Personal Narrative: My Life In East Oakland

The overall argument of Robert O. Self’s Introduction, in the book “American Babylon,” are the different aspects of postwar Oakland and the East Bay, socially, economically, and politically. There are three key claims Self makes in the Introduction. First, Self claims there were two controversial political ideologies in postwar Oakland, one being black power, including politics of deference and empowerment, and second a neo-populist, conservative homeowner politics of white residents. Another claim Self makes is the idea that the postwar black struggle and politics of suburban building shaped the political culture in Oakland and the East Bay. The third key claim Self makes is the modernization of space; space as property, as a social imagination, and as a political scale.

The author acknowledges that capitalist globalization and neoliberalism have created the deplorable economic conditions in which many Oakland residents live. He alludes to the need to change the “social order” of impoverished communities and the “social contexts” in which individuals make vital choices about their lives. However, he eschews any call for systematic social change and instead hopes that policymakers will change policies and redistribute resources from criminal justice programs to “nurturing institutions.” Such hopes are undoubtedly well-intentioned, but they pale in comparison with the social problems the author has so capably illuminated. In the end, Rios avoids any acknowledgment that the end of anti-working class and racist repression, the progressive transformation of social institutions, and the massive redistribution of material resources will require the abolition of capitalism and the development of a new socialist

I’ve completed my move to Houston. I traded in my Maryland license for a Texas one. With that said, I’ve found a new church home. I joined Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church on January 13th. The church is very similar to STCF.

I have lived in two distinct communities: the first was the small town of Moraga in the East Bay area of California, the second, and my current residence, is the city of Stockton. The former, Moraga is the epitome of white picket fence suburbia, with friendly neighbors, a high ranking public school system, and a practically non-existent crime rate. Growing up in Moraga, I was able to receive a great education, roam the streets freely with friends, and never had to fear horrors, such as, gang violence, sporadic neighborhood shootings, or drug abuse. Sadly, when I moved to the latter, most of these horrors were apparent weekly, if not daily.

Growing up, I never believed I had an identity. When I delve back to my earliest of memories, both English and Spanish made an appearance in my dialogue. Because my life had always remained constrained in a blend of American and Mexican culture, it was difficult to distinguish exactly which group I resonated most with. Here in the Rio Grande Valley, it is an internal war that is fought constantly. Whoever could predominantly show their Mexican heritage would be held at a great regard for not neglecting their roots.

Growing up in California, my whole life has been around farming and like many others, it’s how I make a living. It’s now been at least a year, living through the Dust bowl and many people have migrated to California with the hope of surviving this crisis. Keeping my crops has become a struggle and that's what most people including me depend on. I am lucky enough to be able to pay my mortgages even though I’m not able to keep the land with the help of family. It’s practically impossible.

As a young girl, around the age of 10 I lived in the Perry projects with my mother. Previously to moving there I would visit often to see my great-grandmother. When I would visit my grandmother there were not many other people that were African-American. The Commodore Perry Projects had been actually made for white people.

When people hear about Oakland they think that it’s all about “Thug life” and that if you go there it will endanger your life. People judge without getting to know Oakland’s community (people). I grew up in Oakland, California and I love it. Oakland is home of the A’s, the Raiders, and the Golden State Warriors. Yes, Oakland may have crimes in it, but that doesn’t mean everybody in Oakland is dangerous.

It doesn't sound particularly meaningful, but one of the times I'm really proud of is when I got myself un-lost from the lower levels of the streets in downtown Chicago. In Chicago's downtown, there are many streets that are double- or triple-leveled, and the lowest levels are usually full of abandoned cars, warehouses, and people with nowhere else to go. Last summer, I was headed to a friend's house in Hyde Park and had to catch a bus that I didn't know, and the google maps app didn't know, was on the topmost level. The maps took me into the lowest level, and then stopped working right, because it wouldn't give me directions that I could follow. At first, I freaked out because I had never been here before, and it was very dimly lit and, most

Like the classic saying has it “You can take the kid out of Brooklyn but you can’t take the Brooklyn out of the kid.” Same goes for Chicago this is my story. I was born in the windy city, on the south side. I wasn’t there for that long I was there till my fifth birthday, and then I moved to Boston, Ma with my mother, sister and I. However, I believe that south side raised me because every winter and summer vacation I would visit my grandmother or as she liked to be called “Mo-Mo” While visiting her I’ve seen some pretty harsh situations.

One night, during the cold winter, I walked along the side walk to reach the local store down the block. As I walked out, before I can realize it, I was dropping down onto the concrete while bullets swiftly passed me. I then began to run back home, but I wanted to keep running. Away from Chicago, away from the west side. Growing up in Chicago, it was easy to assume that there was nothing different beyond the blocks of my streets.

Beep, beep, beep, “boys get up it is time for schools” words spoken every single school day i have ever experienced by the mother of all my brothers and I. Toledo a city ranked 54th on top 100 most dangerous cities, and a 26.3% poverty rating. Growing up in Toledo, and the city of Bowling Green, Ohio can be difficult and very stressful. A single mother, in a very low income household. Where everything is earned and nothing is given, lessons taught by my father at a young age. Growing up in two different cities my family and I had to grow up fast.

My life in Chicago made me who I am today determined to be greater than what the neighborhood I came from. My parents always made sure I was off the streets putting me in different programs such as Softball, Basketball,Football, Boys and Girls Club, and even the Lighthouse Youth Center. All of those programs helped build a man motivating me to not be only a follower but also a leader. The lighthouse Youth Center gave me my first job at fourteen my last year in Chicago which I thank them to this day for giving me the opportunity. As I transitioned to the South Suburbs my relationship with my parents started to get iffy as I started to have my own opinion.

I never realized as a kid that I was different than everyone else who lived in my neighborhood, — different, but not better. Despite how scary it was at first, growing up in the hood caused me to appreciate life even more, and it introduced me to a new world. Its effects still stay with me today. When I was around the age or 5, my mom and I moved back to Columbia, South Carolina from Virginia Beach due to her job.

The past four years of my life hold both my highest of highs and my lowest of lows. High school can be a very awkward time period in a person’s life. Four years ago, I made the intimidating switch from St. Mary’s School to Algoma High School. There were certain aspects of high school which made me nervous, but academics was not one of them. I learned how to be a responsible student in my earlier years, and school had always come relatively easy to me.