Rockridge

Yesterday, our class went down to Rockridge, which is surprisingly very close from our school. After all, Rockbridge is IN Oakland. I have never actually heard of this area, so I don’t think that I had a perspective on how it will be. For some reason, the name made me think that it would be somewhat similar to what we experienced at Walnut Creek, but because it is in Oakland, I thought that it wouldn’t necessarily fit into that criteria. When we got off Bart to my surprise Rockridge was very nice. As we walked through College Blvd. we saw many cafes, restaurants, and boutiques. The area seemed pretty calm, everyone that was there seemed to be shopping of dining at one of the many restaurants. The feel of this area, to me, seemed very chill and relaxed, kind of like Berkeley. There were many people riding bikes, and others just talking outside Cole Café.

After visiting Rockridge I realized that there are a lot of differences when I compare it to Fruitvale. Some of the major differences are that Rockridge is cleaner, and a lot of people are riding bikes. At Fruitvale you do see some people riding their bikes around the neighborhood and what not, but not like in Rockridge. Another thing is that the Fruitvale area is closer to more fast food restaurants and liquor stores, and at Rockbridge the only mainstream stores were Trader Joes and Safeway. The priced between both of these places were also very different, which shows how much money people are able and willing to spend on things. When my group and I went inside a boutique to interview a worker there, she was busy talking on the phone, so we were looking at the clothing prices. Can you believe that a women’s plain and simple white t-shirt, can cost up to $133? A store like that would die at Fruitvale because almost no one would buy a shirt that expensive. At Rockbridge I also went into a jewelry store that had very expensive prices. I saw a pearl necklace for $9,800, which is another store that probably wouldn’t survive in the Fruitvale area. At Fruitvale they do have jewelry stores, but not as expensive as those of course.

It is very hard to think of similarities between these two different areas. The only thing that comes to mind is the fact that in both places, it does feel like a small community. There are a lot of things that are accessible. For example they both have a Bart station surrounded by stores and restaurants. Besides that I don’t think it’s the same. At Rockridge it didn’t feel very diverse. There were a lot of whites, and Asians. Rarely did I see Latinos and African Americans.

Overall, what surprised me is that Rockridge is actually IN Oakland when it doesn’t even feel like that. It is completely different, but not so much as Walnut Creek.

Oakland - The Town

Oakland: Dangerous City, Negative Influences, Failure, my home

I was born and raised in East Oakland and even if I could change that fact, I wouldn’t dare to do so. Oakland is known for its bad “rates” but the town is much more than just that.

I remember when I was in 10th grade, a couple of students from my school and I went to Stanford University for a Student Summer Program. Students from all over California came together to discuss how we can become true leaders, improve our public schools and many other topics. We stayed in campus housing for 3 days, therefore we were paired up with another person to share the dorm with. My roommate was an Asian girl from LA. When I introduced myself, she asked me,” So, where are you from?” When I said “Oakland” she looked scared and she asked me, “Do you have a gun with you?” I couldn’t believe she was actually serious. I didn’t take it seriously though, I just laughed at her. By that, she became more frighten, actually.

To some extend it does bother me that people think so badly of Oakland. I have lived here my whole life and I have never been jumped, shot, or served time. Although there are negative things in Oakland, there are also many powerful and positive aspects that make this city very unique. Oakland has made history. Not only has Oakland changed hip hop and rap music, but also it has changed the dictionary. Of course, people that don’t live here only focus and mention the negative things.

Another thing that I hate is the low expectations that people have for the youth in Oakland. I feel like people don’t expect teenagers to do go in school, if any they expect them to fail. People that don’t live in Oakland, and even some that do live here, think that we (teenagers) can’t become a success in life because of where we come from. I am very proud to say that I am proving those people to be very wrong about all of us. I believe that it doesn’t matter where we come from, as long as we have our mind set to our goals. Just because I was raised in Oakland, I don’t feel like that is a disadvantage, or that other people have it better than If anything, Oakland has showed me how powerful we all are, and has giving me a sense of strength and endurance.

I will have to leave Oakland to go to college, but I know I will come back here because there is no place like home. I will come back to my community and prove that anything is possible. I know that there is no place like this. In Oakland we have many cultures and ethnicities that are not seen in other cities or states in the U.S.


To the teeens of Oakland: You shouldn’t fall into believing that what other people say about you is true. Only you know what you are and what you are capable of doing. Prove them to be wrong!

-Danni♥

Chinatown!

There are several times that I have visited Chinatown, but I don’t completely know my way around that area. The perspective that I had on Chinatown before visiting yesterday is that it is a place where the majority of the people are Asians, and that’s pretty much it. To be honest, I never really thought of Chinatown. Although I have passed by there, I haven’t really spent much time around that area. I do know that they have great food, and yummy candy from their own cultural background.

