2012 East Oakland Project Blogs

East Oakland Poet ‘Bossman’ Puts in Work to Heal, Teach

Growing up in East Oakland, Dre Johnson, “the violence and crimes that go on, you don’t talk about. You’re just not supposed to name names, you’re not supposed to say shit out loud.” He says his spoken word allowed him to express his feelings about “how the shit went down.” Poetry became one of the few ways he saw to address some hard experiences. […]

2012 East Oakland Project Blogs

Single Mothers Build Careers & Family, Defying Stereotypes

“Growing up, there was just a negative connotation with being a single mom,” says Candase Chambers, “and now that I am one, I’m not that stereotype. I feel like I have to work hard to dispel the stereotype for myself, because when you meet new people the first thing people do is look at your ring finger and see you aren’t married.” […]

2012 East Oakland Project Blogs

Health of the Hood: Maxwell Park

By Katrina Davis – I’ve lived in this neighborhood since I was 2 years old. It’s pretty quiet and suburban. I know some of my neighbors, and they even come over from time to time for events. The crimes that happen here and there are mainly break-ins, but other than that it’s pretty quiet. Everyone seems to have a pretty nice front yard and keeps it up. […]