On a warm breezy Saturday morning on August 28, 2010, the 47th anniversary of Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech, a small group of East Oaklanders gathered at the Eastmont Branch Library to celebrate one step forward in their dreams. Young children, families, and seniors as well as members of community organizations packed the library meeting room for the awards and community celebration of the “My East Oakland” photo contest. They enjoyed refreshments and listened to contest participants talk about what it means to them to tell their personal East Oakland story and add their voices and creations to the growing collection of community stories on OurOakland.org to counter negative media stereotyping of East Oakland.

The photo contest is an initiative of Our Oakland : Eastside Stories, a public art project by artist Rene Yung for the new East Oakland Community Library @ 81st Avenue. Oakland Public Library Associate Director Gerry Garzon handed out iPod prizes to Grand Prize winner Pauline Russell-Silva, 2nd Prize winner Fanae Clark, and People’s Choice Award winner Oacia Williams, along with large prints of their winning photos.

Clark, a student at Bret Harte Middle School and the youngest winner in the intergenerational contest, talked about how much she enjoys participating in the youth programs at the East Oakland Boxing Association, where she snapped her photo of a fellow student learning to box. “It can help you get off the streets and keep you safe,” she wrote in her photo statement. “I also think this image shows hard work, which can get you where you want to be in life.” Clark smiled shyly as she stood in front of the beaming audience that included her mother and brother, and her 13-month old baby sister who softly cooed and waved at her.

Williams, who has lived in East Oakland for around 8 years, recounted her excitement at seeing a complete rainbow over Havenscourt Boulevard and Bancroft Avenue on a stormy day last spring and grabbing her cell phone to record the scene with her children pointing up excitedly at the spectacular arc. When she heard about the photo contest she knew that it was the picture to enter, Williams laughingly related. She worked together with her fiancée on the photo statement which includes these words: “If you take the time to search for that Pot Of Gold You will come to find that East OAKLAND is A Beautiful Place to Live!”

Russell-Silva, a K-5 teacher at EnCompass Academy, spoke about her hopes for East Oakland in the young generation growing up and her young charges, two of whom are shown in her winning photo pulling energetically in unison in a game of Tug-of-War. “It’s an honor to live and work in the East Oakland community,” Russell-Silva avowed, “we’re representing and changing things, and I’m glad to see it happen!” The school is located next to the future library and Russell-Silva expressed her long-held anticipation, shared by the community, of the new facility, which will bring important new resources.

Contest Finalist Angelina Vergera visibly touched audience members with her heartfelt declaration of her pride and hope for East Oakland, and her excitement at finding an online vehicle for sharing honest stories about life in the community with the rest of the world. “It’s when dealing with our struggles that we flourish,” Vergera declared as her voice choked up. “Sometimes I get upset that there aren’t a lot places to share ideas and stories and I want to thank Our Oakland for this opportunity to share.”

Kristen Zaremba, Assistant Coordinator for the City of Oakland Public Art Program which commissioned Yung, noted the artist’s dedication over the four and a half year project to gather East Oakland stories, and observed with feeling that the celebration event truly epitomized the symbolic imagery designed by the artist for Our Oakland: Eastside Stories  — a pair of overlapping ripples. “It really is a coming together of people making connections that ripple out to touch others with their stories.”

And Yung states, “Community change takes time. Everyone here today is helping to make that change, one story, one drop at a time, into the wellspring of East Oakland.”

The community is invited to share their stories about East Oakland at OurOakland.org, where all contest entries can be viewed.