Arts and Culture

Oakland Landscape Designer Wins MacArthur Genius Award

Published

6 years ago

October 3, 2019

In the way that life experience can be more circular than linear, so are certain incidents marking MacArthur “Genius” award-winner Walter Hood’s life right now. The West Oakland public artist and landscape designer whose work, he says, strives to retain the cultural memory of places as its residents change, is involved in a project just breaking ground that bears witness to the ugly truth of slavery.

This weekend he is going to reconnect with a college friend, Ford Morrison, the surviving son of the late author Toni Morrison.

Toni Morrison’s famous 1989 statement that there were no known monuments acknowledging the horror of slavery led to ‘the bench by the road’ on Sullivan’s Island, S.C., in 2008, which bears a plaque marking the place where about 40 percent of the Africans entered the maw of slavery in the U.S.

Hood had already been commissioned by the International African American Museum in Charleston, S.C., to design its garden when a side trip to the bench inspired the museum directors to do more. That’s how Hood got the job of creating a monument to honor the memory of those who perished as a result of the slave trade.

His vision for the monument is to create a “place to talk about our ancestors, meditate…a space where people can just be.”

Recent excavations prove that the place is indeed where the slave auction house once stood and where they came and went by the thousands.

To Hood, it is hallowed ground. He envisions a fountain whose base will be an abstract sculpture inspired by depictions of how the Africans traveled in the hulls of the slave ships, stacked upon one another.

Hood expects the project to be finished next year and the museum plans to open in 2021.
To date, most of Hood’s work has been commissioned but the no-strings-attached award of $625,000 will give him some breathing room to perhaps indulge in some fine art as well as public art.

“I would like to do some painting or some sculpture,” he said, adding that he would also like to spend a little more time playing guitar.

The owner of Hood Design Studio was at his office when he learned the news last week. “At first I thought it was a gag,” he initially told the Los Angeles Times. “I was floored. I walked around in a daze.”

Hood, who also teaches at UC Berkeley where he earned a MArch in 1989, is described by the foundation as “a landscape architect bringing social justice concerns and ecological sustainability to his field through a commitment to community and historical memory.”
The Seventh Street Gateway in West Oakland is an example of the 61-year-old’s vision. “We put seven faces of African American heroes over the road as a gateway, but we used the Caltrans signpost to do it,” he told the LA Times.

As West Oakland’s population changes, the Gateway sculpture takes on additional meaning. “Most of my work on any public land is trying to document, and represent culture as cities change,” he said. “How do we imbue our public landscapes with those kind of landscapes that remind the people who live there of themselves?”

His intent was proven when he attended a conference of Black designers on the East Coast and the sculpture was brought up and a young Black man interrupted him.
“That’s your work?” he asked.

The young man told Hood that he worked in San Francisco, and said that passing the sculpture each day on BART “gave him strength” as he prepared to enter a challenging environment. Passing the sculpture on the way home lets him know “that he is home,” Hood said.

Hood will continue to be dedicated public art and is commited to becoming part of an art community that “weaves together a different set of narratives of how we see ourselves, new ways of seeing each other in a given place.”

“Seeing each other” is important to Hood, who has witnessed the West Oakland neighborhood, where his studio is located, change over the last 25 years.

“I’ve watched families grow up here and move away, and other families move in,” he said, tiredness showing in his voice. “We don’t know how to talk about ghettoization of people, the way value is lost when one group of people lives in a place, but value is gained when another group of people moves in.”

Wanda Ravernell

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Activism

Golden State Warriors Program Is Inspiring Next Generation of Female Engineers

Breaking down barriers and biases that deter young girls from pursuing STEAM subjects is essential for creating a level playing field and ensuring equal opportunities for all. By challenging stereotypes and promoting a culture of inclusivity and diversity in STEAM fields, experts believe young girls can be empowered to pursue their interests and aspirations without limitations confidently. Encouraging mentorship, providing access to resources, and celebrating girls’ achievements in STEAM are all crucial steps in creating a supportive environment that fosters success.

Published

1 month ago

March 23, 2025

Oakland Post

Front Row: UC Berkeley Steel Bridge Team Back Row: Girls, Inc. Participants. Photo courtesy of the Golden State Warriors.

By Y’Anad Burrell

The Golden State Warriors and e-commerce giant Rakuten are joining forces to inspire the next generation of female engineers through Building STEAM Futures, part of The City Calls campaign.

Organizers say the initiative is founded on the idea that science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) are crucial fields for innovation and progress, and empowering young girls to pursue careers in these areas is more important than ever. Studies consistently show that girls are underrepresented in STEAM fields, resulting in a gender disparity that limits potential and hinders diversity.

On Saturday, March 8, International Women’s Day, the Warriors and Rakuten hosted 20 middle school girls from Girls Inc. of Alameda County at Chase Center’s Above the Rim for a hands-on bridge-building experience. The young girls from Girls, Inc. of Alameda County had an opportunity to design, build and test their own bridge prototypes and learn the fundamentals of bridge construction from the Engineering Alliance and the UC Berkeley Steel Bridge Team.

This STEAM experience for the girls followed the first session in January, where they took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Golden Gate Bridge, learning about its design and construction from industry experts. The City Calls campaign, tipped off with the unveiling the Warriors’ new bridge-themed City Edition jerseys and court design earlier this year.

