Rightnowish

'Love me Before the City Disappears' from The Bay Podcast

20 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

I met Mu'min years ago through creative Bay Area circles, now I count her as a friend, and she's flourished in her craft. From her film, Jinn, winning...

Raw Material: 'Visions of Black Futurity'

13 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Babette Thomas is searching for artistic Black utopias. Thomas is the host of the latest season of SFMOMA's Raw Material podcast. In their series, "Vi...

The Mission’s Mother and Son Painting Duo

06 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Mission District-based muralist Josué Rojas and his mother, Esther García are a dynamic duo. Josué has painted murals across San Francisco and beyo...

High Schoolers Rock the Mic

29 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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We All Come From Water: Poetry from the Edge

22 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Terisa's poetry emerges from climate change and its impact on marginalized communities. She also writes poems from the perspective of her hyphenated i...

A Spam Can, an Urchin and an Eyeball: Handmade Cars Race Down McClaren Park

08 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It's a sunny afternoon in McLaren Park in San Francisco's Excelsior District. Throngs of people are gathered on either side of a roadway that snakes d...

Richmond Rapper Embraces Indo-Fijian Identity and ‘Men With Money’

01 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Over punchy-uptempo beats with stupid-heavy bass lines, Pallaví AKA Fijiana turns social tropes on their heads. Her evocative visuals mix sexuality w...

The Oakland Entrepreneur Building Safety Nets for When Social Services Fall Short

18 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

For some young folks, there comes a time when they age out of child-serving social services. Their safety nets get thinner and they can struggle to f...

Up In Smoke: Cannabis, Crime and Creating Equity

11 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A storm's been brewing over legal cannabis in Oakland. And Chaney Turner thinks it has the potential to wash away small business owners-- especially P...

A Pocho Poet’s Ode to La Misión, Axolotls, and Bookstores

04 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Just imagine: you're a poet whose starting out on the scene and you've spent weeks working up the courage to share your work. You get to the venue the...

Big Love: Much Love for the African Diaspora

25 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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Big Love: A New Kind of Tough Love

18 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Krea Gomez has seen tough love play out in many ways. As a young adult, she was kicked out of her home for “being bad,” now she’s practicing tou...

Big Love: Shroomin' and Shmopin' to Happiness

11 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the Bay Area, “showing love” is something we toss around all the time. One man who embodies this is the tie-dye wearing, weed smoking, big smil...

Big Love: Practicing Self-Love in Community

04 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

AB Banks, defines love as "doing the right thing with a passion." That means taking care of themselves and their folks, because self-love can be commu...

Tracing Frida and Diego's Footsteps in the Bay

28 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

You don't have to look very long to find tributes to Frida Kahlo in San Francisco. Frida inspired murals cover walls throughout the Mission, street ve...

Using an Upright Bass to Break Through The Boys' Club

21 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

As a cancer survivor, Caroline Chung tells me expressing herself through music has been healing. But it's not always smooth sailing. Chung says she's ...

Releasing Pain Through Underwater Photography

14 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Erena Shimoda takes photos underwater. She creates majestic images of people in pools. Her subjects can be seen posing in wheelchairs, dancing with tu...

Getting a New Routine in the New Year

07 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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Breaking Isolation and Building Bridges

17 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This country is extremely divided, always has been. When you combine the issues of racism, sexism and other isms that have plagued us for ages and mix...

On the Frontlines of Indigenous Activism

10 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This past Independence Day, Oakland's Marty Aranaydo found himself a long way from the town. Marty had joined up with the NDN Collective to scale a 10...

Revisiting Oakland's Roller Skating Country Singer

03 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the fall of 2019, we interviewed her about taking a quick break from country music to write a roller skating anthem: a vibey R&B song called "Roll ...

Friends, Feelings, and Food this Thanksgiving

19 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This Thanksgiving-- Friendsgiving, Thankstaking, or whatever you call this holiday-- I'm turning the microphones on the Rightnowish team and asking th...

The 1Up Crew Teaches the Art of Dance Battles

12 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Every Wednesday evening, the 1Up Crew gathers at In The Groove Studios in downtown Oakland for a free open lab session. That's where you'll see folks ...

