What is the character of the East Bay? It’s a question I ask myself with every issue.
When we think of a place, we often think of iconic landmarks, like Lake Merritt or Jack London Square, the historic Campanile at UC Berkeley or the shoreline scrap-metal sculptures of Albany Bulb. Sometimes a place conjures social issues and activist movements, like homelessness, the Black Panther Party and massive “No Kings” protests.
But ultimately the character of a place is shaped by the people who make, gather in, preserve, challenge and enjoy it. And the relationship goes both ways: The East Bay shapes its people, and its people, in turn, shape the place.
In this issue, we meet some of the people doing the shaping.
Berkeley author and activist Ayelet Waldman explores feminist history in her new novel, A Perfect Hand. She believes that written words can change the course of history, people, society and human life. Sounds like an East Bayer to me.
In his latest book, Roscoe, Lafayette author Andrew J. Gregor offers an unfiltered glimpse into the mind of an unhoused person, with the goal of changing the way those who read it view homelessness. Gregor previously lived in Berkeley, where he found attitudes toward homelessness hypocritical, as many were supportive of people experiencing it, until it came to their neighborhoods. How very East Bay. (We’re a complex lot.)
Candi Martinez has produced more than 100 family-friendly festivals and events in Oakland over two decades. Her events have included Lakeshore Spring Festival, Laurel Street World Music Fair and Afrobeats at the Lake. “Communities are made better when they have access to art, to culture, to events,” she said.
Communities are also made better by people actively restoring a living part of the bay. Wild Oyster Project, a nonprofit organization founded by environmentalist Linda Hunter in 2016, is on a mission to restore the San Francisco Bay, one shucked oyster shell at a time.
Another way people create a sense of place is by crafting somewhere for people to gather. Bar Skula is a new seafood-focused cevicheria and grill on Grand Avenue in Oakland from the former owners of Luka’s Taproom. Taking over the former Sidebar space right across from the lake, the neighborhood spot features a 60-seat dining room with vibrant underwater murals.
So what is the character of the East Bay? Look around. It’s all of us. You, me, the faces we see on BART. The legions of protesters holding resistance signs on street corners. A volunteer counting oysters at Richmond’s Point Molate Beach Park. An author using language to incite empathy.
The East Bay shapes us, and we shape it right back.
