What a great photo: Eugene Patton

History.

Or, a story...

Everyone has one.

These two men, Richie and Gene, were two of my Dad's best friends. This photo was taken before all of them headed off during the draft as the Korean War unfolded. It was taken September 3, 1950, before Richie and Gene headed off to Fort Lewis, and Dad was headed off to Fort Dix. Thank the gods they all survived the war. Yet, they all left the safety of South Berkeley's "Negro Piedmont " for the war taking place on the 38th Parallel. The stories my grandfather "Sharkey" would tell to them about his glory days of playing baseball at San Pablo Park, or the entertainers that Dad, Gene, and Richie would meet, as they passed through my grandfather's abode would soon cease, and these young men would soon go off to war.

“This area of modern type bungalows was originally put on as a white subdivision. However, now Negroes have crowded in until there is only a small percentage of white remaining, mostly Italians. District known as “Negro Piedmont”. This district will never recover its original pre-Depression values… This is a high-grade Negro area and good loans can be made here if care is exercised.”?

HOLC Mapped, redlined for decades, the property , located at 2812 Dohr Street in Berkeley, that my grandfather owned was valued at exactly $3,800 in the 1930's is now worth in excess of $1.46 million. Remember, this house is located on the "wrong side of the tracks", West of Sacramento Street, in South Berkeley. I'd say that it recovered pre-Depression value just fine. Although time has replaced so many family memories. Their is no longer a baby grand piano in the front room, and the wooden floors are no longer covered by Persian rugs. The crystal chandelier has been replaced with a newer age knockoff, and the only remnant of my childhood in this modernized version of what was once the house I grew up in is the built-in China nook in the dining room. The Full Sized Bar and Rumpus Room has been replaced by a Sun Room.

The full size, brick BBQ "PIT"... built by hand by my grandfather, where I learned to become a BBQ Pit Master,... is no longer there, and only the fig trees remain as a reminder of where we once stacked the Oak and Hickory logs to throw into the firebpit whenever gramps held a Fais Do Do. Because that is what Sabine Acadians do, even when the leave East Texas or Louisiana.

And the house that my grandfather grew up in is now valued at $4.2 million. These former redlined property, which were at the bottom of real estate value at one time, simply based on their location and the racial demographics of the neighborhood, have been gentrified beyond cultural and historical recognition. And when reality sets in on loss of equity by design, no one can really accept the idea that until total commodification of a culture can take root without rebellion, the truth of a neighborhood must decimated beyond repair. The only thing that Menus and Music owner, located at 1462 66th St. (the house my grandfather grew up in) in Emeryville CA have in common with my Great grandfather William, is that he was once a restaurateur. Other than that, my Great grandfather William lived in bootlegger territory once known as Klinkerville .

Leaving for Fort Lewis had its own set of issues:

"General A.C. McAuliffe viewed integration as a solution to a different problem, the problem of a growing population of African Americans on bases in the United States. General McAuliffe wrote to Lieutenant General Joseph Swing, “We have already had complaints from the Fort Lewis area on the size of the Negro population. General McAuliffe continued that “the whole problem is a very touchy one; the solution of which I must agree is integration.” General McAuliffe was referring to complaints by military commanders and civilian authorities around Fort Lewis, Washington, who feared that the increasing number of African American troops would create social problems. These complaints had been common for many years near bases in the South where African American troops were stationed, but with the ever growing number of?black soldiers at Fort Lewis the white community in the far northwest of the U.S. was beginning to become concerned as well. By integrating black soldiers into white units, this would prevent the build-up of sizeable populations of black soldiers at any one military base in the States. For General McAuliffe, the choice between maintaining segregation at the risk of sparking a potential race issue in the U.S. between large masses of black soldiers and white citizens was far more risky than integrating black and white soldiers."

There is that bothersome word again, "history", that seems to rear its ugly head over and over again. ?

It was a thing with them since high school graduation. These three gents. To have each other's back in one form or fashion. They grew up during age where certain things were expected of them without question. Like loyalty. It was the Atomic Age, after having spent their childhood on the tail end of the Great Depression, and their teen years living through World War II. They served their country. And that too is history. Stories that were told to me as a child, from the Port Chicago Disaster to the Liberty Ships built at the Kaiser Ship Yards in Richmond .

