Sights & Sounds of East Oakland

From prison activism to revolutionary poetry, author and educator Tongo Eisen-Marten's work has taken him from San Francisco to South Africa, with a stop at Riker's Island and Columbia University along the way.

Nehanda Imara wrote to Hey Area, KALW’s community-journalism project, and asked:  "What is the oldest black business still existing on East 14th Street?"

Ivan Garcia is only 15 years old, but he’s already working with Oakland city officials, and was appointed by Mayor Libby Schaaf to the city’s Youth Advisory Commission.

Stand outside Yaelisa’s East Oakland dance studio on a quiet night and you can hear the sound of dancers practicing their footwork. Inside the studio, about ten women in long skirts are standing in line behind their teacher.  She sings throughout her class and calls out guidance to her students as she keeps the rhythm with her hands and feet. The dancers move in unison. The sounds of their stomps take on the quality of a drum.

Click the audio player above to listen to Damu's audio story  

Evergreen Cemetery is famous for its service to the community of East Oakland. For example, Huey P. Newton, the co-founder of the Black Panther Party was cremated here.

Hip hop music originally captured the spirit of a generation that was young in the 1980s. That generation and others that came after it are no longer young, but many of the people making the music are not ready to call it quits.

Oakland Voices correspondent Kat Ferreira lives near the remains of the Ghost Ship warehouse—where 36 people died in a fire in December. She brings us this story about how a new mural is helping some neighbors process the tragedy and move on.

Most artists follow their visions in the privacy of their studios, but one Oakland artist is re-defining public space: a park. Laila Espinoza is a community artist — one whose art touches larger social themes while engaging the surrounding community. She does all this at Athol Plaza Park in Oakland nearly every weekend.

This is my grandmother’s story as much as it is mine. I lived with her, Attaway, on 2657 67th Avenue from August 2006 to May 2012 and enjoyed every minute of it. But a series of events killed my joy.

Turning down 23rd Avenue towards International Boulevard, I see the words “Culture is a weapon” painted the side of a building wall.