Finding hope and redemption, postcards from Oakland

On the eve of a momentous day, a photo essay on Oakland's resilience. A continuing experiment in safe-guarding the ideals enshrined in the country’s founding documents. The character of this city is an essence of this Nation. This essay is organized in two parts; My intro in Part 1 followed by photos in Part 2.

The Tribune tower — a beacon amidst gathering clouds.

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PART 1 - Jan 19, a nation on the move

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Today, the morning of Jan 19, 2021 is like no other in America. A day that falls between Martin Luther King (MLK) National holiday and the Presidential Inauguration.

A day that may quickly fade away from the collective memories of our generation. Yet, this is the very day worth cherishing for the stories of hope to be told and re-told.

A cusp between two days.. between a poignant nation holding on to what it values the most ... to forging that sentiment into shining hope for the future.

A cusp I experienced as I spent the past few years working in Oakland. A city, a port town, a college town, a railroad town, a town that had seen its glory days, a town dusting off from what it is to what it wants to be. A reflection of a nation. A reflection of our self.

During these times as America dithered and stumbled only to hold steady then pull itself up, Oakland showed me what it held near and dear and why it was a city ready to reclaim its shining hill. Oakland showed me that the ideas in the US Constitution was, is and will always be alive and well.. even while it seemed to be lost elsewhere.

Oakland and me

I was lucky. I too was on a quest at the time. To venture beyond my comfortable suburban South Bay confines to a place I had only heard about. A coincidence like no other. To find myself in this throbbing milieu. I needed all my senses to process the beating pulse of humanity, the everyday hubbub of multiple languages and cultures, the proud sinews of labor, busy chefs getting food ready for a long day, grateful immigrants finding new purpose with quickened steps, the boldness and empathy of social justice entrepreneurs and the aspirations of young, starry-eyed professionals — and best of all, the freedom to come down and show what you got, without malice.. all accepting.. all forgiving.. even encouraging.

I snapped pictures of everyday events even as I walked through its streets. My mornings began early as I bounded in by 7.30 am to get in early and sprinted back to beat the evening traffic by 3:30 pm. Those moments and my lunch time was spent exploring this active petri-dish of a city.

As I pulled into the downtown Marriott parking every morning into a city recovering bravely from its nightly hangover...it seemed the city had a new resolve.. everyday.

As I covered the few blocks to my office tower on Franklin Street, city workers were busy cleaning the area with high-speed water jets. Newspapers, bagels, coffee and flowers a blur amidst the pedestrians disgorging from the trains and busses. Students walking to school. Nurses either coming from or going to their duties. Community Police on bicycles keeping order, city workers coaxing runaways to move to safer locations. Construction workers reporting to building sites. Hare Krsna followers, Vietnamese deli owners and Chinatown hawkers all getting started. The din and clanging of heavy equipment was ever present.

It was a city was not waiting for anyone to give it an opportunity, it was making it and taking it.

Later in my Photo essay in Part 2, I chronicle the building of a new 20-floor office tower as a backdrop .. a metaphor encapsulating the revival of Oakland's American dream.

Oakland City Hall and Oakland Tribune Clock Tower, city custodians

The 20’s and 30’s must have been boom times. The art and decor of that period still exists in those slim buildings sandwiched between the new ones. Just glance up from its sidewalks to revel in exquisite Gothic gargoyles and exotic sculptures of those times.

This aging city was determined to remain presentable. A city determined to bide patiently to return to the good times. A city remaking itself.

A city that had been relevant for better part of the past century. As I closed my eyes, I could hear the march of the longshoremen who made this a thriving city of trade right up to WW2. And then after that sorry episode, picking up the work to rebuild itself and the West Coast. The port held the city together during the tough times while the city held on to its port at other times.

The City Hall and Tribune Clock Tower are two unmistakable landmarks - remarkable buildings that in their own way stand up for the most basic human rights.

• The City Hall — A regal crown, perched on top of a open facade, a large lawn with a gravity often deigned to historic monuments of national importance. Oakland’s town hall has been the center of its being. In 2019, as I peered from our meeting rooms on the 12th floor, the day after a boisterous Presidential rally .. and through unwashed window panes, I was glad that this sentinel was alive and well.
• The Oakland Tribune tower— A majestic clock tower that greets you as you make your way into the city, this brick outpost stands for the freedom of expression. The tower watches over you faithfully as you make your way through the day, perhaps to say, we got your back covered. It was the first and last thing I saw everyday.