Harlem of the West was their stomping grounds.

I happen to run across this picture piece of family memorabilia, and it reminded me of my grandfather's house and all of the people that used to drop by his 'spot' so to speak, when I was nothing more than a kid and didn't think about that part of life that much. How things were created, or why we meet certain people. There was always someone dropping by Sharkey's place. In fact, there was always a party, or an event, or someone I needed to "meet-n-greet". And to tell you the truth, as a kid I really only wanted to go outside and play baseball at San Pablo Park. It didn't matter if I was playing baseball in a pick up game or league play, because being outside was way cooler than listening to old people and old people's music.

'Jumpin' At The Woodside ' was one of my family's favorites -- and when uncle Gene started to dance, look out--everyone started to rock the front room, which--if it was a Friday -- it may not end till Sunday afternoon. As a kid you never get it. You don't get it till you get much older. You don't understand why your grandfather wanted you to shake this person's hand, or say "hi" to that person. Uncle Gene and Uncle Richie were just the kinds of people I needed to shake hands with. There were many more. I literally shook hands with hundreds of people. Not paying an awful lot of attention, because these people were 'friends or family'. It was a symbol, back then, of growing up and meeting people who would mean something to you or others in the future. "Look them in the eye, and shake their hand", my grandpa would say. My Dad would laugh at this, and I would inevitably be embarrassed because they all laughed, and I hadn't had a clue why they laughed.

"Uncle Gene" was?Eugene Patton , one of my Dad's running buddies. Yes, and if you're wondering why Uncle Gene was important to shake hands with, it's because he was an African American trailblazer in American arts where unions were concerned, and where racism was ever present during that period in history. You may only know him for his dance skills as "Gene Gene the Dancing Machine". I know a lot more about him.

My Uncle Gene opened doors for African Americans in IATSE .

So here's how it all began; the year is 1939, and Count Basie is in town for One-Night-Only. Sharkey was a member of Elks Lodge No. 70 I.B.P.O.E.W. and the Oakland High Marine Society Club; and the love of his life, Thelma, was President and one of the founders of the Optimistic Y'ves Woman's Club. their involvement in societal issue reaches back to Hettie Tilghman , who was my Great Great grandfather's Secretary, when he founded Old Bethel A.M.E, church. My grandparents owned a large home, with a baby grand piano, which was strategically placed in in the living room, with an open view of the dining room, and plenty of rooms for house guest based on the house design. Sharkey had three jobs: Courier for Standard Oil; playing baseball for the semi-pro, Independent Berkeley Colored League in the Greater Bay Area, and he also worked part time as a butcher in a slaughterhouse in El Cerrito on the kill floor. Thelma was a career caterer and East Bay socialite. Both had worked for the Pullman company in the early day of Oakland.

They cut their teeth in the service industry, and built a following and reputation. This was a sweet combination in those early days, for taking in celebrity boarders who couldn't access hotel rooms based on a segregated society at that time. Think of it as as full service pre-WWII "Airbnb" serving the African American community in the East Bay.

This is how it all began: Count Basie and his Orchestra was appearing for "One Night Only", on Oct. 20, 1939, at Sweet's Ballroom.

As Gene's Gong Show theme music runs through my head, I can only ponder what it was like for him, Richie, and my Dad as well, to have seen the faces and the big name entertainers and sports figures that they came in contact with as children. Lost and Found, as well as reclaimed history. I think it's important to curate a place and time in history, if you have knowledge of it. Things we never knew took place because they were out of sight and out of mind. What an impact "Jumpin' At The Woodside" being played in the living room of one of your best friend's, and as a child, such an event would have a lasting impact on who you would eventually become in the future. Exposure to the same music that would be played at Sweet's Ballroom on Oct. 20, 1939 was heard by the kids in the house the night before. Sweet's Ballroom served the public with distinction.