Startup Dreams, Hip Hop and Theater Meet in a New Play About Tech & Art

05 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

At first it may seem like an odd-pairing: a white guy who is a silver-spoon-fed techie from the East Coast and a Black woman from Oakland who is a har...

Rapping About The WWII Black Shipyard Workers in Marin

29 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

December 7, 2021 marks 80 years since the bombing of Pearl Harbor, an act that would lead to the United States' formal involvement in WWII. In support...

Bay Area Ghostwriter Behind Hip Hop's Biggest Names Takes Center Stage

22 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Jane Handcock has written for some of the top names in music, and now it's her turn to step into the limelight. She's an R&B vocalist from Richmond, w...

Overcoming Re-Entry and Taking on the Industry That Incarcerated Her

15 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In Evelyn LaChapelle's first team meeting at a new job in the cannabis industry, they were discussing sales when she noticed a "righteous anger" brewi...

Say Aye Aye for the Bay With Oakland Rapper Capolow

08 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

East Oakland's Capolow is a rapper on the rise. Known for his high-energy anthem songs and his catchy "aye-aye!" ad lib, Capolow's music is ringing be...

A ‘Dynamite’ Young Boxer From Hayward With Olympic Dreams

01 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Dynamite" Daisy Bamberger stands inside the ring by herself, shadowboxing. She's surrounded by free weights, kettle balls, punching bags and framed ...

Good Vibes and Soulful Feels in a New Album for the ‘Sistas'

24 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Xiomara's "Chardonnay" was my song this summer. The track is an audio version of driving down Highway 1 at sunset. Smooth and melodic, with an earnest...

2000 Degrees: Glassblowing in the Bayview

17 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

At San Francisco's Public Glass, locals have the opportunity to get hands on experience in this ancient and evolving craft. The organization's executi...

Pressing On with Press-On Nail Art During The Pandemic

10 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever wanted nail art that highlights your favorite Disney Movie? Maybe nails that show Mulan below a cherry tree, or Alice at her Wonderland ...

On Hiero Day, Tajai Massey Says Culture Needs Physical Spaces

03 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Tajai Massey sees Hiero day as a physical manifestation of the Souls of Mischief's most famous song, "93 Til Infiinty", where he and the other emcees ...

Rachel Wolfe-Goldsmith Is Imagining The Future of Murals

27 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Wolfe-Goldsmith teamed up with a handful of artists to create the 5th Story NFT art gallery, where murals were adapted into augmented reality by Black...

How the Art of Fatherhood Informs the Craft of Poetry for Prentice Powel

13 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Prentice Powell is an East Bay poet whose been working from home a lot lately. This has caused some confusion for his kids, "They were just like, 'So...

Frisco Born Filmmaker Harvey Lozada Turns the Camera on SOMA

06 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

As the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the health of individuals and communities around the world, Harvey Lozada focused on the stories coming from the neig...

Building Confidence One Power Tool at a Time at Berkeley's Girls Garage

30 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Bookcases and bird feeders take shape amid the whir of chop saws, the bang of hammers and the trill of drills. Behind the power tools are girls and no...

A Hyphy History with Producer Trackademicks

23 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In 2006, when music producer Trackademicks remixed the smash hit by E-40 and Keak Da Sneak, "Tell Me When To Go," he created a cultural jewel that sen...

Roll With Us: A Sisterhood of Lowriding

16 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dueñas Car Club is a sisterhood that rolls on 100-spoke rims. Founded in 2019 and based in Sunnyvale, the head of the club is Angel Romero. She's be...

Roll With Us: Extreme Wheelchair Sports

02 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Santa Rosa’s Randy Harlan and Bolinas’ Garnett Silver-Hall are known for using wheelchairs the same way others use skateboards-- grinding on rai...

Roll With Us: From the Only Girl to Only Skating with Girls

25 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Marsha Howard grew up in the skateboarding mecca of San Francisco. After getting her first board as a gift from a St. Anthony's Christmas donation pro...

