2017-2018 Project Blogs
Sweet and Bitter
I’m leaving my $1400 – a-month two-bedroom rented house, locking my closet door; otherwise, known as my front door, with the leaky roof above it. I lock the two locks on my security door and […]
Culture
2017-2018 Project Blogs
Love letter to the Fruitvale
Kalil and I were in bed just last night and at about 8 p.m. we heard firecrackers outside our bedroom window. Several rounds of fire crackers-crackle, boom, swoosh. We just laughed hard, what are […]
2016 Project Blogs
Undercover Healing
“Forget about whatever you did. Just feel your heart.” -Kokou Soglo Katamani Every student in the room said that they would do it all again next year. These students at Leadership Public School (LPS) in […]
2016 Project Blogs
Martial Arts Sifu Bill Owens Reflects on his 50th Year
It’s Saturday afternoon and three rows of children stand frozen in anticipation, waiting for their Martial Arts Master, Sifu Bill Owens, to walk them through the next sequence of gestures. After the children mirror his […]
2016 Project Blogs
2016 Project Blogs
Sidewalk Memorials: A Softer Side of Oakland
Living in East Oakland is like having a close relationship with a problematic relative. You can call your auntie “crazy,” because she’s your auntie, but you can’t let anyone outside the family call her crazy. […]
2016 Project Blogs
O.G. Beat Meet, a video story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0zsTayZKx4
2016 Project Blogs
Dad Hip Hop
“It wasn’t hard to be a Tupac fan when I was in high school,” says Oakland rapper, music producer, record label owner, and dad, Tahajiye Edwards. “But people thought you were a little strange when […]
2016 Project Blogs
Oakland Sanctuary Posadas
Editor’s Note: This story was written during the Christmas season. Given the recent proposed immigration bans and the escalation of deportations of undocumented people, it is sadly more relevant than ever. It is December 23 […]
2016 Project Blogs
Full circle
On a brisk Monday night, we roamed through the streets of Oakland in search of supplies to finish up a project for The Naming Gallery. Jonathan Bailey and I spent at least 30 minutes at […]