Oakland was a highly evolved city .. much before the rest of United States got the plot - aka the US Constitution. The freedom to express, write, believe.. is alive and well here. The city knows.

A city that knows

A city that knows how to protest. Oakland gave birth to its illustrious sons leading the Civil Rights movement. Ideas spanning peaceful activism to armed struggles were thought through. Its peoples never shirking civic responsibilities. They knew instinctively, their survival depended upon their community.

A city that knows how to organize. When to organize. How to express dissatisfaction. How to do so peacefully. The Black Lives matter (BLM) protests across the country took several pages from how Oakland did it. After all the main thoroughfare in this city is named after MLK ! It should know.

A city that knows how to survive. A city that does not go overboard halting productivity to get its voice heard. A city that understands that to get your point heard and addressed does not mean burning down the other side. A city that kept away from the commandeering of its indignation into any leftist or rightist ideologues. A city that was and is confident of itself and where it is centered.

A city that knows how to re-invent. A city that once gave its resources to its new neighbor, Berkeley and its University campus then joined in during the ’60s counter revolution, now graciously hosting new startups and knowledge workers from ‘Cal’. A city that plays the long game. A city that knows setbacks however large are always temporary and are almost always followed by a period of renaissance.

A city that shares. A city of open ideas, so open that it invented 'Open Source' in its philosophy, communities and more.

Open Source - Communities and Platforms

Open source is the very reason I and you can communicate, explore, search, learn and collaborate in an affordable and reliable way. Now you have heard of the term - Open Source... Did you know that Oakland and its descendants mid-wifed Open Source even before it became a thing ?

Our counter-culture revolution was one of the early experiments in open source. The same thinking gave birth to a similar concept in software. It was co-opted, coded and embodied by a few scofflaws at the University of California to upend the prevailing hegemony the tech-world. License-free versions that form the heart of multi-threaded operating systems (a standard fare in Windows, Apple's X OS, Linux, Android and derivatives) would not have been made possible without BSD 4.3. Java's creator Bill Joy was a student in the halls of Berkeley (sidebar - Bill also happened to be Eric Cooper's roommate, founder of my first startup, Fore Systems, an early plumber of today's Internet.)

Open source enabled the birth of a very different way to think about profit making enterprises. Build and contribute to a ‘greater good’ to help others and thus yourself. We must credit Oakland generously for bringing the world closer.

The nation and the world owes an immense debt to this city.

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PART 2 - Postcards from Oakland

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Oakland knows how to replace destitution with hope. It had done it before. It will do it again. In this, I soaked an enduring life lesson. If you believe in the right idea, if you fight the good fight and make ‘good trouble’.. you are bound to overcome your challenges .. no matter what the odds.

It resonates with this city. It resonated with me. It will always resonate with the USA.

Here is a compilation of photos that I took over the last two years and I remain forever thankful to have experienced it up close and personal.

Travel tips for visitors - I highly recommend taking the BART from downtown SFO to 12th Street/ Downtown. The dramatic views as the train surfaces from the tunnel under the bay are priceless. Use the BART transfer to visit Berkeley as well.

A lone clock tower with its mast held high

The Oakland Tribune building never fails to greet you wherever you happen to be in the city. This clock tower wears the Stars and Stripes as elegantly as any of its illustrious counterparts. Gently extolling everyone to lift their head as if to say ..’you are a part of these 50 stars no matter what others may feel or say’.

A lone clock tower with its mast held high

Oakland has always worn its game face

I found this early morning motivation. This picture was shot during the last full post-season in 2019. The Warriors were at the Raptors playing their best of seven finals. Warriors were not ready to give up. They had grit. You had to take them down physically. And that is what happened. A team symbolizes the city, a team that plays with joy — Curry, Thompson, Green, Igoudala et al. Even as they understood that there was work to be done.

Mornings begin with a grim affirmation at the Coliseum

Living it up if you can

A 1920’s architecture straight out of The Great Gatsby’, complete with roaring 20’s fonts, ornate panes, beveled edges, a marbled lobby and gold-plated elevators. An archetypical Gothic building Franklin St is a time capsule from ..

...did I say the Roaring 2020’s !?

Gathering clouds or a Sunny day ? Your call !

A view out the window on Day 1 from the iconic Franklin Street building looking South. Little did I know this view will soon be taken over by a tall glass and steel building (on the foreground) in a few months. More pictures below on how this structure sprang up in a few months.