Curtis Mosby and his Dixieland Blue's Blowers , because Les Hite 's Cotton Club Orchestra had to get his start somewhere. Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, feat. Ivie Anderson . Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra. Etta James . and so many more musicians and artist who chopped it up in "the Bottoms". Swing, Jump Swing, Jazz, Blues, and Rock N Roll, entertainment and night life built West Oakland, along with the East Bay Area's war industrial complex. West Oakland was definitely the "Harlem of the West" by all standards and measures.

As a child, growing up among the low hanging fruit grown by Harold "Louisiana Slim" Jenkins and Charles E. "Raincoat" Jones , shooing all of the kids out of the hot spots along 7th Street was commonplace, because kids will be kids. Club X, Slim Jenkin's Night Club, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Headquarters, the Lincoln Theater, the Kit Kat Club, John Henry's, James Club, the Polar Bear Room, and Club Alabam were just a few of the night spots that kept West Oakland alive during the first and second ***Great Migration ***, exiting from the deep South to the Harlem of the West.

That is because one's personal history, in affect, is part of the total make up of who you are and the people who you surround yourself with influences in part, only a part of who you become. Gene was always an entertainer, even as a child and well into his adulthood. And his personal history and persona is just a smaller part of a much larger picture and person. This is why I was very disturbed by Gov. Rick DeSantis and the State of Florida instituting the "Stop WOKE Act ", or as it's called in political circles, H.B. 7. Because African American history is important to America as a whole. And such a law impedes the process of learning the complex and layered history of the San Francisco Bay Area, in a place that was dominated by African American culture.

1) "The law itself limits Black and LGBTQ+ teachers especially from talking about their areas of expertise in the classroom and also puts these teachers at higher risk for losing their jobs under the law’s severe punishments for speech about race, gender, and sexuality.".

a) "H.B. 7 restricts professors/lecturers from?facilitating meaningful, pedagogically appropriate conversations about race and inequality. Black lecturers who teach courses on systemic racism and discrimination do not believe they can faithfully teach these courses because HB 7 restricts their ability to discuss widely accepted concepts, such as the limitations of race-neutral approaches to addressing racial disparities.".

?b) "Florida lawmakers — working together with Gov. DeSantis — have moved to impose their own viewpoints in state higher education. The law prohibits educators from teaching or even expressing viewpoints around racism and sexism that are disfavored by Florida lawmakers, even where those viewpoints are widely accepted and considered foundational information in their academic disciplines. The bill targets and places vague restrictions on educators’ ability to teach and discuss important concepts pertaining to systemic inequalities, including the legacy of slavery in America, unconscious biases, racial privilege, and anti-racism.".?

These horrific anti-inclusivity agendas that Florida lawmakers just enacted to make learning about African American history nearly impossible for the average student, is nothing more than a uneducated powerplay, akin to "poll tax" or "literacy test" from the past. In other words, the information that I just relayed to you as purely historical information about my Uncle Gene, could not be taught at any grade level in the state of Florida, because such information needs the approval of angry and bitter people, who are clueless about what historians and archivist do when it comes to documenting the truth in history as it played out. Information about Gene is held in digital archives all over the world, because his core group participation on "The Gong Show" is iconic. Yet, mentioning something as simple as "He was the first African American [enter field of work or occupation here]...", can stir the hornet's nest of anti-diversity/anti-inclusion/anti-equity crowd, merely humbled by things they never knew or even considered as a plausible reality. Eugene Patton's Obituary and Condolences page talk a lot about his life as a person.

South Berkeley has always an unbelievable amount of lost and unrecorded African American history that was intrinsically connected to West Oakland's and Berkeley's renaissance period by way of the Great Migration westward, using the Central Pacific Railroad, the Southern Pacific Railroad, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, the Northern Railway, the Eastbay Electric Lines, and the Key System, which connected the East Bay to the West Bay. The Bay Area being the terminus before all new beginnings start anew when one is headed West after leaving the Deep South in search of employment opportunities and a fresh start on life.

Life is a journey. Not a destination. Each riff on a life song is a hook. Let it play out. Enjoy the journeys; embrace them. I've had so many journeys and just many stories like this one to go along with those new experiences. Because of where I grew up and how I grew up exposed me to so many incredible adventures and life experiences, that most of them influenced the person I am today. Someone who embraces the next experience, without missing a beat, and never stops learning from them.