At Lasalle…

“Retail shop in the Newtown community.”

From the set “Sarasota — City.”

Caption explains:

The Safehouse was West Oakland’s anarchist mothership.

This three-story building at 3277 MLK Jr. Way housed a squatter commune for eight months in 2010. About 20 young occupants were evicted by the owners in December of that year; by then they had already started branching out to other houses in West Oakland. In the early morning hours of May 1, The Safehouse was gutted by fire. This particular house had been vacant for over a decade before it was occupied by squatters; rampant foreclosures have given them even more homes to choose from. These anarchist communes serve as hubs for many of the core activists at Occupy Oakland.

Initially occupied by a few heroin junkies in early 2010, the building somehow evolved into a magnet for young anarchists, “crusty travelers,” or just plain wayward youth from all over. The road between Eugene, Oregon, and Oakland seemed particularly well-traveled. (The very compelling story of The Safehouse, told by one of the occupants, may be read in the Anarchist News forum, here. The eviction of the group can be seen on YouTube here. A news blurb on the fire is here.)

A row of buildings along MLK in New Orleans, from this recent Preservation Resource Center set.

ML King 1919, a photo by Preservation Resource Center, Advocacy Department on Flickr.

ML King 1927, a photo by Preservation Resource Center, Advocacy Department on Flickr.

“Critical Mass July 29, 2011, aka the Ride to the Hood!”

Dec 18 2008 MLK Way and Holly St. South Seattle

Martin Luther King ave, Historic Anacostia SE Washington, DC
Best Viewed Large, When You Click on Photo or Press the “L” Key to View in Light Box
Done with iphone 4 and ipad

There was this bookstore on MLK, I think next to Elaine’s Kitchen, with a heavy Nation of Islam focus. I drove out one afternoon, walked in, browsed awkwardly, then turned to the two Nation guys sitting at a squat table in the middle of the store, benignly ignoring me like priests ignore tourists at Notre Dame. I said, “Hey, so this is kind of random, but I want to write for magazines, and I don’t have any writing clips. I was wondering if maybe we could sit around and bullshit for a while, and then I could write about it.”

Read the rest here.

Thx: David B!