Innovators Award

Oakland's innovators inspire our shirts, and the shirts in turn support the Innovators. 2013 marks the seventh year of annual grants and partnerships between Oaklandish and all of the good people in Oakland working to make this town a better place. If you know an artist, nonprofit, or other group that you think would benefit from support from Oaklandish, please send an email to innovators@oaklandish.com and nominate them! If you would like to apply yourself for a partnership, please fill out our partnership form here by March 1, 2013.

Proceeds from our designs are distributed through our Community Fund. In addition to financial support, Innovators and other partners receive help with design, events, social media — anything to get the word out about the important, trailblazing work going on in Oakland.

It's our way of recognizing those who exemplify the values of innovation and progress in all areas of civic life. The recipients represent a wide range of social interests and populations, and are not restricted by any political agenda. In the past few years, we've given Innovators grants and partnerships to groups like: The Khadafy Washington Foundation, Youth Alive, Town Park Skatepark, 25th Street Collective, and The Oakland Ballet.

In 2000, Marilyn Washington Harris’ son Khadafy was shot and killed while riding his bike in West Oakland. While the crime remains unsolved, Harris’s experience inspired her to found the Khadafy Washington Foundation for Non-Violence. About three months after his murder, Marilyn began to reach out to other families who had recently lost someone to a homicide. Today, it's her full-time job: grieving families can turn to Marilyn and the Foundation for help with everything from funeral expenses to counseling, food, and child care. Since 2003, the program has reached out to over 800 families. Harris has been tireless in her work with affected families and friends, working to stop the cycle of violence and preventing retaliatory crimes.

In Oakland, we know that violence isn't limited to one city or "bad" neighborhood. It impacts all of us, everywhere. More than anything, the foundation works to make sure that victims and their families are seen as people, not statistics. For the holidays, we partnered with the Khadafy Washington Foundation to make a calendar in memory of the friends, family and neighbors that Oakland lost to violence last year — putting faces and names to the numbers.

Proceeds from the Khadafy Calendar will support the work of Marilyn Harris and the Khadafy Washington Foundation for Non-Violence. You can also read an excellent profile of Harris in this article from San Francisco Magazine.

The staff of MISSSEY have some of the toughest jobs in Oakland. They work with sexually exploited minors — kids as young as 11 who are being bought and sold in broad daylight. MISSSEY (which stands for Motivating, Inspiring, Supporting and Serving Sexually Exploited Youth) works to get these girls off the street and into programs where they can heal and grow. They also fight to raise awareness about the issue, and to pressure for policies that punish traffickers and Johns, not their victims.

Oaklandish worked with MISSSEY to design a t-shirt that illustrates their mission. We talked to their director, Nola Brantley, about their work.

Can you give us some background about MISSSEY? What sort of work do you do, and how did the organization get started?

MISSSEY was started by four young women working in the social service field who recognized that there was a growing epidemic of young girls between the ages of 11 and 18 being bought and sold in broad daylight on the streets of Oakland — and that there were no services to help them.

MISSSEY provides one-on-one and group intensive services to victims, survivors and those at high risk for commercial sexual exploitation. The services we provide include advocacy, case management, mentorship, a drop-in center and training and education for both youth and professionals in the field. MISSSEY’s model is both peer and survivor informed and lead.

When a girl comes to you for help, what are the first steps you take to keep her safe and help her recover?

The first step we take is to establish a loving and trusting relationship with each girl. The second step is to assess their current safety needs, emergency needs, medical needs, mental health needs and on-going basic needs. We then advocate throughout the public and private systems for services and resources needed to meet their various needs and keep them safe. We offer girls direct support in-custody, at court hearings, at meetings with schools, probation and social services and during medical procedures.

A lot of people say that Oakland's sex trafficking problems are overlooked, because the reality doesn't match the image that people have in their head. What do you wish more more people knew about the issue?

