West Oakland’s infamous reputation as a troubled neighborhood precedes itself. But despite this reputation for being a dangerous, crime-ridden, inhospitable, town, something like 30,000 people – families, seniors, young couples, hipsters, black, white, Chinese – live there. And though West Oakland has experienced more instances of gang violence and crime than, say, Berkeley or North Oakland, it also represents a dynamic, diverse and richly layered populace.
This was proven to me today, at the Life is Living festival, powered by Marc Bamuthi Joseph’s YouthSpeaks. I spent four hours hanging around at De Fremery Park by myself, enjoying the festival, and feeling more emotional in response to the music, culture, activism than I expected.
First of all, the location: De Fremery Park, also known as Li’l Bobby Hutton Park. Where, in the 60’s, the Black Panthers organized, connected, and rallied. See Elbert “Big Man” Howard of the Black Panthers talk about the park and its history, here. Oakland’s radical history is now often forgotten or obscured by the injustices and violences that have come to the area since.
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- The historic De Fremery Recreation Center has served as a community hub since the park opened in 1910.
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- Bryant Terry's "Reflections of Healing" portraits comprised the main art programming at Life is Living. Here, a conceptual map of Oakland is filled with residents' feelings towards their town.
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- One of Bryant Terry's portraits, leaning against the De Fremery Recreation Center walls
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- Outside of the De Fremery skate park
