September 2022 THE MAGAZINE OF OAKLAND, BERKELEY AND THE WORLD THAT REVOLVES AROUND US Seasonal Sensations Fall HighlightsArts
An Managed Community The AssistedParkviewLivingand Memory Care 100 Valley Avenue, Pleasanton, CA 94566 Our all-inclusive senior living services ensure each of our residents receives the level of support they need to promote their independence, safety and overall quality of life. Discover The Parkview Call today to experience our beautiful 925-203-6777community!•eskaton.org/eastbay Actual residents featured in ads. License #015601283 • Equal Housing Opportunity
ON THE COVER Amber Iman stars in the world premiere musical production of Goddess at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Photo courtesy of Berkeley Repertory Theatre. PUBLISHER Rosemary Olson ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Karen Klaber EDITOR Daedalus Howell COPY EDITOR Suzanne Michel CONTRIBUTORS Lou JanisFancherHashe PRODUCTION OPERATIONS MANAGER Sean George EDITORIAL PRODUCTION MANAGER Phaedra Strecher SENIOR DESIGNER Jackie Mujica ADVERTISING DIRECTORS Lori Lieneke Lisa Santos ADVERTISING ACCOUNT MANAGERS Danielle McCoy Ben LyndaMercedesAyikoGramberguKonopaskiMuroloRael CEO/EXECUTIVE EDITOR Dan Pulcrano AN EAST BAY EXPRESS PRODUCTION THE MAGAZINE OF OAKLAND, BERKELEY AND THE WORLD THATAROUNDREVOLVESUS TELEPHONE:www.eastbaymag.com510.879.3700 ADVERTISING: sales@eastbaymag.com | 510.879.3730 EDITORIAL: editor@eastbaymag.com CIRCULATION AND BUSINESS: publisher@eastbaymag.com Except as otherwise noted, entire contents ©2022 Metro Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. September 2022 EAST BAY ARTISTRY: AUTUMN EDITION A letter from our editor 4 GODDESS BORN Berkeley amidwifesRepmusical 8 FALL FOOTLIGHTS From drama to drag on local stages 14 EDUCATION NOW Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s ‘How to Raise an Antiracist’ 23 DO YOU IDENTIFY AS FEMINIST? The ‘Hella Feminist’ exhibit at OMCA is asking 30 OF MONSTERS AND MUSIC Pretty Frankenstein and the art of angst 38 C M Y CM MY CY CMY K
Art of Autumn No comparison for East Bay artistry
4 EAST BAY MAGAZINE | EASTBAYMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2022
— Daedalus Howell, Editor
H
Also, like Brooklyn, Oakland has a grittier attitude and a spirit that spans from “can do” to “f— you.” After that, the comparison between the hip borough and the Bay’s easterly epicenter wears thin. Why? Because Oakland is cooler than Brooklyn.Forexample, whereas Brooklyn is popularly known for an arts scene that emerged in the beginning of this century after gentrification and Millennial maneuvers, the East Bay has always had a thriving arts scene. Since its very inception. In fact, the o cial travel site of our very nation says that Oakland has the highest concentration of artists per capita in the United States. Boom! Sure, Brooklyn may have a higher concentration of hipsters, but they are, by definition, consumers—not creators—of art. I could go on, but it’s like comparing apples to oranges or thin crust pizza to birria tacos and vegan donuts (two great tastes together at last). People go to the East to reinvent themselves; they come West to be themselves. And nowhere else can someone do that with more freedom of expression than in the East Bay. From the campus to the curb, it’s in our DNA to be true to one’s self and vision. But it doesn’t stop there—we share it: The walls of our galleries and museums are lined with area art; our venues and stages thunder with local voices; and our streets are an ever-evolving canvas of murals andAsmore.homegrown writer Gertrude Stein once opined, “The artist works by locating the world in themselves.” To which I’ll add, in the East Bay, the world outside works just as well.
ere’s a facile analogy I recently FranciscoManhattanoverheard—istoSanasBrooklyn is to Ahem.Oakland.Sure, I get it. If you strip away the nuanced elements that di erentiate each city’s individual greatness— Manhattan and SF were the established metropoli and citadels of culture, and the latter two cities emerged later in the game.Okey dokey.
CREATOR S Leah Tumerman and Alex Bowman’s mural of notable women from the East Bay at 691 27th St.
Lou Fancher has been published in the Diablo Magazine, the Oakland Tribune, InDance, San Francisco Classical Voice, SF Weekly, WIRED.com and elsewhere.
OAKLANDVISITOFCOURTESY
Janis Hashe regularly contributes to the East Bay Express and other Bay Area publications.
I have been a financial professional for close to 40 years and have been focusing exclusively on reverse mortgages for 15 years. I am a Certified Public Accountant and take pride in providing professional, honest, and ethical advice. If you would like a free customized quote and information package on reverse mortgages, please contact me, and I will respond immediately with no sales pressure. I believe in providing concise information, so you can make an informed decision. My financial background helps me explain reverse mortgages in easy to understand terms. HighTechLending, Inc., Licensed by the Department of Business Oversight under the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act. #4130937 NMLS #7147. Equal Housing Lender. NMLS Consumer Access: www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org. This material is not from HUD for FHA, and was not approved by HUD, FHA or any other government agency. Convert Home Equity into Cash with a REVERSE MORTGAGE NMLS ID #263222 DAVID C. CHEE, CPA CALL FOR A FREE CUSTOMIZED QUOTE: 510.436.3100 • DAVIDCHEE.COM Architectural Metal • Flashing Sealants • Decks • Coatings • Structural “You’re the only contractor I liked better after the job was finished.” Winner of Best of Oakland 2013–2019 for 510-261-4149 www.kardelcompany.com Deck Construction & Restoration Contractors Waterproofing Consultants Since 1959 Member CSI & ASTM • Lic # 271178 Did you know Karl Kardel Company: •Restores, rebuilds, reglazes all types of windows: •Re-builds rotted wood windows, to save them •Reglazes with better glass •Renews weatherstripping So-called modern clad windows start falling apart after 10 years. Restoration will save your investment. See the story on our website: www.kardelcompany.com
THEATREREPERTORYBERKELEYOFCOURTESYPHOTOGoddess A Is Born
GODDESS (front) Amber Iman, (background, left to right) Zachary Downer, Phillip Johnson Richardson, Rodrick Covington, Melessie Clark and Awa Sal Secka in the world premiere musical production of ‘Goddess.’
A goddess’ birth can be a long process—but her emergence is Director/creatorglorious.
BY Janis Hashe
Saheem Ali, playwright Jocelyn Bioh and composer Michael Thurber have been midwifing the world-premiere musical Goddess, which recently opened at Berkeley Rep, for years. The piece has gone through multiple iterations and four postponements, and has now stridden exuberantly onto the stage.
6 EAST BAY MAGAZINE | EASTBAYMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2022 »
Berkeley Rep stages musical inspired by African myth
CooperativeCleaning.comCoopCleaning@gmail.com510.845.0003
Anative of France, Sarah holds a master’s from Sorbonne in Paris, and speaks eight languages. With a background in art cura tion, and a collection of fine French antique furniture, Sarah’s homes have always been known for that certain ‘je ne sais quoi,’ and for being metic ulously clean. So, when family and friends in Paris heard that she acquired the premier housekeeping company in the Bay Area, no one was surprised.
40 Years HousekeepingMeticulousofTHECOOPERATIVECLEANINGCOMPANYSarahNeil,CEO
Then & Now
“When I told them what I did they all said that it made perfect sense, and I guess it does. Now I do for the most beautiful homes in the East Bay and Marin County, what I have always done for mine.”
Cooperative Cleaning delivers exceptional house keeping service using Certified Green products. We rank among the top housekeeping companies in the Bay Area according to a well-known consumer service rating agency and benefit from a loyal customer base of over 220 clients, some of whom have been with us since we opened in 1987. Just as important, we are a living wage employer, offering our W2 employees compensation well in excess of minimum wage, Platinum level Kaiser, Delta Dental and VSP health benefits, paid holidays, paid vacations, and a 401K plan.
