I've been wanting the capture these trucks for years. Here's a pair that I chose to post. I'm a bit bothered by the caricature of the Asian faces. Yet what's more interesting is what I see as the orientalization of the sexual images of the black women in the second photo. Black hair = Chinese queues? Gives "chinky eyes" another layer of meaning.
Bikes:
I learned today that a bike lock costs double the price of the bike my mom bought. So much for an environmentalist alternative...
Bike culture is evolving in Oakland. Driven heavily by the growing white hipster population of the city. These images are from outside a cafe, which did not exist a year ago and is frequented by young white middle class folks. I did not think much about the use of the word manifesto when I first saw it. I assumed it was from a community org but alas, it's a bike shop. Nothing wrong with that inherent concept. However, who is driving this "urban bike culture" and who has more access to "self-expression," a value claimed by Manifesto Oakland? What happens to activism when terms like "manifesto" and "movement" are appropriated by whites uncommitted to radicalism? This is a set-up that heavily resembles the position of white hippies during the 60s and 70s. How do radicals of color then engage with "anti-wealth" whites (for lack of a better term)? It's an issue Huey Newton considered but I don't know if he found an answer...
Books:
Went into Berkeley for some books to supplement the shitty state textbook. And realized what I already knew-- teachers pay to teach.
But that's ok... Anthony Hamilton told me:
We don't have to worry bout no groceries/ we can fill up on love alone...
Quit your crying lady/ we can conquer the world
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