Entertainment

Locol, Home of Revolutionary Fast Food

Published

9 years ago

July 26, 2016

Oaklanders have welcomed a new restaurant, Locol – Revolutionary Fast Food, located at 2214 Broadway near Grand Avenue.

Now In its second month, the restaurant offers healthy fast and affordable entrees for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The restaurant was listed last month at one of Food and Wine’s 2016 Restaurants of the Year.

Step into Locol, and guests are greeted by hip hop music, an energetic staff and a wall covered with a larger-than-life, black and white photo featuring an African American bicyclist.

Locol’s menu features green smoothies, BBQ turkey burgers, collard greens, ice cream sundaes, corn bread and more. The brain child of Roi Choy and Daniel Patterson, Locol was just an idea a year ago, and now the duo boasts two sites within six months, one in Watts in Los Angeles and the other in Oakland.

Choi recruited his friend Dan “Bam” Deocampo to run the two locations as the community liaison and regional manager.

“Offering the community whole, delicious and affordable foods has been our goal and also employing locals – to date about 30 employees,” said Deocampo.

“At our first Bay Area location in Oakland, we have hired locals of east and west Oakland with a focus in three areas; students and youth, low wage fast food workers who have been union busted out of work and the previously incarcerated, re-entry folks,” said Deocampo.

Locol has plans to open a location in West Oakland at 35th and Market this year, which will feature a café-style setting serving coffee and pastries. Another spot in East Oakland on East 14th Street is on the horizon.

Deocampo says the company’s ultimate goal is to tackle areas in East and West Oakland that are considered, “food deserts,” where communities are without grocery stores or fresh affordable foods.

“In our communities, we typically feed ourselves pre-packaged food, fast and affordable, and we don’t want to change that model, we just want to change what’s inside that model,” he said.

Growing up Watts in a working class family where his mother juggled three jobs Deocampo says he can relate to the modern lifestyle of fast foods. “My mother never had time to cook and understandably so, but instead of changing the culture of how we eat, we take the culture in which we eat and change the ingredients to green based, organic and farm raised meats.”

Deocampo, an Oakland resident for six years, considers himself an artist and community organizer who promotes change in the midst of gentrification, homelessness and joblessness. “Society tells us that you can’t raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, that prices can’t be affordable and food can’t be accessible,” he said. “Well, we are proving this theory is not true. We pay way above the current minimum wage, and our price points are very low.”

Deocampo says menu items in Oakland are all under $7 and $6 in Watts. “Our model empowers the community, and we plan to expand very quickly to Detroit, Atlanta, Ferguson, MO and Newark, New Jersey.”

For information visit www.WeLocol.com

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

African American Chamber of Commerce Introduces New Leaders

Don't Miss

Support Lower Bottom Playaz Theater Day Camp for Youth

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

BOOK REVIEW: The Afterlife of Malcolm X

Betty Shabazz didn’t like to go to her husband’s speeches, but on that February night in 1965, he asked her to come with their daughters to the Audubon Ballroom in New York. Did Malcolm X sense that something bad would happen on that night? Surely. He was fully aware of the possibility, knowing that he’d been “a marked man” for months because of his very public break with the Nation of Islam.

Published

6 hours ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Book Cover of the Afterlife of Malcolm X. Courtesy of Simon & Schuster.

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

Author: by Mark Whitaker, c.2025, Simon & Schuster, $30.99, 448 pages

Who will remember you in fifty years’ time?

A handful of friends – at least those who are still around – might recall you. Your offspring, grandkids, and greats, maybe people who stumble upon your tombstone. Think about it: who will remember you in 2075? And then read “The Afterlife of Malcolm X” by Mark Whitaker and learn about a legacy that still resonates a half-century later.

As the news of his murder spread around New York and around the world, his followers and admirers reacted in many ways. His friend, journalist Peter Goldman, was “hardly shocked” because he also knew that Malcolm’s life was in danger, but the arrest of three men accused of the crime didn’t add up. It ultimately became Goldman’s “obsession.”

Malcolm’s co-writer for The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Alex Haley, quietly finished the book he started with Malcolm, and a small upstart publishing house snatched it up. A diverse group of magazines got in line to run articles about Malcolm X’s life, finally sensing that White America “’needed his voice even more than Blacks did.’”

But though Malcolm X was gone, he continued to leave an impact.

He didn’t live long enough to see the official founding of the Black Panther Party, but he was influential on its beginning. He never knew of the first Kwanzaa, or the triumphs of a convert named Muhammad Ali.

Malcolm left his mark on music. He influenced at least three major athletes.