1982Sarah
8 EAST BAY MAGAZINE | EASTBAYMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2022 »
The trio’s long association enables them to “get to the heart of it” together, said Ali. They trust each other’s sensibilities, and offer feedback on all aspects of the show. Musical theater, he said, is the most collaborative art there is, and their ability to trust and take feedback from each other has been essential to the development of Goddess.
»
Kenyan-born Ali moved to the United States as a boy and only read about the African myth of Marimba while in high school. According to this myth, which has mostly been handed down orally in multiple African cultures, goddess Marimba was cursed by another goddess—in some versions, her own mother—and told her husband would die within a few months of her wedding day, which indeed happened. But Marimba used her heartbreak to create both beautiful songs and a number of instruments, including the one named for“Iher.dreamed of turning this story into a musical,” Ali said, “setting it in the contemporary world and fleshing out the rest of the story.” Now, in collaboration with the same team that created New York’s Free Shakespeare in the Park’s all-Black production of Merry Wives, the dream is being realized. There are similarities between imagining a piece like Merry Wives and creating a new musical, Ali pointed out. Shakespeare’s language is very musical and full of rhythms. “You create dynamic elements … orchestrating how they float in and out,” he said. In Ali, Bioh and Thurber’s updated Marimba story, a mysterious singer arrives at Moto Moto, a steamy Afrojazz club in Mombasa, Kenya. According to the Berkeley Rep description, “She casts an entrancing spell on everyone, including a young man who has returned home from studying in America. Will the big plans for his life—stepping into a political legacy and marrying his fiancée—be upended?”
Award-winnning playwright Bioh (School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play) described her initial involvement with the musical. Ali had enjoyed another project of hers, the play Nollywood Dreams, and in 2014, they worked together in a musical-theater workshop. “I knew he had been working on Goddess,” she said, “and now it was going in a different direction.” Bioh, who is GhanianAmerican, had never heard of the myth of Marimba, and, as she pointed out, the written myth is “only a paragraph long.”
So, as a writer, this was an opportunity to create a completely original story, one that communicated a different understanding of everyday African life andAlthoughculture. a book of the musical had been constructed before she came on board, she started from scratch. It was a question of “every single day, let’s figure this out.” There were workshops where actors were simply reading the book and the lyrics. “We spent two years working on the story,” she said, adding that the close collaboration among the three creative forces “informed the songs [and made them] seamless song-to-story.”
Ali, the associate artistic director/ resident director of New York City’s Public Theater, was delighted to work again with Bioh and Thurber. “[Bioh] is an incredible writer. We are both African … she sees the world the way I do … we create the same kind of energy,” he said. About Thurber, he noted, “Michael is one of my closest friends. He’s an extraordinary musician. He is a white boy from Michigan who is able to write this beautiful music that takes me home.”
Michael Thurber’s international debut was with his score for Antony and Cleopatra, a co-production between The Royal Shakespeare Company and The Public Theater. His journey with the creative team started in 2009. He wrote what became the first draft of Goddess’ opening number “about 11 years ago.” Like Bioh, he had never heard of the Marimba myth, but was, of course, familiar with the instrument named for her.The music he’s created for the show combines traditional African In Goddess, the team believes, audience members even those not fans of traditional musical theater will discover one of the greatest gifts live theater can provide: empathy.
$29* NEW PATIENT SPECIAL Consultation, Exam, and Adjustment Berkeley (510) 845-6468 2628 Telegraph Avenue Berkeley, CA 94704 We are open everyday from 10am to 2pm & from 3pm to 7pm. BABY.BACK,YOU’RE ® Brian M. Endurance Athlete Family Man, Patient *Offer valued at $39. Valid for new patients only. Initial visit includes consultation, exam and adjustment. NC: IF YOU DECIDE TO PURCHASE ADDITIONAL TREATMENT, YOU HAVE THE LEGAL RIGHT TO CHANGE YOUR MIND WITHIN THREE DAYS AND RECEIVE A REFUND. (N.C. Gen. Stat. 90-154.1). FL: THE PATIENT AND ANY OTHER PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR PAYMENT HAS THE RIGHT TO REFUSE TO PAY, CANCEL PAYMENT OR BE REIMBURSED FOR ANY OTHER SERVICE, EXAMINATION OR TREATMENT WHICH IS PERFORMED AS A RESULT OF AND WITHIN 72 HOURS OF RESPONDING TO THE ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE FREE, DISCOUNTED OR REDUCED FEE SERVICES, EXAMINATION OR TREATMENT. (FLA. STAT. 456.02). Subject to additional state statutes and regulations. See clinic for chiropractor(s)’ name and license info. Clinics managed and/or owned by franchisee or Prof. Corps. Restrictions may apply to Medicare eligible patients. Individual results may vary. © 2020 The Joint Corp. All Rights Reserved. thejoint.com Walk-Ins Welcome | Open Evenings & Weekends | No Insurance Needed DONNA WESTERMAN August 25 Sept 25, 2022 SHOH Gallery 700 Gilman Street, Berkeley SHOHGallery.com INTO THE WOODS the Art of Join us for the Reception Saturday, Sept. 10th 6-9pm HEIDI MCDOWELL & GAGE OPDENBROUW THE UNDERSIDE OF FLOWERS New Works by September. 30 October 30,, 2022 Art Live Music Wine Food by Dos Raciez
10 EAST BAY MAGAZINE | EASTBAYMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2022
The nyatiti is a five-to-eight-stringed plucked bowl-yoke lute. And, of course, the marimba will be part of the band. Then there has been the long process of writing and re-writing the show’s songs. “If you include all the rewrites, that would be dozens of songs—even since we’ve been here in Berkeley.” He acknowledges that, sometimes, it can be difficult to discard music or lyrics that initially seemed so perfect. “The longer you stay in [this] job, the more you realize everything has to be in service to the story,” he said. And a composer learns to trust that “you will always have another good idea.” In inventing music and lyrics for a new musical, he is a writer, but also a designer—the person designing the soundscape for the show.
favorite part of the rehearsal process is the exploration that occurs with the cast. “The music director gets the actual notes down,” he said, “from there is where I come in.”
Cast members, who are the ones telling the story, can see things a composer can’t see, he said. Goddess is lucky to have a cast “that has opened up a whole new round of Indiscoveries.”
“This is an audacious show, set in a specific region and populated by beautiful Black people,” Bioh said. “But [the audience] will be both entertained and moved by the story.”
» rhythms and melodies with R&B and jazz, “which are rooted in the African diaspora,” he said. It’s played on what he describes as a hybrid selection of instruments, including a drum set, electric bass, West African drums and a Kenyan instrument called a nyatiti “I had no idea it existed,” Thurber said, “but the beauty of it is that the myth describes Marimba creating an instrument out of a gourd and string.”
Ali also praised the contributions of choreographer Darrell Grand Moultrie, whose work has been presented by the Ailey II dance company and the Dance Theatre of Harlem, and who has choreographed for Beyoncé and Savion Glover. Goddess has also benefited from additional material by playwright Mkhululi Z. Mabija.
Goddess, the team believes, audience members—even those not fans of traditional musical theater—will discover one of the greatest gifts live theater can provide: empathy.
“[First], people will see how incredibly dynamic the show is,” Thurber said. Then, they will relate to the themes: What would you do for love? Love versus fate? How do you make crucial decisions? “There are few shows that have this range of emotion, from humor to really scary moments,” he said.
Ali believes audiences will be transported to another time and place, and there, they will experience a “deep emotional component, that will cause them to reflect on their own lives.”
