<div dir="ltr"><div>To all the people sharing fun stories and uplifting anecdotes about encountering black people in Oakland: Let's not forget that there are actually some on this list. In fact, I'm one of them!<br>
</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 7:36 PM, rhodey <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:rhodey@anhonesteffort.org" target="_blank">rhodey@anhonesteffort.org</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Oh yes, it is worth noting that I'm a white male in his early 20s.<br>
<br>
--<br>
-- rhodey ˙ ͜ʟ˙<br>
<br>
On 11/18/2013 07:12 PM, Sonja Trauss wrote:<br>
> this reminds me of a comment I overheard on the bus when I lived in st<br>
> louis:<br>
> "I'm getting that government money man, fuck street money, it ain't even<br>
> worth it."<br>
><br>
> ps are you a boy or a girl?<br>
><br>
><br>
> On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 6:55 PM, rhodey <<a href="mailto:rhodey@anhonesteffort.org">rhodey@anhonesteffort.org</a><br>
> <mailto:<a href="mailto:rhodey@anhonesteffort.org">rhodey@anhonesteffort.org</a>>> wrote:<br>
><br>
> Receiving and contemplating the perspectives of others is one of my<br>
> favorite ways to burn metaphorical CPU cycles. The level of respect I<br>
> show for differing perspectives is something I hope to never be<br>
> content with, that is to say I believe it's an endless process and I'm<br>
> still working on it. I have a tendency to keep my head stuck in<br>
> projects and have realized is that I've been holding out on sharing<br>
> many of my most valued perspectives, more specifically my experiences.<br>
> It is my hope that through sharing experiences we can better<br>
> understand how to conduct ourselves within Sudo Room and how we Sudo<br>
> Room can better conduct ourselves within our local community.<br>
><br>
> I arrived in the "bay area" May 1st by way of some airport in New<br>
> England, in search of hackers, activists and uncomfortable<br>
> experiences. After subletting an apartment in the mission for all of a<br>
> month I moved to West Oakland. Since arriving in Oakland I've been<br>
> robbed three times, to me each experience has been indescribably<br>
> educational in its own way. However, my first crime related experience<br>
> in Oakland was not a crime at all.<br>
><br>
> There is a corner store within ~6 minutes walking distance from my<br>
> apartment by West Oakland BART called Happy Times. To me it is usually<br>
> a liquor store, but this day I felt like working through the night so<br>
> I bought 2 large redbull energy drinks. Walking home holding the<br>
> redbull as best I could in one hand I passed two African-American<br>
> youths, one female, one male and both no older than 17. We passed each<br>
> other and at this time I was about 20" from home then from behind me I<br>
> heard "hey man, can I get a redbull?".<br>
><br>
> I turned around to face the two of them with a bit of a guilty smile<br>
> on my face, after all who the fuck really needs 32oz of redbull?<br>
> Caffeine, other energy drinks, productivity and I all get along<br>
> swimmingly, all the better if I can help someone else get things done.<br>
> "Sure" I said, followed by "make good use of it" in an attempt to make<br>
> the situation more casual. I walked up and handed him the redbull, his<br>
> face lit up, he went nuts.<br>
><br>
> **and I quote** "Oh man! Asking is so much better than stealing!"<br>
><br>
> The smile stayed on his face as he continued celebrating, exclaiming<br>
> all possible iterations of the above statement as I stood their<br>
> dumbfounded. This continued for minutes until we parted ways, up the<br>
> stairs and into the house I could still hear him talking with his<br>
> friend.<br>
><br>
> This was certainly not the first time he'd been told of this<br>
> sentiment, but after ~17 years of living it was the first time he had<br>
> ever believed it. There are at least 3 other experiences I would like<br>
> to share in time, but for now I'll leave it at this.<br>
><br>
> --<br>
> -- rhodey ˙ ͜ʟ˙<br>
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><br>
><br>
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</blockquote></div><br></div>