Alice Street
To the blind eye, the murals located on Alice Street are nothing more than the familiar graffiti spotted next to the streets of California every day. However, these murals mean much more to those who live there and those represented by them, otherwise known as people who are willing to fight to keep their cultural presence alive in a world that literally and figuratively tries to tear it down.
History
Since the 1920s, Alice Street has harbored many forms of art culture where people from all walks of life pass by and enjoy it or even participate in traditional dance, music, and song. These people- of all races, genders, and ages- started many types of similar movements, all with the exact cause of keeping their culture alive in Oakland. Because of this, these people jointly created the “Community Rejuvenation Project,” where they designed a healthy community of varying peoples through art, education, civic engagement, and overall empowerment. Clearly, the murals on Alice Street were a central part of their faction, that is, until the city property developer wanted to establish a building in its place.
“Alice Street”
A mere year ago, a documentary was developed with the same name and story as Alice Street, which uniquely depicted all of these happenings and more. This film, directed by Spencer Wilkinson, showed us the exact response of Community Rejuvenation Project founder Desi Mundo after this occurrence, “Hell no.” As a result, numerous protests ensued. My favorite being when the dance and music groups of the Alice Arts Center literally danced to their City Hall in a rally. Even now, this group continues to fight for their rights to protect and celebrate their culture through a website containing news about their mission, screenings, documentary information, an online store, and, most importantly, details about their 2021 Summer Impact Tour.
My Thoughts
Overall, I found the real-life actions of the Oakland citizens to be inspiring, and the fact that an entire documentary was created by them in the name of Alice Street all the more impressive. As someone who studies human culture and society, I was quite touched by the story of all of the ranging art forms that were and are currently depicted there. Such as the gorgeous murals painted on its walls over the years Alice Street has been in existence, the performing artists of all walks of life who perform there and at other locations in its name, and the active protesting for various causes. As well as this, I found the “Alice Street” documentary to be moving and motivational. I felt much more connected to this topic after seeing and hearing about the people who spend their lives advocating for not only the physical street itself but for their significant cultural identities.
As previously mentioned, there is information about the Alice Street Summer Impact Tour ‘21 located on their website that depicts how they use their documentary to spark change in other communities throughout the country that are experiencing the same conditions. For example, they start conversations about public art and culture, gentrification, and coalition building in cities, then search for ways to make a difference. You can find more information at this link!
Sources
For the Culture: ‘Alice Street’ Captures the History of a Once-Booming Arts District and its Struggle to Save a Mural that Represents it:
Doc Film Tells the Story of an Oakland Mural that Sparked a Movement: