Life is Living Oakland: Powered by Youth Speaks
A Photographic Essay
by Aïdah Aliyah Rasheed
Life is Living is a free celebration of urban life through hip hop, intergenerational health, and environmental action. The communal festival, which took place in West Oakland at the DeFremery Park, also known as Lil Bobby Hutton Park, was presented by Youth Speaks. The morning began with The Peoples Kitchen Free Breakfast Program, live poetry from The Bigger Picture Poets (Youth Speaks), and other performances & speeches from doctors, food justice activists, and performance artists. In addition to running into friends and family members, some of the highlights throughout the day were witnessing festival participants engage with the ‘Reflections of Healing Murals’ by artist Brett Cook, catching glimpses of children laughing, and witnessing Amir Sulaiman pour his heart out on the main stage.
‘Reflections of Healing Mural Project’ beautified the scene
Nothin’ but smiles
Brother with the ‘Bucket Hat’ had the crowd hype at the Hip Hop Stage
Fashion was in full effect & this sister was ready to lift off
Sisters at the main stage enjoying the performances & that Oakland sunshine
The sounds brought everyone to their feet
And the highlight of the day…
Brother Amir Sulaiman’s set started with, “The Sky is Mine”
And then he asked us all to join in… “you can have the earth, the pile of dirt, but the sky is mine..the sky is mine..the sky is mine”
Brother Sulaiman followed with “Come to the Hills (We Must Win)” from ‘The Opening’ album and the crowd felt every word…
To conclude he left the stage to join the crowd as we collectively sang, “Alhamdulillah [all praises to God], Hallelujah” from the Meccan Openings album. As brother Amir performed the song, he said of its meaing,
“This song is more relevant than when I wrote it. They want to act like the people of Alhamdulilah and Hallelujah are two different people …. We’re one people right now from our ancestors to our descendants.”
It was indeed a beautiful day full of life & lots of love
You can join brother Amir in Oakland for a few upcoming events, including his upcoming poetry, identity, and spirituality workshop, click the photo for more details.
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