo Alto represents the Bay Area as Silicon Valley in its most suburbanized affluence, then East Palo Alto is an extension of the Yay Area’s rugged shortcomings, operating in the shadows of tech’s unreachable power. That contradiction is what makes EPA special, and arms us with an unbreakable resilience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965338\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965338\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8185-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8185-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8185-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8185-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8185-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8185-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8185-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8185-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8185-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An abuelita tenderly waters her garden in The Mid. I learned how to speak Spanish by growing up around hella Latino families in EPA. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One of East Palo Alto’s native sons, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/2966335/2021/11/23/davante-adams-journey-from-sleeping-on-couch-to-top-of-nfl-had-its-bumps/\">Davante Adams — an All-Pro NFL wide receiver for the Las Vegas Raiders\u003c/a> — said it best on \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO2iKU7mTfA\">an episode of \u003ci>Pivot Podcast\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>:\u003c/i> “In \u003cem>Lion King\u003c/em>, you got Pride Rock and then you got the elephant graveyard right there on top of each other, but it’s a whole different world. I’m from the elephant graveyard. I’m proud of where I’m from. I’m not proud of stuff that contributes to the reason why it’s not the same, but it is what it is and I stand on where I’m from.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s how I feel when I tell people I’m from East Palo Alto. Some people may never understand the roguish ways of \u003ca href=\"https://hardknockradio.org/little-nairobi-the-story-of-east-palo-alto-black-rainbow-a-conversation-w-corinne-baily-rae/\">Little Nairobi\u003c/a>, but those who are tapped in know wassup. I feel proud to document the faces, familiar corners and current state of these neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So for those who don’t know what EPA looks like, here’s our beautiful “elephant graveyard,” down by the Bay’s shoreline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964444\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964444\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF3729-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a stop sign in East Palo Alto at the intersection of Kavanaugh and Clarence\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF3729-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF3729-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF3729-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF3729-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF3729-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF3729-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF3729-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This is where it all began for me. The intersection where I grew up in Flooda. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964446\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964446\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5364-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a father plays on the porch with his two children\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5364-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5364-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5364-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5364-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5364-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5364-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5364-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The sight of a father and his children playing on their grandma’s porch. I’ve always appreciated driving past this house. It has a strong sense of family connection from the outside, so to be able to capture a flash of that in this moment meant a lot to me. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964445\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964445\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5035-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"an elderly woman stands in front of her yard with a bush trimmer\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5035-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5035-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5035-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5035-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5035-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5035-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5035-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Irma Foster poses in front of her home while doing yard work. I met her while skating through The Ville. I stopped to take the photo, and she seemed like she had a lot more work to do. I was handed brooms and rakes to get the job done. I even got to mow part of her lawn. She was surprised to learn that it was my first time ever mowing a lawn. She asked me how that was possible. I told her I never had a lawn to mow. We talked about the changes she’s witnessed in EPA over the years. While dumping leaves and trimmings into the compost bin, we were both reminded of the value of community. Despite all the madness, moments like this, when two strangers from two different generations can come together and accomplish a goal, epitomize the heart and soul of our community. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964448\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964448\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6113-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"an unhoused man opens a can of beer in front of an abandoned post office in East Palo Alto\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6113-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6113-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6113-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6113-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6113-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6113-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6113-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6113-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">On my way to Flooda, I stopped at Pal Market. A man named Ray gave me $2 to buy him a 211. He cracked it open in front of East Palo Alto’s abandoned post office at the intersection of University Ave. and Bay Road. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964454\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964454\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7336-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a young man on a motor bike poses on the sidewalk\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7336-1-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7336-1-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7336-1-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7336-1-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7336-1-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7336-1-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7336-1-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lil E from the G poses at the intersection of Wisteria and Azalia with his motorbike. That day, I was in The Gardens, known as The G, where every street is named after a plant. I flagged bruh down while he was mobbing on Wisteria. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964451\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964451\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7302-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a man in a classic car\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7302-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7302-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7302-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7302-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7302-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7302-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7302-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7302-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shortly after photographing Lil E, I photographed Big E in his Ford Falcon sitting on Zeniths with mustard and mayonnaise on the wheels. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964450\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2116px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964450\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7264-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a Latina woman poses with her paleta cart in front of a driveway in East Palo Alto\" width=\"2116\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7264-scaled.jpg 2116w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7264-800x968.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7264-1020x1234.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7264-160x194.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7264-768x929.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7264-1270x1536.jpg 1270w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7264-1693x2048.jpg 1693w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7264-1920x2323.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2116px) 100vw, 2116px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">La Paletera is an ice cream lady who makes her rounds through EPA. I see her every time I’m outside. There used to be more variety of vendors, including elote men and churro sellers, but I haven’t seen them in some time. Things have changed over the years around here. La Paletera is still ten toes down, though. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964456\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964456\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7361-scaled.jpg\" alt='a profile shot of a man wearing an \"I Love East Palo Alto\" shirt and hat sits in his car with the door open in front of a liquor store' width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7361-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7361-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7361-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7361-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7361-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7361-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7361-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">G-Town Market store is where everybody be at. Folks are outside chopping it up, and people in front of the store get honked at by passersby who know each other from childhood. I saw this beautiful 1970 Mustang and had to tap in with the owner. He introduced himself as Coach Eric Stuart and said I looked familiar. “Did you used to have dreads? Who’s your people? Are you the Twins’ nephew?” I confirmed it all with a grin, as excitement lit up his face. “Man, Kash is your mom, right?! I went to school with her and I know your uncles! We go way back!” This is a common scenario for me. Coming from a small city where everyone in the 2.2 square miles melting pot is connected, it’s common to embrace one another. “If I don’t know you, I know someone in your family” is a common saying in EPA. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964457\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964457\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8091-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a group of Polynesian family members at a park in East Palo Alto\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8091-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8091-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8091-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8091-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8091-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8091-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8091-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8091-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A group of Tongan kids pose for a photo at Jack Farrell Park. I offered $20 dollars to whoever could score against me on the basketball court. I left with $20 still in the bank. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964458\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964458\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8201-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"two adolescent boys ride their bikes in the twilight\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8201-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8201-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8201-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8201-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8201-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8201-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8201-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8201-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two boys ride their bikes through The Mid, a neighborhood called that because it’s right in the middle of it all. I always looked forward to summers in EPA as a kid because my older brother would come into town from Modesto and we would stay with our pops. My dad had a three-wheeler that my brother and I would mob on while our pops was at work. I have vivid memories of my brother slappin’ “U-C-IT” by Champ Bailey on his Metro Sidekick on our way to Three Brothers tacos. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964459\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964459\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8289-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a stripped down bicycle sits abandoned in the middle of a dry creek\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8289-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8289-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8289-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8289-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8289-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8289-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8289-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8289-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">My mom grew up playing tag in the no man’s land between Pride Rock (Palo Alto) and the Elephant Graveyard (EPA). It’s officially known as the San Francisquito Creek, but in the hood we just call it “the creek.” This line represents the division between the haves and the have nots. The Bay Area and the Yay Area. Steve Jobs and Dem Hoodstarz. I trekked down into the creek and stood in the literal wealth gap between two different realities in Silicon Valley. I found old appliances, moldy clothes, and remnants of childhood. A man set up camp in his tent on the East Side of the creek bank. This stripped down bike felt like a symbol of what — and who — gets left behind around here. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964464\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964464\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012546-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a Latino family stands outside of their home with a dog in East Palo Alto\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012546-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012546-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012546-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012546-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012546-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012546-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012546-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012546-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">While riding through The Mid on my skateboard, I always pass by a lot of dogs and families. This dog looked like it was ready to chase me. But I simply like this photo because it’s another example of our city’s intergenerational fabrics. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/Hourvoyses)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964460\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964460\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012538-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"an elderly Latino man poses on the fence in front of his home in East Palo Alto\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012538-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012538-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012538-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012538-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012538-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012538-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012538-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012538-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pedro stands outside of his home in The Mid with an obituary of his old friend, El Hajj Benjamin Abdul Wajeed Ahmad, a former pastor and activist in East Palo Alto. Pedro spoke about the need for solidarity between Blacks, Hispanics, and Polynesians to build community and create a better EPA. Our conversation was entirely in Spanish. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964447\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964447\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5965-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a nighttime view of the Bayshore trail in East Palo Alto\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5965-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5965-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5965-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5965-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5965-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5965-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5965-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5965-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">There have been times when I’ve told people I’m from East Palo Alto and they argue that it “isn’t really in the Bay.” Well, here are some photos of the Bay Lands, where the Bay Trail extends to San Francisco and where the Dumbarton Bridge connects EPA to Alameda County across the water. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964449\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964449\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7151-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a memorial for a young man in East Palo Alto\" width=\"2560\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7151-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7151-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7151-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7151-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7151-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7151-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7151-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7151-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">I dedicate this all in honor of my good friend and brotha from Flooda, D’Andre “Doc” Stamper, who embodied EPA’s spirit with his love for the community. We miss you, Stamp. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13965311\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hourvoyses/?hl=en\">Darius Riley\u003c/a> is a photographer from East Palo Alto, CA. He is focused on empowering Bay Area communities through visual storytelling. More of his work can be viewed \u003ca href=\"https://www.hourvoyses.com/\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964461\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2416px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964461\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/HV00253-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a photographer takes a self portrait in front of a horse in East Palo Alto\" width=\"2416\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/HV00253-scaled.jpg 2416w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/HV00253-800x848.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/HV00253-1020x1081.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/HV00253-160x170.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/HV00253-768x814.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/HV00253-1450x1536.jpg 1450w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/HV00253-1933x2048.jpg 1933w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/HV00253-1920x2035.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2416px) 100vw, 2416px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Darius Riley poses with a horse on the outskirts of EPA. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/siliconvalleyunseen\">Silicon Valley Unseen\u003c/a> is a series of photo essays, original reporting and underreported histories that survey the tech capital’s overlooked communities and subcultures from a local perspective.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s nothing like summertime in my hometown of East Palo Alto (better known as EPA). The California weather is ideal, the whips are out and everyone lingers around longer than usual. It’s when the city feels most alive, and \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/f1758uUJVGw\">when I can best capture its warm vibrancy with my camera\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past few weeks, I hopped on my skateboard and mobbed through the hood, making it my duty to touch each section, snapping shots with my Fuji GFX50S II.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I criss-crossed the new catwalk stretching above Hwy. 101 — a new structure that continues to reshape the city’s infrastructure. I swung by Flooda, a neighborhood where I grew up, to tap in with family. I visited the G — another of EPA’s many sections, home to my high school — where the tough roads make it hard to enjoy a smooth ride. It’s the kind of place where you’re forced to slow down, observe, and interact with people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965337\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965337\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8151-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8151-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8151-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8151-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8151-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8151-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8151-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8151-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8151-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Father and daughter, Leon Golden and Lisa Golden, pose in front of their home in The G. Leon has lived in EPA for more than six decades. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For anyone from East Palo Alto, it’s essential to emphasize the “E” in EPA. Palo Alto and East Palo Alto are two different cities in two different counties, with two different demographics, and may as well be located on two different planets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One five-mile stretch of road, University Avenue, directly connects Meta’s headquarters to Stanford’s campus. It shoots right through the heart of EPA, passing by an Amazon office complex, Silicon Valley’s only IKEA, and a ritzy Hilton Four Seasons hotel. But that’s not the EPA I remember. You’d never know that there used to be hella corner stores, family-owned shops, and a downtown community hub. Much of that local identity was replaced to cater to Silicon Valley’s corporate image.