He was a “touchstone” for a president …

While it’s true that “The Afterlife of Malcolm X” is an eye-opening book, one that works as a great companion to the autobiography, it’s also a fact that it’s somewhat scattered. Is it a look at Malcolm’s life, his legacy, or is it a “murder mystery”?

Turns out, it’s all three, but the storylines are not smooth. There are twists and tangents and that may take some getting used-to. Just when you’re immersed, even absorbed in this book, to the point where you forget about your surroundings, author Mark Whitaker abruptly moves to a different part of the story. It may be jarring.

And yet, it’s a big part of this book, and it’s essential for readers to know the investigation’s outcome and what we know today. It doesn’t change Malcolm X’s legacy, but it adds another frame around it.

If you’ve read the autobiography, if you haven’t thought about Malcolm X in a while, or if you think you know all there is to know, then you owe it to yourself to find “The Afterlife of Malcolm X.”

For you, this is a book you won’t easily forget.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Barbara Lee

WNBA’s Golden State Valkyries Kick Off Season with Community Programs in Oakland

“The Golden State Valkyries are more than a team—they’re a movement,” said Oakland Interim-Mayor Kevin Jenkins. “Their touchdown in Oakland marks a new era of opportunity, inspiration, and equity in sports. This partnership reflects our city’s deep commitment to uplifting women, investing in youth, and building a community where every dream has a place to grow. We’re proud to welcome the Valkyries to The Town.”

Published

7 hours ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

The Valkyries came to Oakland City Hall with a “Hoopbus.” Present were (from left to right): City Councilmembers Noel Gallo, Rebecca Kaplan, Zac Unger and Rowena Brown; Oakland Mayor-elect Barbara Lee, Valkyries President Jess Smith, a Valkyries team representative and Deputy Mayor LaNiece Jones. Photo courtesy Rebecca Kaplan’s office.

Team installs new nets at playgrounds, holds flag-raisings at City Halls in Oakland and S.F.

Special to The Post

The Golden State Valkyries brought the excitement of their inaugural season to every corner of the Bay Area with a full slate of community celebrations leading up to their historic home-opener against the Los Angeles Sparks at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Friday.

The week featured flag-raising ceremonies at city halls in Oakland and San Francisco, three “Violet Net” installation days at Oakland parks to encourage basketball play, fun “Hoopbus” takeovers at multiple schools presented by Kaiser Permanente, and player appearances.

In total, 90 violet nets were installed on 45 basketball courts across 34 public parks throughout Oakland this week. A list of the parks receiving violet nets can be found at Valkyries.com.

About the Golden State Valkyries

The Golden State Valkyries, the WNBA affiliate of the seven-time NBA Champion Golden State Warriors, were announced as the 13th WNBA franchise on Oct. 5, 2023. According to Norse mythology, Valkyries are a host of warrior women who are fearless and unwavering – flying through air and sea alike.

This brand is Golden State’s modern interpretation of Valkyries: strong, bold, and fierce. Tipping off during the 2025 WNBA season, the team is headquartered in Oakland and will play home games at Chase Center in San Francisco. For Golden State Valkyries’ assets, including team logos, visit valkyries.com.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Bay Area

Progressive Missionary Baptist Church of Berkeley Celebrates 90th Anniversary

Dr. Earl C. Stuckey, Sr., who has served as Progressive Missionary’s pastor since September 1977, said the church also delights in the fact that it has hosted only five pastors in its 90-year history, including Pastors James E. Moore, H. A. Green, F. Douglas Farrell, and Edward Stovall, who served for 37 years.

Published

2 days ago

May 16, 2025

Oakland Post

Progressive Missionary Baptist Poster. Dr. Earl C. Stuckey, Sr., Pastor of Progressive Missionary Baptist Church in Berkeley with his wife, Kay Frances Stuckey.

By Oakland Post Staff

The Progressive Missionary Baptist Church of Berkeley is celebrating its 90th church anniversary on Sunday, May 18 at 10 a.m. at 3301 King Street in Berkeley.

The celebration will feature Pastor Darnell Manuel of the Union Baptist Church in Vallejo as guest speaker, along with many other special presentations.

Those who wish to share in Progressive’s history can purchase a 100-page full-colored souvenir book for $25.

The church boasts a number of notable people who either regularly attended or became members of the church since its inception, including former Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson, Oakland mayoral candidate Loren Taylor, and one of the organizers of the Gospel Music Workshop of America, Helen J. H. Stephens.

Pastor Stuckey often remarks how longevity flourishes at the church — it boasts 13 centenarians (people who have reached 100 years or more). Currently, it has one centenarian who is still surviving, Mrs. Dorothy Chambers, and 14 members who have reached 90 years or more.