Author Description

“We need you to tell the story of this place. It becomes harder to tear something down when it's in the national consciousness. The more you tell the story, the more people will recognize that they are building on top of something that already exists. This isn't a clean slate, you don’t get to come in here and [pretend] there are no consequences to your actions.” —Daveed DiggsGentrification is an issue that has historically impacted and will continue to affect the people of Oakland. In the Spring of 2019, 12th grade students at ARISE High School, a public charter school in East Oakland's Fruitvale Village, engaged in an oral history project called (Y)OUR OAKLAND, where they took on the responsibility of telling the story of their Oakland in a way that will honor community narratives and help others understand the history of gentrification in the Town. Their work grew out of an Urban Economics unit, where they explored the complexities of gentrification and questioned how they as youth could play a role in making sure that their Oakland is not forgotten amidst all the rapid physical, economic, and demographic changes happening in their city. Ultimately, they decided to conduct interviews with a member of their community to learn about their experience with gentrification and then immortalize that narrative through a creative storytelling tool. They hoped to pass down these stories to the younger generation and leave their legacy in their community, so that the stories of their (our) Oakland are never forgotten.The book you are now holding contains the final products of this 2-month long endeavor. After hours of interviewing, transcribing, editing, designing, and more editing, they created something together in hopes of educating the future students of ARISE and the members of the community about not only the issue of gentrification but also the value of listening to and sharing one another's stories. The people of Oakland and their stories of struggle, sacrifice, suc