After I visited Chinatown, I don’t think my perspective changed all that much. As we walked by Webster and 9th Street, the majority of the people there were Asians. You could still see different races, though. On our way to Jamba Juice, I saw Whites, Latinos, and other races were rarely seen. We also saw plenty of Asian Restaurants, which I knew Chinatown had, but I didn’t know there were so many!

The major differences that I saw between Fruitvale and Chinatown was that the majority of people in Chinatown were Asian, and in Fruitvale the majority are Latinos. The cultural background of Chinatown is of course very different than Fruitvale. Throughout our day at Chinatown I didn’t see an Ice Cream man, or those fruit stands that you can’t avoid in Fruitvale. The type of food there was also very different than Fruitvale. There were plenty of Asian restaurants and markets. Even the smells from both of these places are very differently. Chinatown smelled like ocean food, and to me Fruitvale didn’t really smell like anything, probably because I am so used to it. Some of the similarities that I saw between Chinatown and Fruitvale were the minorities are the majority in those places, and the culture of them is still alive within Oakland. Another similarity is that they are not the cleanest places in the world, which is probably because both places have similar problems that are not being solved.

Some of the surprises that I had about Chinatown was that they have a “Crepes” Restaurant next to Jamba Juice, and I never knew about those before going to Walnut Creek. I guess if I didn’t go to Walnut Creek, I would have never known what those were. Now, I’ll be able to introduce that type of food to my family and friends. Finding that restaurant at Chinatown was definitely a surprise for me!

It's all part of a Chain

It’s a sunny day in Oakland, the kids are playing and simply having fun. Then, “what is wrong with this picture?” you might ask. First of all, when we were walking down East 14th it was no later than 12pm. Then why aren’t these kids at school? Where are their parents? And should that old mattress be part of this picture?

There is a majority of people that believe that Oakland is a “bad and dangerous” city. However, nobody does anything to improve our community. When I saw those kids at first I did not wonder why they were not in school, that didn’t even cross my mind. Is it because I am so use to seeing this that I become numb to it? In my neighborhood not only are there young children that don’t go to school, but also teenagers that decided to drop out.

When I see this picture I don’t see a group of happy kids, but some of the “negative” aspects of my community. The fact that our youth is not in school exposes them to a different type of life. I ask myself, “ Does this occur because of lack of support within families, and schools?

Now, the old mattress, it shouldn’t even be there in the first place. Trash is something that you see around our communities, why do people throw things in the streets? What comes to my mind is that people just don’t care. If someone is walking down a street in Oakland, and they don’t see a garbage can, they’ll throw it on the street. There’s trash all over the place, if nobody makes the effort to throw things away in the trash can, why should they? At least that’s what I think people believe. What they don’t know is that they could be the person to make a change, so that other people are motivated to keep our community clean.

We can’t blame someone for how our community is. It’s all part of a chain and its time for us to break it.

Fruitvale Village

Today we went down to Fruitvale Village in Oakland to interview people, just like we did on Tuesday but at Walnut Creek. At first, I thought that interviewing people at Fruitvale would be easier than my experiences at Walnut Creek. When we were in Walnut Creek I felt like nobody wanted to get interviewed because they didn’t really care, or they were just being rude to us for being minorities. I thought that at Fruitvale it would be easier because people here look like us and what not, but I was wrong. When we went to interview people in Fruitvale we were still getting rejected. I realized that when we were in Walnut Creek, we were not being rejected because of the fact that we are minorities. Everyone has there own reasons. For me, it was harder to interview people simply because I had difficulties translating English to Spanish correctly.

Although I have lived in this area for my whole life, I finally noticed something. I saw that my definition of diversity was incorrect and it changed. Before, I felt like diversity meant that there were no white people. In other words, if there were no Caucasians around than I would feel like it was very diverse. After coming from Walnut Creek and then going to Fruitvale, I realized that my community is not as diverse as I thought. There were very few Caucasians in my community, the majority was Latino, followed by African Americans, and the rest were rarely seen.

The positive aspects that I saw on Fruitvale was that although not everyone wanted to be interviewed, people here were nicer to us, and it was a little bit more comfortable. Also, there are many more minorities in comparison to how Walnut Creek is, but still Fruitvale could be more equally diverse. Some of the negative aspects of Fruitvale is that people are frightened to be in that area in late afternoon. It is also not the cleanest area.

Overall, I learned that my very own definition of diversity changed after interviewing people at Fruitvale Village.