West Oakland History:

Among all of the interesting conversations with had with folks at the fair, probably among the most memorable were the stories shared by two older African American men.

One lamented, “West Oakland is not what it used to be. When I lived there, in the 1940s and ‘50s, there was a sense of community and camaraderie: people knew each other. There were black owned businesses. When the freeways were built, many homes were destroyed and people were forced to move to East Oakland. Now it’s like a ghost town.” He told me some important landmarks are: Esther’s Orbit Room, Ramondy Park and the 16^th Street Train Station. He describes Grand Avenue as the dividing line for the West, but in general believes that “…all maps are political. How the city is divided up and what is called West and what is called East all depends on the politicians and how they want to see the city.”

Pursey, the other older man that I talked to for awhile, first told me that he admired our tandem bike because he thought it was a great way to pick up the ladies! In wondering where is South Oakland, he thought that West Oakland is actually south and that anything east of Lake Merritt is East Oakland. He grew up in West Oakland in the 1940s, but he remembers that his mother got them out of there as soon as she could because “it was a negative place.” Blacks moved from West to East Oakland when construction forced them out: the freeways, the post office. But people also wanted to move to East Oakland because a lot of the houses were newer. Now West Oakland is being gentrified and people want those old houses: “I remember in the 70s I had the opportunity to buy a house, a beautiful Victorian, for eleven thousand dollars. Now lots of people from San Francisco, not blacks, are buying houses and moving to West Oakland.” Wikipedia has a good overview of West Oakland history.

After talking to Pursey, we enjoyed some delicious food from Tanjia, a local Moroccan restaurant, an early member of Temescal’s so-called gourmet ghetto. Then we wrapped up our conversations for the day.