Cat Daddy: A Lesson on Pets and Parenting

18 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For his daughter's fourth birthday, Pen adopted an adorable gray and white kitten. His thinking? It'll teach his child about the responsibility of lov...

Roll With Us: Bending Corners and Poppin' Wheelies

11 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Berkeley’s Omar "Meez" Jones is a biker, photographer, graphic designer and entrepreneur. One of his top talents is his ability to take his lifesty...

Roll With Us: A Golden Roller on 50 Years of Quad Skating

04 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From 1979 to 1988, Richard was a part of the Golden Rollers, a trio of skaters who performed in Golden Gate Park every Sunday. Since first getting his...

After Asking OPD to Leave, This Cafe Made a Plan for Community Safety

21 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In 2018 the Hasta Muerte coffee shop in East Oakland made national headlines when they asked Oakland police officers to leave their cafe. Matt Geregh...

Rocky Rivera Restores Justice Across the Board

14 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

After winning an MTV reality TV show contest about a dozen years ago, Rocky Rivera landed a gig at Rolling Stone. That was a crowning moment in her ca...

Motherhood, Marijuana and Mental Health with Been Milky

07 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Kate Dash, aka Been Milky, is one of the coolest mothers you'll ever meet. She likes to bomb down huge San Francisco hills on a skateboard, she notor...

Layers of Meaning with Visual Artist Paola de la Calle

30 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Artist Paola de la Calle plays with images and symbols that recall her childhood, her family's homeland in Colombia, and explores themes of citizenshi...

Schooling Trolls and Fighting Fatphobia One TikTok at a Time

23 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Through blogs and TikTok videos Brena Jean discusses what it means to be one of the millions of people living with lipedema. The rarely diagnosed chro...

Poet Alan Chazaro, the Piñata Theorist

16 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Alan Chazaro uses poetry to explore Bay Area culture, his love for hip-hop, and machismo stereotypes. We first talked in 2019 about his first poetry c...

These Artists Amplify 415 Day's Message of Resistance, Resilience and Restitution

09 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A few days ahead of April 15th -- 415 Day -- we're talking to two artists from San Francisco who have lived, fought, partied, and made art for their ...

Comedian Jackie Keliiaa on Keeping Tahoe Washoe

02 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Jackie Keliiaa is a stand-up comedian raised in Hayward and based in Oakland. She's unapologetically Bay, and proud of her Yerington, Paiute and Wash...

Cheryl Dunye on Inventing a Film Genre

26 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Filmmaker Cheryl Dunye is a legend. She’s best known for her seminal film, Watermelon Woman, which takes a critical look at the depiction of Blac...

Sci Fi and Time Travel with Theo Hollingsworth

19 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Oakland-based filmmaker Theo Hollingsworth knows about nerds. Back when he attended Howard University, he was given the nickname “spoken nerd” be...

Jon and Alba on the 'Heartbeat' of Film

12 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

San Francisco State graduates Alba Roland Mejia and Jon Warfield Harrison are in the early stages of their careers as filmmakers. They’ve released a...

Maya Cueva's Films on Reproductive Rights and Immigration

05 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Maya Cueva makes documentary films that cover the heavy topics: immigration, reproductive justice and xenophobia. Cueva says her journey into professi...

Tongo Eisen-Martin on a Poet's Role in a Protest

26 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Tongo Eisen-Martin, San Francisco's eighth poet laureate, says it's not enough to simply be a poet. "The poet needs to just come on down to the trenc...

How Hip-Hop Led To Studying the Bay Area’s AIDS Epidemic

19 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Antoine Johnson stands at the intersection of hip-hop culture, HIV/ AIDS history, and the great institutions of higher learning in Northern Californi...

Rapper Champ Green Isn’t Stingy with the Rhythm or the Wisdom

12 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Lyricist Champ Green is probably your favorite Bay Area rapper's favorite rapper. He's been putting in work for some time, and over the past calendar ...

Jada Imani on Vibing with Hawaiian Frogs and Riffing Off Mac Dre

05 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Neo-soul and hip-hop artist Jada Imani gets her inspiration from a range of lived experiences: parking tickets, lessons from her parents, and Mac Dre ...

