Embed Notice

@pooserville @courtcan @mekkaokereke

I live in Rockridge, a neighborhood in Oakland. It has a history of being a sundown neighborhood for a very long time (Black and Japanese folks were very very not welcome here in the early 20th century.)

Things changed prolly around the 60's/70s (I had a conversation with the pastor of a hidden Black baptist church right around the corner from me.) Black families moved in and for a while their presence was substantial in Rockridge.

But no more. It's now a lesser Piedmont. Very white, very affluent.

And when I'm out and about *I make SURE* everyone can see that I'm a neighbor. I make a *point* of signaling that I live here: from how/where I walk my dog, shopping locally, being seen by the regulars.

It's exhausting and necessary, navigating these majority White spaces. Because they can turn dangerous with a quickness.