Xicana Moratorium event

Sunday was an annual event remembering the Xicana Moratorium. In 1970, Chicano activists held what became known as the National Chicano Moratorium against the Vietnam War and injustices that Chicanos were facing, including police brutality and systemic poverty and racism. In Oakland, there was a march starting in Jingletown and ending at San Antonio Park, the location of Sunday's event.

Sunday was a remembrance of those events, a celebration of Chicano and Latino culture, and a chance to raise awareness of current injustices. This year's theme was "Displace Gentrification, Not Our Hoods". A number of groups and vendors had booths set up, and the stage featured a mixture of music, dance and speakers about various subjects.

For me the highlight was getting to see my friend JWanderer7's band La Ceiba play, and when Wanda Cuesta Kruda joined them it was off the hook. La Ceiba plays Cumbia music, a music originating in Columbia with strong African roots.

Some videos from the event:




More pictures from the event:

I saw a dinosaur...

The other day I rode out Foothill Blvd. a ways looking for the house that Jack London lived in while writing his first book. The dot on the map was a little off so I didn't find it until after some web-searching later, but I did spot this relic. It's been a while since I last saw a phone booth (though this half-covered variety has never seemed like the real deal) and longer still since I've seen one that still had a phone in it. I've been reading about phones lately, in Oakland author Phil Lapsley's Exploding the Phone: The Untold Story of the Teenagers and Outlaws Who Hacked Ma Bell. It's a fascinating and entertaining look at what was in some ways a precursor of today's maker and hacker cultures.

food: Champa Garden

Champa Garden

Sunday we decided to skip church and go to the Oakland Museum, starting with a lunch stop some where. Looking at what was near or on the way to the OMCA, I remembered hearing good things about Champa Garden. I'd driven past it often enough (a friend lives a few blocks away), but I'd never tried it. K was excited because we don't eat out that often, and we eat Thai food even less frequently.

Champa Garden is in a nondescript building in a residential neighborhood east of Lake Merritt, at 8th Ave. and 21st St. I probably never would have tried it, but I heard good things about it from friends here in Montclair, and the Yelp reviews and on SF Gate were very favorable.

The food was very good. We started with the fried spring rolls (a number of reviews mentioned those; they were great), and we had a couple of different lunch specials. The one negative a few reviews mentioned was the service, but it was good when we were there. It wasn't as busy as it can be for dinner, but there was a steady stream of people coming and going, including a few getting takeout. We'd definitely go there again.