After the Berkeley Rep production closes, the plan is for Goddess to go on to an out-of-town tryout in Washington, D.C., for a possible New York run. “We would love to go to Broadway,” Bioh said, while acknowledging that that decision doesn’t rest with the creative team. “We have had such a hard time [because of the pandemic] with theater returning,” she said. But she has every hope that East Bay audiences will turn out to support a new, inventive, diverse work.Those interested in reading further about the myth of Marimba can look up the books of Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa. In his book Indaba My Children: African Folktales, he writes that she was the mother of the Akamba people at the time when they were getting to know their Maasai neighbors. According to the writer, Marimba’s story cites her as creating the forerunners of not only the nyatiti and marimba, but also the ngoma (drum), kalimba (lamellophone), makweyana (musical bow) and the mukimbe (hand xylophone).
The various versions of Goddess have also included many different cast members, some of whom have made the whole journey and others who are brand-new to the Berkeley production. What has emerged is a “really incredible company of actors,” Bioh said. From the beginning, the creative team looked for performers who had nontraditional musical theater voices. She personally recruited Amber Iman, who plays Nadira—“the Goddess”— since she had worked with Iman in previous productions. Actors needed to be able to move expressively, but did not necessarily need classical dance backgrounds. And they needed to hear and love the rhythms and subtexts of the words.Thurber’s
‘Goddess’ plays through Sept. 25 at Berkeley Repertory Theatre (Roda Theatre). Post-show discussions Sept. 1, 13, 23. 2015 Addison St., Berkeley. 510.647.2949. www.berkeleyrep.org
BRIAN A. RIPLEY ATTORNEY AT www.brianripley.comLAW
T
heater in the East Bay is back big time this fall, with diverse shows that demonstrate the provocative, exploratory missions of its sustaining companies and series— and also offering some just plain fun. There are world premieres, classics reimagined, international visitors and some very big wigs. Below, in alphabetical order by company, take a look at some of the season’s most enticing offerings.
From Drama to drag, local theaters have it all this fall
GLOWING AND GRACEFUL Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan shimmers at Cal Performances in October.
East Bay’s All theaStage BY Janis Hashe
12 EAST BAY MAGAZINE | EASTBAYMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2022 » PERFORMANCESCALOFCOURTESYPHOTO
Clean Your Air of SmokeVirusesand Harry Clark Installs Aprilaire Air Cleaners with All Modulating Furnaces Breathe easier and healthier in every room of your home. TO ARRANGE A FREE ESTIMATE, PLEASE CALL: HARRY CLARK Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc. www.hcplumbing.com510-444-1960Since 1946 lic. #1056105
Opens Nov. 22. berkeleyrep.org
Popular children’s author Mo Willems’ lovable Piggie and Gerald star in a musical story about not knowing what is going to happen today—which means anything is possible. Skipping? Ping pong? How about a party invitation?
UC Berkeley’s always outstanding Cal Performances series includes two dance theater presentations from international companies.
For a taste of something truly topical, check out this new play at Berkeley’s Aurora. Colonialism is Terrible, But Pho is Delicious
Wuthering Heights
BAY THEATRECHILDREN’SAREA
Best way to create a lifelong theaterlover? Introduce them while they’re young. Elephant and Piggie: We Are In A Play
SANCTUARY Kim Fischer in the West Coast premiere of Martyna Majok’s ‘Sanctuary City.’
«
Acclaimed director Emma Rice and her new company, Wise Children, return to Berkeley Rep with her latest “wildly imaginative theatrical experience,” says their website. Rescued from the Liverpool docks as a child, Heathcliff is adopted by the Earnshaws and taken to live at Wuthering Heights. He finds a kindred spirit in Catherine Earnshaw and a fierce love ignites. When forced apart, a brutal chain of events is unleashed. Rice “reimagines Emily Brontë’s gothic masterpiece with live music, dance, passion, hope and a dash of impish irreverence, creating an intoxicating revenge tragedy for today,” says the theater. The show is a co-production of Britain’s National Theatre, Wise Children, the Bristol Old Vic and the York Theatre Royal, and is a West Coast premiere.
Through Oct 23. bactheatre.org
14 EAST BAY MAGAZINE | EASTBAYMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2022
Opens Nov. 4. auroratheatre.org
PERFORMANCESCAL
THEATREAURORA
THEATREREPERTORYBERNE/BERKELEYKEVINBYPHOTO
This world premiere of a “biting comedy” by Dustin Chinn takes its inspiration from “two viral incidents around cultural appropriation and food,” according to Berkeley’s Aurora. Chinn states he “followed the rabbit hole” and wrote “a triptych about the ownership and authorship of food following the journey of Vietnamese noodle soup.” It begins in 1880s Hanoi, where a Vietnamese cook finds herself in the kitchen of aristocratic French settlers; continues in Saigon, 1999, where American diners get their first taste of the local cuisine; then ends in present-day, gentrifying Brooklyn, where “the simmering argument around culture, ownership and authenticity comes to a roaring boil,” according to Aurora’s press release.
»
I really love spending time with my neighbors who’ve become good friends. It’s just great to live in a diverse community of people who are really welcoming and who’ve led such interesting, accomplished lives.
Thank you for voting us the Best Hearing Aid Practice in the East Bay! 190 El Cerrito Plaza, El Cerrito, CA 94530 (510) 768-7091 www.mybetterhearing.com Owned and operated by California-Nevada Methodist Homes COA #88 | RCFE License #011400369 | Consulting Services Provided by Life Care Services® I
LOVE THE CONVERSATIONS!
I really love spending time with my neighbors who’ve become good friends. It’s just great to live in a diverse community of people who are really welcoming and who’ve led such interesting, accomplished lives. lakeparkretirement.org LIVING and California-Nevada
INDEPENDENT
LOVE THE CONVERSATIONS!
510-273-2142
operated by
Methodist Homes COA #88 | RCFE License #011400369 | Consulting Services Provided by Life Care Services® I
INDEPENDENT
|
510-273-2142 lakeparkretirement.org LIVING | ASSISTED LIVING SKILLED NURSING 510-273-2128 lakeparkretirement.org
| ASSISTED LIVING | SKILLED NURSING Owned
COMPANYTHEATRELOTUSFEROCIOUS
THEATRE OF TAIWAN 13 Tongues Combining modern dance, ballet, martial arts, qigong and Taoist chants, this piece created by artistic director Cheng Tsung-lung is inspired by his boyhood in bustling Taipei, part dream, part real. The street life of Taipei comes alive with neon lights, urban sounds, religious rites and festive parades. The London Times said, “surges of high-energy movement, punctuated by moments of exquisite stillness and beauty.”
Opens Sept. 16. ferociouslotus.org
Written by Mildred Inez Lewis, this world premiere is a riff on—Central Works calls it an “homage to”—George C. Wolfe’s 1986 The Colored Museum That work was set in an imaginary museum, where each of the 11 exhibits focused on a part of the Black experience. Originally titled The Women’s Annex, “Welcome,” says the company, adds “something of a ‘new wing’ onto the original museum.”
BOY BLUE Blak Whyte Gray: A Hip-Hop Dance Triple Bill East London’s Boy Blue recreates 2017’s smash hit, fusing popping, krump and African dance to tell a story of a path from oppression to freedom, all set to an electronic score. The Oliviernominated production resonated with UK audiences “for its political bite, lean storytelling, and inspiring message of transformation and renewal,” says Cal Performances.
CLOUD GATE DANCE
Central Works, celebrating more than three decades of developing local playwrights, uses a collaboration of more than 60 artists, workers and volunteers to present its shows at its 50seat theater at the Berkeley City Club. The Museum Annex
Oct. 29, 30. calperformances.org
Dec. 9, 10, 11. calperformances.org
Opens Sept. 2. oaklandtheaterproject.org
COMPANYTHEATREWORKSCENTRAL
Opens Oct 15. centralworks.org
The always-adventurous Oakland Theater Project (OTP) has three new shows coming up this fall. The Crucible According to Oakland Theater Project’s press release, Arthur Miller’s classic, inspired by his own experiences with McCarthyism, is “reimagined for a contemporary world, [drawing] on dance and digital technology as the physical and virtual worlds collide, the roles between observer and observed are blurred, and fear is an ever-present undercurrent.”
