Discussing my position as a researcher in Oakland this summer means discussing not just my race, my lack of roots in Oakland, and my position as a short term researcher, but also the geographic divisions that already exist and the ways in which I fit into those. First, I am not from Oakland, and therefore do not have ties to the place where I am researching, which shapes the ways in which I come to the research as well as the effects of my position as a researcher. I was born and raised in New York, and have continued to live in the city for university as well, meaning that while I have ties to urban spaces and urban knowledge, it is particularly New York specific knowledge and connections which do not translate over in many ways to Oakland and the wider Bay Area. This changes the ways in which I interact as a researcher because I am very aware that I will be leaving at the end of this fellowship, and my goal is to make my research, gained knowledge, and work something that can be left with the organization as well as taken with me as a researcher and a student. I also feel that my interest in urban centers as a whole is valuable to my research and can help to connect my work and love for New York to Oakland.
I am also very aware of my appearance and racial categorization, as a white person working predominantly with communities of color and Indigenous communities. Specifically, because I am working in a communications role, I am working with the language, presentation, and expression that Rooted in Resilience uses to communicate with communities and individuals facing environmental and climate change problems, and I am very wary of speaking for anyone or any organization. Rather, my approach has been to learn the language that Rooted in Resilience uses and attempt to amplify the voices that people have and the words that people have already spoken in a way that they are heard by more people. My research is surrounding the ways in which environmental problems and solutions can be communicated and because I am looking for it to be useful for Rooted in Resilience and other environmental organizations, I am and will be very careful to not use language or formats that relegate it to an academic realm. As a researcher, I want to connect across divides, and produce knowledge that is not just useful in an academic way, but rather to the communities and organizations that I have been working with.
In terms of living and space, I am currently living in Noe Valley in San Francisco, on the border of the Mission District, and then I will be living in Berkeley for the last 4 weeks of my fellowship. A lot of the reason for my living in San Francisco rather than Oakland is proximity to BART and public transportation, as well as a room that appeared luckily that I can actually afford. In the few days when I stayed far out in East Oakland at the beginning of my fellowship, my transportation was extremely limited without a car and I had to rely heavily on ride-share services such as Lyft. I am very aware of the ways in which access, particularly easy access, to public transportation is privileged access and I am lucky to be able to walk to BART in the mornings. I am also aware how once on BART, the fare is calculated on distance traveled rather than a flat fare, which while logical is also discriminatory against people who cannot afford to live close to their work and have to commute for longer. Therefore, transportation and accessible spaces is a large part of privileged space, and I am especially aware that these accessible spaces are dominated by white, middle-and upper-class people. This also changes the food and environments that are easily accessible, which emphasizes the need for sustainable, resilient communities that have access to healthy food in their neighborhoods. As a researcher, I’m trying to be very aware of the relationality of spaces and the elements of neighborhoods that attract certain groups of people and make them more “desirable” or “better neighborhoods”.
I am also aware of the distinct personalities and ideologies that are attached to San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley respectively. I have been thinking a lot about the ways in which geographic landscapes shape the people who live in them, but also shape the landscapes that appear around them. These three distinct urban centers form a trifecta of different approaches to space, society, and living, but at the same time, they are all part of the same section of land and therefore are facing the same environmental threats and rely on the same and similar resource pools. I think that in this way, my inexperience with the Bay Area and new gaze on these areas can contribute positively to my research because it’s possible that seeing the Bay Area from the outside can illuminate new elements, connections, and pathways for my research, especially regarding communication and discussion around environmental problems and solutions.
Rachel, I love how you ended this post with an emphasis on what you bring to the table as an outsider, rather than paralysis with regard to your outsider status. I also like your point about these three cities having different identities, but all being tied to the fate of the same parcel of land. This is something I think we overlook too often when we make claims based solely on neighborhood histories and identities. Your point about transportation and mobility is a really important one and something Sophie brings up briefly in her post too. (Check it out!) Questions around areas that are “safe” or “unsafe,” as well as how to insure ordinary people’s commitment to a social cause beyond the confines of neighborhood or home are likely going to follow you throughout your research!