Rightnowish

I met Mu'min years ago through creative Bay Area circles, now I count her as a friend, and she's flourished in her craft. From her film, Jinn, winning the SXSW Special Jury Recognition Award for Writing to writing for acclaimed shows, Queen Sugar, the Blindspotting series, Wu-Tang: An American Saga, and Insecure. But way before all of that, Nijla attended UC Berkeley, where her experiences in June Jordan’s Poetry for the People Program left an indelible mark. She still writes poetry to this day. In late April Mu’min shared some of her work with the Bay Podcast's Maria Esquinca in celebration of National Poetry Month. This week we're sharing that episode with you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Babette Thomas is searching for artistic Black utopias. Thomas is the host of the latest season of SFMOMA's Raw Material podcast. In their series, "Visions of Black Futurity," they look at representation, identity and different historical through-lines in Black Art. Woven into the podcast is the story of curator Evangeline "EJ" Montgomery, a major player in the Black Arts scene. And EJ began her storied career in the 60s, right here in California, creating influential exhibits in the East Bay. This week on Rightnowish, we're featuring an episode that also dives into the stories of the famed Sci-Fi author Octavia Butler, landscape painter Richard Mayhew, and local visual artist Sydney Cain aka Sage Stargate (who has also been featured on Rightnowish). Throughout, Thomas hones in on the question, “Where will we host our Black art spaces of the future?” Listen to the full series on the "Raw Material" page. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mission District-based muralist Josué Rojas and his mother, Esther García are a dynamic duo. Josué has painted murals across San Francisco and beyond, often using images that celebrate culture and community. Esther picked up painting during the pandemic, but she's been leaving her mark on the neighborhood for decades. As she sold small goods on the street, Esther built a reputation for her sage-like presence around the way. Josué remembers times when she'd be asked to pray over people, and she'd kindly oblige. Her presence is so strong that she got in good with local artists collectives, like the Chulita Vinyl Club. And the artist JR incorporated Esther's image into The Chronicles of San Francisco, a gigantic mural that was in the main entrance to the San Francisco Musuem of Modern Art. Although Esther didn't understand Josué's art career at first, she watched Josue's journey as he earned a Masters of Fine Arts from Boston University, served as the executive director of Acción Latina and became a well-respected muralists on the streets of his hometown. Now, at 75, Esther has been learning how to paint under the tutelage of one very demanding teacher: her son. And she tells me that she doesn't like what they paint-- she loves it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Terisa's poetry emerges from climate change and its impact on marginalized communities. She also writes poems from the perspective of her hyphenated identity: raised in San Francisco with deep Samoan roots. In our conversation, Terisa looks back at January's underwater eruption that caused massive tsunamis in Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and other nations in Oceania. Initially, the disaster made headlines and relief efforts filled social media feeds, but Terisa questions what sustained care looks like for those impacted by a changing global climate. After speaking on this topic at venues across the country and around the world, even addressing members of the United Nations, Terisa Siagatonu discusses climate justice and how she "languages" her experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's a sunny afternoon in McLaren Park in San Francisco's Excelsior District. Throngs of people are gathered on either side of a roadway that snakes down a steep hill. As they watch, a person riding what looks like a giant black Converse sneaker whooshes past. Coming up close behind it, a cast-iron bathtub whizzes by on what could’ve been the frame of a lawn mower. Then another driver — this one clinging for dear life onto what looks like a torpedo — hurtles by, inches off the ground. This was the first Artists' Soapbox Derby held by the San Francisco Museum of Art — what we now know as SFMOMA — on May 18, 1975. It was a race for homemade cars. No engines! You just needed to be able to roll, steer and stop. On April 10, SFMOMA is reviving its Soapbox Derby in McLaren Park. Homemade cars that can coast under the power of their own gravity will have their turn in the spotlight, careening down an 800-foot hill. It’s free and open to the public. This week, we’re airing an episode from KQED’s Bay Curious that takes us back to the first Soapbox Derby in 1975 and it’s surprising twists in the road. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over punchy-uptempo beats with stupid-heavy bass lines, Pallaví AKA Fijiana turns social tropes on their heads. Her evocative visuals mix sexuality with tradition while her lyrics address appropriation and diaspora. Fijiana says her Indo-Fijian heritage, her Richmond upbringing and rap influences like Lil Kim and Ladybug Mecca of Digable Planets, helped create the artist and person she is today. In making music that pushes social norms, she's encountered backlash with a heavy dose of sexism. Fijiana says a guiding light has been conversations with her father and his acceptance of her work. This week Fijiana talks to us about all of that, and her latest album Thirst. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For some young folks, there comes a time when they age out of child-serving social services. Their safety nets get thinner and they can struggle to find their footing with limited resources or experience. These sixteen to twenty-four-year-olds are called "transitional age youth" or TAY. This is the crowd that Desire Johnson-Forte helps. She cares because she was once one of them. Desire is currently the Executive Director of The BIZ (Black Intergenerational Zeal) Stoop. The organization has three main goals: First, to increase Black life expectancy through group conversations addressing fatalism. Second, helping young folks from the east bay tell their stories and shifting public narratives about them. Third, the Biz Stoop helps young people earn a living wage and build businesses through coaching, economic education and financial support. Desire has been doing thins kind of work since she was a young person transitioning into adulthood, dealing with all that life threw at her. This week Desire shares a bit of her story, why her work is important right now, and how she grew from a place where she needed assistance to being the person who provides. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A storm's been brewing over legal cannabis in Oakland. And Chaney Turner thinks it has the potential to wash away small business owners-- especially People of Color. Chaney Turner, current Chair of the Oakland Cannabis Commission, has seen robberies reach new heights as organized heists hit cannabis supply chains, from grow operations to retailers. It was especially intense during the summer of 2020, but this past fall, another string of caravan burglaries shook the industry, and resulted in distressed workers and millions in lost inventory. Turner says the Oakland Police Department's response to the burglaries was disappointing and frustrating to business owners. Turner heard retailers experienced slow response times and poor communication from OPD. Some operators were also told to take matters into their own hands by arming themselves. While they have seen some improvement in communication from the police, for cannabis operators in Oakland paying sky high taxes, the approach still leaves something to be desired. On this week's show Turner talks about the state of legalized marijuana and how it intersects with these robberies, banking, equity, community safety, and how Turner understand why some would hesitate to leave the illicit market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just imagine: you're a poet whose starting out on the scene and you've spent weeks working up the courage to share your work. You get to the venue there’s a raucous crowd of OG poets, they're cheering, but they're also waiting to see what's up with each person as the step to the mic. If the OG poets think your poem is a cheap knockoff of someone else's work, they'll throw peanut shells against the bar's aluminum walls. That sound will stay with you. This might sound chaotic and harsh (and don't worry this is not how open mics in the bay roll these days) but it was the environment where Spanglish speaking pocho poet Josiah Luis Alderete sharpened his performance chops. In the mid '80s and '90s, Thursday nights at Cafe Babar in the Mission District was an epicenter for San Francisco's poetry scene. Cafe Babar was the spot. Josiah remembers poets would show up from the East Bay, the Fillmore, even New York. Sitting on wooden benches, you could hear the words of Julia Vinograd, Juan Felipe Herrera, David Lerner, David West and Jack Micheline. "Babar really opened my eyes and my heart to what poetry was. I remember leaving that place like leaving the church after you get saved... This is flor y canto! This is poesía! That fucking fire coming out of mouth! That truth." In our conversation, poet Josiah shares some literary history of the Mission, why Axolotl's show up in his work, and how co-owing Medicine for Nightmares Bookstore & Gallery is helping keep the Mission's poetry scene alive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Krea Gomez has seen tough love play out in many ways. As a young adult, she was kicked out of her home for “being bad,” now she’s practicing tough love in her own way. In her work with young adults – and her own children – she sets boundaries and goals while teaching independence with care. Krea is also the Director of Local Initiatives at the Young Women’s Freedom Center and has been a loud voice trying to close juvenile justice halls and get kids out of the system. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the Bay Area, “showing love” is something we toss around all the time. One man who embodies this is the tie-dye wearing, weed smoking, big smiling man named Oopz. He and his crew are known for throwing fun-loving parties at the Shmop House where the air grows thick with cannabis smoke. In this episode, he tells us his journey to becoming an extrovert, and the time his community love was tested when someone was shot at the Shmop House. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AB Banks, defines love as "doing the right thing with a passion." That means taking care of themselves and their folks, because self-love can be communal and revolutionary. Day-to-day AB works with the People’s Programs in Oakland, supporting their unhoused neighbors through clinics and food donations. Outside of that, AB is deep in the practice of meditation. After setting out on a personal journey to learn the art of meditation, which included a trip abroad to study with renowned practitioners. AB has recently launched the Mad Chill series of short meditative videos with the aim of making this practice more accessible. In our conversation, AB shares what they've learned and some of the tools they've acquired on this journey to understanding the various shapes self-love can take. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You don't have to look very long to find tributes to Frida Kahlo in San Francisco. Frida inspired murals cover walls throughout the Mission, street vendors near the Embarcadero sell clothes and earrings with her likeness, and there's a street named after her in the Ingleside neighborhood. This devotion to Frida makes perfect sense because Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera lived in San Francisco, not once, but twice. During their last stay in TK YEAR, Diego Rivera painted a 74-foot long, 30-ton fresco in front of a live audience at the the Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island. The mural is rich with details depicting Ancient Mexico, the California Gold Rush, a bustling 1940s San Francisco, and historical figures from Latin America and the United States. You can stare at it for an hour and still miss details. Now this Pan American Unity mural is on display for free at the SFMOMA until the summer of 2023, you can visit it as often as you like to fully take in its message and power. To learn more about the Pan American Unity mural's backstory and the controversy it sparked, we figured it'd be a good time to revisit a story that first ran on KQED's Bay Curious podcast. The episode also dives into Frida's artistic development and how a Santa Rosa horticulturalist influenced her art. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a cancer survivor, Caroline Chung tells me expressing herself through music has been healing. But it's not always smooth sailing. Chung says she's been overlooked for gigs simply because of her identity-- an Asian woman who plays the upright bass. "Hey, I'm a female jazz bassist," says Chung. "It's like nobody really cares, because it's the ‘boys club’." Despite this, Chung has found collaborators in people poets and other jazz musicians. After releasing two(FC) projects last year, Chung is gearing up for another push in 2022-- starting with this weekend's show at SF Jazz. But before you see her in performance or check out her music, I invite you to get a little more of her story... Rightnowish. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erena Shimoda takes photos underwater. She creates majestic images of people in pools. Her subjects can be seen posing in wheelchairs, dancing with tulle, adorned in mermaid attire, or wrapped in Shibari ropes. Some of her models are people who've lived through physical or mental trauma. Erena helps them slip into water, release their experiences, and hopefully reemerge anew. It's a nod to religious practices around water, like baptisms in Catholicism, the holy dips in India's Ganges River and the water meditations of Shintoism rooted in Erena's motherland, Japan. It's also a healing practice backed by science. As we dive deeper into the new year, this episode we're talking to Erena about her journey photographing the healing power of water. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This country is extremely divided, always has been. When you combine the issues of racism, sexism and other isms that have plagued us for ages and mix in the division that's risen over this drawn out pandemic, you could see why some people might feel comfortable and complacent in their silos. But let's do something about it. I'm asking you to get out of that comfort zone, reach out and connect with another person or group. It's a simple ask: build a bridge. This week, for the final Rightnowish episode of 2021, I'm encouraging you all to take a step toward building bridges by making some community connections. Take a listen and let's get into it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This past Independence Day, Oakland's Marty Aranaydo found himself a long way from the town. Marty had joined up with the NDN Collective to scale a 100-foot grain silo in Rapid City, South Dakota. Atop it, the group unfurled a massive inverted American flag with the words, "LANDBACK" across it. The direct action called for more than the