Long-time Oakland residents on the uptick in violence: ‘We need to face it and figure it out’

A California city where homicides increased significantly after the pandemic is in a moment requiring us all to work together'

On the other side of the San Francisco Bay sits Oakland, a city that has been known as many things: a nerve center for civil rights and Black power, one of the murder capitals of the US, a sports and cultural destination, a face of gentrification and a symbol of community-led resilience.

Recently, the city has been in the national spotlight again amid stubbornly high gun violence numbers and recurring reports of robberies and property crimes. Viral videos have shown lines of cars with busted windows and people going into stores and leaving with armfuls of stolen merchandise. Dominating headlines are the ever-increasing numbers of homicides - which, beginning in 2020, have increased to numbers not seen in more than a decade.