Lear OTP partners with California Shakespeare Theater to produce Marcus Gardley’s modern version of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Directed by Cal Shakes artistic director Eric Ting and Aurora Theater Company’s associate artistic director Dawn Monique Williams, the production is set in San Francisco’s Fillmore District from the eminent domain crisis to the subsequent displacement of the 1960s. It will be staged at Cal Shakes’ Bruns Amphitheater.
PROJECTTHEATEROAKLAND
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Berkeley’s Ferocious Lotus is presenting Evolution, a festival of six original short plays exploring what it means to be Asian/Asian-American. This is a coproduction with TheatreFIRST. Plays include: Mahãbhārata by Geetha Reddy, Casa Vega by Leon Goertzen, Where Are We Going? by Cindy Cesca Yoshiyama,The Floater by Sango Tajima, Written in Water by Lisa Kang and Interventions by Greg Lam. “This collection… looks at modern relationships and ancient texts, parenting, time travel, personal and cultural identities,” according to the company.
According to director Michael Socrates Moran, the production will “ask us to reckon with the universally human impulse to scapegoat another, and what dignity and integrity still cost in today’s world.”
16 EAST BAY MAGAZINE | EASTBAYMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2022
Opens Sept. 7. oaklandtheaterproject.org »
«
• Preschool through 8th Grade • Connected community • Diversified Learning • School Tours Available Saint Philip Neri Catholic School: Faith, Academics, Community RSVP to spnadmissions@csdo.org 1335 High St., www.spnalameda.org510-521-0787Alameda, Information Nights: Nov 10 & Jan 11, 7pm Find out more at shcp.edu/visit Fearless, We Pursue COMMUNITY
An all-female ensemble will present Martin Crimp’s contemporary postmodern play. Seventeen seemingly unconnected scenes will comment on the life of the protagonist, Anne, defining who she is (or was) through hot-button topics including pop culture, political violence and personal identity.
Nov. 18, 19. pantheater.com
THEATREPARAMOUNT
Drag fans, rejoice, because two big—and we do mean big—shows are coming to Oakland’s Paramount Theatre this fall. RuPaul’s Drag Race WERQ The World 2022 The Paramount Theatre hosts one night of this year’s version of the touring tribute to drag fabulousness. An experiment gone wrong has sent the audience spiraling through time with no way of returning to the present. Join Gottmik, Jaida Essence Hall, Naomi Smalls, Violet Chachki and all finalists from the upcoming 14th season on a journey through iconic periods of history in hopes of finding your way back to 2022. Sept. 9, paramountoakland.org
LUNATICOTHEATRE Attempts On Her Life
Berkeley’s TheatreFIRST focuses on developing new work, and its 40-member community is mandated to be at a minimum two-thirds people of color, half female-identified and one-third LGBTQIA2+ in all aspects of infrastructure and production. The Music of Mothers Written and directed by Victoria Erville, this drama focuses on the shifting relationship between best friends from different racial backgrounds, who struggle to raise their sons side-by-side in an everchanging political and cultural landscape. “Through anger, laughter and pain, the two women must decide if they will hold on to each other as their friendship bends close to breaking,” claims TheatreFIRST.
Oct. 10, paramountoakland.org
Opens Nov. 5. shotgunplayers.org
18 EAST BAY MAGAZINE | EASTBAYMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2022 « PAN THEATER Anything Can Happen in 10 Minutes
PLAYERSSHOTGUN Berkeley’s Shotgun Players celebrate women as central characters in two offerings this fall. Man of God A real-life incident at a Christian mission in Southeast Asia inspired Man of God, which explores the lives of four young women faced with a choice. Says Shotgun: “A funny feminist thriller about that moment when girls realize the male gaze has been watching all along—and decide they are definitely gonna do something about it.”
Opens Oct. 21. theatrelunatico.org
Nominated for 12 Tonys during its New York run, this musical extravaganza is based upon a section of Tolstoy's War and Peace. Natasha is a young woman who arrives in Moscow longing for her fiancé; and then there is Pierre, a middle-aged man full of regrets. Says Shotgun, “Expect to find the Ashby Stage transformed with cabaret tables, Russian vodka and an unforgettable theatrical experience.”
Play Festival
Features 10-minute plays from the Bay Area and around the nation based on the concept “anything can happen.” Oakland’s Pan Theater read and reviewed “hundreds of plays” and picked eight best suited to the idea. “We’ve chosen the funniest, most exciting and most dramatic possibilities that combine to create a sense of the possible…in ten minutes,” says Pan Theater.
Opens Oct. 7. theatrefirst.com
Opens Sept. 3. shotgunplayers.org Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812
TheatreFIRST
Trixie & Katya Live More world-classy drag comes to the Paramount with this show, described by the theater as “the dynamic drag duo deliver unparalleled feats of theatrical eroticism and hilarious ingenuity right before your very eyes.” It’s what critics are calling “shockingly poignant and mercifully brief,” and we are so there.
Congratulationstothe‘22BestoftheEastBaywinners! PAID ADVERTISING
OurRUTHSponsors:STROUPINSURANCE AGENCY | JACK LONDON SQUARE | DHR INVESTMENT COUNSEL | THE LAKE CHALET
BY Lou SilentNeverFancher
23SEPTEMBER 2022 | EASTBAYMAG.COM | EAST BAY MAGAZINE
Dr. Ibram X. Kendi on race and racism, becoming a parent and learning how to raise an antiracist
VOSSSTEVENBYPHOTO
LITTLE THINKERS “One of the things important for parents to nurture and model is critical thinking,” Kendi said, “the antithesis of prejudicial thinking.” »
— DR. IBRAM X. KENDI
racism,kidsconversationstowithaboutraceandthemost dangerous choice parents and caregivers make is saying nothing at all. Unpacking the “silence is best” suitcase reveals one primary emotion and its neighbor: fear and ignorance. White parents misguidedly worry their white children might blurt out hateful racist words if they talk to them about the most injurious slurs to avoid. Parents of Black, Brown, Asian, East Indian and Indigenous children in the United States who talk to their children of color about centuries of racist history and behavior in American society fear their kids will have all joy crushed, curiosity killed, all hope and self-love erased. Ignorance about the science disproving these misconceptions means to them that if the subject of race is broached, tiny young people will turn into angry little beings or wither into victim mentality in the course of one conversation or classroom lesson.
The joy-kill fear loomed large in the life of historian and writer Dr. Ibram X. Kendi after he became a first-time father. Kendi is a 2021 MacArthur Fellowship recipient and National Book Award–winning author of Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. Along with regular essays in The Atlantic, Time magazine and others, and a podcast, Be Antiracist, he has authored five #1 New York Times bestselling books, including How to Be an Antiracist, Antiracist Baby and Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You (co-authored by Jason Reynolds). Kendi is a professor in the humanities at Boston University and the founding director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research. His latest book, How to Raise an Antiracist (One World), was released this earlier this year.
W hen it comes
In a Zoom interview, Kendi says, “In many ways, the book was a tremendous learning experience. One of the most fascinating aspects was just the century of research that scholars have conducted really trying to understand how kids are experiencing race at every single stage of their development. From infants to toddlers to preschoolers to school kids and tweens and teens, all the way up, that (research) has been a tremendous help for me being with my daughter, who’s now six years old. I have an understanding of what she’s likely going to be thinking or asking or seeing, so I can respond and engage accordingly.”Kendi,while writing the book, also learned details about his childhood.
