East Bay Yesterday

In the new book “Huey P. Newton: I Am We,” Delio Vasquez synthesizes thousands of pages of Newton’s unpublished writings to explore a different side of the Black Panther Party co-founder. Piercing through the mythology surrounding this revolutionary icon, Vasquez engages deeply with Newton’s theories on the nature of power, gender relations, the rising dominance of technology, and much more. Additionally, the book investigates covert psychological experiments on prisoners in institutions where Newton was incarcerated, adding much-needed context to what some of Newton’s friends and family members described as his mental collapse. On October 22, I interviewed Vasquez in front of a packed house at Local Economy. Listen to the podcast to hear our discussion on the legacy of the Black Panthers, anti-capitalism, mental health, and Newton’s prescient predictions on the rise of tech-fascism. To see photos and links related to this episode, visit: https://eastbayyesterday.com/episodes/revolution-is-a-process/ Don’t forget to follow the East Bay Yesterday Substack for updates on events, boat tours, exhibits, and other local history news: https://eastbayyesterday.substack.com/ Donate to keep this show alive: https://www.patreon.com/c/eastbayyesterday

In Behind the Desk at the Main: A Librarian’s Memoir, Dorothy Lazard writes, “Our hold on history is fragile if we don’t harvest it, preserve it, and share it. Our stories are the bounty that feeds and sustains our communities.” The book not only shares tales from Lazard’s tenure at the Oakland History Center, but also explains the vital and ever-changing role that libraries play in society. According to Lazard, libraries are facing “an existential crisis” due to budget cuts, censorship, changing technologies, and anti-democratic political trends. On October 8, I interviewed Lazard in front of a packed house at Clio’s Books. Listen to the podcast to hear our discussion on biblioholism, the most obscure questions she was asked by library patrons, the controversy around her book launch, and much more. Find the program via Apple, SoundCloud, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts. To see photos and links related to this episode, visit: https://eastbayyesterday.com/episodes/our-hold-on-history-is-fragile/ Don’t forget to follow the East Bay Yesterday Substack for updates on events, boat tours, exhibits, and other local history news: https://eastbayyesterday.substack.com/ Donate to keep this show alive: https://www.patreon.com/c/eastbayyesterday

A few generations ago, the San Francisco Bay was filthy, smokestacks clogged the air with sooty black clouds, and many local plants and animals were on the verge of extinction. Although our region still faces threats from invasive species, pollution, and climate change, an incredible amount of progress has been made. Explaining his motivation for writing San Francisco Bay Area: An Environmental History (Backcountry Press), an encyclopedic new overview that covers everything from beavers to earthquakes, David Schmidt said “I thought that people would appreciate the Bay Area and all of its beautiful natural areas much more if they knew how hard it was to preserve them.” Listen to the podcast to hear an interview with David Schmidt that delves into Native history, the real-life incident that inspired Hitchcock’s The Birds, our favorite local lookout points, and much more. Find the program via Apple, SoundCloud, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts. Shoutout to Steven Whitright and Ethan Goldwater for helping out with recording and production on this episode. To see photos and links related to this episode, visit: https://https://eastbayyesterday.com/episodes/how-we-recovered-from-environmental-catastrophe/ Don’t forget to follow the East Bay Yesterday Substack for updates on events, boat tours, exhibits, and other local history news: https://eastbayyesterday.substack.com/ Donate to keep this show alive: https://www.patreon.com/c/eastbayyesterday

One of the coolest things about Oakland’s DIY culture of the early 2000s is that we did so much with so little. With no corporate sponsorships or major funding, scrappy groups of artists and musicians were able to create a thriving scene built on creativity, resourcefulness (dumpster diving!), and the determined ambition to turn bizarre fantasies into tangible reality. This episode features two stories that exemplify the weird brilliance that made this era so special. The first segment is about how Jhon Benson bought a steel-plated AC Transit bus from an Oakland Police officer and turned it into a veggie oil-fueled party on wheels. Like a Gen X Ken Kesey, Benson loaded his bus up with a motley crew of pranksters (and some random strangers) who brought music, comedy, and myriad shenanigans to scenic vistas, highway underpasses and even cemeteries throughout the Bay Area and beyond. The second segment is about Lobot, one of the largest and longest running live/work artist warehouses & DIY galleries of the early millennium. Former residents Sabrina Sierra and Ben Valis share stories of an Armageddon party, “the night of 1000 punks,” unexpected visits from the FBI, and how Lobot temporarily transformed into a free spa for sex workers. They also discuss several of the unglamorous aspects of living at Lobot, like how the space evolved politically amidst the gentrification of West Oakland and what it was like to share a shower with 15 people. To see photos and links related to this episode, visit: https://eastbayyesterday.com/episodes/dancing-at-the-end-of-the-world/ Don’t forget to follow the East Bay Yesterday Substack for updates on events, boat tours, exhibits, and other local history news: https://eastbayyesterday.substack.com/ Donate to keep this show alive: www.patreon.com/c/eastbayyesterday

In Oakland on any given weekend in the early 2000s there might’ve been be a punk show in an old Victorian happening down the block from a warehouse rave while, at the same time, a bunch of burners were doing pyrotechnics in an old factory and a few blocks away, experimental noise musicians were making bizarre sounds in an abandoned train station within spitting distance of hardcore kids moshing under a freeway overpass while the nearest intersection was being taken over by a sideshow blasting hyphy. It was raw, unpermitted, cheap, and people weren’t doing it to get rich or famous.  There was cross-pollination, collaboration and confrontation. It could be wild and dangerous, problematic and annoying… it could be whatever you wanted it to be because it wasn’t being sold to us from the outside, we were making it happen ourselves. For some folks, these overlapping DIY scenes were all about art, music, and building community. For others, it looked like gentrification, a wave of hipsters setting the stage for rising rents.   Inspired by Jessalyn Aaland’s article in the Oakland Review of Books, “Please do not hang out in the street: Oakland DIY music spaces of the early 21st century,” the Oakland Underground miniseries will explore why there was such a big explosion of underground activity happening here during this particular era – and how things have changed. This episode features interviews with Aaland, an artist and publisher of Current Editions, as well as Heather Freinkel (aka Heather Blotto), a musician and photographer who organized countless shows and cultural events at DIY spaces like Dead Rat Beach and Unimatrix Zero. This episode features music from High Castle, Ettrick, Vholtz, Circuit, Your Pest Band, and Eats Tapes. To see photos and links related to this episode, visit: https://eastbayyesterday.com/episodes/no-ones-trying-to-get-famous/ Don’t forget to follow the East Bay Yesterday Substack for updates on events, boat tours, exhibits, and other local history news: https://eastbayyesterday.substack.com/ Donate to keep this show alive: www.patreon.com/c/eastbayyesterday