Towards Home:

We distributed our flyers to a few more local Laurel spots and then made our way back home. We had to unexpectedly pull over; the batteries in our digital camera died. Immediately behind us, a car tucked into a parking spot. We didn’t pay much attention until a woman came out of her car onto the sidewalk, laughing and saying. “I HAD to stop, I am just so curious. What are you guys doing? What is this all about?” We told her our story; then she shared hers with us. She had a very personal East Oakland boundary: the U-Haul depot on 53^rd and International. Turns out that she has moved a lot recently, but has finally settled in the Laurel. When we asked her if this was East Oakland, she said “This is definitely not East Oakland. Anything below the 580 is East Oakland. This is Borderline East Oakland.” This was a new distinction for us!