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After graduating high school, I attended Bowdoin College, a small liberal arts school in Maine. Whenever I’d tell my peers where I was from, they’d often fixate on the perception of tech companies founded in garages, or of Stanford and James Franco. That’s not the case for us. EPA breeds our own kind of history and innovation. If Palo Alto represents the Bay Area as Silicon Valley in its most suburbanized affluence, then East Palo Alto is an extension of the Yay Area’s rugged shortcomings, operating in the shadows of tech’s unreachable power. That contradiction is what makes EPA special, and arms us with an unbreakable resilience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965338\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965338\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8185-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8185-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8185-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8185-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8185-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8185-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8185-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8185-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8185-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An abuelita tenderly waters her garden in The Mid. I learned how to speak Spanish by growing up around hella Latino families in EPA. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One of East Palo Alto’s native sons, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/2966335/2021/11/23/davante-adams-journey-from-sleeping-on-couch-to-top-of-nfl-had-its-bumps/\">Davante Adams — an All-Pro NFL wide receiver for the Las Vegas Raiders\u003c/a> — said it best on \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO2iKU7mTfA\">an episode of \u003ci>Pivot Podcast\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>:\u003c/i> “In \u003cem>Lion King\u003c/em>, you got Pride Rock and then you got the elephant graveyard right there on top of each other, but it’s a whole different world. I’m from the elephant graveyard. I’m proud of where I’m from. I’m not proud of stuff that contributes to the reason why it’s not the same, but it is what it is and I stand on where I’m from.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s how I feel when I tell people I’m from East Palo Alto. Some people may never understand the roguish ways of \u003ca href=\"https://hardknockradio.org/little-nairobi-the-story-of-east-palo-alto-black-rainbow-a-conversation-w-corinne-baily-rae/\">Little Nairobi\u003c/a>, but those who are tapped in know wassup. I feel proud to document the faces, familiar corners and current state of these neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So for those who don’t know what EPA looks like, here’s our beautiful “elephant graveyard,” down by the Bay’s shoreline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964444\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964444\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF3729-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a stop sign in East Palo Alto at the intersection of Kavanaugh and Clarence\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF3729-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF3729-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF3729-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF3729-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF3729-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF3729-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF3729-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This is where it all began for me. The intersection where I grew up in Flooda. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964446\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964446\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5364-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a father plays on the porch with his two children\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5364-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5364-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5364-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5364-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5364-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5364-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5364-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The sight of a father and his children playing on their grandma’s porch. I’ve always appreciated driving past this house. It has a strong sense of family connection from the outside, so to be able to capture a flash of that in this moment meant a lot to me. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964445\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964445\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5035-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"an elderly woman stands in front of her yard with a bush trimmer\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5035-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5035-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5035-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5035-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5035-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5035-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5035-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Irma Foster poses in front of her home while doing yard work. I met her while skating through The Ville. I stopped to take the photo, and she seemed like she had a lot more work to do. I was handed brooms and rakes to get the job done. I even got to mow part of her lawn. She was surprised to learn that it was my first time ever mowing a lawn. She asked me how that was possible. I told her I never had a lawn to mow. We talked about the changes she’s witnessed in EPA over the years. While dumping leaves and trimmings into the compost bin, we were both reminded of the value of community. Despite all the madness, moments like this, when two strangers from two different generations can come together and accomplish a goal, epitomize the heart and soul of our community. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964448\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964448\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6113-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"an unhoused man opens a can of beer in front of an abandoned post office in East Palo Alto\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6113-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6113-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6113-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6113-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6113-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6113-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6113-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6113-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">On my way to Flooda, I stopped at Pal Market. A man named Ray gave me $2 to buy him a 211. He cracked it open in front of East Palo Alto’s abandoned post office at the intersection of University Ave. and Bay Road. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964454\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964454\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7336-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a young man on a motor bike poses on the sidewalk\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7336-1-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7336-1-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7336-1-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7336-1-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7336-1-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7336-1-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7336-1-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lil E from the G poses at the intersection of Wisteria and Azalia with his motorbike. That day, I was in The Gardens, known as The G, where every street is named after a plant. I flagged bruh down while he was mobbing on Wisteria. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964451\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964451\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7302-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a man in a classic car\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7302-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7302-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7302-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7302-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7302-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7302-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7302-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7302-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shortly after photographing Lil E, I photographed Big E in his Ford Falcon sitting on Zeniths with mustard and mayonnaise on the wheels. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964450\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2116px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964450\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7264-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a Latina woman poses with her paleta cart in front of a driveway in East Palo Alto\" width=\"2116\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7264-scaled.jpg 2116w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7264-800x968.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7264-1020x1234.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7264-160x194.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7264-768x929.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7264-1270x1536.jpg 1270w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7264-1693x2048.jpg 1693w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7264-1920x2323.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2116px) 100vw, 2116px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">La Paletera is an ice cream lady who makes her rounds through EPA. I see her every time I’m outside. There used to be more variety of vendors, including elote men and churro sellers, but I haven’t seen them in some time. Things have changed over the years around here. La Paletera is still ten toes down, though. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964456\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964456\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7361-scaled.jpg\" alt='a profile shot of a man wearing an \"I Love East Palo Alto\" shirt and hat sits in his car with the door open in front of a liquor store' width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7361-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7361-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7361-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7361-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7361-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7361-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7361-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">G-Town Market store is where everybody be at. Folks are outside chopping it up, and people in front of the store get honked at by passersby who know each other from childhood. I saw this beautiful 1970 Mustang and had to tap in with the owner. He introduced himself as Coach Eric Stuart and said I looked familiar. “Did you used to have dreads? Who’s your people? Are you the Twins’ nephew?” I confirmed it all with a grin, as excitement lit up his face. “Man, Kash is your mom, right?! I went to school with her and I know your uncles! We go way back!” This is a common scenario for me. Coming from a small city where everyone in the 2.2 square miles melting pot is connected, it’s common to embrace one another. “If I don’t know you, I know someone in your family” is a common saying in EPA. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964457\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964457\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8091-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a group of Polynesian family members at a park in East Palo Alto\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8091-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8091-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8091-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8091-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8091-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8091-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8091-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8091-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A group of Tongan kids pose for a photo at Jack Farrell Park. I offered $20 dollars to whoever could score against me on the basketball court. I left with $20 still in the bank. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964458\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964458\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8201-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"two adolescent boys ride their bikes in the twilight\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8201-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8201-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8201-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8201-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8201-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8201-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8201-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8201-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two boys ride their bikes through The Mid, a neighborhood called that because it’s right in the middle of it all. I always looked forward to summers in EPA as a kid because my older brother would come into town from Modesto and we would stay with our pops. My dad had a three-wheeler that my brother and I would mob on while our pops was at work. I have vivid memories of my brother slappin’ “U-C-IT” by Champ Bailey on his Metro Sidekick on our way to Three Brothers tacos. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964459\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964459\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8289-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a stripped down bicycle sits abandoned in the middle of a dry creek\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8289-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8289-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8289-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8289-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8289-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8289-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8289-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF8289-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">My mom grew up playing tag in the no man’s land between Pride Rock (Palo Alto) and the Elephant Graveyard (EPA). It’s officially known as the San Francisquito Creek, but in the hood we just call it “the creek.” This line represents the division between the haves and the have nots. The Bay Area and the Yay Area. Steve Jobs and Dem Hoodstarz. I trekked down into the creek and stood in the literal wealth gap between two different realities in Silicon Valley. I found old appliances, moldy clothes, and remnants of childhood. A man set up camp in his tent on the East Side of the creek bank. This stripped down bike felt like a symbol of what — and who — gets left behind around here. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964464\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964464\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012546-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a Latino family stands outside of their home with a dog in East Palo Alto\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012546-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012546-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012546-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012546-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012546-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012546-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012546-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012546-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">While riding through The Mid on my skateboard, I always pass by a lot of dogs and families. This dog looked like it was ready to chase me. But I simply like this photo because it’s another example of our city’s intergenerational fabrics. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/Hourvoyses)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964460\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964460\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012538-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"an elderly Latino man poses on the fence in front of his home in East Palo Alto\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012538-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012538-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012538-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012538-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012538-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012538-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012538-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/G3012538-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pedro stands outside of his home in The Mid with an obituary of his old friend, El Hajj Benjamin Abdul Wajeed Ahmad, a former pastor and activist in East Palo Alto. Pedro spoke about the need for solidarity between Blacks, Hispanics, and Polynesians to build community and create a better EPA. Our conversation was entirely in Spanish. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964447\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964447\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5965-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a nighttime view of the Bayshore trail in East Palo Alto\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5965-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5965-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5965-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5965-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5965-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5965-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5965-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5965-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">There have been times when I’ve told people I’m from East Palo Alto and they argue that it “isn’t really in the Bay.” Well, here are some photos of the Bay Lands, where the Bay Trail extends to San Francisco and where the Dumbarton Bridge connects EPA to Alameda County across the water. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964449\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964449\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7151-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a memorial for a young man in East Palo Alto\" width=\"2560\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7151-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7151-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7151-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7151-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7151-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7151-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7151-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF7151-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">I dedicate this all in honor of my good friend and brotha from Flooda, D’Andre “Doc” Stamper, who embodied EPA’s spirit with his love for the community. We miss you, Stamp. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13965311\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-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>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hourvoyses/?hl=en\">Darius Riley\u003c/a> is a photographer from East Palo Alto, CA. He is focused on empowering Bay Area communities through visual storytelling. More of his work can be viewed \u003ca href=\"https://www.hourvoyses.com/\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13964461\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2416px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13964461\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/HV00253-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a photographer takes a self portrait in front of a horse in East Palo Alto\" width=\"2416\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/HV00253-scaled.jpg 2416w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/HV00253-800x848.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/HV00253-1020x1081.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/HV00253-160x170.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/HV00253-768x814.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/HV00253-1450x1536.jpg 1450w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/HV00253-1933x2048.jpg 1933w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/HV00253-1920x2035.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2416px) 100vw, 2416px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Darius Riley poses with a horse on the outskirts of EPA. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "silicon-valley-unseen-san-jose-south-bay-locals",
"title": "Silicon Valley Unseen: As Told By Locals",
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"headTitle": "Silicon Valley Unseen: As Told By Locals | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965097\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1701px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965097\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/MexicanIndep_2024_Preview2-scaled-e1726774232466.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1701\" height=\"1506\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/MexicanIndep_2024_Preview2-scaled-e1726774232466.jpg 1701w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/MexicanIndep_2024_Preview2-scaled-e1726774232466-800x708.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/MexicanIndep_2024_Preview2-scaled-e1726774232466-1020x903.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/MexicanIndep_2024_Preview2-scaled-e1726774232466-160x142.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/MexicanIndep_2024_Preview2-scaled-e1726774232466-768x680.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/MexicanIndep_2024_Preview2-scaled-e1726774232466-1536x1360.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1701px) 100vw, 1701px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Silicon Valley is full of economic contradictions and diverse identities. Throughout the year, events like Mexican Independence Day (above) showcase the array of immigrant enclaves that reside in the tech capital. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/siliconvalleyunseen\">Silicon Valley Unseen\u003c/a> is a series of photo essays, original reporting and underreported histories that survey the tech capital’s overlooked communities and subcultures from a local perspective.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[dropcap]F[/dropcap]or most of my life, when someone’s asked where I’m from, I’ve avoided saying “Silicon Valley.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Instead, I’ve opted for a term more representative of my Bay Area upbringing: the South Bay. “Silicon Valley” and all it connotes is just too one-dimensional, too narrow-minded to hold the layered realities that have shaped my community.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/digital-logic/12/328/1401\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The name Silicon Valley dates back to 1971, when journalist Don Hoefler coined it\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in a series about Santa Clara County’s booming semiconductor industry. In the decades since, its promise has been lionized worldwide.