I used to have a love hate relationship with Oakland. You see my formative years (birth through elementary) were all in Oakland. All the family I know, even if they weren’t from there I met in Oakland. We didnt’ move around too much and like alot of other kids who didn’t live in the best neighborhoods I spent alot of time and Grandmoms so I could go to a better school. While I experienced death early in my childhood it wasn’t because of gun shots and it had nothing to do with drugs. I never say anything too bad during my childhood and the worst thing to ever happen to me was having my bike stolen on Christmas Day.
See the video and keep reading after the jump…
Once I moved away to Stockton, where I would stay until after high school I found out what other people thought of Oakland. It always seemed like people were describing a different place then the one that taught me so much as a kid. As an adult and seeing what the city did do to my siblings who didn’t get out of the city at a young age or at all, I learned what some of the streets of Oakland can do.
Over time though, I’ve also learned what Oakland was and I’m able to contrast that with what it’s becoming and having been able to live there as an adult, how that city along with most of the bay area will always be home for me. This is but a piece of my story and I share it with others in the hope that Oakland does not continue to conjure up feelings of fear for others, but love as it does for me.
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