Soul Work and That ‘Bay Area Bounce’ with Artist YMTK

29 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For the next month, Rightnowish will be featuring artists with local roots who are taking the sounds of the Bay to a national stage. YMTK is an R&B a...

Nappy Nina on Becoming the Rap Bill Nye and Missing Oakland

22 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Nappy Nina is a lyricist with a smooth-sultry delivery that's almost jazz-like, especially when coupled with some signature Boom-Bap production. In he...

Dale and Sunny: An East Oaklander and His Horse

15 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dale Johnson grew up in East Oakland with stories of his grandfather riding horses on a Texas ranch. For years horses were just part of a family story...

Breena Nuñez on Zines and Feeling Seen as an Afro-Latinx Comic Artist

18 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Breena Nuñez is an Afro Guatemalan-Salvadoran cartoonist who grew up on the Bay Area's peninsula. Now she lives in the East Bay. Nuñez's illustrati...

The Road to Reparations Through Black Genealogy

11 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Alex Trapps-Chabala is a young genealogist whose main focus is tracing the lineage of African American people. He grew up between Sacramento's Oak Pa...

The Parallel Lives of One Community Organizer and the First Openly Gay Black MLB Player

04 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Vincent-Ray Williams III is the Operations Coordinator at Oakland's LGBTQ Community Center. Through this position Vincent has a hand in developing the...

Family, Eritrea, and Berkeley at the Heart of “Everything”

20 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Abdulalim A’Omer grew up in a tight-knit Muslim Eritrean community in South Berkeley. He says that experience exposed him to a little bit of everyt...

Essential Work: Designing the End to Mass Incarceration

13 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Deanna Van Buren is an architect, but she goes far beyond just designing buildings. She uses her craft to demonstrate new structures for justice in ou...

Election Anxiety? Laughter Gets Us Through with Luna Malbroux

06 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Comic Luna Malbroux loves to stay informed, and she also loves to laugh. By prioritizing joy in her life, she has the energy to confront racism, sexis...

Hunger Strikes, Prayer Dances and Protests: A Photographer in Community

30 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Denis Ivan Perez Bravo is an East Bay-based photographer and organizer who isn't shy about jumping right into the action. The images he captures on t...

These Community Aunties Want Legendary Black Creative Spaces

23 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Two years ago Tayleur Crenshaw and Maud Alcorn started the arts collective, Gold Beams. It began as an open mic Crenshaw hosted in her living room --...

Cat Brooks on Refunding the Community

16 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In January of this year, Cat Brooks and the Anti Police-Terror Project launched a service where trained professionals respond to mental health crise...

Yanni Will Eat You Up and Make You Love Yourself

09 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On 17th and Telegraph, on the backside of YR media's Oakland headquarters, there's a mural that stretches the length of the three story building. The ...

The Townfolk Project, Documenting Oakland’s Community

02 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

About two years ago photographer Scott La Rockwell started taking photos of longtime Oakland residents, and interviewing them about their roots in the...

The Abolitionist Fighting Sex Trafficking with Words and Altars

25 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Regina Y. Evans works with a team of folks to assemble altars on International Boulevard in Oakland, a hub for adult sex workers as well as the sex tr...

The East Bay Poet Bringing Cheesecake to Your Door

18 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

A few years back, Victor Harris Jr. was selling maple peach bourbon cheesecakes at an Oakland event. He says an older African American woman sampled a...

The Queen of Vinyl and the Ears of Rightnowish

11 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Ashleyanne Krigbaum spins vinyl at weddings and dive bars, sound designs museum audio tours, and was the founding producer of KQED's arts and culture ...

Sometimes, It Takes Time

04 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Erina Alejo is an educator, artist and cultural artifact keeper. But when asked how they self-identify, Alejo says they're, "a third-generation renter...

Quarterback Josh Johnson Explains There’s More to the Game

28 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Oakland's Joshua Johnson knows about the commitment, focus and strategy it takes to compete at a high level. He's a professional NFL quarterback with ...

