Oakland, California

"The KKK leaders hunkered down to operate in the shadows and keep the flame of hate and bigotry alive in the United States. While many Ku Klux Klan chapters did shut down, others continued operating as independent local groups still dedicated to white supremacy, Christian dominance, and rigid morality. While many continued to use the KKK name, language and garb proudly, others adopted new names to obscure their identities. As the White Cross Clan pressed its racist agenda in Oakland, California, other Klan front groups attacked minorities and preached hate in other cities. By maintaining only loose ties with national KKK leaders, these local groups avoided possible prosecution in federal court as well as the requirement to pay federal taxes. Like-minded local politicians often protected the newly named chapters. Even as the national press wrote the KKK’s obituary, local newspapers were writing about radical racist groups operating in their midst."

"Oakland will be the birthplace of revolution in the United States."

"I live in Oakland, California, the city where the Black Panther Party was created in 1966. We still have major issues with police racism, police violence. I spoke not long ago at an event in celebration of the seventeenth birthday of a young man who had been recently killed near one of the high schools by the police... there's a reason why most people never have the opportunity to look at the Black Panther Party "Ten-Point Program," because those points are still very much on the agenda today."

"Oakland has been the birthplace of so many movements. San Francisco often gets the glory but maybe just because people don’t know the history...You think of musicians that came out of Oakland, the visual artists. Oakland was where the Black Panthers had their first headquarters and that continues today. Oakland is still a great place for jazz, for hip-hop, for social movements, and creativity."

"Oakland is this kind of town: You have to pay 50 cents to go from Oakland to San Francisco. Coming to Oakland from San Francisco is free."

"Not for nothing did Eldridge Cleaver say that the North Korean police made him miss the Oakland police."

"From Oakland to Sac-Town, the Bay Area and back down, Cali is where they put their mack down, give me love!"