I wish more people knew that on average girls are victimized at twelve years old. Twelve years old means 6th or 7th grade, and the majority of the girls who are victimized were already sexually abused during earlier childhood. I wish people understood that these are little girls who have been abused in many cases their entire lives and desperately need our HELP. I also wish more people knew that boys are sexually exploited too.

In addition to helping individual girls, MISSSEY also does advocacy work. What sort of policy changes would you like to see in the next few years?

We would like to see girls STOP getting arrested for prostitution and to consistently be recognized and treated as victims. We would also like to see Prop. 35 pass in California in November — that would be a start. [Note: Prop. 35 would increase the penalties for human trafficking, and use fines on traffickers to fund services for victims. You can read more about it here.]

Are there any success stories you can share about the girls you've worked with?

Yes! We have seen a lot of success and girls go on to do amazing things. Girls who have gone on to become nationally known advocates and experts in the field, girls who have won awards for their efforts to educate the public through journalism, girls who are currently attending universities, girls who are now wonderful mothers and overall girls who have overcome some unbelievable circumstances and are thriving and growing in great directions.

Proceeds from the MISSSEY-Oaklandish collaborative t-shirt will help MISSSEY offer a safe haven for more of Oakland's most vulnerable youth, along with working for policies that prevent sex trafficking.

Oakland now is like a great old blues singer. She knows how to moan and cry, but the bad times behind her make her know how to savor the good times. Maybe she's got some scars, but when she gets cooking she can still shake things up, and she can sing the pants off the young ones coming up that don't know her savvy — there's no soul in Walnut Creek! The oldtime Oaklanders, and the port, and the big corporations building new skyscrapers downtown, are like instruments in the band, and all together now we're blowing some pretty good jazz. – Anonymous

This is an anonymous quote I stumbled upon in an Oakland photography book when I was in elementary school in the 90s. It may oversell the vibrancy supplied by corporations, and omit the power of the arts, but it still manages to capture the soulful and resilient spirit of the Oakland I was raised in. It was this love affair with an underdog city that eventually led me to start 38thnotes.com in 2008. 38thNotes.com is an Oakland arts and culture site that covers local history, events, sports, music and whatever else strikes our fancy in a proud manner befitting the beautiful struggle we call home.

At 38th Notes we are deeply invested in curating the best of our beloved Oakland, while also creating meaningful cultural contributions ourselves. It is this shared mission that first attracted us to Oaklandish many moons ago when they were still down in the produce district. Most recently our relationship manifested in a fantastic Notes to Oakland project that honored what Oaklanders had to say about their city. The results were amazing!

We also have a particular passion for local hip-hop and R&B. The Bay Area has a rich musical legacy, from Tower of Power and Tony Toni Toné to En Vogue and E-40 — but the rest of the country doesn't know of many artists beyond these legends. It is for this reason that we strive to introduce readers to new artists (while still honoring our forefathers, of course). Many folks followed our monthly mixtape series entitled The Bay Abridged, which featured our favorite Bay Area hip-hop and R&B of each month during 2010 and 2011. We've since relaunched this cult favorite as a seasonal mixtape with financial support from Oaklandish's Innovators grant program.

The first incarnation of the relaunched mixtape series is the Spring 2012 edition of The Bay Abridged, which awaits you at the Oaklandish store at 1444 Broadway right now. If you can't get down there during business hours, you can also download it for free HERE. We think you'll dig the balance of hood and indy, rap and soul, and new and old. Each month a new Bay Area legend graces the cover and is featured on the opening track. Too $hort is the featured OG for the spring edition and Sly Stone will be featured on the summer mixtape. Drop by Oaklandish to pick up a free copy of The Bay Abridged or download it at 38thnotes.com so you can get familiar with some amazing new local artists and cruise around The Town with your speakers up and your window down.

Be sure to add www.38thnotes.com to your google reader, like them on facebook, and follow them on twitter and instagram at @38thnotes.

