Oakland Tribune from Oakland, California • 30

TmrrTTTTTTW 2-LOCAL THE OAKLAND TRIBUNE aJNDAYii2iMM ywi rf j-t r-T 'i-V- -w 1.. 1 Allens tours return residents to their roots Proposal: Some see It as power grab by Brown -A because they understood our homeplace. not from a textbook, 1 but from Its people and places. ADen overcame the hard- -ships of being born in San Francisco, flowing up In Berkeley and living in Los Angeles before moving to Oakland. She has serveaon the citys Landmarks Commission since 1992.

In 1996, she volunteered to help rescue the Oakland Tours Program. A true-believer In this diy, she leaflets every public facility, some businesses and community-based organizations, constantly recruiting volunteer tour guides and promoting the walking tours. Her contagious enthusiasm persuaded me to volunteer to conduct African-American Columnists Paul Cobb and Annalee Allen are about, the other historical-roots In Oakland this week Her eolumn appears on (he opposite page. NNALEEAIkn knows where the there Is In Oakland. She coordinates free guided walking tours of historic Oakland and takes you there.

She convinces you that there Is something here to be proud She persuades hundreds of school children that the fancy and marble staircase In granite i the grand old City Hall should keri for granted. 1 teach them that these archl- 'Good News infltshyw face wnen she sees a boarded-up or rundown building anywhere In this dty because the older and more rundown a building, the more Interesting the stories at the generations that passed through our past everywhere around us." There it Is. Once you've booked a free, guided, packaged walking tour and explored Oakland's archltec- to downtown will become a pleasure trip. Those who once i ducked their heads at the sight of blight, before or after Loma Prleta, will become rubber- neckers. looking for the hidden beauty in every building.

A stroll through historic Oakland with Allen, or the volunteer guides she trains, will become a swagger or a strut She has turned what once was' an architectural hospice-walk Into a first-class hospitality tour through time in our town. After a stroll down Broadway, Jack London Waterfront Chinatown, City Center, Preservation Park. Old Oakland, Uptown to Lake Merritt, to the historic temples, synagogues and churches and then a scenic tour of the city's parks, lakes, neighborhoods and shopping districts, you will begin to know the place that houses nearly 400,000, you will be proud. Even though I was born here and still live here, I learn something new about me and my, town when I take people sightseeing. Last week I showcased Oakland, -below MacArthur Boulevard to Helen and Malcolm Warner, who are originally from Canada.

What was intended to be a two-hour windshield survey of our neighborhoods, turned into a four-hour lovefesL They were given OCCUR's neighborhood profiles and grasped a sense of belonging tectural wonders are there for them, says Allen, who writes the weekend Landmarks column for the Oakland Tribune. They're theirs. They own them, including Jack London's favorite oak tree in Prank Ogawa Plaza at 14th Broadway She also ties the oak tree's history together with Jack London, the waterfront. West Oakland and Cole Elementary School, which London attended. Once children, residents and 1 visitors learn to look up and see the Art Deco designs adorning buildings on Telegraph Avenue between 16th and 20th streets.

and learn of their significance, they will appreciate and understand why it is necessary to sal- vage and restore Oakland's aging Victorian houses, she says. They will see Oakland dlfler-' ently. Once they know the stories behind the buildings' facades, they will learn to love what they see. This city will become home- place for us all. because we will theii know it and love it.

Allen proudly boasts that once you walk through the city and meet the people, the elusive there that everyone Jokes about will be found here, inside our walls and Inside us. Walking Tours of Downtown Oakland which I i Includes such places as the African American Museum and Library, pianist Pauline Powell's house now in Preservation Park, Lionel Wilson Building, Calvin Simmons Theater, Paramount Theater which serves as home for symphony director Ml--gan. Oakland Post chad Morgan, Building, Tower once owned by Robert Newspaper Building, the Tribune Maynard, Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, and the Rene Davidson County Courthouse where the Black Panthers mice made a stand down. Also, the Don McCullum Statue, bust of John B. Williams, C.L.

Delluma Train Station, freeways named for Byron Rumford, John Williams and John Miller. Home of Adventist founder Ellen G. White, bust of George P. Scotian, the Key System Building where entertainer Josephine Baker led the figit for black Jobs in 1951. The home of Delilah Beasley, the Tribune's first black columnist in 1923, Rich's Chowder House, the first black-owned restaurant in 1852 when only 18 blacks lived here.

Warren Wilson's Victorian Center and the Ellhu Harris State Office Building. "Now's the time for everyone to go to Pro-Arts Gallery on 9th Street to sfgi-up to visit the studios of Oaldand's many thousam many thousand during the month of June," says Allen. Pro-Arts Is across the street from the Victorian Art Gallery started by Marie Converse and Loma Jones to draw attention to Annals Allan tails Joaquin Millar students about tha colorful history of Oakland's CKy Hall. Continued from LOCAL-1 funds. (The issue) la with the City CouncU, not me, said Brown.

De La Fuente cowkl hot be reached for comment However, Green said three of us (chairs) met with him (De La Fuente) and it was a good meeting. Now we are going (p be meeting with the other members of the City Council. Other community leaders describe the plan to cut OCCUR funds as another power gab" by Brown. And they say he is trying to expand his Influence over matters run by the Oakland Private Industry Council, which has Just received an award for Its Cypress Mandela Job training program. The report to Bobb said a community-needs assessment report will be prepared by dty Staff in August and September.

And evaluations of prior year programs will be done. In October, Bobb will, make his funding recommendations. In addition. City Council representatives will convene elections for' district boards. In November, the City Council will appoint -a Citizens Advisory Committee made up of representatives from communities targeted for federal funds.

In March, the advisory committee will make funding recommendations to Bobb, who would then hold I 1 two public hearings. Despite a reduction In staff support, the district boards would still provide Input and recommendations to the City Council, Bobb and the advisory committee. The dty report says there is in the st $675,206 in the seven districts' "reprogramming fund accounts' for fiscal 1999-2000 and district boards have recommended funding for numerous programs. However, City Hall staff members are calling for the funds to be used equally for rental housing and neighborhood commercial revitalization. The council has not taken any action so for.

FrOVf CaFcUev's Miff Serifs i 1 If I had an opportunity to tell at Iknowabo what I know about this everybody city. I could convince them of its compelling history, incredible beauty ana diversity. Allen says. They will form new and positive opinions about our town. Her upbeat rap about Oak-land's potential helps you see bright possibilities through the and pride.

They give understanding and appreciation for our environs a sense of ownership. They can Influence where youthful scrlbblings and graffiti is done on paper, instead of walls. They can make some property owners think twice before demolishing a building or stuccoing it to death. And it can cause some renters to better appreciate their "homeplaces. To volunteer or book a free Oakland Tour call the 24-hour hot line at (510) 238-3234.

(ver UST A FEW NOTES ON ALL THE FEATURES i LeSABRE HAS TO OFFER. SUfeiliTrovk (availably) the need to preserve Old Oakland. It worked. Oakland needs us. We can't let us down by ignoring the richness of our diverse artistic and cultural communities.

We should celebrate the writings and poetry of Ishmael Reed, painjer Anthony Holdsworth and sculptor Bruce Beasley and the thousands of. other artists, writers, musicians and poets, Allen says. The Oakland Walking Tours are important because they, like genealogy, give us a sense of self Vseiijiiy I Wipev-5 1,000 st-star i Front CrvnsU I Test RHng 8, OnsU 3acktt oh pi 2 000 LeSpibre If ks wove safety features fkan ny ofker its doss. lots of features to keif, Veep you safe aU comfortable. Ah how, a feature to keif save you.

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