How This National Policy Leader Got Politicized in Oakland

21 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

With all that's going on in the world, some folks might overlook the presidential election that's in less than three months. But not Tracey L. Ross, a...

Sowing Seeds of Social Justice in Fruitvale

14 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Muscadine was born and raised in East Oakland's Fruitvale neighborhood, where his family goes back several generations. Muscadine says that's ...

Keeping Yourself and Your Culture Healthy During COVID

07 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

As the Director of Homeless Services for the Alameda Health System and the Chief Clinical Officer with Health Leads, Dr. Damon Francis has his hands ...

'Paint Us in a Beautiful Light': Photographing Black Joy

31 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Amir Abdul-Shakur's Instagram page, AmirThePhotographer, looks like a community yearbook. His shots are mostly portraits of Black folks in Oakland, an...

Futbolista Turned Marijuana Medicine Maker

24 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Dania Cabello is a former professional fútbol player, who now teaches the sport to young folks through the program Oakland Street Stylers. She was on...

From West Africa to the West Coast: One SF Griot's Dance of Resistance

17 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

"I'm doing a flip off the boat," said Jarrel Phillips, breaking down last year's performance at Remembering 1619, a play directed by Joanna Haigood ...

Rocking the Mic and Running the Lake

10 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

DAGHE Digital is just about as unique as they come. He's a West Oakland kid, who's clear about his West African roots, as his family hails from Nigeri...

Mentoring Oakland’s Youth and Keeping an Eye on OPD

03 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Is police reform actually achievable? That's the question I'm most interested in asking Regina Jackson. Ms. Regina, as she's often called, has been th...

The Fairy Glow Mother from East Palo Alto

26 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Hadiyah Daché is an esthetician from East Palo Alto, who recently relocated her Fairy Glow Mother business to Oakland. Her skincare work covers ev...

Getting Out of the Way for Your Creative Child

19 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Sydney Nycole is a singer and songwriter from Berkeley who has been making music since she was a teen. And although her father (and manager) Gary Reev...

Pulling Poetry Out of People

12 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Poet Tiffany Banks is the host of Speak On It, a weekly poetry night that usually takes place at Liege Lounge in Old Oakland. But since California has...

Poet Porche Kelly Performs "Jokes"

08 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Porsche Nicole Kelly is an Oakland based motivational speaker, poet and author of the book, 2 Kinds of Fire. For this week's episode of Rightnowish, ...

It’s Not Business as Usual

05 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Over the past nine months, I've had the luxury of getting to know some of the most interesting artists and activists the Bay Area has to offer. As the...

Community Service & Star Power with Jamal Trulove

29 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

For the past three months, San Francisco's Jamal Trulove has been working with UCSF’s Science Policy Group in order to get masks, hand sanitizer an...

COVID Can't Stop Comedy in the Bay

22 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Riggins has performed on stages across the Bay Area and beyond. And as his career was in mid-stride -- COVID-19 hit. Now Riggins is adjusting to...

Catching Babies with a Go-To Doula for Black Parents

15 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Sumayyah Monét Franklin is a birth rights activist, doula and owner of Sumi’s Touch.  She gives advice to potential parents on conception, coach...

‘Angel Parents’ Karega and Felicia Bailey on Grief and Love

08 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When Felicia Gangloff-Bailey and Karega Bailey's newborn daughter, Kamaiu, passed last year, the couple says they became "angel parents." It's a term ...

Illustrating a Stutter with Umber Magazine

01 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Mike Nicholls is the founder of Umber magazine, a publication dedicated to telling the stories of Black and Brown artists from the Bay Area. It's so...

The Sweet Release of Writing a Battle Rap

24 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Oakland MC Passwurdz 510 is a professional battle rapper. That means he gets paid to go on stage and publicly humiliate his opponents. It's an art for...

How Theater Prepared This Artist for the Funeral Home

17 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Paris Warr's dream job has always been to work in a mortuary. Now she's worried about how Covid-19 will impact her industry. Learn more about your ad ...

KMEL’s DC Keeps the Beat Going During Rona

10 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Radio host DC is working non-stop during shelter-in-place, and he has a pretty good idea of how others in the entertainment industry are dealing with ...