Buffalo Souljah
Walking South from Seventeenth Street
I noted the massive influx of photographics
along the way all recently installed
by businesses hoping to keep their display
I noted the massive influx of photographics
along the way all recently installed
by businesses hoping to keep their display
windows unbroken
Almost all shown are on only one side of Broadway
Same sort of thing on the other side as well
Starting point
No shortage of pride
A bit of chinoiserie manages to squeeze in
Kind of an over-determined public service
ad campaign
I think a white person
tried to photo-bomb this one
Heaven forefend
My favorite
Faces on the other side as mentioned
The Sculpture Garden
This was a bust made
perhaps unwisely
of breakable material
Gone within a few days
Recently installed
Everyday People
Time to renew
Ideals of social justice
The Great Outdoors
and the Cannabis shop down the street
A constant militancy underneath
Ironically this building The Rotunda
is owned by Phil Tagami
who's fighting to build a massive coal terminal
at the Port of Oakland bordered by a large
Black population plagued by particulate pollution
Shadow of the Panther
The Awaken Cafe
If you ain't woke when you come in
you will be on your way out
Another peek across the street
Smiling faces going places
She looks as skeptical as I feel
in a manner of speaking
Fourteenth Street
three blocks since starting
This was the single most destroyed business
Oddly I was there on 31 May 2020
Chatted with a Black security guard out front
We both knew what was in store for the City later that night
Without an alternative since then but wonders never cease
Walgreens has rebuilt it & a reopening is planned
The African-American population has long regarded Oakland as their city.
In recent years Big Capitol led by property values and rents in San Francisco have been building market rate housing at a fierce pace and rents have really climbed. In a sense lower income and working class Blacks historically benefited by the rundown quality of the city and by its various social hazards.
It was keeping the city affordable. It is increasingly apparent that their situation is facing some drastic changes. The Black population has gone from 60% to 40% and the writing seemed on the wall. More and more displacement and homelessness. Couple that with a militarized police and the horror of the murder of George Floyd it is not difficult to see the onset of an existential crisis
This parade of photos, exclusively of Black people, suggests that despite the ongoing gentrification and the growing misery on its mean streets, the City is still theirs.
23 May 2021