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To outsiders, Silicon Valley is seen as the world’s biggest gold mine in the digital age. Whereas the pick-and-axe Gold Rush once attracted runaways and rogues westward in the mid-1800s, this tech boom signaled white collar excellence and limitless profiteering laced with uber-innovative thinking — a modern algorithm that has spawned replicas in Tel Aviv, London, Austin and Zhongguancun.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But this pristine, mainstream portrayal blithely ignores its de facto caste system. For every office building, there are tireless custodians who stay after hours to clean up, and security guards whose shifts begin at midnight. At local parks, groups of Spanish-speaking nannies gather while raising tech workers’ children. Silicon Valley is where you’ll see a scissor-door Lamborghini casually parked in a bland strip mall — right next to an Uber food delivery driver in a Toyota with a missing front bumper.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965091\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965091\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6100-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6100-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6100-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6100-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6100-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6100-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6100-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6100-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6100-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Silicon Valley is often depicted as a monolithic capital of wealth and tech innovation, but the region has some of the highest rates of homelessness and wealth disparities in the nation. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As the son of Mexican immigrants, I’ve spent decades trying to understand the reverence others project onto my imperfect hometown. I’m someone who grew up surrounded by these privileges yet still fell through the institutional cracks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I went to a high school where some students lived in the hills and sported a rotation of BMWs and Mercedes, while others lived with eight undocumented family members doing their best to get by on minimum wage and avoid deportation. I observed these disparities as someone in the middle, with access to both worlds. Constantly toggling between extremes warped my sense of place. I eventually gravitated towards graffiti, attended community college and read up on the Black Panther Party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 2007, I left Mountain View (now known as the home of Google) for Berkeley in pursuit of art, education and personal growth. I eventually exited California entirely, and never planned on returning to Silicon Valley. But recently I moved back to my old neighborhood, right next to Highway 101 and Moffett Field. And the changes are enormous.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965095\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1244px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965095\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screen-Shot-2024-09-18-at-12.22.04-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1244\" height=\"908\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screen-Shot-2024-09-18-at-12.22.04-PM.png 1244w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screen-Shot-2024-09-18-at-12.22.04-PM-800x584.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screen-Shot-2024-09-18-at-12.22.04-PM-1020x745.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screen-Shot-2024-09-18-at-12.22.04-PM-160x117.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screen-Shot-2024-09-18-at-12.22.04-PM-768x561.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1244px) 100vw, 1244px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The author Alan Chazaro (left) stands with Knuckles (middle) and R.J. (right) during a graffiti outing in Mountain View, circa 2006. Knuckles still lives in Mountain View, as one of the only remaining families in the neighborhood from that time. R.J. has since passed away.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gone are any bounce houses and taco trucks; any lowrider bikes and tinted windows on low-sitting Lexuses and Mustangs; any \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWf-sL1LFjE\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">aspiring Chicano rappers at the nearby park\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">; any Samoan, Vietnamese and Filipino house parties. They’ve mostly been replaced by empty holograms and dollar signs. There isn’t much space and affordability for anything else these days, it seems.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Headlines about my hometown make it seem like the world’s biggest capitalist theme park rather than an actual community of everyday people: “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/apr/30/silicon-valley-wealth-second-richest-country-world-earth\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If Silicon Valley Were a Country, It Would Be Among the Richest on Earth\u003c/span>\u003c/a>.” “\u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/2024/07/28/kid-parties-silicon-valley-entertainers/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Inside the Opulent World of Six-Figure Kids Birthday Parties in Silicon Valley.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>” “\u003ca href=\"https://www.wired.com/2017/05/apple-park-new-silicon-valley-campus/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Inside Apple’s Insanely Great (or Just Insane) New Mothership\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Who gets to tell stories about Silicon Valley? And what do those stories reveal about who we really are? Perhaps more than ever, as the architectures of displacement continue to spread in every direction and the ongoing tides of entities like OpenAI encroach, there’s an urgency for preservation. For humanized connection.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This week on KQED, local activists, small business owners, car club enthusiasts, photographers, reporters, poets, filmmakers, rappers, radio hosts and longtime community members will converge to share our homegrown views about Silicon Valley — in our own words.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For too long, our region’s ordinary beauties and people have gone unseen.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13965311\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[dropcap]M[/dropcap]y dad never goes to San Francisco’s Mission or Oakland’s Fruitvale — two of Northern California’s most celebrated Mexican and Central American neighborhoods — to order his favorite pupusas. He doesn’t have to.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">His pupusas of choice are served by a Salvadoran woman who lives on a tree-lined suburban cul-de-sac in Mountain View.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965092\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965092\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_6313-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_6313-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_6313-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_6313-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_6313-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_6313-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_6313-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_6313-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_6313-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">There are many food vendors in Silicon Valley who set up their operations in front yards, public parks and parking lots. From pupusas to tacos, you’ll find a rich supply of immigrant dishes being served in unlikely locations. This particular taquero immigrated from Mexico City and serves al pastor tacos during local soccer games in Sunnyvale. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In front of a shanty home that remains as a vestige from \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://fortheloveofapricots.com/2016/07/valley-of-hearts-delight/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the South Bay’s centuries of fruit orchard prominence\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, this señora slangs distinctly Salvadoran staples: pupusas, curtido, salsa roja, frijoles and arroz. Her offerings aren’t particularly creative, and she’s not the kind of trendy, underground TikTok food celebrity that attracts buzzing lines.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Primarily, she’s simply trying to survive the economic reality of Silicon Valley, a land where some people own Cybertrucks, and others ride public transit and help assemble Teslas in nearby factories. Silicon Valley isn’t the attractive, vibrant center of a major metropolis. It’s \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/mocutobi/status/1790549460562628764\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">sleepy stretch of homes that resemble just about any other suburb in the country\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, except that property values are measured by the multi-millions.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is the largest centrifugal cluster of moguldom on the planet. Google, Apple, Uber, Facebook, Waymo, LinkedIn, Netflix and Lockheed Martin are all within 15 miles from my front door. These surrounding corporations — rather than the hardworking residents who live here — are what get cared for and invested in.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965094\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965094\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Pa2-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1705\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Pa2-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Pa2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Pa2-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Pa2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Pa2-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Pa2-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Pa2-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Pa2-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ignacio Chazaro immigrated from Mexico to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1976 without a high school education. Within a decade, he was hired as a mechanical designer in Menlo Park, part of what journalist Don Hoefler in 1971 termed “Silicon Valley USA” due to the region’s booming semiconductor industry. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Our pupusera prepares her homemade meals in a gravel driveway near a Google satellite campus, right beside a parked trailer where an immigrant Honduran handyman lives because rent in this zip code is too expensive to afford an actual bedroom. (The renovated house across the street from the pupusera is now valued at just shy of $4 million).\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My dad arrived in the San Francisco Peninsula from Mexico as a middle school dropout. Like so many who cross the border into the United States, he sought opportunity. He enrolled at College of San Mateo while working nights as a restaurant cook near campus; miraculously, he managed to complete a program in mechanical design. My dad had known nothing about it, only that a recruiter from a nearby company visited his class and a counselor had encouraged him to sign up. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965100\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965100\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/BE029B9D-ED7C-4944-836B-56A285F04628-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/BE029B9D-ED7C-4944-836B-56A285F04628-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/BE029B9D-ED7C-4944-836B-56A285F04628-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/BE029B9D-ED7C-4944-836B-56A285F04628-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/BE029B9D-ED7C-4944-836B-56A285F04628-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/BE029B9D-ED7C-4944-836B-56A285F04628-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/BE029B9D-ED7C-4944-836B-56A285F04628-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/BE029B9D-ED7C-4944-836B-56A285F04628-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/BE029B9D-ED7C-4944-836B-56A285F04628-1920x2880.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alan Chazaro’s son, Maceo, explores the San Jose Flea Market, where the author often visited while growing up.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Prior to that, my dad, Nacho, was a free-floating hippie. By all accounts — from stories I’ve heard and photos I’ve unearthed — he was a marijuana-loving, laissez-faire artist who rocked a Mexican afro and wore a leather vest. A man who’d wandered off from a family of 12 siblings in Veracruz to chase something — anything — somewhere else. He’d never used or seen a computer before. In a recent conversation, when I asked what his plan had been upon reaching California, he told me he didn’t have one.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That all changed in Silicon Valley. Due to the fateful intersection of time, place and skills, my dad landed a gig in the early tech workforce as someone who could sketch detailed computer parts by hand. (He worked for a company that no longer exists, inside a building that has since been converted into Facebook’s headquarters). Back then, computer parts were drafted by pencil as illustrations. If there’s one thing my dad could do, it was drawing. Nearly four decades later, he does similar work, though he uses a computer now. It pays the bills, he enjoys it, and he never complains. I admire him for being able to plug into the system and reap the rewards of his immigrant scrappiness. By those metrics, he crushed it in life.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Plus, his life in tech has provided me and my older brother with invaluable tools. I remember when my dad got a computer at our first apartment, back in the days of floppy discs and MS-DOS in the mid-’90s. At the time, I thought it was part of normal childhood. Looking back, it’s clear I grew up with immediate access to technologies that my peers would later come to depend upon and even worship. It was a perk of being inside Silicon Valley, if only on the cultural fringes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Try to imagine an unqualified Mexican immigrant waltzing into Silicon Valley for a lifelong career in tech these days. That backdoor has since been locked.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13965311\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[dropcap]D[/dropcap]irt bikers popping twelve-o’clock wheelies at rush hour. That’s what you might see in East Palo Alto (EPA) — a redlined city off the eastern ramp of Highway 101, whose primary street leads directly to Stanford’s finely manicured campus. As one of \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Silicon Valley Unseen’\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">s eight collaborators, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hourvoyses/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">EPA-raised photographer Darius Riley\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> rides around on his skateboard, capturing local sights and faces. He provides a glimpse into this ever-evolving community historically alienated from Silicon Valley.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Across the Dumbarton Bridge from EPA, you’ll find Fremont. The city marks the northeasternmost edge of Silicon Valley, home to a host of tech companies, including Tesla. More importantly, it’s a tranquil suburb known for its Indian cuisine, Afghan community and high-ranking safety. Recently, Fremont has provided the setting for popular films like \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dìdi \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">and\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Fremont\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. East Bay journalist \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/soup_.y/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Supriya Yelimeli\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> dives into it all in a reflection on her own upbringing as a first-generation Indian American in the country’s “happiest city.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965093\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965093\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Contributing journalist, Supriya Yelimeli, grew up in Fremont during a time of rapid expansion. Here she is pictured riding BART with her family members. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Supriya Yelimeli)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">From there, you’ll hop on 880, swerving past Union City and Milpitas toward the aortic valve of Silicon Valley: San Jose. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Shark City” has multiple regions — East Side, West Side and South — each an ecosystem unto itself. In Japantown, you’ll hear from the Vietnamese American owner of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/classicloot/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a clothing boutique\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> about what defines her sense of Silicon Valley fashion (and where to thrift shop). On San Jose’s East Side, you’ll meet folks like \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/jiggyjoefresco/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jiggy Joe Fresco\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and Pro Tribe’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tribe_general/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stretch\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. As \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ogpenn/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED reporter Pendarvis Harshaw\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> learns over the span of his ride-alongs, the 408’s rap hustle parallels what he has seen in his own community in East Oakland.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/alexknowbody/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alex Knowbody\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> takes over from there. A Mexican American photographer who spends his weekends at PayPal Park — home to the Bay Area’s only professional soccer clubs, the Earthquakes and Bay FC — he embraces the area’s fútbol passions. His photos reveal the sport’s deep legacy, proving Silicon Valley has long been an underrated hotbed for U.S. soccer.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coming back up 101, crossing 237 (sorry, Cupertino and Campbell), you’ll zing past Alvarado and Santa Clara to reach Sunnyvale, home of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/duenascarclub/?hl=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dueñas, an all-women’s lowrider club\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. The group’s founder Angel tells us how it all started, and why Silicon Valley is the undisputed lowrider mecca.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965099\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965099\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-41.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-41.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-41-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-41-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-41-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-41-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-41-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-41-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dueñas are an all-women lowrider club based in Silicon Valley. Here, they pulled into a strip mall and turned heads from every passersby. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Your last stop is in Mountain View, where \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/_gbizness/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KMEL’s hip-hop radio host G-Biz\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> moved after growing up in East Palo Alto. At one point, Gary and I were neighbors, and attended the same high school. He explains what the area means to him and his family after they moved from Arkansas.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And me? I went back to a 47-year-old Iranian market that has flourished near downtown Mountain View since my childhood. After being forced out of business for a few years, Rose Market is still supplying some of the best lahori chicken and basmati rice with saffron and zereshk. I weigh in on what they’ve meant to me, and hear from nearby \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mohammad.earth/?hl=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Iranian American filmmaker Mohammed Gorjestani\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> about both the importance and shortcomings of immigrant nostalgia.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965090\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965090\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5132-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5132-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5132-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5132-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5132-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5132-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5132-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5132-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5132-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A teenager shows off his motor bike in East Palo Alto, a city that has often been overlooked in the heart of Silicon Valley. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To be born and bred in Silicon Valley is not to be enamored or mesmerized by it. On the contrary, it’s to be at once skeptical and open-hearted; to remain simultaneously inspired and disillusioned. It’s to understand that while this region has been the site of so many life-altering tech trends, it has obscured — if not completely dismissed — everyone doing the day-to-day working and living underneath it all.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m from here. We all are. And in the mighty words of Alex Knowbody: “There was a culture here before tech, and there will be a culture here after it, too.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965097\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1701px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965097\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/MexicanIndep_2024_Preview2-scaled-e1726774232466.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1701\" height=\"1506\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/MexicanIndep_2024_Preview2-scaled-e1726774232466.jpg 1701w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/MexicanIndep_2024_Preview2-scaled-e1726774232466-800x708.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/MexicanIndep_2024_Preview2-scaled-e1726774232466-1020x903.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/MexicanIndep_2024_Preview2-scaled-e1726774232466-160x142.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/MexicanIndep_2024_Preview2-scaled-e1726774232466-768x680.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/MexicanIndep_2024_Preview2-scaled-e1726774232466-1536x1360.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1701px) 100vw, 1701px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Silicon Valley is full of economic contradictions and diverse identities. Throughout the year, events like Mexican Independence Day (above) showcase the array of immigrant enclaves that reside in the tech capital. