Oakland gospel, another boat tour, 50th episode, and more

The histories of Oakland’s blues and hip-hop scenes have been well-documented in recent years, but gospel hasn’t gotten nearly as much attention. Maybe it’s because I’m not a religious person, but I didn’t know much about this vibrant tradition until a few days ago. Fortunately, I was able to watch an incredible new documentary called “One Voice” about the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir that provides an incredible look at the deep history and ongoing celebration of this powerful music.

I don’t want to give anything away, because the film includes some really surprising moments, but... I loved everything about it. Incredible story, powerful characters, great cinematography, and, of course, phenomenal tunes. The film covers the roots of Oakland’s unique gospel scene (which included some local blues and jazz performers) and traces the evolution of the incredibly unique Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, which includes singers from many different religious affiliations, ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds. 

If you want to watch it, there’s a screening next week at The New Parkway, where director Spencer Wilkinson will be doing a Q&A: Grab tickets here.  (Bonus: This event will also include a screening of a short doc about the MacArthur Maze by Serginho Roosblad)

New episodes
The podcast hit a few big milestones recently: I just dropped the 50th episode and it crossed 200,000 plays on SoundCloud! If you haven’t been keeping up, the most recent show is the final installment in my Deep in Canyon trilogy. I’ve gotten a ton of positive feedback about the first two segments in this miniseries, so I hope this chapter doesn’t disappoint.

Also, if you don’t know about the “earth-shattering” history of Hercules, make sure to check out my Q&A with Steve Lawton all about the former dynamite capital of California. More East Bay Yesterday news
I’ll be giving a free presentation all about how and why I make East Bay Yesterday next week at UC Berkeley’s Oral History Center. If you want to attend, here’s the RSVP link. And speaking of the OHC, their archive about the Port Chicago disaster was featured in Jill Cowan’s always-essential California Today newsletter.

New boat tour! If you haven’t been able to check out my East Bay waterfront history boat tour yet, I just added another date. This one is happening on the morning of Saturday, October 6. There’s only room for 28 passengers and all the other tours have sold out within a day, so if you want tickets, better scoop them up fast.

Thanks to Paul Kilduff for this lovely profile about East Bay Yesterday in The Monthly magazine.

Shoutout to Azucena Rasilla and Pendarvis Harshaw for including my episode about the East Bay Dragons in this great list of "101 things to love about Oakland." (Can’t wait to check out the Dragons’ 60th Anniversary Block Party next month!)

In other news…
Props to Lynette Gibson McElhaney for leading efforts to create a permanent memorial for slain Oakland journalist Chauncey Bailey. With the President constantly stirring up animosity against reporters, this story is an important reminder that people are putting their lives at risk to expose wrongdoing and must be protected. If you want to read the definitive account of this tragedy, check out Thomas Peele’s mind-blowing book “Killing the Messenger.” Also, much respect to all the great journalists who worked on The Chauncey Bailey Project.

Damn, I still miss Rod Dibble, but it’s good to see The Alley still going strong. Check out this deep dive into the history of one of Oakland’s best bars, which includes the fact that Ella Fitzgerald once sang there! (h/t @Berkeleyside)

In “How to Do Nothing,” Jenny Odell cited the restoration of Sausal Creek as an example of “manifest dismantling” (we discuss the concept in this episode). Now KALW is taking a look at the history of the area in this wonderful piece “Exploring Sausal Creek: Ancient Redwoods And Ohlone Roots.” (Sidenote: Reading this article has convinced me to go take a walk up there as soon as I’m done writing this newsletter.)

Shoutout to KC for this update about what’s going on with the redevelopment of the old Terry’s TV/RCA/Hot Mess property. If you missed my interview with Sam Lefebvre about the history of this space, you can listen (and see some cool photos) here.

Can you solve this mystery: What’s the story with that golden astronaut statue that's been up in the tree near Grizzly Peak for years and years? If you have any clues, drop me a line: eastbayyesterday [at] gmail.com

In case you missed it, New York Times published a loving tribute to one of Berkeley’s most iconic bookstores: “The Legend of Moe’s Books.” And if you’re into the history of Berkeley bookstores, this old issue of Cometbus is a must-read.

Sadly, I never got a chance to see jazz legend Sun Ra live, but last month The Arkestra performed live alongside his experimental 1971 Afrofuturist movie “Space is the Place,” which was mostly filmed in Oakland. The Town has changed quite a bit over the past half century, but some of downtown’s distinctive architecture is clearly visible in the scenes where Sun Ra is cruising around in the back of convertible.Finally…
Are you familiar with WordPress? I’d like to add a few features (like a search bar) to my website, but I’m totally clueless. If you could help out, please hit me up.

Don't forget to support East Bay Yesterday if you can afford to kick down a few bucks per month. I wouldn't be able to do this without your help!

Thanks for reading this far! Hope to see some of you at the Oakland Heritage Alliance’s walking tours this weekend.

-Liam