As Kendi and his wife, a pediatric physician, began to parent their daughter, Imani, he thought of himself not as a heralded scholar, but as a father hoping to shepherd his child through the early stages of development without inflicting harm. The research he engaged in daily as part of his career as a scholar specializing in the study of race and racism became an overture for deep self-examination and eventually, his realizations and scientific discoveries found form in his new book.
He begins How to Raise describing the racist behaviors of medical professionals encountered by his wife, a Black doctor with a degree from Yale, as she sought care during her pregnancy and the delivery of their child. Moving to their daughter’s preschool years, he outlines “childproofing” policies that integrate ‘Half of the book is about my life as a child, and larger details around my parents and teachers. Many of whom I had to research about or interview to get a more wholesome picture of my own childhood, specifically as it related to race and the ways in which I was impacted by my parents and teachers.’
“Half of the book is about my life as a child, and larger details around my parents and teachers. Many of whom I had to research about or interview to get a more wholesome picture of my own childhood, specifically as it related to race and the ways in which I was impacted by my parents and teachers.”
24 EAST BAY MAGAZINE | EASTBAYMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2022
In the most compelling parts of the book and when he is less preoccupied with scolding himself about mistakes he has made—downplaying or ignoring his wife’s difficulties during pregnancy and failing with his daughter to recognize his own “color blindness,” one of four predominant forms of racial socialization he addresses—Kendi writes about his young life. We learn he attended eight different schools as his parents attempted to protect him from racism, such as being labeled by teachers as a behavioral problem when his behavior was no different than his white peers. Chapter nine begins with a story about his brother and introduces the issue of ableism. His brother was labeled as having a learning disability, and Kendi writes, “I always wondered if my brother would have been diagnosed differently if he had been a white child.”
Asked if material profit, privilege and structures must be given up in order to make gains while raising an antiracist child, Kendi says, “It’s important to distinguish between privilege and material resources, particularly as it relates to white people. In other words, what W. E. B. Dubois once called the psychological rage of whiteness.
“Then there’s the fear of white parents that if they talk to their children about white racism, their child is going to feel uncomfortable or guilty or think less of white people. Those fears, which are distinct, prevent white parents from engaging with their children about racism. Indeed, to not engage your child about a racist idea, to not teach them what a racist idea is and to give them examples, is to leave them vulnerable to racist ideas. Then, if they play a multiplayer video game and a white supremacist is expressing a racist idea, they’re not go to know it’s racist, they’re not going to know it’s wrong, because no one has taught them that.”
A parent worried a white child will feel guilty if taught about white racism can also teach the child about white people who challenged racism, such as the eight white men who with eight Black men in 1947 climbed aboard buses in Washington, DC during one of the first “freedom rides” that challenged segregated busing. “If you teach them about white people who enslaved Black people, your child can still relate to the white abolitionists over the slaveholder.”Specifically, the “white people have more because they are more” idea, Kendi says is insidious and must be one of the first ideas discussed and eradicated before it is entrenched in a young person’s psyche and self-identity.
Ultimately, the research and history of race and racism in America and the ways it has impacted his life leads to a fundamental philosophy: All children benefit from antiracist instruction.
“One of the things important for parents to nurture and model is critical thinking, the antithesis of prejudicial thinking. Prejudicial thinking is the basis for racial ideas. To nurture a critical thinker is to protect a child from internalizing ideas of racial hierarchy. One of the ways we approach critical thinking is we actually model for young people our not knowing, our discovering, our research, our changing our minds. All of that is a praxis of critical thinking, and clearly, if we’re doing that with a child, there’s no better way. They ask us a question and we say, ‘We don’t know.’ It's (imperative) for a critical thinker to acknowledge when we don’t know. Then secondly, we work with that child to figure out an answer. And thirdly, if that answer counteracts something else, we acknowledge that. We say this is not just something I’m learning; it changes my mind about some other thing. That changing of our minds, based on new evidence, is also a praxis of critical thinking. By contrast, to be racist is to constantly look for evidence to substantiate the idea that supposedly, racism doesn’t exist and is the problem of those people of color.”
antiracist structures and environments in schools, homes and communities, policies he wishes he had supported long before becoming a parent. The big ticket childproofing steps include actively working to create more equitable housing, job creation, public funding for schools, and social justice alternatives to incarceration and police. Practical suggestions for parents involve examining the books, friends and social media in their homes and working toward diversity.
25SEPTEMBER 2022 | EASTBAYMAG.COM | EAST BAY MAGAZINE
Which is a belief that to be white is to be superior, more beautiful, smarter. Certainly, in a different type of world where no racial group is smarter or more beautiful or better because of the »
“Many white parents have been misled into believing that they will make their child racist by talking about racism. They fear talking about race or racism because they don’t know what their child is going to say. They fear their child blurting out something that ‘sounds racist,’ and it then brings shame upon the family,” he says.
T here is a shared sense of belonging and community students experience walking onto Saint Joseph Notre Dame High School’s campus. Beyond our welcoming environment you will find a diverse student body with rigorous academic programs where students confidently navigate their personal path to college. Nestled in a beautiful, tree-lined street in the heart of Alameda, SJND has been educating the leaders of tomorrow since 1881. Schedule your visit at www.sjnd.org/admission today! Chart your own course at SJND. 1011 Chestnut St, Alameda, CA 94501 | 510-995-9458 | www.sjnd.org T he Academy of Alameda K-8 charter school envisions a future where all students are successful, and their destinies are not determined by their demographics. As one of the most diverse schools in California, we embrace and honor what is unique about our students through our K-5 equity studies program and our 6-8 competency-based learning model. Our full-day kindergarten and low-cost afterschool K-8 programs help support working families. THE ACADEMY OF ALAMEDA | 401 Pacific Ave., Alameda | aoaschools.org | 510.748.4017 StudentsConsciousSociallyEmpoweringandInspiring,Engaging,
Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory: Leadership in Action S acred Heart Cathedral’s story is one of innovation and purpose, of serving Bay Area youth since 1852. We have played a part in the history of San Francisco, just as it has played a part in ours. Today, we continue to welcome the Bay Area’s brightest students to our inclusive community, preparing them for success with a dynam ic curriculum, integrated technology, and engagement with enthusiastic and innovative teachers.Students and their families choose SHC for the strength of our academics, our faith and values, our extensive array of cocurricular opportunities, and for the warmth of our inclusive and nurturing community. Our students are compassionate, motivated, resourceful, inde pendent, service-oriented leaders who give life to our motto, Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve. 1055 Ellis Street, San Francisco | 415.775.6626 | shcp.edu
color of their skin, those white people who believe that about themselves will have to give up that racist idea. They’ll have to give up the idea that white people have more because they are more. But when you look at white Americans more broadly, not everyone who is white is wealthy. The vast majority of white people are working class, poor and middle income. The effects of structural racism disproportionately harms people of color, but relative to an equitable society, it actually harms white people too.”At the same time white people benefit from racist policies relative to Black people or Native people, they would actually benefit more under more equitable policies, he suggests. “To give an example, it is the case that with voter suppression policies, Black, Brown and Indigenous people are the most likely to be disenfranchised and their votes to be suppressed. But white people, particularly students and elderly people, are often in situations where it is harder for them to vote as well. Similarly, there are all sorts of health disparities in Black people who are more likely to die in eight of the ten leading causes of death in this country. But if we add a more equitable health care system, if there is medicare for all, if everyone had access to high quality health care—all policies that have been prevented due to racist fearmongering—there would be less white people dying of heart disease and cancer and Covid and on and on.”
— DR. IBRAM X. KENDI
‘One of the things important for parents to nurture and model is critical thinking, the antithesis of prejudicial thinking. Prejudicial thinking is the basis for racial ideas. To nurture a critical thinker is to protect a child from internalizing ideas of racial hierarchy.’
