As the October sun set, drums beat through West Oakland, warming the air at DeFremery Park. Children waved peace flags they hand made. Dancers moved to the djembe drum’s rhythm, stirring up the scent of grass and earth. Under the oak trees hung a wide banner: “Life Is Living.”
On October 12, the 17th annual Life is Living festival transformed historic DeFremery Park—also known as Lil’ Bobby Hutton Park—into a celebration of Oakland’s spirit. Organized by People’s Kitchen Collective, this free community festival mixed art, music, and activism. It honored the legacy of the Black Panther Party, which once served breakfast and liberation lessons here.
“Life is Living is about turning this moment into a moment of becoming. Each year, another generation steps into new roles—that’s the elevation, that’s the living.”
Hodari Davis
Founded in 2008 by cultural strategist Hodari Davis and artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Life is Living reflects the Town’s rhythm, where music, protest, and family unite.
“Sometimes we forget the future is as important as the present or the past,” Davis said near the main stage as youth performers prepared. “Life is Living is about turning this moment into a moment of becoming. Each year, another generation steps into new roles—that’s the elevation, that’s the living.”
That sense of becoming flowed through the day. The People’s Kitchen Collective served free breakfast in honor of the Panthers. Youth Speaks poets performed with urgency. Vendors sold shea butter, handmade jewelry, and West African fabrics. Roller skaters glided over Town Park’s smooth concrete.
Oakland native Jennifer Johns’s set blended gospel roots and revolutionary fire. Her voice floated above the beat, like a blessing before the evening’s finale.
Headliners Ajai Kasim and M’kai weaved West African drums with hip hop and spoken word with “Twisted Universe.” Ajai’s return was special. He once performed here as a child with youth group Young, Gifted and Black. “YGB” opened the festival. His appearance as a headliner completed a circle, showing the festival’s intergenerational heartbeat.
‘We belong here. We built this.’
Congresswoman Lateefah Simon told the audience that joy and resistance are intertwined in Oakland’s story.
“If they want to take the things we fought for away from us, it’s a hell no for us!,” Simon said. “We can never capitulate with racists. We belong here. We built this.”
Simon honored foremothers like Angela Davis, Elaine Brown, and Assata Shakur. And she memorialized people who recently died, including Nadiyah Shereff and Achebe Thomas. “The purpose of this evil is to take your joy and your memory, but Life is Living lifts that memory up and creates a new future for Black and Brown young people,” Simon said.
The crowd swayed between mourning and celebration. Heads nodded. Some shouted, “Ase!” Others held fist in the area. The crowd mourned and celebrated, and swayed between sermon and rally.
‘A space for our culture and community’
Long time participant and organizer Jazz Hudson said the event represents thriving.
“It embodies us thriving,” she said. “It’s the spirit of our ancestors—a testament to our liberation and determination. People pass every day, and they don’t come back. So, the goal is to uplift life.”
By late afternoon, the park glowed with community ritual. Children played football as families packed up for the day. Friends embraced, exchanging numbers and laughter.
Venus Morris hugged an old friend and reflected on the event’s meaning.
“For two decades it’s been a curated space for our culture and community,” she said. “You know you can come here, get a hug, reconnect. Every day we’re fighting to enjoy each moment — that’s living.”
Micia Mosley linked that joy to liberation beyond survival. “Our embodiment of who we’ve been and who we have yet to be is this present moment,” she said. “We can’t be confined by labor or capitalism. We have to listen to those who came before and pour into those who come after.”
“Life is living because my brothers are here,” Adrian ‘AD’ Henderson said. “I get to see you, be with you, be present. That’s the love.”
Life is Living reminds us that resistance can look like dancing barefoot, feeding neighbors, or raising a fist to the sky. The festival remembers the past and insists that joy itself is a form of freedom.
Naru Kwina kept it simple. With a grin, he said, “Because without life, you ain’t living!”
This story was published with support from the Akonadi Foundation.
Great story.