Founded in 2008, 38thnotes.com is a Oakland Arts & Culture blog run by third generation Oaklanders who are passionate about The Town's past, present, and future.

Sherman Spears was ready to make a change. In 1994, he was lying in an Oakland hospital bed with a gunshot wound that would land him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. More than anything, he knew he wanted out of the gang life that had put him there — but he didn't know how to start. His mother was too distraught to help much, and his friends showed their concern by offering to retaliate against the guy who'd shot him. His doctors could care for his physical wounds, but they didn't know how to point him towards a different path. Spears always remembered wishing that someone had talked to him then — someone who knew what he was going through, and could help him find a way out.

Soon, he started visiting shooting victims at Highland Hospital, offering support and advice on how to turn their lives around. His work turned into a pioneering program — Caught in the Crossfire — that advises youth who are recovering from violent injuries. Today, it's part of Youth Alive, a nonprofit that works tirelessly to bring peace to Oakland.

And here's the thing: these programs are working. Yes, Oakland is a notoriously violent city, but it's also home to some of the most effective and creative anti-violence groups in the country. We talked to Anne Marks, the Executive Director of Youth Alive, about the way forward.


Caught in the Crossfire is a 2012 Oaklandish Innovators Award winner. For more information on our grants programs, visit our community page.

Let's start with how you ended up at your job, and what Youth Alive and Caught in the Crossfire does.

I first got into this job through prison re-entry work. Of all of the programs that I got to know, Youth Alive was my favorite. We work with a lot of people already caught up in the criminal justice system, and we also work with people who are at risk for getting caught up because they’ve been shot or stabbed. Once you’ve been affected by violence — when you’ve had someone you love killed or you’ve been hurt yourself — the odds are incredible that you will be a victim or perpetrator of violence again. A lot of that has to do with science and biology — basically it does a real number on you physically and biologically when you’ve had repeated exposure to terrible things like being shot.

And here we are in a community where this happens too often. I just thought what Youth Alive does and the bravery and the commitment with which our staff goes out and works with people is really amazing.
With Caught in the Crossfire, when someone gets shot — when there’s a shooting — some people live and some people die. But we’re always working together. Sometimes we’ll start working with somebody and unfortunately they won’t make it. Sometimes somebody gets beaten up and hospitalized and the next time they come in with a stab wound, the next time they come in with a gunshot. That’s the way that these things escalate unless you intervene and really work closely with them.

Obviously, Oakland gets a lot of press for being a violent place. What are some of the misconceptions you see in the way it gets portrayed?

People like to just say that there is tons of random violence that can’t be counteracted. I think one thing that is really interesting is that Oakland has a lot of programs that have been recognized nationally — that people have studied on the national level and say, “Wow, that really does work.” It’s good to know that a lot of cities around the country take hope from the kind of things that we’re doing in Oakland. There’s actually a lot of resilience and hope in terms of the work that we do.

There are so many people committed to changing the dialogue about Oakland. It’s amazing how many people are former victims of violence or formerly involved in violence who have committed to making this their life’s work.

And then of course there’s the notion that violence is everywhere. And it’s not. It’s really concentrated in a few places. And that doesn’t make it better, but that makes it so we can be smarter about how we go about addressing particular issues.

Can you just walk us through what exactly happens from the moment that somebody lands in the hospital? How do you hear about it and what do you do next?

We work with all of the trauma centers in the county: Highland, Children’s Hospital, and Eden Medical Center. We visit them, calm down the tension in case there was any talk of retaliation, and then work with them from the bedside to help them plan for how they’re going to take care of themselves.

We help these victims with the basics — making sure they have insurance compensation to help cover their medical costs, literally transporting them to their medical appointments. Maybe they need to be re-enrolled at school. Maybe they need to be taken to a job or junior college to get trained for a job. Maybe they need to relocate because someone is coming after them. Whatever it takes to support them.

