Not too long ago NPR program State of the Re:Union reached out to us here at 38thnotes to help them put together an hour long program on Oakland. They were interested in what made Oakland such a special place, and their findings revealed a rebellious DIY attitude rooted in necessity. Oakland has long been a bastion of creative thinking and community resolve, because the city doesn’t provide citizens with many services. Host Al Letson introduces some of the community efforts bubbling under the surface here, en route to dubbing Oakland the Self-Made City.

Areas of focus include The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, the Chauncey Bailey Project, Chinatown’s tai chi and chi gong gatherings, Oakland’s local hip-hop rebirth, Sobrante Park’s time banking program and Oakland International High School students efforts to craft community from difference. These are all very different pieces of Oakland’s patchwork, but all are united by their focus on building self-sustaining communities in the face of the city’s blind eye and lack of investment. In Oakland, activism is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.

Oakland emcee Do DAT and I (Coolhand Luke) had the privilege of weighing in on Oakland’s local hip-hop culture rebirth. In recent years Oakland venues have once again opened up to hip-hop and artists have embraced a more collaborative spirit, rather than a competitive divisiveness that leaves the region unable to unite and shine. It should be noted that although 38thnotes helped curate the Get:Live Sessions, Mr. Letson misinforms listeners that it was my project. The Get:Live Sessions were in fact the brain child of Bay Area renaissance man, Rafael Casal, one of 38thnotes’s creative partners.

Without further ado, I welcome you to listen to State of The Re:Union’s episode on Oakland, the self-made city.

DL:

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