Ah! Berkeley’s Fourth Street Shops business district–an array of specialty retail establishments ranging from high-end home furnishings to charming and quirky food, clothing, makeup and stationary boutiques. Fourth Street draws shoppers from all over Alameda County…but not a lot of Black folks. I always see a few, but it’s not like Piedmont Avenue in Oakland, or even that stretch of College that runs through Rockridge. I’m not necessarily saying that this means anything negative about the Fourth Street area. It’s simply the way things are at the moment…which brings me to the subject of this drawing. Given the relative dearth of Black folks in this stretch of an otherwise significantly Black region of South Berkeley, when I do see a brother in that area, he stays on my mind.

Ajuan Mance