ABOUT

Birthed from a desire to give back to the local Oakland community, Narratves has expanded into two main projects - Neighborhood Narratves (NHN) and Pop-Up Narratves (PUN). 

Narratves welcomes partnership with and documentation of Black and Native American organizations and businesses throughout the Bay Area. 

MISSION

We aim to document the lives and projects of Black and Indigenous folks through visual and written storytelling to provide opportunities for increased awareness and resource acquisition from the larger community to support our interviewees.

PURPOSE

Before being colonized by the Spanish in the late 1760s, Oakland was home to primarily Chochenyo-speaking Ohlone for thousands of years. Today, the Ohlone people of the Bay Area continue to fight the legacies of indoctrination and displacement through efforts such as the Sogorea'Te Land Trust. 

After being established as a city in California in 1852, Oakland quickly became one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the U.S. From the early 1850s through the 1970s, Oakland received an influx of Black, Asian, and Pacific Islander folks seeking employment with the transcontinental railroad and upcoming hospitality industry.

At one point, Oakland was nicknamed "Harlem of the West" and home to the notorious Black Panther Party in the early 1960s; however, the city has changed significantly over the last 50 years. Due to gentrification, Oakland's long-time Black residents have experienced increased displacement and erasure of histories and homes. 

Despite the violence of profit-driven construction and anti-indigenous policies, locals are not bowing down to the destruction of their livelihoods. The spirit of survival existed within this soil long before "Oakland" was a name, and the fight for justice by descendants of colonized lands continues daily.

We support documenting and preserving the sacred and rich biographies of people who have considered Occupied Chochenyo Ohlone land, also known as Oakland, home for generations. 

VISION

Narratves intends to cultivate avenues for Black and Indigenous people in the Bay Area to sustain their livelihood and wisdom through community programming and archival exhibits.

PROJECTS

Neighborhood Narratves 

Neighborhood Narratives (NHN) is committed to recording the stories of Bay Area locals through portrait-style photographs and interviews. By documenting the voices of Black and Indigenous folks, we are claiming their lives are worthy of being remembered authentically. Our interviews address a series of experiences within the Bay Area, such as gentrification and building a legacy in times of erasure.

We are currently gearing up for our second wave of interviews and will introduce a video format. Stories will resume Fall 2023.

Pop-Up Narratves 

Pop-Up Narratives (PUN) is an in-person project designed to photograph Oakland locals through curated events or spontaneous documentation. 

Narratves has hosted several PUN events initiated by a curated donation-based event in response to the social unrest of the Summer of 2020. Since then, we have conducted several smaller pop-ups documenting candid moments of Black joy at Lake Merritt, the "End SARS" protest, and the 5th annual Black Joy Parade.