(Editor's note: Our continuing series that looks at Oakland Local's picks for people/organizations to watch in 2011. See all profiles in this series.)

In the club, in the streets, in corporate towers … the steady burn of corruption eats our world. Flames of shame and disrespect climb higher.

But wait, what’s that? Bursting through cerebral dams – dj fflood’s sound saturates, washing dancing masses clean of preconceived limits. His musical potions are healing waves of reverb and swirling pools of quick and tender tempo.

One doesn’t have to know the specifics of his belief system to feel that he absolutely spins from a place of spirit, but this is what he had to say on the subject:

“I grew up Christian. I found out much later in life that both of my parents are atheist. At some point when I was 18 or 19, I had an angry break up with Christianity. I started to question a lot of stuff, which informed my political platforms. Why is god gendered as male? What are these images of white Jesus? My ancestors were colonized. We had our traditional ways, which have been demonized. This isn’t for me.

“I sought to reanimate what my ancestors practiced before slavery. My spirituality is largely influenced by the Orisha tradition, which includes ancestor reverence. That whole bookcase over there, that’s all dedicated to ancestors, affinity ancestors and books about ancestors. I have a consecrated Esu, which is the Orisha of the crossroads. Esu opens the roads to blessings and opportunities for growth, and closes the doors against stuff I don’t need.

"Buddhism has helped me emotionally. I start out my mornings just breathing, meditating on gratitude. I like to begin my day right like that. I believe in a higher creative being. I don’t endow that being with a gender or color. I see Orisha as subsets of all that. We’re all subsets, little parts of the higher source.”

In addition to elevating Oakland residents with his music, dj fflood also spends his days painting, writing a novel (feminist speculative fiction) and formulating plans for outdoor summertime house parties.

Born in New York as Richard Wright, dj fflood identifies as a Jamaican New Yorker that loves living in Oakland. He moved to Jamaica as a teen and attended high school there.

“I came back to New York in the late '80s. I went out to some underground clubs. Red Zone stands out to me," he said. "It was the first time I’d seen a musical community that mostly brown folks - straight and gay - were just hanging out, kicking it, having a good time. Coming from Jamaica, I had never seen that before. I was impressed by the sense of community, and I was impressed by the music.

“People just wanted to sweat and elevate through dancing. It impacted me greatly. I needed to get my fix. House music is a feeling! I was deejaying a lot in New York - five nights a week. I had a whole nocturnal community (clubs go till 6 a.m.). I saw more sunrises than sunsets in the latter part of my time in New York.

“I was in New York when 9/11 happened. It caused some reflection. I love deejaying, and I love healing arts. I was trying to fuse all of that. I looked up music therapy and wanted to add another layer of credentials and experience to what I have.”

Fortunately for us, Oakland became dj fflood’s new home when he applied to and attended the graduate program in Expressive Arts Therapy at California Institute for Integral Studies.

“I like to give folks an alternative to top 40. I saw a joke on Facebook, that you could make a pop song generator that’s like `shake that ___ girl, blah blah blah let’s get drunk.’ Sometimes people will ask me to play it and I’ll say the truth, I don’t have it. I think there’s enough saturation with that kind of music. Sometimes I’m in slight education mode and I’m like, ‘I’m playing black music that doesn’t get played on hip-hop stations, and I’m just trying to make more options.’

“House music has roots in black and brown, gay and straight Chicago. It’s interesting to see reflections of that here in Oakland," he continued. "I definitely aim to play music that feels heartful and soulful, and doesn’t have oppressive messages. It’s also about finding the community of folks that want to go on that journey. I want to craft a sustainable way to intersect art, activism and community events in 2011.”

The mighty power of dj fflood’s movement toward wholeness can be understood in the title bar of his blog, fem.men.ist “collaborative brainstorming and revolutionary heartstorming towards conscious community ::: race, gender, sexuality & masculinity politics.”

Straight allies to the queer community (as fflood undeniably is) should not be under-appreciated; they are often equally ostracized, guilt by association. dj fflood shared how he came to the decision to take a stand against sexism and homophobia:

“I was brought up by progressive Jamaican parents. They’re both from rural Jamaica (like no running water). They ended up at Columbia University. In Jamaica, [homophobic] language like ‘that’s so gay’ is extremely pervasive. My parents never used that language. They would introduce ‘Aunt Heather,’ and then later they would say ‘Aunt Heather is a lesbian.’ There was no judgment around it. They would present it like it was nothing to be alarmed about. After my dad, Lloyd Wright, passed away, I heard that when he was 20 and living down in Kingston, he intervened in a gay bashing. I didn’t know that. Obviously some of that has been passed on.”

Feminist tendencies developed early on in dj fflood, when he witnessed the struggles of his younger sister.

“She loved to play soccer. She was amazing. She played with all the boys. They told her that she couldn’t be on the school team. It was heartbreaking to her. I felt like, ‘Why can’t my sister play on the team? What’s up? She’s one of the best players! That’s not cool.’

“There was a point where the person who’s now my brother-in-law, my sister and I were all deejays. We were the deejay family. My sister would be carrying her records to the club and they would say, ‘Just because you’re carrying your boyfriend’s records, doesn’t mean you’re getting in free!’ I watched what she went through … Most of my friends are female, so just seeing what people I love and care about go through definitely awakened a lot of this for me.”

As a little guy, dj fflood would use his allowance to buy 45’s at the record store. His favorite gifts were records from his parents: Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire. Today you can hear the grooves that he cherishes every last Thursday at Jupiter in Berkeley.

Cecil Carthen and dj fflood are promoting an event every Thursday, at Paradiso in Oakland.

“Cecil and I definitely had in mind that there was this huge void in Oakland. We want our party to follow the tradition of the Brothers and Sisters party. So we named it Release – just come and let go! We’re bringing in guest deejays to spin dancehall, salsa, hip hop and samba. We can mix communities, but still keep a really nice vibe going. And we bring food, so people can also be nourished.”

Read more profiles in our 11 for 11 series.