If I ever become famous
I want to tell you
The Oakland that raised me
has changed
Its spirit is still the same
but
its body
its composition
-or at least the parts I knew-
are irrevocably different
from what I knew
The house that my grandmother lived in
for over 30 years
was fashioned to four bedroom
800k
two-story cottage
never mind the generations worth we had their already
Something similar happened to the homes my aunts lived in
Something similar happened to the homes my friend’s aunts lived in
The once cozy and comfy street corners in the
Black Neighborhood
began to be filled with **** attics asking for food and money
pulling fat bloated dogs behind them.
The once cozy comfy street corners in the
Black Neighborhood
that use to be outposts for Muslims selling newspapers and bean pies
turned to base settlements for those in need that had the cleverest sign
They tell me now that I’m from
“Old Oakland”
The smells from the Granny Goose and Mother’s cookie’s factories
still fills Stonehearst’s playground when I dream that of a time gone by
Old Oaklanders Remember
When you could hop on the bus and get a hotlink from Flints
We Remember taking the BART to the colosseum station and seeing
Our Mural
on hallowed ground.
Panthers, Politicians, and everyday People
Reflecting Us
By Us
That’s gone now
Across the street is the
New Mural
on capitalist ground
Patriotic Propaganda
Reflecting someone miles away
By someone that’s just getting paid
There is even a shuttle that takes you directly to the airport now
No more interacting with the locals
Old Oaklanders Remember
When Raiders moved to LA
We welcomed them back
Now they are moving to LV
Its an Oakland thing
you wouldn’t understand
The New Oakland wants to Fight The Old Oakland
Its want to take Laney away
(a small part it says)
and build
The New A’s Stadium
The Small Part it wants isn’t Big enough
to do the new thing they want to do
Us Old Oaklanders know how this goes
the small little part
for the new little thing
gets bigger and bigger until all
The Old is Gone
If I ever become famous
I want to tell you
The place that manufactured the mold of my making is under new management
Even the surrounding areas have transformed
Downtown Berkley once had a cornucopia of bookstores with blocks of one another
Crystal and smoke shops
mom and pop knickknack shops that sold real Ethiopian coffee
40 year old pen shops
30 year old record shops
All gone
They have restaurants now
The strip of Telegraph or University where you could once see
Rockers with 8 inch spiky green Mohawks
Getting high with
Burnt out hippies
and Keeping the peace and spreading the love with
North Oakland Generals
has all been replaced
Conservative A type international students studying
STEM or accounting and finance that all
“hate it here”
But want to make a lot of money
and will when they are done
and will make more when they build their empire back home
That is the Downtown Berkeley you see.
If I ever become famous
and someone goes looking about the places where my feet traveled
and the body of my youth laid
I want to tell you
You wont find it
“Old Oakland”
Only exists in the hearts of the Old Oaklanders
Living in parts far and wide
They have even stopped calling North Oakland
North Oakland
Now its
Temescal,
Some far reach of Emeryville
or even a direction of Berkeley
but its not
Its Oakland
And it will always be Oakland
© Christopher F. Brown 2017