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/siliconvalleyunseen\">Silicon Valley Unseen\u003c/a> is a series of photo essays, original reporting and underreported histories that survey the tech capital’s overlooked communities and subcultures from a local perspective.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">F\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>or most of my life, when someone’s asked where I’m from, I’ve avoided saying “Silicon Valley.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Instead, I’ve opted for a term more representative of my Bay Area upbringing: the South Bay. “Silicon Valley” and all it connotes is just too one-dimensional, too narrow-minded to hold the layered realities that have shaped my community.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/digital-logic/12/328/1401\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The name Silicon Valley dates back to 1971, when journalist Don Hoefler coined it\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in a series about Santa Clara County’s booming semiconductor industry. In the decades since, its promise has been lionized worldwide.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To outsiders, Silicon Valley is seen as the world’s biggest gold mine in the digital age. Whereas the pick-and-axe Gold Rush once attracted runaways and rogues westward in the mid-1800s, this tech boom signaled white collar excellence and limitless profiteering laced with uber-innovative thinking — a modern algorithm that has spawned replicas in Tel Aviv, London, Austin and Zhongguancun.\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\">But this pristine, mainstream portrayal blithely ignores its de facto caste system. For every office building, there are tireless custodians who stay after hours to clean up, and security guards whose shifts begin at midnight. At local parks, groups of Spanish-speaking nannies gather while raising tech workers’ children. Silicon Valley is where you’ll see a scissor-door Lamborghini casually parked in a bland strip mall — right next to an Uber food delivery driver in a Toyota with a missing front bumper.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965091\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965091\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6100-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6100-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6100-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6100-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6100-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6100-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6100-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6100-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF6100-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Silicon Valley is often depicted as a monolithic capital of wealth and tech innovation, but the region has some of the highest rates of homelessness and wealth disparities in the nation. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As the son of Mexican immigrants, I’ve spent decades trying to understand the reverence others project onto my imperfect hometown. I’m someone who grew up surrounded by these privileges yet still fell through the institutional cracks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I went to a high school where some students lived in the hills and sported a rotation of BMWs and Mercedes, while others lived with eight undocumented family members doing their best to get by on minimum wage and avoid deportation. I observed these disparities as someone in the middle, with access to both worlds. Constantly toggling between extremes warped my sense of place. I eventually gravitated towards graffiti, attended community college and read up on the Black Panther Party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 2007, I left Mountain View (now known as the home of Google) for Berkeley in pursuit of art, education and personal growth. I eventually exited California entirely, and never planned on returning to Silicon Valley. But recently I moved back to my old neighborhood, right next to Highway 101 and Moffett Field. And the changes are enormous.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965095\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1244px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965095\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screen-Shot-2024-09-18-at-12.22.04-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1244\" height=\"908\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screen-Shot-2024-09-18-at-12.22.04-PM.png 1244w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screen-Shot-2024-09-18-at-12.22.04-PM-800x584.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screen-Shot-2024-09-18-at-12.22.04-PM-1020x745.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screen-Shot-2024-09-18-at-12.22.04-PM-160x117.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Screen-Shot-2024-09-18-at-12.22.04-PM-768x561.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1244px) 100vw, 1244px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The author Alan Chazaro (left) stands with Knuckles (middle) and R.J. (right) during a graffiti outing in Mountain View, circa 2006. Knuckles still lives in Mountain View, as one of the only remaining families in the neighborhood from that time. R.J. has since passed away.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gone are any bounce houses and taco trucks; any lowrider bikes and tinted windows on low-sitting Lexuses and Mustangs; any \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWf-sL1LFjE\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">aspiring Chicano rappers at the nearby park\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">; any Samoan, Vietnamese and Filipino house parties. They’ve mostly been replaced by empty holograms and dollar signs. There isn’t much space and affordability for anything else these days, it seems.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Headlines about my hometown make it seem like the world’s biggest capitalist theme park rather than an actual community of everyday people: “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/apr/30/silicon-valley-wealth-second-richest-country-world-earth\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If Silicon Valley Were a Country, It Would Be Among the Richest on Earth\u003c/span>\u003c/a>.” “\u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/2024/07/28/kid-parties-silicon-valley-entertainers/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Inside the Opulent World of Six-Figure Kids Birthday Parties in Silicon Valley.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>” “\u003ca href=\"https://www.wired.com/2017/05/apple-park-new-silicon-valley-campus/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Inside Apple’s Insanely Great (or Just Insane) New Mothership\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Who gets to tell stories about Silicon Valley? And what do those stories reveal about who we really are? Perhaps more than ever, as the architectures of displacement continue to spread in every direction and the ongoing tides of entities like OpenAI encroach, there’s an urgency for preservation. For humanized connection.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This week on KQED, local activists, small business owners, car club enthusiasts, photographers, reporters, poets, filmmakers, rappers, radio hosts and longtime community members will converge to share our homegrown views about Silicon Valley — in our own words.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For too long, our region’s ordinary beauties and people have gone unseen.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13965311\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">M\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>y dad never goes to San Francisco’s Mission or Oakland’s Fruitvale — two of Northern California’s most celebrated Mexican and Central American neighborhoods — to order his favorite pupusas. He doesn’t have to.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">His pupusas of choice are served by a Salvadoran woman who lives on a tree-lined suburban cul-de-sac in Mountain View.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965092\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965092\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_6313-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_6313-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_6313-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_6313-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_6313-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_6313-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_6313-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_6313-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/IMG_6313-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">There are many food vendors in Silicon Valley who set up their operations in front yards, public parks and parking lots. From pupusas to tacos, you’ll find a rich supply of immigrant dishes being served in unlikely locations. This particular taquero immigrated from Mexico City and serves al pastor tacos during local soccer games in Sunnyvale. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In front of a shanty home that remains as a vestige from \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://fortheloveofapricots.com/2016/07/valley-of-hearts-delight/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the South Bay’s centuries of fruit orchard prominence\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, this señora slangs distinctly Salvadoran staples: pupusas, curtido, salsa roja, frijoles and arroz. Her offerings aren’t particularly creative, and she’s not the kind of trendy, underground TikTok food celebrity that attracts buzzing lines.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Primarily, she’s simply trying to survive the economic reality of Silicon Valley, a land where some people own Cybertrucks, and others ride public transit and help assemble Teslas in nearby factories. Silicon Valley isn’t the attractive, vibrant center of a major metropolis. It’s \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/mocutobi/status/1790549460562628764\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">sleepy stretch of homes that resemble just about any other suburb in the country\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, except that property values are measured by the multi-millions.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is the largest centrifugal cluster of moguldom on the planet. Google, Apple, Uber, Facebook, Waymo, LinkedIn, Netflix and Lockheed Martin are all within 15 miles from my front door. These surrounding corporations — rather than the hardworking residents who live here — are what get cared for and invested in.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965094\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965094\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Pa2-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1705\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Pa2-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Pa2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Pa2-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Pa2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Pa2-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Pa2-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Pa2-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/Pa2-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ignacio Chazaro immigrated from Mexico to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1976 without a high school education. Within a decade, he was hired as a mechanical designer in Menlo Park, part of what journalist Don Hoefler in 1971 termed “Silicon Valley USA” due to the region’s booming semiconductor industry. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Our pupusera prepares her homemade meals in a gravel driveway near a Google satellite campus, right beside a parked trailer where an immigrant Honduran handyman lives because rent in this zip code is too expensive to afford an actual bedroom. (The renovated house across the street from the pupusera is now valued at just shy of $4 million).