movement in Oakland. That’s when I felt proud of my people, when I first heard of it.
Q: Please complete this sentence, “Community is…?” A: Community is great, you know? Community in Oakland is great, it’s just some people in Oakland, you know, who make a bad name for our city, that... I don’t know. Pretty much that.
Q: Do you plan on going to college? A: Yes.
Q: Where and why? A: Uh, I might go to Mississippi State or Iowa State and, uh, just because I wanna get out of Oakland, I wanna get out of the Bay Area, and uh, the people in the Midwest are very nice and the people back in Mississippi, down south are nice too, and, as you know, that’s where a lot of people are from.
THE GRIOTS OF OAKL AND
Q: I feel it. Have you ever felt ashamed of your culture? A: Huh?
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Q: Have you ever felt ashamed of your culture? A: Yes. I feel ashamed all the time when I see black men or black women [being] loud, you know, just for no reason or, you know, what they call “ratchet.” Ratchet, you know, I just feel embarrassed every time I’m around that.
Q: I feel it, it is disappointing. Where we at? What gives you hope? A: What gives us hope? What gives me hope? Uh, man... not too much, I mean...
Q: Man. Why you say that? A: I say that because I don’t see any improvement happening out here, I don’t see anybody trying to be super productive and trying to change Oakland. I see a lotta negative, and hear a lotta negative, you know? Nobody’s doing anything positive, or, nobody pushing the positive move ment out here too much.
Q: Do you have any adults that can open up to, and who? A: Yeah, my dad, you know. I was fortunate to have my father around, and uh, I open up to him and talk to him a lot. He has a lot of knowledge and everything.
Q: What is it like being a black man and having a father around? A: I mean, I’ve always had my father around, I don’t know how it – how it is to not have him around too much, but uh, you know, it’d be hard. I’d be a totally different person if I didn’t have my dad around living in Oakland, California.
Q: What makes a man, a man? A: Sacrifices makes a man, a man. Learning when to sacrifice, learning when to do stuff when you need to do it, uh, just having a lot of discipline, I believe.
Q: If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? A: My height. Q: Your height? A: Yeah, I don’t like being tall.