transfer of territory back to indigenous tribes, on the bottom corner of the flag they also wrote "1505," to represent the growing number of indigenous children's unmarked graves that have been found at native boarding schools throughout the US and Canada. While Marty is a well-known DJ and aerosol writer, he isn't new to this kind of work. His family was involved in the original occupation of Alcatraz, direct action for social change is in his blood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the fall of 2019, we interviewed her about taking a quick break from country music to write a roller skating anthem: a vibey R&B song called "Roll Out." In her latest project, Race Records, she's come back to her roots as a country singer. Given that there's been a whole pandemic, a rise in the popularity of rollerskating and new music released that speaks to Miko's origins as a singer, we figured it'd be good to check in with Miko Marks for this week's show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This Thanksgiving-- Friendsgiving, Thankstaking, or whatever you call this holiday-- I'm turning the microphones on the Rightnowish team and asking the hard questions about food, friend and feelings. For this episode I'm joined by Rightnowish producer Marisol Medina-Cadena and editor Jessica Placzek. We dive into our holiday experiences, the music that we turn to as the weather gets cold, and we take some time to appreciate you-- the listeners. This episode was made for your listening pleasure, to be enjoyed while cooking, eating, or doing some exercise to shake off that meal you've just consumed. As I say at the end of the show, and will reiterate here: I hope you all eat well and nourish yourselves this holiday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every Wednesday evening, the 1Up Crew gathers at In The Groove Studios in downtown Oakland for a free open lab session. That's where you'll see folks perfecting their moves and dancing in a variety of styles: turfing, ballroom, pop locking and krumping. It's all in preparation for monthly battles against other crews. Some of the battles are freestyle, others are three-on-three dance-offs where teams choreograph routines in a format that's similar to the movie, "You Got Served." But this is real life, real people and a real story about dancing in Oakland-- as shown through one of the crew’s leaders, Tarik Rollerson, a third generation dancer from the town, who is part of a community that’s creating a new way of giggin’. We all know that in the Bay Area, “We dance a little different.” Today, Tarik gives us some insight on why we move the way we do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At first it may seem like an odd-pairing: a white guy who is a silver-spoon-fed techie from the East Coast and a Black woman from Oakland who is a hard working natural genius in the field of engineering. But through a series of events that unravel in the new play, "Cofounders", the two learn to co-exist. This week, we talk art and tech, and what can be done to curb the perceived divisions between the two. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

December 7, 2021 marks 80 years since the bombing of Pearl Harbor, an act that would lead to the United States' formal involvement in WWII. In support of the war effort, the Bay Area soon became home to a number of small factories and larger shipyards where huge vessels were manufactured, like Sausalito's Marinship. As jobs opened up in this industry, hundreds of thousands of African Americans migrated from the South in search of better paying careers and less racism. What they found in Northern California, along with jobs, was housing discrimination and racist unions. On top of that, their contributions from that period have been largely overlooked in historical documentaries and public memory. Now, thanks to a group of young people who grew up on that same hallowed ground in Marin County, the tales of some of the Black workers at Marinship are being shared through beats and rhymes. The Marinovators, a collection of a dozen teenagers working under the guidance of MC Jahi, recently released the album "A Way Out Of No Way," which highlights the tales of African American laborers at Marinship like Rodessa Battle, Annie Small, and Joseph James. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jane Handcock has written for some of the top names in music, and now it's her turn to step into the limelight. She's an R&B vocalist from Richmond, who has penned songs for the likes of Kelly Rowland, Rick Ross, Teddy Riley and Tyrese. As of late she's worked with the Grand Nationxl collective, dropping multiple songs on their group productions as well as a solo project of her own. Now Jane, who got her start singing in East Bay churches, has relocated to Los Angeles where she's on the verge of dropping a project under the guidance of the legendary Snoop Dogg. This week, we discuss how Jane is handling the pivot from being "the most known-unknown" ghostwriter out here, to being a star in her own right. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Evelyn LaChapelle's first team meeting at a new job in the cannabis industry, they were discussing sales when she noticed a "righteous anger" brewing inside her. "My paperwork says I went to jail for over a hundred kilos of cannabis," says Evelyn, "and they're talking sales goals in kilos." Since Evelyn was incarcerated for marijuana related charges, she's worked in the hospitality industry, for others in the cannabis industry and has recently become the CEO of a cannabis company called 87 Months, named for the amount of time she was sentenced. But this journey has not been easy. Evelyn had a front row seat in California's changing cannabis laws, the whiplash from the speed of these shifts, and the inequitable ways the industry can shake out. She's also been a witness to the difficulty and lack of support in the re-entry process. And she's one of thousands. Over 10 years ago, California was ordered to reduce it's prison population due to severe overcrowding, and more recently the pandemic forced the state to release even more people. On the outside, many are met with self-doubt, issues with learning new technology or discrimination based on their record. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

East Oakland's Capolow is a rapper on the rise. Known for his high-energy anthem songs and his catchy "aye-aye!" ad lib, Capolow's music is ringing bells in the Bay Area and beyond. He made an album called "Oakland Nights" with Kamaiyah, and has made individual tracks with E-40, ALLBLACK, and Nef The Pharaoh. But before he was a rapper – ten years ago – Capolow was one of the students in my class at Oakland Tech. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Dynamite" Daisy Bamberger stands inside the ring by herself, shadowboxing. She's surrounded by free weights, kettle balls, punching bags and framed photos from old tournaments. Daisy continues to go through her routine. It's a routine that's obviously working for her. Daisy is a highly decorated 19 year-old boxer from Hayward. After ranking number one in the country and winning 10 national championships, she's setting her sights on competing in the 2024 Olympics. And the dream started right here, at Lightning's Boxing Club. She's been punching these bags since she was in elementary school. Boxing is in her blood. Her father, Mario Bamberger, is a boxer and now trains her. As a product of Hayward High School, the same school that birthed legendary boxer Andre Ward, Daisy looks to carry on the East Bay Boxing legacy. This week on the podcast we hear how becoming a boxing champion has not been as simple as floating like a butterfly. As a child, Daisy was teased about being overweight. Through hard training and personal sacrifice, Daisy overcame her bullies and laid the foundation for a run at Olympic gold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Xiomara's "Chardonnay" was my song this summer. The track is an audio version of driving down Highway 1 at sunset. Smooth and melodic, with an earnest message to the listener-- advising them to steer clear of that glass of wine they're considering purchasing. Xiomara says that "Chardonnay" is a metaphor about living within your means and "examining this desire for some far off things, some opulent thing, and getting real and saying nah I need to let that go and stay in the moment." That track is a single off her album, Sistas, a project that showcases Xiomara's ability to move through a spectrum of musical genres, while telling stories that speak to the experiences of sistas in her life. This week, we get a chance to talk to the East Bay musician about the influences she pulls from as an artist, and how she hopes to influence others with her work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At San Francisco's Public Glass, locals have the opportunity to get hands on experience in this ancient and evolving craft. The organization's executive director, Nathan Watson, says his mission is to ensure that Public Glass isn't just located in the Bayview neighborhood, but actually involves community members in their work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever wanted nail art that highlights your favorite Disney Movie? Maybe nails that show Mulan below a cherry tree, or Alice at her Wonderland tea party, or maybe you want to see Stitch getting into shenanigans across your hands... Whatever your preference, Vivian Xue Rahey has you covered. These conversation pieces are clear fan favorites online. Vivian's Pamper Nail Gallery has hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram and TikTok, and millions more views. It's a unique art form. And luckily for the fans, getting these fly nails has gotten easier. Since the start of the pandemic, Vivian Rahey, has switched up her "Disneyland of Nails" business model: moving from appointments in the salon where nails are painted on site, to an e-commerce model where you can order press-on sets that arrive to your doorstep already bedazzled and painted with scenes from your favorite flick. Despite changes to the model, the company is staying true to the vision she first described to me in the Spring of 2019. Today, we're revisiting that conversation with the queen of Disney nails and hearing how this art-based business not