We’re bonded with them from when we met them, because they were really ready for some change and we came to them as a peer from the community who cares about them. We are part of their lives. We work with them really, really closely from that point on and help them turn their life around.

How do you find the folks who end up helping with the interventions? Are they generally coming to you or are they usually people that you’ve worked with before?

We try to hire people who we know from the community. They’re previous victims of violence themselves or are connected to the issue. You want to find someone who has passion, cares about the community and is smart — then you can train them up on all the specifics. But having that ability to really connect and passion for the issue is really important.

There was this national study done that said that when young people get shot and go to the hospital, 44% end up coming back with another gunshot wound within 5 years. The same study said that 20% of them ended up dying by violence.

And you guys have had some pretty good luck in reducing those numbers with the people that you work with, right?

That’s right. We’ve had two published studies done and they show that our recidivism rates are less than five percent. Meaning less than five percent of our youth get injured again. Which is obviously a lot better than forty-four. One of them showed that two percent get injured again.

Since we started doing this work in 1994, there have been other programs that have sprung up because they have read about us or talked to us. So we have a network of programs — there are 21 across the country that do this work. So one of them in Baltimore did a study and found really significant differences in terms of getting injured again and also involvement in the criminal justice system for people that get connected with services at the hospital bedside.

So this whole violence issue in Oakland, it’s something that everyone who lives here is aware of. Everybody is kind of aware that it is a really complex issue that doesn’t have a quick fix. But for people who want to make things better, what are the sorts of basic things that people who live in Oakland can do to help address the issue?

Oakland has a reputation for being a place that has a lot of crime. But actually we’re a beacon of hope for a lot of other communities because of the work that we do here.

You can get involved with your neighborhood crime prevention council. You can support us financially — not just Youth Alive, but a number of organizations that work in the field.

There are also a number of volunteer opportunities. We’re always looking for people that can provide aid and comfort to families after a homicide. And there are other organizations as well that need that help.

Being involved in your neighborhood crime prevention council, giving your time or your money to the programs that are doing the work, and then politically supporting initiatives that put money into, not just police, but police and community programs.

I’ve got to ask, when you tell people what you do, you must get a lot of reactions from people being, “Wow, that must be really heavy. I could never do that.” — or something along those lines. So how do you react to that? It must be a really intense job to come in and do for you all, but obviously you’re making it work. So how do you handle the intensity of doing that kind of work all year round?

With our staff, we try to focus on taking time to do self-care and that type of stuff. But it doesn’t feel heavy when you have successes. It doesn’t feel heavy when someone graduates from high school. We had a young one who got shot in September; it was her senior year. Now she’s a youth leader and she just graduated and it’s like… you can’t feel bad about that! That’s a great feeling. It’s really motivating.

Are there any other groups or people in particular doing great work in Oakland that you think deserve a shout-out?

Yeah, absolutely. We have a lot of great partners that do a lot of amazing work. Certainly the work we do with homicides, helping those families, we couldn’t do without the Catholic Charities of the East Bay and their commitment to providing ongoing housing and mental health support.

And then we have a great relationship with the folks that do the street outreach work in our community. California Youth Outreach is the bigger of those organizations and amazing in the work that they do. And then we have our youth leadership partners: the Ella Baker Center and the Urban Peace Movement, who we work closely with.

And then of course the hospitals that provide the frontline care. The Children's Hospital Oakland and Alameda County Medical Center are not just partners — they put their money where their mouth is in terms of supporting this work. Because they know that you don’t just care for someone’s physical wounds — you have to care for the entire person.

Do you have one particular success story of someone that you’ve worked with lately?

We have a young man on staff now that was a client. He was shot in the back and damaged his spine. He thought he was never going to walk again and we worked really closely with him, and now he can walk. We got him enrolled in junior college. And so now he’s going to school and he works part-time for us. He just had a kid, so his whole world is different now. That’s probably a good example of the kinds of things that we do.

Anything else that you think people should know about what you guys do?