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Arts and Culture

Beverly Lorraine Greene: A Pioneering Architect and Symbol of Possibility and Progress

Greene graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1936 with a degree in Architecture — a remarkable accomplishment for an African American woman at the time. She was never discouraged by the racial and gender discrimination that saturated her field.

Published

2 months ago

March 3, 2025

Oakland Post

Beverly Lorraine Greene. Public domain photo.

By Tamara Shiloh

In the mid-20th century, Beverly Lorraine Greene was recognized as the first African American woman licensed to practice architecture in the United States.

Greene was born on Oct. 4, 1915, in Chicago during an era when opportunities for African Americans, particularly women, were severely limited.

Her parents, James and Vera Greene, were deeply invested in her education, instilling in her a belief in the power of intellect and perseverance. She grew up during the Great Migration that transformed Chicago starting in 1900.

Greene continued her education, earning a master’s degree in City Planning and Housing in 1937, also from the University of Illinois. Her ambition was not merely to design structures but to shape spaces that fostered equity and community. In 1942, she became the first African American woman licensed as an architect in the United States, obtaining her credentials in Illinois. This groundbreaking achievement, however, did not translate immediately into job opportunities.

Early in her career, she faced significant discrimination from firms unwilling to hire a Black woman. However, her determination never wavered. In 1945, Beverly moved to New York City, a place she believed could offer broader professional opportunities.

She joined the architectural department of the New York City Housing Authority, focusing on affordable housing projects. Her work during this time reflected her commitment to using architecture as a tool for social justice, ensuring that marginalized communities had access to well-designed, dignified living spaces.

Greene’s talents soon drew the attention of prominent firms. She was hired by Isadore Rosenfield, a respected architect known for designing hospitals. She contributed to the design of healthcare facilities, including the modernization of Harlem Hospital. Her portfolio expanded in collaboration with architectural personalities such as Marcel Breuer and Edward Durell Stone.

Notably, she worked on the prestigious UNESCO headquarters in Paris — a landmark project that brought her skills to an international stage. Her involvement underscored her ability to navigate the intricacies of large-scale, global projects, proving that her talents transcended the limitations society sought to impose.

Greene’s career was tragically cut short when she passed away unexpectedly in 1957 at the age of 41. Though her life was brief, her impact was profound. She shattered entrenched barriers, paving the way for future generations of Black architects and women in the field.

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Activism

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Lateefah Simon to Speak at Elihu Harris Lecture Series

The popular lecture series is co-produced by the Oakland-based Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Peralta Community College District. Jeffries’ appearance marks the 32nd lecture of the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series, which has provided thousands of individuals with accessible, free, high-quality information.

Published

2 months ago

February 19, 2025

Oakland Post

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (left) and Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) (Right).

By Scott Horton

United States House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY-8) will be a speaker at the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series on Friday, Feb. 21.

The event will be held at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts, 10 Tenth Street in Oakland, at 7 p.m.

The popular lecture series is co-produced by the Oakland-based Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Peralta Community College District. Jeffries’ appearance marks the 32^nd lecture of the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series, which has provided thousands of individuals with accessible, free, high-quality information.

The overarching goal of the lecture series is to provide speakers from diverse backgrounds a platform to offer their answers to Dr. King’s urgent question, which is also the title of Jeffries’ latest book: “Where do we go from here: Chaos or Community?”

In addition to Jeffries, Congresswoman Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) will also speak.

“Certainly, now is a time for humanity, in general, and Americans in particular to honestly and genuinely answer Dr. King’s question,” said Dr. Roy D. Wilson, Executive Director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Executive Producer of the lecture series.

“Dr. King teaches that time is neutral but not static. Like the water in a river, it arrives and then quickly moves on,” continued Wilson. “We must urgently create conditions for listening to many different answers to this vital question, and generate the development of unity of action among all those who struggle for a stronger democracy.”

In his book, Jeffries shares his experience of being unanimously elected by his colleagues as the first African American in history to ever hold the position of House Minority Leader.

In January 2023 in Washington, Jeffries made his first official speech as House Minority Leader. He affirmed Democratic values one letter of the alphabet at a time. His words and how he framed them as the alphabet caught the attention of Americans, and the speech was later turned into a book, The ABCs of Democracy, bringing Congressman Jeffries rousing speech to vivid, colorful life, including illustrations by Shaniya Carrington. The speech and book are inspiring and urgent as a timeless reminder of what it means to be a country with equal opportunities for all. Jeffries paints a road map for a brighter American future and warns of the perils of taking a different path.

Before his colleagues unanimously elected him Minority Leader in 2022, Jeffries previously served as Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and as an Impeachment Manager during the first Senate trial of the 45th President of the United States.

Jeffries was born in Brooklyn Hospital, raised in Crown Heights, grew up in the Cornerstone Baptist Church and he is a product of New York City’s public school system, graduating from Midwood High School. Jefferies went on to Binghamton University (BA), Georgetown University (master’s in public policy) and New York University (JD).

He served in the New York State Assembly from 2007 to 2012.

Admission is free for the Feb. 21 Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series featuring Congressman Jeffries. Please reserve seats by calling the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center at (510) 434-3988.

Signed copies of his book will be available for purchase at the event.