only stayed afloat, but expanded in the midst of a global pandemic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tajai Massey sees Hiero day as a physical manifestation of the Souls of Mischief's most famous song, "93 Til Infiinty", where he and the other emcees give listeners a taste of life in Oakland. These days, living in Oakland, it's hard to ignore the growing wealth disparities, the massive unsheltered population, and continued gentrification. "A lot of folks I see during Hiero Day, they've had to move away, to Stockton, Sac, L.A... anywhere that's cheaper than here. But we see them on Hiero Day, so it's like a big family reunion," says Tajai. Another unfortunate change in the Bay Area: fewer affordable art spaces. This week on Rightnowish, we talk to Tajai about the intersection of culture and the built environment, and the importance of having access to space in order to share, celebrate and create culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wolfe-Goldsmith teamed up with a handful of artists to create the 5th Story NFT art gallery, where murals were adapted into augmented reality by Black Terminus Labs. They are also converting the art into three dimensional pieces that will be housed on the blockchain network and sold as NFTs, which will allow the creators to have more control over the value of their work. Wolfe-Goldsmith is a talented muralist behind some of the largest new pieces of public artwork in Oakland, including the two-story mural of the women of the Black Panther Party in West Oakland, and he huge mural of Stoney Creations and Yanni Brump on Telegraph and 17th. You can also see her depiction of an African American woman dancing on the side of the Oakland Tribune Tower in the heart of the town. But this latest project is one she hopes will change the future of murals and hopefully bring more stability into the livelihood of muralists. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prentice Powell is an East Bay poet whose been working from home a lot lately. This has caused some confusion for his kids, "They were just like, 'So dad, do you have a job?'" Powell does have a job, and does big things: he's performed his poems on The Arsenio Hall Show, Verses and Flow, and in the upcoming Nick Cannon movie, She Ball. And just this week, Powell concluded a residency at The Kennedy Center in Washington DC with Fiveology, a poetry group of his longtime friends and collaborators. For Powell, poetry is his work, his passion, a way to express what he feels and work out what he thinks. And while he puts a lot of his life into his poems, he's decided there are certain topics to keep off the page and the stage, and certain poems he'd like to leave in the past. This week on Rightnowish, Prentice Powell talks about fatherhood and poetry: how sometimes they mix and sometimes they don't. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the health of individuals and communities around the world, Harvey Lozada focused on the stories coming from the neighborhood just south of San Francisco's Market Street, the SOMA District. Through the film “It Takes The Hood to Save The Hood," Lozada shows how community organizations shifted their focus from being community resources, to being first responders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bookcases and bird feeders take shape amid the whir of chop saws, the bang of hammers and the trill of drills. Behind the power tools are girls and non-binary youth, mostly in high school and middle school, but the youngest builders start at age 9. West Berkeley's Girls Garage was founded by Emily Pilloton-Lam in 2013, the organization's mission is to make sure young women and non-binary teens have the physical and metaphorical tools to get the job – any job – done. This week, we're back to talking to people in-person for the first time in over a year. And what better way to get out there than to jump into the saw dust and discuss all that comes from the process of building. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2006, when music producer Trackademicks remixed the smash hit by E-40 and Keak Da Sneak, "Tell Me When To Go," he created a cultural jewel that sent waves throughout the Yay. The remix took a seminal song from the Hyphy Movement, added a unique wrinkle, and then proceeded to make your face melt. The track could be heard at pep rallies in the valley, in nightclubs in San Francisco and blasting out of the front grill speakers of Chevy vans as they smashed through Deep East Oakland. Trackademicks, a half-Black and half-Filipino guy who was raised in Alameda, looks at his own lineage and says remixing things is in his DNA, literally. It was already in the music too, the Hyphy movement has its own history of mixing genres, which allowed it to birth something unique in The Bay. Now, as a number of rappers (including Trackademicks) make music that harkens back to that era, we thought it'd be a good time to discuss how the big sun glasses, fun dances, and uptempo music of the Hyphy Movement came to be. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dueñas Car Club is a sisterhood that rolls on 100-spoke rims. Founded in 2019 and based in Sunnyvale, the head of the club is Angel Romero. She's been cruising the strip since she was a kid as a passenger in her mother's lowrider. It was through her mother that Angel inherited her passion for cool cars, cruising through the city, and serving the community. Now, the members of the car club work with local organization to hold toy drives and distribute safety kits. They also pull up to events like car hops and car shows, stunting in full force. Angel says it's amazing to see the look on the people's faces when their fleet of dope cars driven by women pulls through, but it's the young women whose imaginations they really love to inspire. This week we discuss coordinating outfits with the color of your lowrider, the criminalization of lowriding culture, and how Angel is passing on her love of cars to the next generation of young women. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Santa Rosa’s Randy Harlan and Bolinas’ Garnett Silver-Hall are known for using wheelchairs the same way others use skateboards-- grinding on rails and riding off ramps. The duo are both adaptive athletes in the "chair skating" community and founders of Northern California's Wheelchair Motor Cross-- WCMX. After connecting through mutual friends, the two have skated at parks in Northern California and competed in Southern California. Now Randy and Garnett teach other folks how to become involved in adaptive sports. This week we hear how it feels to drop into a bowl at the skatepark and the dangers of attempting a backflip in a wheelchair. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marsha Howard grew up in the skateboarding mecca of San Francisco. After getting her first board as a gift from a St. Anthony's Christmas donation program when she was 13 or 14, she's skated with friends in front of the Ferry Building and bombed down the windy roads of Twin Peaks. She's also worked at Thrasher Magazine and been a skateboarding fashion model. Nowadays she's a teacher and skates for exercise and mental health while using videos of her falling and getting back on her board to teach her elementary school students about perseverance. This week, we talk to Marsha Howard about growing up skateboarding in this mecca and how she navigated the 'boys club' and assembled a circle of non-male skaters around herself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For his daughter's fourth birthday, Pen adopted an adorable gray and white kitten. His thinking? It'll teach his child about the responsibility of loving and caring for a living creature. Instead, Pen got the lesson. In this special Father's Day episode of Rightnowish, Pen brings you into the story of his daughter, Z, their cat, Skye, and his revelation about where responsibility ultimately resides when you're a parent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Berkeley’s Omar "Meez" Jones is a biker, photographer, graphic designer and entrepreneur. One of his top talents is his ability to take his lifestyle and make a living off of it. Earlier this year, a series of Apple billboards promoting their "Hometown" campaign sprung up all around the Bay Area, featuring the silhouetted images of two bikers hitting wheelies. Those bikers are Jones and his good friend from North Oakland, Almighty Gio. What I saw as a major tech company leveraging culture to earn cool points, Jones sees as a platform benefiting the culture he represents. While there's room for both to be true, Jones points out something that I overlooked: we breed hustlers in this region, so he'll figure out a way to make it work in his favor. On top of that, Jones is working to expand opportunities to a younger generation of East Bay bikers, setting them up with brands and employment opportunities. Tune in for the second entry on the intersection of wheels, community, and culture as Jones and I discuss biking, billboards, and being a community "big bro." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From 1979 to 1988, Richard was a part of the Golden Rollers, a trio of skaters who performed in Golden Gate Park every Sunday. Since first getting his roll on, Richard has been featured in the television pilot, Dancing Wheels, was Damon Wayan's skating stunt double, performed on stage with Vaughn Mason and has been featured in Ebony Magazine. Richard also has custom wheels that bear his name, and worked with Riedell to manufacture a signature skating boot with no laces called, No Strings Attached. Richard has also taught thousands of people his signature skating style of "Roller Dance" (even Dr. Oz) through in-person classes and video tutorials. And he's noticed skatings rising popularity since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. On social media, videos of skaters in fly fits doing tricks to the latest hits has made for top tier content, especially on TikTok. While Richard appreciates the growing appreciation for the art of quad skating, he wants to make sure folks know that skating is a deep-seated culture with a history that pre-dates the internet, and moves that sparkled on the rink long before most viral stars were born. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2018 the Hasta Muerte coffee shop in East Oakland made national headlines when they asked Oakland police officers to leave their cafe. Matt Gereghty, part-owner of the cooperative cafe, was the first person to tell an officer the cafe's policy of asking cops to leave. He read from a collectively written script the staff had composed before opening the shop. Gereghty tells me it wasn't meant to be a major thing, just the cafe's attempts to ensure peace of mind for their customers by creating a space without cops. They serve a community where people have had traumatic experiences with police officers, or live in fear due to their documentation status. Keep in mind it was 2018, and President Donald Trump's pro-police and anti-immigration rhetoric was flooding media. When people found out about the policy, it led to pro-Trump, right wing protestors waving American flags with thin blue lines in front of the cafe. Hasta Muerte also received a letter from the president of the Oakland Police Association saying the policy was “a matter of concern for all Oakland Police Officers.” The story was covered locally and nationally; it grew to the point that they even mentioned it on The View. But Hasta Muerte hasn't officially talked to any publications about what happened until now. This week on Rightnowish, we discuss this East Oakland cafe's community-based approach to safety, cops and the media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After winning an MTV reality TV show contest about a dozen years ago, Rocky Rivera landed a gig at Rolling Stone. That was a crowning moment in her career as a journalist. Since then, Rocky Rivera's enjoyed a successful musical career and expanded her world as an educator in Oakland public schools. Most recently she published an autobiographical collection of essays, Snakeskin, which takes a look back at her storied career and personal life. Rocky Rivera, who was raised in San Francisco, uses the book to express the importance of restorative justice practices. Addressing conflict without using punitive models is something that works in the classroom and the community, as well as in art. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kate Dash, aka Been Milky, is one of the coolest mothers you'll ever meet. She likes to bomb down huge San Francisco hills on a skateboard, she notoriously dyes her hair bright colors, she's a cannabis connoisseur and she's on the verge of launching a brand called Milky's World. Been Milky, whose name honors the fact that mothers have the ability to feed all of humankind, sees mothers as the most important beings walking this earth. And since she's a photographer, she can show us exactly what she sees. Her photography captures vivid images of her friends, many of them mothers, and of course, her own kids. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Artist Paola de la Calle plays with images and symbols that recall her childhood, her family's homeland in Colombia, and explores themes of citizenship and the politics of food. Bananas, tv satellites, door knocker hoops, sugar cane, and social security cards, to name a few, repeat in her work. She experiments with these images and themes across mediums. Paola's linocut prints, embellished flags, collaged posters and ceramics ask viewers to dig deeper into the colorful imagery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Through blogs and TikTok videos Brena Jean discusses what it means to be one of the millions of people living with lipedema. The rarely diagnosed chronic disorder affects mostly women and causes fat cells within the body to build up and harden instead of burn; it's often confused with obesity or lymphedema. As a result, many people living with lipedema don't know they have it. Or, in Brena Jean's case, she recognized the condition but struggled to prove it to medical professionals. This week, Brean Jean and I discuss how she's taking internet trolls to school and what it means to fight fatphobia within the American healthcare system. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alan Chazaro uses poetry to explore Bay Area culture, his love for hip-hop, and machismo stereotypes. We first talked in 2019 about his first poetry collection, This Is Not a Frank Ocean Cover Album. Since then, Chazaro moved to Mexico, travelled through Central and South America, and then, ultimately, returned to the Bay Area. Chazaro has also been dabbling in the journalism trade-- with stories that range from the first woman to play professional men's basketball to the tale of a notable Oakland A's hot dog vendor. Chazaro has even freelanced for KQED. In addition to all of that and teaching English, Chazaro just published his second book, Pińata Theory, which takes a deeper dive into his Mexican-American identity, Hip-Hop and deconstructing concepts of masculinity. Since April is National Poetry Month, it seems like a good time to revisit our first conversation. And because so much has changed since then-- traveling, book publication and more-- we brought him back to give us a life update and a poem. To hear other poets on Rightnowish here's a playlist: https://spoti.fi/3tnZpe5 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices