What are you thankful for? Oaklanders weigh in--please add your voice in the comments
Photo by Athena Vina
The City of Oakland has a 17% reported unemployment rate, foreclosures are high, and times are rough for almost everyone, but that doesn't mean everything in Oakland isn't going well--there's new vibrancy downtown, urban gardens and new initiatives to improve corner markets are happening around town, and merchants and neighborhood associations are working together to promote strong communities. And for many of us, the tough challenges of the past year mean that we're entering this season just grateful for being here, keeping on.
In that spirit, Oakland Local asked a cross section of local people to tell us a bit about what they were thankful for this Thanksgiving.
"I am thankful for having been born and raised in Oakland and I am thankful to be raising my son here. I am thankful for new progressive voices calling for open and transparent government and long-time activists sharing lessons on building multiracial electoral power. I am thankful for those working to create an Oakland for everyone. I am thankful for Oakland."
--Esperanza Tervalon-Daumont, Executive Director of Oakland Rising, an Oakland native, committed to shifting Oakland's political landscape to advance and agenda that addresses the needs of low income communities of color:
"The blessings come sprinkled in moments throughout the year. Most often I've found myself giving thanks for the lessons and the people involved in delivering them, even though they tend to arrive under less than pleasant circumstances. My elders call them growing pains. I guess this year I grew a lot! I am grateful to family, friends and complete strangers who helped to support my growth. I am thankful for all of the minutiae that add up to progress in our communities, and that I am not yet too jaded to hope for more."
--Blaktivist, aka krys f, blogger, writer & co-conference chair for the first Butch Voices conference, held in Oakland, CA in August, 2009
"We are thankful for President Obama."
--Loretta & James are fifty-seven thirtythree, an East Oakland design shop that makes all their gear using water based, solvent free inks. No sweatshops, art directors, consultants, or teleconferencing are used in the production process.
"This year, I have so many wonderful things to be thankful for: My family, my friends, and my health, just to name a few. But this year, I am definitely mindful of a presence that will be missed at the table on Thursday… that of my dear friend Nancy Cooley, whom I was blessed to know for over a decade before she lost her fight with lymphoma this Spring. She was one of my best friends and one of the most honest, direct, funny, no-nonsense, hip chick I’ve ever met, and had the honor to call “friend.” I am very grateful, and thankful that I had her in my life, and will hold her memory close to my heart for the rest of my days."
---Allegra Bandy, one of the Bay Area’s homegrown soulful songstresses, performing as a multi-genre vocalist, composer, and recording artist.
"David is glad to have just moved to Oakland. He lived in the East Bay from 2000-2004 and just two months ago moved back around 51st and Telegraph. He's happy that some friends are still around and thankful for new friends he's met. He is also thankful that his new apartment complex has a laundry facility and ample parking."
--David Cohn is the founder of Spot.us, a crowd-funded news resource. He says his life is here: http://www.digidave.org, and his work is here: http://spot.us
"Last year my mother died, a 10 year consulting job ended, and a 6 year relationship completed. I am so thankful for life after death including a new love, a renewed relationship with my father, and deepening compassion for those who are in grieving processes of all kinds."
--Francesca Gentille, Sex & Intimacy Counselor, award winning co-author of "The Marriage of Sex & Spirit." Radio host: Sex: Tantra & Kama Sutra
"I'm thankful for my friends and my Mom, New Media, and Google and YouTube. "
--Zennie Abraham, blogger & businessman, aka the most popular blogger in Oaktown.
About Susan Mernit
I was born in Oakland, with the exception of the one year I lived in DC while on an internship with the RFK Research Institute, my time in the US Navy and the collective 8 years spent in america's prisons. I have lived here all of my 46 years. I love this city as it is my home' I am thankful for its green hills, the people and flavor of raw danger. The politics crime and the games our people play. I am thankful for the life Oakland gives, the way we treat each other, How we share our bullets and knives and baseball bats. I am thankful for the police and how good they treat us, I am thankful for our city leaders, Ignacio, Larry Reid, Elihu when he was in office.
I am thankful for all of my great friends who asked for loans and never repaid me, I am thankful for all the murders and other crimes we have here. Most of all I am thankful for the BLACK community of Oakland, Our churches, our churches, our churches, I am sure we have something else to be thankful for in the black community of Oakland. Oh yea I know now, I am thankful for America bringing my people here and giving us jobs.
Of course I am being an a-hole, but when I think about this question these things that I am not thankful for come to mind. If I force the issue I can say that I am thankful for being free and alive. And what a better place to be free (free) and alive than Oakland, If you look around all you can see are trees and green, yes even in the hood. The water is soothing to look at and the air is good, yes I am thankful for that.
Now if we can stop being haters for long enough to help each other i'll be thankful for that. God bless you all and I hope next year we all will have more to be thankful for.
being alive and free
I am grateful for the lessons life have taught me growing up in Oakland.
That life is not always going to be easy..and that with positive faith and perserverance I can overcome adversity.I am a native of Oakland,attended Oakland Public Schools from kindergarten(Woodland) to High School(Skyline High)
I also have bought housing in Oakland,raised a family in Oakland,Attended Church in Oakland and worked for the city of Oakland.
I realize a lot has changed in this city,but through all the turmoil and negative pubb...The City of Oakland is alive and doing well in an economy and an enviroment that hasn't always had our Best interest.
Go Raiders,A's,Warriors and all other succesful sports teams and programs.
I'm thankful for kind neighbors, generous friends, good health, yummy food, a saner planet, and the many potential local connections the tubes are offering.
I thank God gave me a lot of blessings. I know the world and the sociaty are mess. But we should thank God give us strength to try to do our best. We should keep pray to God to help us to solve our problems. I hope some day, the world and the sociaty will be getting better. May God bless you and keep you all safe and healthy.
I am Most Certainly Thankful that Rebecca Kaplan is a City Council Member
at this Time in History.She brings Her Expertise and Persona to City Hall
as a Person of Reason and Patience.
I am thankful for EVERY experience I have had this year. I launched a new greeting card business and the blessings I have received and continue to receive are directly from Mother/Father God...for that I am truly Grateful!
I am glad to be moving out of Oakland. I've been here two years and came home to a kid shot, laying in a pool of blood in front of my house on 8th street- right on my birthday last year! Seen a kid run by me with a gun, ended up shooting at two others at a bus stop at 7th and Peralta, the noise, the guns, the garbage, ranked 3rd most crime ridden city.... it just doesn't stop! So I'm thankful that I survived Oakland, and that I can come back and just visit some friends and some of the cool things it has to offer- the Crucible, Luka's, Art Walk, Fox theater....