A cloudy view on Day 1 from the iconic Franklin Street building looking South

..and this too shall pass.

The Tribune tower on a clear day looking west. It is a clock tower that speaks to you.

You got time ? thats funny, I do too. And everything gonna be alright.

Emotions on its sleeve

Oakland hangs on to its proud heritage in baseball, football and basketball. These days it finds new meaning in creativity Oakland style. Graffiti authorized by the building owners chronicles its sports heritage. The city gave Warriors #35 Kevin Durant his first Championship ring, and in the process earned its third. A win-win example of a city that shares and cares.

Kevin Durant gives the much needed push to claim the city’s 3rd NBA Championship in recent times, while earning a much deserved one himself.

Plan for worst, expect the best.

The City hall stepping out, its resplendent evening wear as its fall attire. Making sure things are moving along just fine. That everyone is taken care of, sheltered and safe for a cold evening.

A City Hall that has held the community together... for the people, of the people, by the people.

But always keep marching…

Meanwhile Work goes on at a brisk pace. The workers seem to cover a new floor every two weeks. Rain or shine. The Southern view is now partially covered with this new structure.

Rain or Shine, the show must go on. Building in the south slowly rises.

...and marching, until you achieve your goal.

I found myself in the midst of a protest at lunch. Seemed like a field trip. A class trip by teachers to tutor students on the fine art of protesting and getting your voice heard. They were protesting for the right of DREAMers to stay in school. They were teachers, kids, families, residents, immigrants and others in the community.

I joined in.

A field day to protest. It is fun. You should do it too.

But we gotta keep marching. Thats how the we earn our rights.

Workers keep at it. They lift, hang, dig, build their way forging the city’s future while building their own with their bare hands. There are no short-cuts. It is done the hard way by getting your hands dirty and one step at a time.

We don't sit on our hands.

A city ‘hanging in there’ for the good times are around the corners it is sculpting.

We dream. We create. We do.

Murals tell stories. Keep the hopes alive, in fact they have kept the hopes alive all these years. If I squint my eye, I can see my office window in the shorter Gothic brick building on the right, looking up against its young neighbor.

Murals remind you of the potential of what it can be

Murals herald. Help reminisce.

Evenings are about looking and learning. As I crane my neck to catch a glimpse of the Great one. Steph Curry in a gravity defying spider-man pose, protecting what is dear, ready to spring up. This I do, stuck in a jam. A perfect moment .. between two 18-wheelers ferrying goods either to or from the Port of Oakland.

What a legacy ! Sports holds everyone's heads a bit higher, the step a bit hoppier and skippier.

A child is the father of man

said Wordsworth. Who reminds us of what is important. Legacy. A city’s, a family’s, a nation’s, a President’s ! The handing of torches, ideas and ideals. To be able to learn, teach and be surprised.

Legacy of a 3-peat in all walks of life. A child is the father of man.

And what it is all about

Which brought me home to mine. As my son and I walked into the Warriors training facility at the same Marriott I parked daily, we became unexpected beneficiaries of a personal tour by a friendly concierge. Besides, you do not get to block Curry everyday.

Look at Curry, maan! and you will not be disappointed

Look at Oakland, maan !

That July, my son and I had a memorable moment at base of the clock tower to flash a ‘V’ !

What an iconic building. Fourth estate in Oakland is alive and well.

Stand by the right ideas and ideals, even if you are alone

Back to work and our meetings. Oh look, who is at the window ?! and the time...10:10 !  Yes, the ‘V’ for Victory sign, again. This city is dogmatic in certain ways.

Did you know why all clocks in ads depict 10:10 ? Victory is within reach, twice a day !

Stand pat and someday others will join you

After months the clock tower gets itself a new friend. Someone to stand watch (pun intended) duty with all year. Someone who shares your perspective, has a new energy, and visions of the possibilities. The future. A new hope.

A new building pops up and the clock strikes - friendship.

And help you forge your own way

And so do I. After pulling into the Marriott for two years in a row, valet parking my car, hanging and chatting with Mr. Walker -- the elegant Concierge and self-appointed docent of the city - became part of my morning and evening ritual. I learnt a fair bit of history as Mr. Walker peppered the ebb and flow of the city in our daily banter.

Mr. Walker, a warm friend who has become family.

.... and so do I.

Mr. Walker, thank you.

Oakland, thank you !

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A big thanks, to all my colleagues at LISNR, Inc, and my friend, philosopher and guide, Eric Allen.