09 January 2009

What is up, Oaktown!?


My heart is breaking on the other coast. Be good, The Town.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thats stupid.

Anonymous said...

Oakland is a joke.

Anonymous said...

Oakland is humanity: inspiring, capable, yet ultimately disappointing.

Anonymous said...

Tell us how you really feel!

Anonymous said...

I like Anon #3. And I would add, Oakland is a great metaphor for a lot of what is wrong in this country that continues to remain unfixed. Don't blame Oakland...

Quel said...

I can respect calling a spade a spade, however deep or complex the issue may be. However apathy and complacence will get us nowhere. Obviously anon 1 & 2 gave up on the place (and moved to... LA?). I would suggest working towards creating a sense of collective community and thereby fostering a notion of local pride. And fixing what is wrong with this country (a la anon 5) begins in your locality. Perhaps the perpetual Oakland struggle is identity, maybe its a manifestation of what's wrong with this country. Whatever the overall issues may be, giving up and saying it's stupid is undeniably feeble.

Anonymous said...

Go Giants!!!

Anonymous said...

HUH

suddenlyshida said...

And this, my prankster family, is one of the blessings of the events of the last week.

Get your feelings out! Start a discussion, be pissed off, be hopeful ... but most of all be honest. And if i may encourage "Anonymous" folks to feel safe enough within this micro-community we've got goin on here to speak your mind/heart with your name. We can't hide from each other face to face, why should we hide here?

Thank u Quelfriend for opening the door to discussion/support of the amazing city I now call home. I've lived here only a year and am continually hearing "how peaceful" "how quiet" and "mellow" not only MY neighborhood is, but Oakland in general. So in this time when pent up fear and old beliefs have come to the surface, it's clear to me, especially as an artist/creator, to focus on what i want to see and what i HAVE experienced. Which is mainly Peace, Love and Community. Love In ACTION.

I’m inspired to say Oakland and This Amazing Country don't need “FIXING!” There is nothing "wrong"/ "to blame". Growth and change are happening perpetually according to what we think about and do the most. 2009 hopefully will be the year where everyone started remembering how fucking awesome they truly are. Embracing what’s good and what works (individually and collectively) and letting the rest fall away.

Quel, you mentoined a sort of "local accountability". I believe everything that happens outside of me is a reflection of what's going on inside of me on some level. There is “no ONE” or “no THING” to be against, or I'm AGAINST MYSELF! I believe fear has driven people (and me personally) to feel shitty, disconnected and unworthy, which leads to the desire to delete the bad feeling or the perceived cause. But really what’s happening is we’re forgetting our intrinsic awesomeness. It’s like I’d only feel those yuck feelings when I forgot that I have something totally unique and amazing to contribute to this world.

We are one. There's no cutting off one part to save the whole. Change & growth for me, have come as I learn to practice loving and accepting ALL. Especially the parts of me that I don't wanna look at the most. The extremely violent thoughts, envious thoughts, shame for shit i've done or haven't done - Fearful thoughts and impulses that if acted upon would impact my families, then my community and then my world.

This past week, a lot of these thoughts came to fruition and now it's my turn to do my part in moving through them and letting them go.

Hmm, guess I had a lot to say about it. =) Thanks for letting me share w/ya’ll.

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

I love you guys, shida

antjag said...

So with the recent activity in Oakland. Does anyone have anything else to add?
I must say Oakland does have great timing.

Dan B said...

Hey, at least the Fox Theater got rennovated!

Anonymous said...

Ricky Henderson, Hall of Famer