28 EAST BAY MAGAZINE | EASTBAYMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2022
“If you live in a society with all sorts of racial disparities as we do, Black and Brown people are more likely to be impoverished, incarcerated, killed by police, dying of diseases. Asian Americans are constantly targeted for violence. Asian poor people are almost erased in a way white poor people are not. If a child in this society sees all those inequities and then no one is talking to them about racism? All these messages are telling them white people have more because they are more. If they’re going to school and there’s a removal of works by or discussion about people of color, if all they’re seeing is white people in their curriculum, they’re literally being told and internalizing—by not talking about racism—all the notions of racial hierarchy.”Kendisays that success for him and the legacy left by his work will arrive less from awards than from two structural changes.
About racial reparation as it relates to children, Kendi says, “I wrote about this larger punishment-oriented society we live in, the way that impacts children with imposing punishment instead of inductive discipline. There have been efforts over the last 10 or so years to reduce the number of children suspended or expelled, just as there have been efforts to have alternatives to police when somebody has a mental health crisis. Having mental health professionals called can reduce the interactions between people experiencing a mental health crisis and police, people who are trained to punish and arrest, not trained to defuse many situations. That has helped young people to not be herded into early deaths at the hands of police violence or (in schools), not suspended and put into the prison pipelines. There’s also effort to systemically diversify curriculum, because if we’re going to teach children about the world, and this world is multiracial and multicultural, we can’t only be teaching them about the history and culture of whiteAndpeople.”silence?
“First, that people committed to creating equitable policies for all are in positions of power. And they are installing those policies. And secondly, those policies are having impacts and are reducing if not eliminating disparities and inequities and injustice and violence in our communities. Having those committed people in place is important, but even more important than the people are the actual practices and policies and ensuring they are antiracist, equitable and just.” ❤
Lunch, Dinner & Weekend Brunch | 9900 Sonoma Highway (CA12), Kenwood | 707.833.6326 | saltstonekenwood.com | Reservations: resy.com Dine in Sonoma Wine Country’smost spectacular vineyard setting. PhotographyBucquoyWill
‘Hella Feminist’ celebrates and challenges at OMCA
XANDRA IBARRA Creating under the alias of La Chica Boom, to “address abjection and joy and the borders between proper and improper racialized, gendered and queer subjects.”
I
Woman?a Ia
Ain’t
BY Janis Hashe D o you identify as a feminist?” If the answer is, “Yes,” you might be lauded or vilified. To some, you are a courageous activist fighting for equal rights and justice for half of the world’ s population. To others, you are a culture-destroying denier of the natural order of things.
PHOTOGRAPHYMIGHTYTHEFREAKOFCOURTESYPHOTO
30 EAST BAY MAGAZINE | EASTBAYMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2022 » »
H A R RY CL A R K PLUMBING AND SEWER Since 1946 Lic# 792463 Call for Surprisingly Low Prices! ww w.hcplumbing.com All the hot water you need, for as long as you need it FREE ESTIMATES 510 - 4 4 4 -1776 Tankless Water Heater and Sewer Specialist
32 EAST BAY MAGAZINE | EASTBAYMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2022
Take, for example, the passage of the 19th Amendment. The language of the amendment does not mention race: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
But even within the selfidentifying group, the last couple of decades have seen debate and reexamination. Have the waves of feminism primarily benefitted white, mostly middle-class and above, cisgender women? How can more voices and more situations be included, both now, and in looking at feminist history?These questions have provoked political discussion, and also sparked artists and curators to respond. The 100th anniversary in 2020 of the 19th Amendment, granting American women the right to vote, inspired many institutions to plan exhibits— only to have the pandemic force postponements.
OCMAOFCOURTESYPHOTO
It was a complicated journey. But, yes, I consider myself a feminist.”
»
Yet the consequences of its passage enfranchised primarily white women, and the early suffrage movement experienced a wrenching schism when some of the most prominent white suffragettes, including Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, opposed the passage of the 15th Amendment, granting Black men the right to vote. Black suffragist Frances Ellen Watkins Harper wrote of her feeling of betrayal: “When it was a question of race, I let the lesser question of sex go. But the white women »
Adams’ and Delgadillo’s answers to “Do you identify as feminist?” help to illustrate the wide range of introductions and responses to feminism.“Igrew up with a mother who did not identify as a feminist,” Adams said. “As a young woman, I was ambivalent about feminism. I felt distanced from it.
Delgadillo explained, “‘Hella Feminist’ [highlights] the lesser-known elements of feminist histories—particularly the experiences of people of color—but also demonstrate[s] how mainstream feminism at times made harmful compromises that were exclusionary.”
FEED A nursing corset from the ‘Hella Feminist’ exhibition at the Oakland Museum of California.
“Yes, definitely,” said Delgadillo. “I am a Millennial. I was raised by a mother who was political, as was her family. I had a interesting relationship with feminism…I rebelled in my teen years.”Their experiences, as well as those of exhibit contributor Silberstein, helped them create the theme for an exhibition that aims to “challenge, provoke and inspire visitors to reconsider and expand their understanding of feminism and its complicated history.”
The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive’s now-closed “New Time: Art and Feminisms in the 21st Century,” was one of these. Now comes the also-delayed “Hella Feminist” exhibition at the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA), which opened this summer and runs through Jan. 8, 2023.Co-curated by OMCA’s Carin Adams and independent curator Erendina Delgadillo, with Lisa Silberstein, “Hella Feminist” showcases both art and historical artifacts that “explore the diverse individual and collective stories of feminism,” according to museum materials. It focuses, as is OMCA’s mission, on work and stories from the Bay Area and California, centered on the last 100 years.Included are historic objects from the OMCA collection, such as posters, pins and photographs, alongside contemporary work commissioned for the exhibition. The impact reflects the concept that “all elements of identity are interlinked,” and that none can be addressed in isolation.
Emeryville Public Market | Sold-Out Hotline: 510.922.8902 Corte Madera Town Center | piginapickle.com415.891.3265 BBQ BESTBBQEVER We use only fresh, local ingredients and the finest brisket, pork, ribs and chicken available. Come and give us a try! Lic. #788850 Family Owned and Operated since 1986 FREE Estimates • In-House Installation Price Matching Guarantee 1081 Eastshore Hwy (off Gilman Street) on the border of Albany and Berkeley 510-525-5656 • www.FloorDimensions.com CARPET • HARDWOODTILE• LAMINATE VINYL • LINOLEUM
34 EAST BAY MAGAZINE | EASTBAYMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2022 all go for sex, letting race occupy a minor position.” Mind, Body and Spirit
The process of deciding what to include in “Hella Feminist” was not “strictly linear,” said Adams. The curators looked at what stories could not be represented by items in the collection, and engaged in extended conversations with contemporary artists. Some inspiration has come from personal experiences. Visitors enter the exhibition through a long hallway filled with a variety of undergarments from the museum’s extensive collection, many of which have never been displayed to the publicAdamsbefore.had earlier been curating a survey of textiles, and while looking through the OMCA collection, found it “really strange and illuminating” to view the undergarments of women from a century ago through the early 1980s, including a corset intended for use by a nursing mother. This reminded her of seeing items in her own mother’s closet, girdles and corsets that would have been standard wear for women born in the 1930s. So the exhibit’s entry includes corsets, stockings, petticoats and underwear from the mid-19th century to the present day. Interspersed among the garments are dress forms, mannequins and leg molds, “inviting the viewer to confront idealized female bodies of the past.”The “Mind” section of “Hella Feminist” is designed to “set the social and political contexts (laws, social expectations, policy, popular culture) that feminism addresses.” It features a site-specific installation by Kate Schatz and Miriam Klein Stahl, creators of bestselling books Rad Women Worldwide and Rad Girls Can, using 300 papercut portraits of women and nonbinary people from Oakland, Berkeley and the East Bay. Each portrait is numbered, and a corresponding zine produced especially for the exhibition tells viewers about who each person is and what kind of work they do.The installation also includes audio interviews with those featured.
