An event on Feb. 15 marked the crossing of a new frontier in the history of the four-year old legacy of the Bay Area’s premier, free all-ages monthly event. It was the first time that the Weekend Wake-Up was held in San Francisco.

The crowd screamed and waved their hands from side to side when Filipino emcee Kiwi stepped to the stage at the Filipino Community Center.

They pulled from what seemed like a limitless source of energy, having gone wild for the acts that preceded him.  

Youth groups from Oakland such as COV Records and I Go had graced the stage, spitting poetry and verses, accompanied by their own beats or acapella, and driving the crowd into frenzy. 

Outside renegade writers sprayed boards with uplifting messages honoring Bay Area’s fallen frontline soldier, Mike Dream.  

By the time Ras K’dee and the One Struggle Band climbed on stage for a crescendo closing performance, the b-boys and b-girls had blessed the floor and hosts Wonway Posibul and Melina Jones had rocked monumental freestyles. In short, it was a typical Weekend Wake-Up.  Or so it seemed.

History
Founded in 2003 by Desi of the Weapons Of Mass Expression (W.O.M.E), the event has formed a broad foundation in Oakland with a mission to build a diverse, inter-generational community of creative people ranging from babies to young adults to grandparents and ancestors.   

In the last year, W.O.M.E. integrated seven other youth agencies and community organizations as co-sponsors to increase the event’s youth audience from each community of Oakland. 

They also reached out to ALAY (Active Leadership to Advance the Youth) who was housed in the Filipino Community Center. With the support of other youth activist organizations, HOMEY and PODER, they put together Concrete Culture, a collaborative event to address the need to connect all youth who share similar struggles throughout the Bay Area.

Their hope is to build unity and raise awareness on critical issues such as San Francisco’s gang injunctions, which are unfairly targeting Black and Brown youth, as well as Oakland’s increasing homicide rate.  

The Weekend Wake-Up has always provided a forum to address the challenging social and political topics, particularly through the eyes of youth. 

Upcoming
The next event, Weathering the Storm: The Sacred Cycles of Rebirth, will be held on Friday, March 7 and honors the sacred cycles of life and death, fallen comrades and loved ones, and the contribution of women in holding together our communities during our greatest trials and tribulations. 

New artwork on this subject created by students from Unity High School will be featured. The women of this event, such as Chela Simone and Queen Deelah, are the facilitators of the dialogue and the masters of the ceremony through rap, spoken word, and deejaying.

All genders have their own storms to weather and strong men such as the Colored Ink theater group have stepped up in solidarity with our sisters. Youth theatre artists, I Go and OnStage / OffStage will perform pieces from new works, and three female deejays, Agana, Leydis, and Black nda Light will be controlling the vibe all night.

Weekend Wake-Up event on March 7 will be held at the Mandela Art Center (1357 5th St. @ Mandela, behind West Oakland BART. There will be plenty of parking. It’s wheel chair accessible and FREE.  For more info, visit www.weekendwakeup.com.