The Kaiser Rooftop Garden is located at 21st and Webster, above the 24-Hour Fitness facility and public parking garage. Opened to the public in 1960, it was at the time the largest continuous rooftop garden in the world. The garden spans more than 3 acres and features trees such as olive, holly oak, Japanese maple, and
southern magnolia. It is open to visitors Monday through Friday during business hours. It's a great place for a quiet lunch time stroll or picnic. The roof has several access points, but the easiest by way of the long escalator which begins just outside the back entrance of the Longs drugstore.
Is the President a freestyle rapper? LOL, you might respond by text. But seriously, check out Mos Def's rendition of "What's Beef?" Originally done by the Notorious B.I.G., I first heard it on The Dave Chappelle Show. It is sardonic and didactic, in full "Let me learn ya" mode. The President was recently in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, riffing on "What is Government" and the parallels between his "flow" and Mos' were, at least for me, striking. First, check out Mos Def's:
Mos Def is essentially exhorting denizens of the Hip Hop Nation (and black America, to not conflate the two): “Wake up, open your eyes, avoid distraction and get real about what should really be occupying your attention." Here's my favorite line, which is, sadly, too damn topical: “Beef is high blood pressure and bad credit/Need a loan for your home and you're too broke to get it."
Now, like I said, maybe President Obama has begun listening to Mos Def spit fiyah, because that's what he did recently. Here's the President, in Minnesota this Monday, August 15, vigorously defending government -- not just his administration, but the very concept of government itself. He enumerates (many) of its functions that are simultaneously viewed as indisputably necessary by most Americans (all but the far right*) but that, ipso facto, to their purported consternation, also make government BIG:
You’ll hear a lot of folks, by the way, say that government is broken. Well, government and politics are two different things. Government is our troops who are fighting on our behalf in Afghanistan and Iraq. That’s government. Government are also those FEMA folks when there’s a flood or a drought or some emergency who come out and are helping people out. That’s government. Government is Social Security. Government are teachers in the classroom. Government are our firefighters and our police officers, and the folks who keep our water clean and our air clean to breathe, and our agricultural workers. And when you go to a national park, and those folks in the hats -- that’s government.
The President's exhortation here is “Wake up, here’s what government actually does for you. Are you not in favor of that?” We know President Obama could benefit from a little more fire, and I think this is the type of fire many Americans want to more consistently see. It is argument by distinction, and his oratorical, repetitive motif here does hearken back to his campaign trail.
In light of what seems to be the recent national-scale intervention for President Obama, performed in Op-ed pages, blogs and on cable television, much in the vein of, "What's eating Barack "Gilbert Grape" Obama?" or, more seriously, “What does Barack Obama really stand for? Like, um, really?” it may just be that the President has finally gotten off the couch.
So, if President Obama is still shaking off a certain malaise brought on by the debt ceiling fight, for a more speedy recovery I would recommend a daily morning dose of Mos Def’s gem. I reckon it could only further channel the focus and indignant attitude so on display by the President in Minnesota.
* The people seem to wish the government crash, that allow natural disasters and such take their natural courses, and, finally, to hasten Armageddon.
No doubt, Oakland is a gritty, post-industrial city. And it has a reasonably justified reputation (hopefully waning) for crime (hopefully waning). Still, is it preposterous to say, "Oakland is a beautiful city"? If we are comparing it to cities around the world, or even in the U.S. – darn, even the Bay – it is hard to keep a straight face and claim that Oakland is, by physical appearance, the fairest of them all.
But why should we adopt a zero-sum, deficit oriented view of beauty? We know we shouldn't. Not for people. Not for cities. Because they are, after all, much more than what meets the eye. The fact is that Oakland is many things, many of which make it deserving of Ishmael Reed's nomination, "Blues City." Oakland's soul is beautiful, the book implies, and I second that. Still, someone's also got to make the claim that, you know what, quiet as kept, Oakland's a cutie pie.*
This post inaugurates a periodical feature, "Where in Oakland?" to show Oakland's physical beauty, often in unlikely and certainly less well known places. An image of a hidden gem in Oakland will be posted, meant to invite inquiry and exploration. A week later, the identity and background info of the gem will be posted.
Today: in the heart of Oakland, a pond and park that is not Lake Merritt.
Where in Oakland is this scene?
*You know, like when you were in high school and you pointed out to your homies that girl who you thought you just might have a chance with. With a deliberately dispassionate but knowing tone you might have said, "Quiet as it's kept, A--- is a cutie." The best response your homie could have was "Truuuue." Oh, to be the discoverer of something kept unduly quiet! Like discovering Saturn on your own.**
**Blame my legal education and Bill Simmons for the use of footnotes.
Presenting Brandon Marshall: NFL wide receiver, two-time Pro Bowler and University of Central Florida college graduate. And now: role model.
Less than a week after players and owners signed a deal to end the NFL lockout, Marshall announced and explained his mental health challenges with borderline personality disorder. You can hear the emotion in his voice. This 27-year old man just made a courageous move and is to be commended.
Charles Barkley once famously remarked, "I'm not a role model... Just because I dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids." Taken literally, this is obvious. But he also misses the point: an athlete's power - for good.
People have been attending sporting events and marveling at athletic feats for thousands of years. While there is certainly a pure entertainment value in it, what is most compelling in sports is the virtuosity with which athletics demonstrate the potential of the human body. (For team sports, of course, there is also the alignment of individual will and effort for a collective purpose). So when professional athletes use their platform and voice to bring attention to an important issue that the voiceless need the powerful to hear, they should be applauded. Applauded because it can represent represent courage, conviction and, even, compassion.
Now, Marshall's series of legal run ins, including allegations of domestic assault, cannot be excused or papered over. But watch the video. Voice full of emotion, no doubt striving to hold it all together, Brandon Marshall displayed courage, conviction and compassion. A reminder of the best in us. And if that isn't a role model, I don't know what is.
