During her last visit, my partner and I went to brunch with my mom, and this brother was seated a couple tables over form us. Aunt Mary’s Cafe is located in Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood, and I think it’s fair to say that this is the East Bay breakfast spot of the moment. If you go there on the weekend, there will definitely be a line, but the food is well worth the wait. Both the customers and the staff reflect all the quirkiness and diversity of the city, and the atmosphere is friendly and comfortable.
When you go there, enjoy the people watching; and, when you finally get seated, enjoy the food. I recommend the Hangtown Fry-ttata (eggs and fried oysters with bacon and spinach and fennel mixed in).
I met this friendly guy at the checkout counter at the grocery store. He was with a co-worker, and they were buying a few hot bar items to eat during their dinner break. It was late afternoon, and they were on their way to work a late shift at the Southwest Airlines terminal of the Oakland International Airport. It was Memorial Day weekend, a holiday weekend for the company, but they’d been called in because they’d put themselves on the list of employees who were willing to work holidays in exchange for double pay. The man in this drawing explained that he was also willing to work on Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day.
He was friendly and eager to talk about his workplace options and the decisions he’d made. Something about his enthusiasm, his friendly smile, and his willingness to chat with a total stranger made an unforgettable subject for my latest sketchbook post.
I love those moments when someone is so involved in their own thoughts that they seem to be completely unaware of their surroundings. This guy was standing on a corner behind the Farmer’s Joe’s market on Fruitvale, grimacing and staring out into a generally uninhabited area near the BART tracks. I think he may have been looking for someone; or perhaps he lost his car keys, but really far away from the parking lot.
The first Tuesday of this month was an election day. I know. Who votes in June, right? My polling place is Canaan Covenant Christian Church on Foothill Blvd in Oakland, California. At Canaan Covenant, all the League of Women Voters volunteers are Black and all of the voters are Black.
There’s something that feels very special about being an African American person voting with other African American people. With all of the efforts to restrict voting rights, going to a polling place run for and by Black voters feels we’re sharing something subversive, exercising a right that some still believe we should not have. Even in this small and unadorned space, on a gritty stretch of the already gritty Foothill Blvd., it’s powerful stuff, this voting thing. Power to the people. Souls to the polls. Black votes matter. Freedom now.