I feel like what people don’t understand is that these programs are working. They’re really working. Studies have shown that they are. The problem is just less and less money to fund the programs and the basic police services that we need, too. You, know every city that has made a major change has done so because they’ve made an investment. And as long as we keep making an investment of our money and our time, we’re gonna get past this.

I wish there was a lot more coverage of the people that are already working to address these issues in Oakland.

Right. When we had that Oikos shooting, there are a lot of cities that wouldn’t have been able to have a response. But because we were set up with the infrastructure, we were. We worked with all those families. To have a community that really cares about our victims is something special. Other cities take notice — that’s unusual.

And I think Oaklandish is part of that effort to say, “We’re proud to be from here and we take care of our own.”

This week I got a phone call from Memphis; I got an email from Minneapolis. There are cities contacting us in Oakland asking, “How can we copy what you do?” There are people that just think we are the worst, but in fact we really are a model.

There’s this attitude in Oakland — people are really resourceful and innovative with what they’ve got. Nobody is expecting anybody else to come in and fix the problem for them here. That’s something that people here in Oakland are proud of, but that just doesn’t get transported outside the city limits very much.

The I Am Oaklandish campaign features true Oakland originals from all walks of life. They give our city its oddball spirit, its passion for justice, and its creative vigor. They lift us up with laughter, peace, nourishment, and authentic hard work. They make us proud to call this town our home. They are Oaklandish.

There's no such thing as too much peace in Oakland. Our town's anti-violence campaigns have gained national recognition for their effectiveness — with the right funding and support, they have the power to heal our city.

How do they do it? Most of these educators grew up in the flats of East and West Oakland — they've been personally impacted by violence, and learned the hard way that it doesn't solve anything. They spread that message to students, help injured youth access services and escape gang life, and offer support to families who have lost loved ones. Sometimes it's as simple as driving someone to a doctor's appointment, or helping a grief-stricken family member fill out complicated paperwork. Other times, it means showing up in the emergency room to talk a victim's friends out of retaliating with more violence.

Some might say they have the toughest jobs around, but they don't see it that way. They're saving and changing lives, and to them, there is no better reward.

RAYNA SMITH is a Silence the Violence peace ambassador with the Urban Peace Movement. This program trains young people from East, West and North Oakland’s flatland neighborhoods. Over the course of 9 months, they are trained to identify cultural indicators of violence and to foster a culture of peace through community service and cultural events. They receive in-depth trainings on healing and reconciliation, communication skills, community transformation, and social justice leadership.

MARILYN WASHINGTON HARRIS is the founder of the Khadafy Foundation for Non-Violence. In 2000, Marilyn's son Khadafy was shot and killed while riding his bike in West Oakland. The crime remains unsolved, but Harris's experience inspired her to provide support to other grieving families. In the aftermath of a homicide, people can turn to the Khadafy Foundation for help with everything from funeral expenses to grief counseling, food, and child care. Since 2003, the program has served over 800 local families. In addition, they work tirelessly to stop the cycle of violence by preventing crimes and retaliation.

NICOLE LEE is the founding executive director of Urban Peace Movement, an Oakland-based organization that works to transform the mindset and culture of urban violence. She is a fourth-generation Oaklander and has spent the past 12 years in working on economic and juvenile justice issues.

RICHARD McCLENDON is a peer educator with Youth Alive. Peer educators work within their communities to present alternatives to violence. The program gives students intensive training on how to speak about the impact of violence on their lives, and act as positive role models in their communities. Nearly 100% of youth who go through this training end up graduating high school — even in schools with overall graduation rates of 40%. Richard was once a victim of violence — Youth Alive helped get recover and enroll at Merritt College. He and his coworkers reached over 1,200 students this year through their nonviolence education work. He loves his family and wants to make Oakland a better place for his kids to grow up in.

