![Oakland Book Festival]()
Some New York whites in conspiracy with local whites and multiculturals have been funded to present the Oakland Book Festival today at City Hall and Frank Ogawa Plaza. We had no knowledge of this event until yesterday when a novelist asked to share a booth with me. I emailed her back that I had no knowledge of this event so she emailed the link to the festival. When I saw the program featuring 90 authors, I noticed three or four Black authors, including Tennessee Reed, Al Young, Elaine Brown and Judy Juanita. We think this is shameful for Oakland to allow such a basically white racist event in City Hall and Frank Ogawa Plaza. --Marvin X
Ishmael Reed replied with the following statement:
Marvin, several groups from Manhattan are doing "festivals" out here and are accompanied by their tokens like Paul Beatty, when we have black writers out here, local black writers. It's a Manhattan take over and local funding groups are giving them money but won't give us the time of day. They even brought a guy from England for an Oakland panel, Lewis Lapham, a rich guy, is doing the keynote. He don't know dick about Oakland. I organized a panel called "the Mahattanization of Oakland literature."Show up and make your voice known, i'm out of town. IshmaelWe recall Mayor Libby Schaaf's endorsement of the Black Arts Movement 50th Anniversary and her call for Black Arts Movement literature: “Oakland is lucky to have an incredibly talented and diverse art community. The African American Arts Movement is a vital, historically significant part of the Oakland Arts Community. With its focus on justice, equality, and self-realization, the message of black artists is crucial to support. From rage to celebration, art allows expression, and expression is essential to a community as varied as Oakland. The recent 1% for Public Art that I authored ensures that new art will be a priority in Oakland in the future. I agree with Post Publisher Paul Cobb that BAM 50th Anniversary celebration should encompass all cultural genres: visual, literary, and performance. Age-appropriate books for African American students about the Black Arts Movement will literally bring the lesson home for families to share and aspire to.”
May 31, 2015 11AM-6PM / City Hall and Frank Ogawa PlazaOakland Book Festival
Read. Debate. Celebrate. One Day • Seven Hours • 90 Writers • 40 Events
Doors open to the public at 10:30am, with panels beginning promptly at 11:00am.
Readings and conversations with Ben Fong-Torres, Edwidge Danticat, Tracy K. Smith, Matthew Zapruder, Jenny Offill, Novella Carpenter, and others
Panels with Paul Beatty, Astra Taylor, Vikram Chandra, Elaine Brown, Leo Hollis, Anthony Marra, and many more
Rick Prelinger with Lost Landscapes of Oakland
Children's Area by Fairyland, MOCHA, and Oakland Public Library
Music by HipHop4Change, Oakland Youth Chorus, and Oakland School for Arts
GETTING THERE
You can reach City Hall by the 12th Street/City Center BART station and AC Transit lines at the 14th Street/Broadway stops.
For those driving, parking at the Clay Street Garage (1414 Clay St, Oakland) is available for a flat fee of $5 for the day.
SATURDAY MAY 30, 2015, 6PM - 8PM
OPENING PLENARY
Keynote Address: Lewis Lapham
Reading Oakland: Stories from our City's Literary Past
SUNDAY MAY 31, 2015
Doors open to the public at 10:30am, with panels beginning promptly at 11:00am.
PRESS THE POLICE [NEWLY ADDED PANEL]
Presented by Mother Jones
Laurel Book Store: 3:45—4:30pm
Jaeah Lee, Lateefah Simon, Ali Winston
LOST LANDSCAPES OF OAKLAND
Council Chambers: 11am—12:30pm
Presented by Rick Prelinger and Alex Cruse
MANHATTANIZATION OF OAKLAND'S LITERARY SCENE
Presented by PEN Oakland
Hearing Room 2: 11am—12pm
Judy Juanita, Tennessee Reed, Tony R. Rodriguez, Floyd Salas, Al Young
BAY LIT 101
Presented by Litquake
Hearing Room 3: 11am—12pm
Kim Bancroft, Jerry Cimino, Benjamin Griffin, Steve Lavoie
FICTION AND CIVIL WAR
Hearing Room 4: 11am—12pm
Mark Danner, Anthony Marra, Nayomi Munaweera
AFFIRMING EXISTENCE THROUGH ART
Laurel Book Store: 11am—12pm
Ian Davis, Zakiya Harris, Dom Jones, Karen Seneferu
LAKE MERRITT AND UTOPIA
Hearing Room 1: 12:15—1:15pm
Veronica Graham, Benjamin Grant, Pendarvis Harshaw
VOICES: POETRY
Hearing Room 2: 12:15—1:15pm
Will Alexander, Greg Mahrer, Tennessee Reed, Matthew Zapruder
THE LABOR OF FOOD
Presented by UC PRESS
Hearing Room 3: 12:15—1:15pm
Julie Guthman, Seth M. Holmes, Dana Perls
THE GENIUS OF THE METROPOLIS
Hearing Room 4: 12:15—1:30pm
Vikram Chandra, Leo Hollis, Gary Kamiya, Kathryn Myers
FICTIONAL HISTORIES
Laurel Book Store: 12:15—1:15pm
Molly Antopol, Maria Hummel, Michael McGriff, J.M. Tyree
OAKLAND WRITERS RECONSIDERED
Hearing Room 1: 1:30—2:15pm
Stacy Carlson, Aleta George, Dorothy Lazard
OAKLAND GROWN
Laurel Book Store: 1:30—2:15pm
Rod Campbell, Novella Carpenter, Zac Unger
QUESTION EVERYTHING
Hearing Room 2: 1:45—3pm
Simon Critchely, Mark Greif, Frank B. Wilderson, III
THE RESHAPING OF AMERICAN LITERATURE
Presented by ZYZZYVA
Hearing Room 4: 1:45—3pm
Paul Beatty, Vanessa Hua, Héctor Tobar
VOICES: FICTION
Hearing Room 1: 2:30—3:15pm
Akhil Sharma, Ayelet Waldman
BUILDING A FOOD LITERATE SOCIETY
Presented by UC Press
Hearing Room 3: 2:30—3:15pm
Kiera Butler, Anna Lappé, Kim O’Donnel, Naomi Starkman
WRITING SEX
Laurel Book Store: 2:30—3:30pm
Melanie Abrams, Leslie C. Bell, Tracy Clark-Flory, Maria Dahvana Headley
RADICAL CITIES/RADICAL LIVES
Hearing Room 2: 3:30—4:30pm
Elaine Brown, Astra Taylor, Frank B. Wilderson, III
WHAT IS GENTRIFICATION?
Hearing Room 3: 3:30—4:30pm
Lance Freeman, Malo André Hutson, Gordon Young
FAITH AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
Hearing Room 4: 3:30—4:30pm
Gregory Jordan, Reverend Dr. Harold R. Mayberry
QUESTION BRIDGE
Hearing Room 1: 4:45—6pm
Chris Johnson
WHISTLEBLOWING AND TRUTH-TELLING
Hearing Room 2: 4:45—6pm
Kathleen McClellan, Eyal Press, Eric Schmitt
MULTICULTURALISM OR POLITICAL CORRECTNESS?
Presented by the Before Columbus Foundation
Hearing Room 4: 4:45—6pm
Lorna Dee Cervantes, David Meltzer, Gundars Strads, Armond White, Shawn Wong
CLOSING REMARKS: WHAT MAKES A CITY?
Council Chambers: 4:45—6pm
Simon Critchley, Leo Hollis, Khafre James, Reverend Dr. Harold R. Mayberry, Dashka Slater, Atra Taylor
PLAZA PROGRAMMING
Children’s Area
11:00—11:30 Oakland Public Library, Reading Favorite Children’s Stories
11:30—12:00 Fairyland Presents: Tweedle-dee
12:00—12:30 Chapter 510: What if an Artist Ruled the World
Chapter 510 and North Oakland Community Charter School students read from What if an Artist Ruled the World/Si un artista dirigiera el mundo
1:00—1:30 Fairyland Presents: Little Miss Muffet
1:30—2:00 Oakland Public Library, Reading Favorite Children’s Stories
2:00—2:30 Fairyland Presents: Tweedle-dee
2:30—3:00 Oakland Public Library, Reading Favorite Children’s Stories
3:00—3:30 Kate Schatz and Miriam Klein Stahl read from Rad American Women A—Z
3:30—4:00 Fairyland Presents: Little Miss Muffet
Amphitheater
11:00—12:00 Oakland Youth Chorus, Miracle Chorus
12:00—1:00 Oakland School for the Arts Classical Guitarist Ensemble
1:00—2:00 HipHop4Change presents: Dizzy, J-Mal, Khafre Jay
2:00—3:00 Oakland Youth Chorus, Concert Chorus
3:00—4:00 DJ Simmons
4:00—5:00 HipHop4Change presents: Breathless, Golden Age, Dom Jones
Sunday May 31, 2015, 8pm
XOXO Nightclub, 201 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94607
Performance by Critchley and Simmons
