Customer Reviews

The Spirit of Oakland: An Anthology

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Hello! I'm the Editor of The Spirit of Oakland and want to add a comment here. The reviewer below, whose nom de plume is Miles Deep, is quite right that the book has a commercial component; it was published by Heritage Media Corp., which goes to different cities around the country asking businesses and organizations to buy into a history book on their city in exchange for one-page advertorials that are the second half of each book. The first half is always independent and editorial. The Spirit of Oakland: An Anthology was co-published by The Oakland Museum of California, and Diane Curry, the picture editor, and I, both staff at the museum at the time, were hired to put it together. Diane researched the museum's excellent photography archives for the images while I hired 13 writers to tackle chapters on aspects of Oakland history, including Native Americans, the Waterfront, Chinese and Japanese, African Americans, Latinos; and subjects such as sports, literature, music and dance, gardens, architecture, and so on. The reviewer is quite right that we didn't feature crime or the Hell's Angels, or many of Oakland's colorful characters. And there are many other subjects we didn't have room for in a 10,000 word book, such as the French in Oakland, the Portuguese, Jews, or other groups who have contributed greatly to the city. The definitive history of Oakland has yet to be written--and it will be a very big book. We are proud of what we accomplished in The Spirit of Oakland, a multi-cultural approach to a multi-cultural city. Thanks to "Miles Deep" for his updated comments that are very positive. We do appreciate that!

*I wrote the following review when I was upset about the "New Oakland" replacing the "Old Oakland". Now in 2003, I have cooled off a bit, and realize this is a very valuable book to anyone interested in learning more about this city. With that in mind, most of what I wrote is still true. And now: the review...

A primary reaction upon holding the book in my hands was definitive excitement, a joy stemming from the fact that it exists at all. Flipping through the pages was an immediate pay-off, with varied and colorful layouts generously displaying photographs, images and information - some familiar, and much of it new. Any original Oaklander will by nature feel sentimental about this publication.

Then arrives the secondary realization that it is obviously a commercially backed publication, possibly with subsidized content. This isn't a disappointment considering the generosity of the contributors and their mutual interest in the heritage of Oakland. As was shown with the earlier publication "Oakland, Hub of the West" one may still anticipate objectivity and a degree of thoroughness in the content of a commercially sanctioned anthology.

The third level of investigation came when I began to seek out those bits of our known history that are of particular interest to me. Admittedly I begin with the city's harder learned lessons, namely those occurring outside of law and order. Every town has it's legends and not all of them are pretty, but after all, where would Chicago be without the story of Al Capone? The criminal history of Oakland is substantial and I was surprised that it was not acknowledged at all. From this perspective it's difficult to fathom how figures such as Sonny Barger and Little Bobby Hutton managed to escape this book's scope.

It is somehow reasonable to understand the editors' conscious or unconscious squeamishness at acknowledging the realities of the Black Panther Party, the Hell's Angels, and the SLA. It's an all American impulse to look the other way from death and loss, or to overlook the grittier elements of the past. One must realize, however, that a significant portion of Oakland's cultural legacy is based upon these very losses. It is the responsibility of any contemporary Oakland anthologist to in some way confront the events surrounding these particular groups.

Crime and revolution aside, it was stunning not to see the slightest bit of evidence about many of the most prominent folk stories that have undeniably helped to shape the identity of this unsung city. The characters in these stories have names like Julia Morgan, Isadora Duncan, Bruce Lee, Clint Eastwood, Too Short, Jim Otto, Fong Yu, Shuck Yee, Larry Graham, and I'm tempted to go on but I will now stop. In all reality there is no use over editorializing about a book on Oakland that has more to say about the Versata Inc. Software Company than any of the above named persons or movements. The only thing left this reviewer has to express about The Spirit of Oakland Anthology is a number of serious questions addressed to those persons responsible for it.