Local Economy community newsletter:

If you live in the neighborhood, you may have seen the fire or the fire trucks racing up Claremont this week. Sarah and I did, and she wrote this reflection on this place experiencing a dangerous, though short-lived, wildfire. We wanted to share it with you, along with the standard event listings. The hill, as we call it, is part of our here, and it was hard to watch it burn.

—Alexis Madrigal

The hill I hike nearly every morning caught fire yesterday, about an hour after I’d come down. From the desk at Local Economy, I watched emergency vehicles screaming up Claremont—first for five minutes, and I thought maybe it was a car accident; then for ten minutes, maybe a house fire; then for twenty and thirty until the first posts hit social media, of billowing smoke rising from the exact spot where my daily ascent ends and I head down again. We didn’t smell it until much later in the day, when the wind changed direction. Thankfully, there was hardly any wind. 

This morning I came up to survey the blackened ground. I stood there with a firefighter, looking into the gully. I thanked him for how quickly they contained it, and he said, “Luckily, we have a lot of resources available right now.” Right now. Because right now, blazes aren’t swallowing 3,000 or 30,000 or 300,000 acres nearby, so they had capacity to protect these three. 

All this past summer and early fall, herds of goats were strategically shepherded over and across these hills and canyons, clearing dry brush. There’s a man who has been out every day for months with a truck and a machete, pulling out thickets of blackberry. Some days I’d come around a bend to find a whole stand of eucalyptus gone. And there’s Francesca, the most steadily present steward of the Derby Canyon side of the hill, always positioned against the slope somewhere, pulling grasses by hand.

It feels a bit unwarranted, given Alta Dena and Paradise and Eaton and Palisades and Tubbs and TCU, to express grief right now. I am lucky I can say this is the first time I’m looking at black scars and ash blanketing a piece of earth that feels like a piece of me, and me of it. 

This place is seeded with my stories, so many people’s stories, released into the safety of open space. It is the entirety of ritual in some people’s lives, it’s the sole territory of many friendships, it’s a form of daily devotional. But none of this matters to the hill. These are just the reasons the hill matters to me. 

On my drive home I stop at a red light and that same firefighter is crossing the street in front of me, a backpack slung over his shoulder, job done. For right now. And I am both sorry and certain that the penetrating grief I feel over this small catastrophe will loosen its grip as the day goes on. 

—Sarah Rich

And one other note: We are partnering with the Thrive Network for their 10 Year Anniversary Celebration & Benefit Concert “Our Time to Thrive: Rising in Beloved Community.” That's coming up on Saturday, Nov 7th @ 7pm in downtown Oakland or by livestream for their with special guests Fania Davis, john a. powell, Melanie DeMore, Kazu Haga, Alixa Garcia, Wildchoir and Sistahs of the Drum. You can learn more & RSVP here!

