Sunny skies and warm smiles graced Sunday's seventh annual Black Joy Parade, which brought several thousand people out to a downtown Oakland setting that offered respite to a town weary of headlines about brazen crime and shuttering businesses.
Rather than debating solutions to public safety or economic challenges, people gathered behind sidewalk barricades on Franklin Street to cheer on acts including step shows, high school cheerleading troupes and circus performers. Jamarr "J Man the Clown" Woodruff called out to the younger members of the Prescott Circus Theatre as they towered on stilts and undulated on unicycles.
Woodruff described the festivities simply as "Black joy exemplified!" The Prescott has been part of the community for some 40 years from its headquarters in West Oakland, where it seeks to "promote creativity, joy and belonging" among young people in the community.
"We put them on stilts to teach them that they are on higher ground and that things are always going to be great," Woodruff said. "Once a Prescott clown, always a Prescott clown!"
Prescott executive director David Hunt explained that the group provides kids with lessons in juggling, acrobatics, hip-hop dance, as well as improvisation and theater arts.
On one street corner, a troupe of drummers with the Diamano Coura West African Dance Company pounded out rhythms for passersby and publicized a flyer advertising March performance showcases at Oakland Technical High School and Laney College.
"It's a beautiful day," said Bli-Bi "Eric" Gore, a djembe player originally from Ivory Coast. "We're keeping the culture alive."
Not far from the Town Classics stage, where a lineup of vintage vehicles was assembling—including a tricked-out Corvette in Prince purple and a mint cherry red Mustang—Ron Hanson held down the booth for Dope Era Clothing beside a select lineup of streetwear, T-shirts and gear from local creators.
"There's a lot of Black excellence out here. You've got all these Black entrepreneurs out here, trying to make a profit," Hanson said, adding he hadn't had to walk too far from Dope Era's storefront on Broadway in downtown Oakland.
"It's good that we could be out here in unity, come together without any issues or problems, out here to get a dollar and make another dollar. You've got the youth out here, and everybody's out here coming together, hanging together, man. It's a good fellowship."
On the Lil' Joy stage, Sabrina Beavers watched over families gathering to play games, greet a costumed bee mascot and share cards teasing up to $500 in giveaways for Fresno County's chapter of the California Black Infant Health program.
"We're seeing everything that we hoped to see: great vibes, community support, happiness, joy," said Beavers, who joined residents from Riverside and Santa Clara counties to help connect Black mothers and birthing parents with resources to reduce infant mortality and foster positive pregnancy experiences.
"It shouldn't be that our community has the worst rates when it comes to infant death and maternal deaths," Beavers added. "It should be a joyous time, when you're talking about bringing up a baby into the world."
At the Black Vines area, Monique Griffin and Angela Edwards greeted thirsty adult visitors with tastes of their own vintage wines from the Pour Up wine bar in Antioch.
"We always wanted to open a wine bar," Edwards said. "Everything kind of fell into place with the wine. So we're very excited to open."
Griffin, who said the duo were preparing to open a wine bar near Antioch's waterfront in March, remarked that Sunday's warm weather was a pleasant change of pace from last year's parade, when a downpour had doused visitors and booths.
Standing nearby, Griffin basked in the day's ambiance. "It's beautiful. There's people dancing, people enjoying themselves. They're having a great time!"