CAHERI GUTIERREZ works with Youth Alive to educate students about the impact of violence in their communities. At 18, she was sitting in her car in East Oakland when a stray bullet crashed through her window. With the help of Youth Alive, she recovered from her injuries, finished school and went on to educate kids throughout Oakland on alternatives to violence.

We at Oaklandish are proud to present the 2012 Innovators Awards winners. These grants are our way of giving back to the city that gives so much to the world — and of recognizing the unsung local heroes who walk among us. And these partnerships are about more than writing a check — we also work with these groups on events, collaborative designs, awareness campaigns, and more.

We also offer an authentic thanks to all of you who support Oaklandish, and know that our community has something for everybody only because, and only when, it is created by everybody.

Khadafy Washington Foundation

In 2000, Marilyn Harris's son Khadafy was shot and killed while riding his bike West Oakland. The crime remains unsolved, but Harris's experience inspired her to provide support to other grieving families. In the aftermath of a homicide, people can turn to the Khadafy Foundation for help with everything from funeral expenses to grief counseling, food, and child care. Since 2003, the program has served over 800 local families. In addition, they work tirelessly to stop the cycle of violence by preventing crimes and retaliation.

 

 

Town Park

Town Park was created in 2007 by local artist and arts educator Keith “K-Dub” Williams with the help of the local skateboard community at historic De Fremery Park in West Oakland. The goal was to create a facility that would allow youth to stay in their own community instead of traveling to neighboring city skateparks. The site has become a destination park for many local youth and adults of all ages, skill levels, and backgrounds, and has become a hub where everyone can come together to learn and showcase their skills. The grant will go fund program that help local youth to build, paint and skate a permanent, all-weather skate park.

 

 

 

Caught in the Crossfire

Caught in the Crossfire is a hospital-based intervention program that hires young adults who have overcome violence in their own lives to work with youth who are recovering from violent injuries. These highly-trained Intervention Specialists offer long-term case management, links to community services, home visits, and follow-up assistance to violently injured youth. The purpose is to promote positive alternatives to violence and to reduce retaliation, re-injury, and arrest. This program was the first of its kind in the nation, and led to the founding of the National Network of Hospital-based Violence Intervention Programs.

25th Street Collective

25th Street Collective, a sustainable business incubator, is bringing local industry back to Oakland. Their Innovators grant will fund a pilot program that brings high-tech garment manufacturing to our city. The program will focus on producing custom-made, sustainably-sourced garments, while educating local youth about sustainable business practices. The first pieces from the collection will be a t-shirt and a yoga pant. The goal of the program is to create quality inner-city work opportunities, while introducing Oaklanders to local, made-to-order clothing.

Oakland's innovators inspire our shirts, and the shirts in turn support the Innovators. 2012 marks the sixth year of annual grants given to organizations that are doing pioneering work in our community. If you know an artist, nonprofit, or other group that deserves a grant, send an email to innovators@oaklandish.com and nominate them!

At least 10% of all proceeds from our designs are donated to the Innovators program. In addition to financial support, Innovators receive help with design, events, social media — anything to get the word out about the good work going on in Oakland.

It's our way of recognizing those who exemplify the values of innovation and progress in all areas of civic life. The recipients represent a wide range of social interests and populations, and are not restricted by any political agenda. In the past few years, we've given Innovators grants to groups like Oakland Art Murmur, Youth Radio, My Yute Soccer, Children's Fairyland and the Oakland Underground Film Festival.

When playing soccer, My Yute Soccer co-founder, Rovel “Steve” Sparkes doesn’t look for the limelight. “My biggest joy comes from passing the ball. It’s not about scoring to me, it’s about passing. I always tell myself, ‘What good is it if you have all this knowledge and you don’t pass it on?’”

Sparkes has always been interested in uniting neighborhoods and cultures. Growing up on Unity Lane in western Kingston, Jamaica, Sparkes' street was used as a soccer field for children throughout the entire city, and his home became a regular post-game destination. After going to the 2006 World Cup in Germany, he knew he had to begin the process to make his childhood dream come true.