Upcoming Local Economy Events

• Thurs, Oct 22, 6pm: The Philosophy of Huey Newton: Delio Vásquez in Conversation with East Bay Yesterday
  Huey P. Newton was called many things in his time: revolutionary, genius, criminal, even the most surveilled human being in world history. Yet little of the truth about him is known today, thanks to persistent distortions of his legacy. In Huey P. Newton: I Am We, a much-needed intellectual history, Delio Vásquez establishes the Black Panther co-founder as a true philosopher who theorized how the most oppressed could spearhead revolutionary change. Vásquez, a political theory scholar at NYU, will be in conversation with Liam O'Donoghue, host of the East Bay Yesterday podcast. Books via East Bay Booksellers.
• Sun, Oct 25, 11am: Tax Release: Art Installation and Public Shredding Event
  Ten days after the IRS extended filing deadline, Professor Galen Crantz will lay out her tax returns from 1963 to 2018 in a one-day installation at Local Economy, so that she can see, and share, an accumulation of bureaucratic effort that is personal to her and relatable for all of us. The public is invited any time between 11am and 4pm to view the sheer scale of the returns, and to bring their own tax documents (older than seven years!) to shred manually onsite or drop in secure bins. At day's end, 56 years of Galen's documents will be similarly released.
• Tues, Oct 27, 6pm: Fatimah Asghar and Hieu Minh Nguyen on Daughter of the Mountains
  Fatimah Asghar's new poetry collection Daughter of the Mountains — praised by BOMB, Autostraddle, and Poets & Writers, among others — begins with a question: exiled from ancestral homelands, how can one find a place for oneself in the world? In meditative poems, it grapples with fulfillment, betrayal, love, loss, and longing, illustrating how place, lineage, and environment inform the practice of spirituality and vice versa. With wisps of humor, startling imagery, and disruptive formal invention, it is intimate and explosive at once. Asghar will be in conversation with Hieu Minh Nguyen.
• Wed, Oct 28, 7:30pm: Bedtime Club
  A gathering for non-gestational parents of all kinds — men, women, enbies, trans, cis, queer, straight, adoptive — to slow down together and sit with the stuff that doesn't always get airtime. We didn't carry the kids, but we're carrying other things. This is a small, intentional space; come ready to go a little deep. Led by member Shea Waldron.
• Thurs, Oct 29, 6pm: Tomas Moniz & Laleh Khadivi on secrets, friendships, and chosen family
  Two beloved Bay Area writers in conversation. Oakland's own Tomas Moniz has a lovely new novel out, The King of Aloe Vera, about the Mission, intergenerational friendship, and last chapters; his All Friends Are Necessary won the 2024 California Golden Poppy Award, and he edited the Rad Dad anthologies. Laleh Khadivi's new book is Female Life on Planet Earth, a novel about mothers and daughters and the secrets they keep (and expose). Khadivi chairs the creative writing MFA at USF and won a Whiting Writers' Award for The Age of Orphans.
• Sun, Nov 1, 10:30am: Hands-on Matcha Workshop by ochamode
  An authentic Japanese tea ceremony in a welcoming, hands-on workshop. Harue Imaizumi, a certified instructor (jun-kyoju) of the Omotesenke school who has studied tea in both Japan and the United States, teaches the basic principles and etiquette of the tea ceremony along with practical tips for making good matcha at home — ratio, water temperature, whisking. You'll whisk your own bowl and enjoy it with traditional Japanese sweets. Tea comes from ochamode, founded by Mayuka Inaba of Shizuoka. Tickets $60, or $85 with a Japanese-made matcha bowl to take home; members get $10 off. (Only 3 spots left as of this writing!)
• Sun, Nov 1, 1pm: Speed Puzzling Workshop hosted by Assemble Puzzlery
  A panel discussion and practice session with four local competitive speed puzzlers, who will share tips and tricks for getting faster. Our panelists have a passion for speed puzzling and love sharing it with the community. Whether you've already competed, are curious about the sport, or just love puzzles, this two-hour interactive workshop will be fun and informative. Note that registration for this one does not run through Luma — sign up through Assemble Puzzlery instead. More details on what to expect coming next week.
• Tues, Nov 3, 6pm: Tommy Orange and Shane Hawk talk indigenous horror stories
  The team behind the bestselling Indigenous fiction anthology Never Whistle at Night has returned with Back for Blood: Never Whistle at Night Part II, twenty-one brand-new, gruesome tales from both established talent (Tommy Orange! Stephen Graham Jones!) and newly unearthed writers. This isn't just “dark fiction,” it's full-tilt horror — “not an occasional shiver,” as co-editor Shane Hawk puts it, “but sustained dread, sustained appetite, sustained consequence.” The stories draw on a range of Native and First Nations histories and traditions. Tommy Orange will be in conversation with Hawk. (This one is sold out, but there's a waitlist.)
• Thurs, Nov 5, 6pm: Women Building & Leading Organizations
  A gathering for Bay Area women founders and organizational leaders building and running nonprofits, social enterprises, consultancies, creative businesses, and other purpose-driven organizations. If you're spending your days leading a team, growing an organization, juggling priorities, making hard decisions, or trying to build something meaningful, this space is for you. The evening is intentionally informal and connection-focused: getting to know one another, sharing what we're building, what's exciting us, and the challenges we're navigating. Whether you're just getting started or have been at it for years, come curious. Hosted by Katrien Johnson Zoons, founder of ImpactXChange. (Only 4 spots left as of this writing!)
• Fri, Nov 6, 6pm: An epic family read, Kirk Lombard's The Shadow Stream
  Kirk Lombard is an author, angler, sustainable fishmonger, and tuba player who worked inside the juvenile rehabilitation system; his award-winning Sea Forager's Guide to the Northern California Coast was described as “poetry” for fish by NPR. Now he's back with a throwback to family-reads-of-yore. The Shadow Stream follows G, a boy wasting away in juvenile detention, who falls for a trash-heaped river full of mysteries and fish — just as a developer schedules it to be dammed. He and a host of hilariously vexed animals mount an uprising. An event for the whole family on a Friday evening.
• Sat, Nov 7, 10:30am: Hands-On Seed Processing with Farmer Sama
  Reyhan Herb Farm is a small Bay Area farm growing and sharing seed for heritage crops from the SWANA region; for Farmer Sama, the work is a healing connection to ancestral foodways. At season's end, the seed crops come in and need cleaning — taking a harvest from the field to a dry, shelf-stable lot free of chaff, by hand, using threshing and winnowing techniques practiced since the advent of agriculture. “The closest thing I get to magic on a regular basis,” Sama says. Held in the backyard of Local Economy's generous neighbor Layla; location details go to attendees.
• Sat, Nov 7, 1pm: Oakland Noticing Club: Myth
  Turn on your curiosity radar and join us for the latest meeting of the Oakland Noticing Club, an informal meet-up inspired by Rob Walker's “Savor of the Month” at The Art of Noticing. This month's theme is Myth: urban legends, neighborhood lore, everyday magic, imaginary things, things that remind you of fairytales and folklore, or that inspire you to make up your own. Bring your photos, poems, little videos, whatever, to share with the group.
• Sat, Nov 7, 5:30pm: Kitchen Stories 2: Sharing Home Recipes and Why They Matter to Us
  Cooking is personal, communal, and filled with histories. Bring a dish, a copy of the recipe, and the story behind it — whether it's rooted in deep family lore or is a brand-new kitchen success. We'll share food and talk about why these dishes matter to us. Everyone leaves with something new to make and a closer connection to the casual cooks around them. Hosted by member Danny Scuderi.
• Sun, Nov 8, 3pm: "How to Get Home in the Dark" Poetry Anthology Reading and Generative Workshop
  Emilie Lygren celebrates the release of her new anthology How to Get Home in the Dark: Poems on Mental Health and Healing, reading from it alongside contributors Alegria Barclay, a multiracial queer poet and educator; Zeina Hashem Beck, whose fourth collection is forthcoming from Penguin; Melissa Fowlks, an Oakland poet drawn to belonging and time outside; and Antwan Linton Penn, whose work weaves mental health, spirituality, and social commentary. A brief panel follows, then time for the audience to write in conversation with the anthology. Paper and pens on hand; bring your favorite journal if you'd like.
• Mon, Nov 9, 6pm: Find Your Story: Local Authors, Librarians & Belonging
  An anchor event for Oakland is a Reading Town, the fall campaign bringing together Mayor Barbara Lee's office, the Oakland Literacy Coalition, OUSD, families, and community groups. The panel of librarians and storytellers includes Denise Nguyen of Roosevelt Middle School, Sam Soloman of the Calvin Simmons Library, YA and kids' author Maggie Tokuda-Hall, and graphic novelists Thien Pham and Wahab Algarmi. There will be snacks, N/A drinks, and a button-making station. Middle and high school students particularly encouraged to attend.
• Thurs, Nov 12, 6pm: Writing the Body in Memoir: How to Work with What Our Bodies Know
  Even when they aren't the center of the story, our bodies are an essential, inescapable part of any memoir — there is no life experience to write from unless there is a body moving through the world, collecting memories. Savala Nolan, author of Good Woman: A Reckoning and Don't Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender, and the Body, leads this workshop on what our bodies can tell us that our minds cannot, and how to write from a body you may not like, in a society that may not like it either. Includes examples and a skills-building exercise.
• Sun, Nov 15, 2pm: Soup Swap!!
  This is for people who love soup, who might have adventurous palates, who like being cozy and want to learn something new. If you sign up, you're on the hook for four quarts of your favorite or near-favorite soup, packaged in four containers and labeled with ingredients. Bring them to Local Economy, meet everyone else who did the same, and tell us why you brought that soup. Then we pull numbers like a fantasy sports draft and take turns grabbing. Everyone leaves with four different quarts. Member Christine Hyung-Oak Lee has been meaning to do this for years. (This one is sold out, but there's a waitlist.)
• Sun, Nov 15, 5pm: Dashka Slater presents The Wild Season: The Remarkable True Story of A Rabbit Rescue.
  The Wild Season: The Remarkable True Story of A Rabbit Rescue is an adventure story set in a San Francisco park — about nature, community, what it means to be a person in a broken world, and also why there are so many damn rabbits in Australia. It's for kids ages 8–12, but also for adults and anyone who likes parks and animals and building forts and needs to hear about neighbors coming together to solve a problem. Slater also wrote The 57 Bus, Accountable, and The Antlered Ship, a Local Economy favorite. She'll be interviewed by a ten-year-old superfan, Flora Madrigal.