cat brooks

Oakland, Calif., has long been a bastion of historical and cultural reverie in blackness. The “Detroit of the West” holds a special place in African-American esteem: Oakland incubated a nascent Black Panther Party; gave us Hieroglyphics, Too Short, and MC Hammer; and nurtured icons such as Elaine Brown, Zedanya, and Killmonger. It even has its…