Sparkes and Program Manager Joanne da Luz founded the week-long free youth soccer camp in 2008 after working hard to raise funds, gain volunteer coaches, and reach out to interested youngsters. Though My Yute had only held summer camps in the past, they were awarded a grant through the 2011 Oaklandish Innovators Program, which allowed them to hold day-long mini-camps throughout the 2011-2012 school year.

The first mini-camp was held over Thanksgiving weekend and gave 30 kids the chance to learn what Sparkes calls the “language and culture” of soccer. He wants to teach the language so kids can travel anywhere in the world and be welcomed into the homes and hearts of the people they play with. While this last camp was for 8, 9, and 10 year olds, My Yute will hold more free mini-camps — in January for 6 and 7 year olds and then one later in the spring for middle schoolers.

The children involved in the camp come from all over Oakland. "Just at this mini-camp, we have thirteen different zip codes represented," says de Luz. "It's pretty spread out too. We have two zip codes that have four kids each, and then the rest are threes and twos." This wide base of interest is due to the fact that the volunteer coaches, mostly Sparkes' teammates in the Africari Soccer Club, are teachers and soccer coaches from different parts of Oakland. One coach is a professor at Cal State East Bay and just won a best coach award from the Piedmont Soccer League. Another is a resource specialist in East Oakland who helps non-English speaking families fill out the paperwork to enroll their children. And one coach, Sparkes' childhood friend from Oakland High, was inspired to start his own program at the Oakland school where he works.

In just three years, word of My Yute's camps has traveled by word of mouth, and more kids sign up every year. Through the mini-camps and into next year's summer camp, My Yute will give almost 200 kids the opportunity to learn about physical activity, creativity, and community through the language of soccer.

For months now, we and the excellent folks at 38th Notes have been collecting letters to the Town. This little leather-bound book has been quietly resting at Oaklandish Headquarters, inviting Oakland's citizens to spill their hearts on its pages. And now it's full of notes: messages of love, longing, celebration and regret.

Here are some of our favorite excerpts. We could say more, but the citizens of Oakland are best at speaking for themselves.

Dear Oakland,

I represent you with pride everywhere I go. Please don’t let my Oakland A’s leave the Town. That would be tragic.

Dear Oakland,

You’re my home. The place I return to after every struggle, achievment, heartbreak, memory. You are my foundation. Hip Hop culture has helped me keep going. From the ghetto to the hills, I wouldn’t rather live anywhere on this earth. Oakland is the center of the Bay Area. The root, the heart, the soul. The amount of things Oakland has done for me is rediculous. Raised me, taught me how to protect myself, exposed me to things I wouldn’t otherwise see, and has made me who I am today. The hills, the ghetto and everything in between holds so much beauty. Thank you.

Dear Oakland,

I call, I text, I write and nothing. Won’t you at least buy me dinner?

My Dearest Oakland,

I love you because you have the most beautiful men! I can fall in love in every traffic light!

Dear Biggity Biggity O,

My love knows no end. Up to down, East to West, which is the best, baby. Better than all the rest. We don’t need no West Bay. East Bay all the way. Lets stop killing each other tho, okay?

Dear Oakland,

You have been elevating, insperating, and recreating, at times meditating. Oakland your roots dig deep into my soul, and for this I love you.

Dear Oakland,

I love you. You are so understated and awesome. You have so much delicious food, many swanky bars, and lots of diversity. You have heart and soul, and care about issues that matter to me. You’ve been a great home for the last 11 years. I’ll never forget you. Thanks for providing me with such a good life.

Dear Oakland,

I fell in love with you in 1997. I didn’t even realize I was looking for love. At first I thought you were too dangerous for me. Then, I thought you didn’t love me back. I started to learn your language. You’re mysterious. Like all loves you transformed me. Like a true love, you accepted me for who I am. I love you.