Urban Up Close Oakland Edition: Tent Communities, Hipster Haven, and Black Woman is God

Being back in the United States for a short amount of time has brought back many emotions, some very pleasant and others very painful. Dealing with the anger and frustration of violence and oppression against Black people and people of color, the displacement of Blacks/People of Color and poor people because of gentrification, and yet the on-going resilience and artivist culture of the people here in Oakland. I do not currently have enough emotional energy to write a full, coherent post on Oakland, which — in many ways — is my first home of homes. However, I could not visit and spend time in Oakland without making some comments about my experience being back from the perspective of an urbanist, black person, local. This visit to Oakland felt like “the last supper.” In the sense that the next time I visit Oakland (or the Bay Area in general), everything will be very different-even more different than it already is. So below I make some less than articulate comments and share the surface of feelings of my experience being back and black in Oakland.

Comment #1: Tent Communities

There have always been an absurd amount of homeless in Oakland and San Francisco. However, what has been developing over the last years since

gentrification has really taken off is tent communities under freeways and overpasses. Rows of tents where newly homeless people live who have been evicted from or pushed out of their apartments/homes because of rising rent prices. The city is not enacting enough housing policies to protect tenants whose buildings get purchased and whose rent doubles or triples with only a 60 day notice. Although there have been some soft policies put in place they are only temporary or only apply to a small amount of renters. These tent communities are a blatant example of some of the negative effects of gentrification, the ‘techification’ of the entire Bay Area, and Oakland revitalization in general. People cannot afford to live inside buildings, so they live inside tents.

Comment #2: Hipster Haven

Many new places have popped up in Oakland and many of them are not bad. It’s great to have more grocery stores that sell organic products and more cafes. There are more bike lanes, even though people in West Oakland have been biking for decades since they could not afford cars (there’s still not many bike lanes there). There are only bike lanes in the neighborhoods in West Oakland which have a certain amount of new residents and are undergoing gentrification.

Of course with these new cafes you have to be able to afford a $6 artisanal free trade coffee, but if you can it’s a great life. New restaurants with yummy food and creative $14 cocktails. Many of these places use the same trendy hipster decor, which is not without wood and brick. Seemingly industrial looking. Many of these new places are in old buildings that have been adaptively re-used, so many of the aesthetics that are now cool are apart of the building by default (exposed beams, open warehouse spaces, etc.)

These new places also employ Oakland (Bay Area vernacular) as a way to seem local and connected. Three of the five new places I visited had “hella” on their advertisements, menu, or as a hashtag: for example, “hella vegan food.” I could do a whole post about how language is used extensively and strategically in rapidly gentrifying areas. If you are a middle-class hipster in Oakland (almost all hipsters have to be middle-class or above to afford to move to and live in places like Brooklyn and Oakland) this is your haven. You can seem cool, cultural, and connected without really connecting to the current Oakland community or thinking at all about how your $18 mixed green salad cannot be afforded by most people who are being displaced all around you.

Comment #3: Black Woman is God

Despite rapid gentrification and techification of Oakland (and the whole Bay Area), the artists, activists, and original creatives that have always made Oakland (Bay Area) the vibrant, diverse, and cultural place that it is are still there and resilient — even though the numbers are dwindling. A wonderful example of this is The Black Woman is God: Reprogramming That God Code Exhibit, which is currently up at SomaArts Cultural Center in San Francisco. Several women from Oakland and the Bay Area — including artists, dancers, performers, activists, healers, etc. participated in this exhibit. The opening night was beyond magic… so much energy and people in one space celebrating, being present, and transforming space. The Facebook event more articulately says:

Co-curated by Karen Seneferu and Melorra Green, The Black Woman is God celebrates the Black female presence as the highest spiritual form and challenges viewers to do the same. More than 60 intergenerational artists working in sculpture, painting, and new media hone in on the vital contributions of Black women as artists and social change-makers, ensuring that the Black woman’s contribution to society is seen and valued.

Especially in the midst of a changing Oakland and a shifting Bay Area it is important to shed light on and support these type of events that fully and robustly express the Oakland that many of us know; one that is diverse, creative, artistic, intercultural, a little rough around the edges, but home.

There are other projects that aim to address and bring awareness to how much Oakland is changing. There are a couple murals that have been painted exposing the impacts gentrification has on Oakland residents and neighborhoods. There are community meetings that give resources to people being pushed out and try to strategize around the consequences of gentrification.

In the midst of it all and especially in a time like this, Oakland is showing how resilient, accepting, and adaptive it is. I do not believe Oakland will be the same, and I’m not implying that it should stay the same. However, it is important that those who make Oakland the wonderful vibrant place that it is are not (all) pushed out and able to enjoy the revitalization, because along with them goes the soul of the city. You cannot “rebirth” the city of Oakland because it was never dead. We are here, we exist, and always will.