Peralta Avenue

A great day in California sunshine with Devorah. We had Mexican breakfast with an inspiring friend of Devorah’s and then went with her to the National Park dedicated to Rosie the Riveter, where we saw creative documentation of how the availability of jobs for women and people of color shifted economic power during World War II. Then a stroll down Peralta Avenue in West Oakland, pictured here, photographing street art and street life while listening to the soundscape of car radios, front yard parties, chickens, dogs, and children. This is Memorial Day weekend, so the party goes on as I’m posting this. We will return to Portland tomorrow.

Last night we watched a documentary about people in this neighborhood who recycle trash. Footage for the documentary, collected over a number of years, tracks the changes in the lives of four people we will never forget, four people whose narratives change the way we look at people pushing shopping carts in the street. The entire documentary is currently available for streaming, but I think it won’t be available long. A thirty-second trailer is here. 


I’m including as an extra a very sweet photo of Devorah in her friend Nancy’s house.