— ERENDINA DELGADILLO «
Another part of “Mind” is a section on what the curators call the “four waves of feminism.” Acknowledging that there is not complete academic consensus about exact dates, Delgadillo said these “waves” represent 18401920, 1963-mid-1980s, 1992-early 2000s and 2000-present. These exhibits “provide a series of victories and challenges that feminists have faced,” said Delgadillo. The “Body” section engages visitors in the ways in which female/femme bodies have been “judged, restricted, regulated and celebrated.” Here, historic posters from abortion rights rallies, birth control handbooks, exhibits showing the evolution of sex education in the Bay Area and diverse sex toys from Feelmore Oakland are displayed.“Wecan’t define feminism,” said Delgadillo. “But the posters help illuminate what concrete moments were like, what the passion looked like.” At least one is from the famous Hookers’ Ball, which raised money for Margo St. James’ sex workers’ organization C.O.Y.O.T.E. (“Call Off Your Tired Old Ethics”) from 19741979. Others highlight the resistance to forcedAlsosterilization.featurediscontemporary work by Oakland-based interdisciplinary ‘Hella Feminist’ [highlights] the lesserknown elements of feminist histories— particularly the experiences of people of color—but also demonstrate[s] how mainstream feminism at times made harmful compromises that were exclusionary.
»
Kate Schatz’s collaboration with W. Kamau Bell, Do the Work: An AntiRacist Activity Book, was released right before “Hella Feminist” opened. Bay Area artist, educator and activist Miriam Klein Stahl is also the cofounder of the Arts and Humanities Academy at Berkeley High School, where she has taught since 1995.
510.874.5700 Ruth Stroup YourLocalFarmersAgent CALicense#0M13985,0F00956 3560GRANDAVE OAKLAND,CA94610 RSTROUP@FARMERSAGENT.COM Get smart about your coverage! (8DD)2S8-2DD3 h □m 818 I Ii g 8ntinc.c □m SPECIALIZING IN Home Remodeling, Home Additions, ADUs, Outdoor Spaces, and so much more. I I' ''I Best Alternative Medicine Practice & Best Chiropractor in Oakland and the East Bay Call TODAY for a 15complimentaryminuteconsult! Medical Ozone Therapy 3800 Piedmont Ave, Oakland, CA 510.497.4424 | OptimizedOptimizedWellnessCenter.comWellnessCenter helping the sick get well & the healthy excel! • Strengthens Immune System • Promotes Healing • Decreases Pain • Reduces Inflammation nan@ nanphelps.com | 510.528.8845 | 398 Colusa Ave., Berkeley PORTRAITS Visit www.nanphelps.com/offers
“We are most excited about this project because it lives at the intersection of gender, race, critical theory and visual art,” the founders note on their website. Said Delgadillo before the exhibit opened, “The Church of Black Feminist Thought has been developing ‘invocations’ to introduce their work…it’s both an academic and spiritual practice.”
An ExhibitEvolving The sections of “Hella Feminist” continued to evolve before the July opening, said Adams. “It’s a mixture of research and reaching out to the artists. Much of the art hasn’t been created yet,” she explained at the time.
Adams described the overall project this way: “By looking back at history while inviting contemporary artists to comment on the present, ‘Hella Feminist’ invites visitors to consider a future where feminism looks beyond gender-based inequality to the intersection of multiple aspects of identity.” ‘Hella Feminist’ is up through Jan. 8, 2023. Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St., Oakland. 510-318-8400, museumca.org « artist Xandra Ibarra. Sometimes creating under the alias of La Chica Boom, Ibarra uses performance, video and sculpture to “address abjection and joy and the borders between proper and improper racialized, gendered and queer subjects.”“HellaFeminist” includes Ibarra’s She’s on the Rag, a print series made from menstrual blood, as well as documentation from Ibarra’s performances as La Chica Boom, a “hyper-sexualized, hyper-racialized" version of Anotherherself.partof “Body” is an interactive display by Bay Area astrologer and medium Jessica Lanyadoo, host of the top-ranking astrology and advice show, Ghost of a Podcast, and the co-founder of the get-out-the-vote project, “Zodiac the Vote.” In this area, exhibit visitors can “release their frustrations, anger, despair, exhaustion and other emotions caused by a world that continues to be inequitable and unjust,” according to museum“Spirit”materials.contains “some of the most exciting artwork in the exhibit,” said Adams. Much is interactive, and created to help underline that there is “an emotional aspect to what it means to be a feminist,” said Delgadillo.
Both Adams and Delgadillo expressed their excitement about an installation contributed by the East Bay’s The Church of Black Feminist Thought, a spiritual-political education project coconvened by Ra Malika Imhotep and Miyuki Baker. The project’s goals include “[surfacing] all the hidden labor done by Black feminist artists, scholars and writers.” Since January 2018,
DATERJUDYBYPHOTO NO CLING ‘Ms. Clingfree’ by Judy Dater, 1982.
The movement of the ’60s and ’70s celebrating “witch power” is featured, along with contemporary women of color’s search to “reconnect with spiritual practices that have been lost,” she said.
The group’s exhibit includes a dress worn by an escaped slave, along with other objects. They also chose an object from the OMCA collection for each of the four waves. “They are pushing at the ‘squareness’ [of traditional museum exhibit formats],” said Delgadillo.
project members have been meeting in Berkeley, Oakland and over Zoom with an intergenerational group of artists, discussing the work of Octavia Butler, Hortense Spillers, Saidiya Hartman, Toni Morrison, Nina Simone, Ula Y. Taylor, Ntozake Shange, local artist Amara T. Smith, The Beautiful Being Project (Europa Grace and Arisa White), Audre Lorde, bell hooks, Patricia Hill Collins, Alexis Pauline Gumbs and others.
36 EAST BAY MAGAZINE | EASTBAYMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2022
DHR Investment Counsel, Ltd. A Registered Investment Advisor located in Rockridge 5435 College Ave., Oakland • 510.596.2580 • dhrcounsel.com Celebrating over 30 years of helping clients invest and prosper The Fine Art of Wealth Management LaperruqueScottbyArt Good gotRatesnews.justlower. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, State Farm Indemnity Company, Bloomington, IL State Farm County Mutual Insurance Company of Texas, Richardson, TX I’m excited to announce auto insurance rates just went down. I can help you find coverage that works for you. LET’S TALK TODAY. 1901155 Jain L Williams Ins Agcy Inc Jain L Williams, Agent Insurance Lic#: 0M26562 Bus: www.jainwilliams.com510-530-3222 CushionsCustom 2397 San Pablo Ave. @Channing,510-841-9001Berkeley ■ Window Seats ■ Wicker Cushions ■ Folding Beds ■ Custom Boat and RV Cushions ■ Expert ofYourorYourReasonableWorkmanship,PricesFabricOursChoiceFirmness 5431 College Ave. www.elizabethh.net510-652-5431Oakland New Fall Styles We o er talented stylists and an extensive selection of Davines and Bumble & products.Bumble We look forward to seeing you. 510.549.3954 CAwww.professionaltreecare.comContractor’sLic.#676952 Covering all aspects of tree care and removal. Serving the East Bay since 1978.
StarrPOWER
G rey Starr is a superstar. She grew up with “goth parents” in the East Bay, started playing music at 14 and came out as queer in high school. Now, in her early mid-30s and selfdescribed as “peak Millennial,” Starr is charting an artistic trajectory that is as edifying as it is entertaining. Its latest manifestation is In Mirrors, a new EP from her band Pretty
FRANKENSTEINPRETTYOFCOURTESYPHOTOS
38 EAST BAY MAGAZINE | EASTBAYMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2022
»
Pretty Frankenstein releases new EP BY Daedalus Howell
MENTOR “[Fantastic Negrito] taught me so much as far as not really caring about if it's this genre or that genre, and then also just not caring about certain things like age.”
The Most Pet-Friendly Winery WINE TASTING Shop til you drop in our pawfect tasting room… indulgence at its best… come slurp, chomp & ru ! MUTT LYNCH WINERY Featuring the Award-Winning Wines of Brenda Lynch 9050 Windsor Road, Windsor, CA 707.942.6180 | muttlynchwinery.com Independent LifeMedical Supplies SALES • RENTALS • REPAIRS MasksRespiratoryBathWheelchairsScootersSafety⁄Gloves Wound DiabeticOrthopedicIncontinenceHospitalCareBedsShoes Lift WalkingWoundCompressionUrologicalChairsCareAids 510-868-2185 | IndeLifeMedical.com Complete Home Medical Equipment & Supplies Call Brian at 510.912.6325 | Bryburley@icloud.com CA.LIC. #548462 Burley Design & Construction AdditionsRemodelsConstructionGeneral& Kitchen & Bath HomeRemodelOffice Space DecksServicesHandyman&Stairs State Bloomington,Farm IL 2001290 Right coverage. Right price. Right here in town. Here’s the deal. The right insurance should help you feel confident and comfortable. I’m the right good neighbor for LikeCallthat.metoday.agoodneighbor, State Farm is there.® Steve Bauer, Agent Insurance Lic#: 0C62738 Bus: 510-548-2929 Toll Free: www.bauer-insurance.comsteve@bauer-insurance.com877-919-2929 Trust, Communication, Area Knowledge, & Care. Kimberly Gates REALTOR® kimberly.gates@compass.comwww.kimberlygates.com510.421.0488 DRE# 01470998
Frankenstein, now out on Spotify and Bandcamp. A six-song collection of “queer anthems and ’90s angst,” lyric from the title track sums the ethos and message of the EP: “If you’re basic as fuck, then you find this scary.” It’s not an insult but rather an invitation to check your assumptions at the door and open your head and heart to the possibilities of a better world for everyone.
“I’ve just always kind of been an ‘attention whore,’ for lack of a better word,” Starr laughs when describing her evolution as an artist. This includes not only being a musician but stints as an actor and filmmaker, and more recently, a stand-up comedian. When pressed, Starr files the various pursuits under the broad label of “artist.”
»
» LATEST Starr’s new EP is a six-song collection of “queer anthems and ’90s angst.”
40 EAST BAY MAGAZINE | EASTBAYMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2022
By turns comic and camp, heartrending, occasionally chiding and ultimately a nuanced, clear-eyed expression of what it means to be a trans artist and person of color in this cultural moment, In Mirrors has all the earmarks of a creative milestone—an achievement that is both now and timeless
Berkeley Natural Grocery 1336 Gilman Street Prepared Food Annex 10387 San Pablo Ave NaturalBestFoodsStore Providing the East Bay Area with Healthy Foods for 40 years! VisitWebsiteOur 10367 San Pablo Avenue El Cerrito, CA 94530 (510) 526-1155 Our Other Locations El Cerrito Natural Grocery Happy Hound Play & Daycare, Inc. • 2101 Mandela Parkway in Oakland 510.547.3647 • www.happyhound.com Thank you for voting us Best Kennel! DOG BOARDING ... Fun and Safe DOG DAYCARE....... Play & Socialization DOG TRAINING ..... Your dog will love our training. You’ll love the results. DAYCARE • GROOMING • BOARDING • TRANSPORTATION • TRAINING JUAN CARLOS ESPINOZA PAINTING 15 Years of Experience EXCELLENT BAY AREA REFERENCES Call me for your small interior projects: kitchen, bath, bedroom, hallways, etc. 510-224-7784 • jcespinozaz74@gmail EastBayMag.com A Repair Tradition Since DanaMeyerAutoCare.com1975AUTOCARE Friendly Free Advice DOMESTIC • JAPANESE KOREAN • HYBRIDSVOLKSWAGEN&EV’STOO 660 San Pablo Ave, Albany Mon–Fri 8am–5:30pm Early Bird Service & BART Shuttle 510.527.1938 GREENBPROGRAMBUSINESSAYAREABEST of Oakland 2020
To that end, when it comes to songwriting, inspiration has always come“Foreasily.me,it’s kind of weird because a lot of the music that I write, I’d say like 99% of it, just happens. It’s very rare that I’m actually sitting at a desk or sitting with an instrument and trying to figure out what the next thing is. It’s usually like, it hits me and then I’m like, oh, okay, there’s the song, and it comes out in like five minutes,” Starr explains. “For some songs, I’ve literally just dreamt the lyrics, and then I’ll wake up and be like, ‘Oh shit, I got to write this down right now!’”She adds, “It’s kind of a sense of building a world and leaving something behind to inspire people. I think I’d be just most proud of that. Anybody who makes music or makes any kind of art should be proud to be able to put that out there.”
‘Whatever’s going to happen for you is going to happen if you keep doing it,’ is something that he always told me,” she says of the musician’s advice.
42 EAST BAY MAGAZINE | EASTBAYMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2022
In what Starr calls a musical “postcredits scene” that gently wafts into the end of another track long after the initial song has ended, she croons, “I had so much in mind, but I’ll save it for next time.”
“I think the thing about this project is it kind of has given me the freedom to do that, to gather all of my influences and really just kind of put them all into this one thing that's still somewhat cohesive,” says Starr.
“As pretentious as it sounds to call yourself an artist,” she laughs, “but the music is the first thing. That's the first priority for me.” The music also underscores another aspect of Starr’s identity. “For me as kind of serendipitous to come out as trans while in a band called Pretty Frankenstein, I'm like, that just makes too much sense to me,” says Starr who, through 2021, identified as nonbinary but decided to begin hormone treatment to fully transition last her family, friends and her partner for being incredibly supportive throughout her life. Ditto her band, which includes local luminaries Shachar Stern (lead guitar), Edward Altamirano (bass/ drums/mixing/mastering) and Thea Munster (Theremin), who loaned their estimable talents to the project.
Fans of Pretty Frankenstein can’t wait. For more, including links and videos for ‘In Mirrors,’ visit prettyfrankenstein.com. »
“I’ve been in like a million different groups in the Bay over the years,” says Starr, whose artistic experiences are free-ranging - from time spent in a hip-hop act to documentary film work with Fantastic Negrito (and later to opening for him at the Fillmore).
“He taught me so much as far as not really caring about if it’s this genre or that genre, and then also just not caring about certain things like age.
December.Starrcredits
‘For me as kind of serendipitous to come out as trans while in a band called Pretty Frankenstein, I’m like, that just makes too much sense to me.’
— GREY STARR
B�ST -OF THEEASTBAY
The resource pipe has no end - that’s the point! After we Reduce our resource use and our discards, we Reuse and Recycle. Total Recycling recirculates manufactured products and already-refined resources. It provides feedstocks for new products, building the economy while preventing unnecessary mining and logging. No waste is good waste. URBAN To End the Age of Waste RE UNIVERSETHE OF TOTAL RECYCLING REUSEPROCESSINGRECEIVINGAREASELLING ANDMAKINGUSINGNEWPRODUCTS CERAMICS RECEIVING/SORTINGAREAPROCESSINGSELLING SOILS SELLING/REMOVINGRECYCLINGPROCESSINGRECEIVINGAREAMIXINGSELLINGAREARECEIVINGSEPARATINGPROCESSINGCOMPOSTREMOVINGPROCESSINGSEPARATINGRECEIVINGAREAGRINDINGTOWINDROWSDISPOSALFRIENDLYPLANET REUSABLESMETALSGLASSPAPERPOLYMERSTEXTILESCHEMICALSWOODPLANTDEBRISPUTRESCIBLESSOILCERAMICS © URBAN ORE DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATES, 2007 Illustration by Mark & Nancy Gorrell, 2007List of 12 Mast er Categories ©1989 by Daniel Knapp and Mary Lou Van Deventer. Anyone may use them with attribution. TOTAL RECYCLING is no end-of-the-pipe dream PAID ADVERTISEMENT