\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My dad arrived in the San Francisco Peninsula from Mexico as a middle school dropout. Like so many who cross the border into the United States, he sought opportunity. He enrolled at College of San Mateo while working nights as a restaurant cook near campus; miraculously, he managed to complete a program in mechanical design. My dad had known nothing about it, only that a recruiter from a nearby company visited his class and a counselor had encouraged him to sign up. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965100\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965100\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/BE029B9D-ED7C-4944-836B-56A285F04628-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/BE029B9D-ED7C-4944-836B-56A285F04628-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/BE029B9D-ED7C-4944-836B-56A285F04628-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/BE029B9D-ED7C-4944-836B-56A285F04628-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/BE029B9D-ED7C-4944-836B-56A285F04628-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/BE029B9D-ED7C-4944-836B-56A285F04628-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/BE029B9D-ED7C-4944-836B-56A285F04628-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/BE029B9D-ED7C-4944-836B-56A285F04628-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/BE029B9D-ED7C-4944-836B-56A285F04628-1920x2880.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alan Chazaro’s son, Maceo, explores the San Jose Flea Market, where the author often visited while growing up.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Prior to that, my dad, Nacho, was a free-floating hippie. By all accounts — from stories I’ve heard and photos I’ve unearthed — he was a marijuana-loving, laissez-faire artist who rocked a Mexican afro and wore a leather vest. A man who’d wandered off from a family of 12 siblings in Veracruz to chase something — anything — somewhere else. He’d never used or seen a computer before. In a recent conversation, when I asked what his plan had been upon reaching California, he told me he didn’t have one.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That all changed in Silicon Valley. Due to the fateful intersection of time, place and skills, my dad landed a gig in the early tech workforce as someone who could sketch detailed computer parts by hand. (He worked for a company that no longer exists, inside a building that has since been converted into Facebook’s headquarters). Back then, computer parts were drafted by pencil as illustrations. If there’s one thing my dad could do, it was drawing. Nearly four decades later, he does similar work, though he uses a computer now. It pays the bills, he enjoys it, and he never complains. I admire him for being able to plug into the system and reap the rewards of his immigrant scrappiness. By those metrics, he crushed it in life.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Plus, his life in tech has provided me and my older brother with invaluable tools. I remember when my dad got a computer at our first apartment, back in the days of floppy discs and MS-DOS in the mid-’90s. At the time, I thought it was part of normal childhood. Looking back, it’s clear I grew up with immediate access to technologies that my peers would later come to depend upon and even worship. It was a perk of being inside Silicon Valley, if only on the cultural fringes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Try to imagine an unqualified Mexican immigrant waltzing into Silicon Valley for a lifelong career in tech these days. That backdoor has since been locked.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13965311\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/SVU.LogoBreak.computer-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">D\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>irt bikers popping twelve-o’clock wheelies at rush hour. That’s what you might see in East Palo Alto (EPA) — a redlined city off the eastern ramp of Highway 101, whose primary street leads directly to Stanford’s finely manicured campus. As one of \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Silicon Valley Unseen’\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">s eight collaborators, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hourvoyses/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">EPA-raised photographer Darius Riley\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> rides around on his skateboard, capturing local sights and faces. He provides a glimpse into this ever-evolving community historically alienated from Silicon Valley.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Across the Dumbarton Bridge from EPA, you’ll find Fremont. The city marks the northeasternmost edge of Silicon Valley, home to a host of tech companies, including Tesla. More importantly, it’s a tranquil suburb known for its Indian cuisine, Afghan community and high-ranking safety. Recently, Fremont has provided the setting for popular films like \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dìdi \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">and\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Fremont\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. East Bay journalist \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/soup_.y/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Supriya Yelimeli\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> dives into it all in a reflection on her own upbringing as a first-generation Indian American in the country’s “happiest city.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965093\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965093\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/img20240917_12071490-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Contributing journalist, Supriya Yelimeli, grew up in Fremont during a time of rapid expansion. Here she is pictured riding BART with her family members. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Supriya Yelimeli)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">From there, you’ll hop on 880, swerving past Union City and Milpitas toward the aortic valve of Silicon Valley: San Jose. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Shark City” has multiple regions — East Side, West Side and South — each an ecosystem unto itself. In Japantown, you’ll hear from the Vietnamese American owner of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/classicloot/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a clothing boutique\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> about what defines her sense of Silicon Valley fashion (and where to thrift shop). On San Jose’s East Side, you’ll meet folks like \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/jiggyjoefresco/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jiggy Joe Fresco\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and Pro Tribe’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tribe_general/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stretch\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. As \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ogpenn/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED reporter Pendarvis Harshaw\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> learns over the span of his ride-alongs, the 408’s rap hustle parallels what he has seen in his own community in East Oakland.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/alexknowbody/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alex Knowbody\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> takes over from there. A Mexican American photographer who spends his weekends at PayPal Park — home to the Bay Area’s only professional soccer clubs, the Earthquakes and Bay FC — he embraces the area’s fútbol passions. His photos reveal the sport’s deep legacy, proving Silicon Valley has long been an underrated hotbed for U.S. soccer.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coming back up 101, crossing 237 (sorry, Cupertino and Campbell), you’ll zing past Alvarado and Santa Clara to reach Sunnyvale, home of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/duenascarclub/?hl=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dueñas, an all-women’s lowrider club\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. The group’s founder Angel tells us how it all started, and why Silicon Valley is the undisputed lowrider mecca.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965099\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965099\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-41.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-41.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-41-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-41-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-41-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-41-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-41-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/CanonPNS_Aug25-41-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dueñas are an all-women lowrider club based in Silicon Valley. Here, they pulled into a strip mall and turned heads from every passersby. \u003ccite>(Alex Knowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Your last stop is in Mountain View, where \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/_gbizness/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KMEL’s hip-hop radio host G-Biz\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> moved after growing up in East Palo Alto. At one point, Gary and I were neighbors, and attended the same high school. He explains what the area means to him and his family after they moved from Arkansas.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And me? I went back to a 47-year-old Iranian market that has flourished near downtown Mountain View since my childhood. After being forced out of business for a few years, Rose Market is still supplying some of the best lahori chicken and basmati rice with saffron and zereshk. I weigh in on what they’ve meant to me, and hear from nearby \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mohammad.earth/?hl=en\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Iranian American filmmaker Mohammed Gorjestani\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> about both the importance and shortcomings of immigrant nostalgia.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13965090\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13965090\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5132-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5132-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5132-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5132-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5132-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5132-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5132-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5132-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/DSCF5132-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A teenager shows off his motor bike in East Palo Alto, a city that has often been overlooked in the heart of Silicon Valley. \u003ccite>(Darius Riley/HOUR VOYSES)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To be born and bred in Silicon Valley is not to be enamored or mesmerized by it. On the contrary, it’s to be at once skeptical and open-hearted; to remain simultaneously inspired and disillusioned. It’s to understand that while this region has been the site of so many life-altering tech trends, it has obscured — if not completely dismissed — everyone doing the day-to-day working and living underneath it all.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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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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