Kingmakers of Oakland Youth Leaders Interview Mayor Barbara Lee on the Future of Oakland
By: Adrian Henderson
The evening of Saturday, June 6th, arrived the way Oakland nights do, at their best, warm with purpose, electric with possibility. The kind of night you feel before you even walk through the door.
Anthony and Karen Severo had opened their workspace to the community, and the community answered. Not just with their presence, but with their spirit. Civic leaders and city officials stood shoulder to shoulder with artists, musicians, philanthropists, and culture-makers. The who's who of Oakland, all gathered under one roof, not for a transaction, but for a declaration: we believe in this city, and we believe in her.
The theme said it all: Oakland Is On the Move.
And move it did; music pulsed through the room, led by Oakland's own Kev Choice, like a second heartbeat. Laughter wove between conversations. The energy was the kind that can't be manufactured, only cultivated. The fruit of decades of community engagement, of people who show up not because they have to, but because Oakland is theirs and they love it fiercely.
At the center of it all stood Mayor Barbara Lee, a woman whose life's work has been woven into the fabric of this city and this nation. Supporters lined up not just to be seen in her presence, but to speak plainly about why they're riding with her into the next election, because leadership that comes from the community belongs to the community.
Moving through it all, in a small room, equipped with a microphone and a cameraman by his side, was Xavier Board, a TFI graduate of Kingmakers of Oakland's College readiness programs. Xavier wasn't just a witness to history. He was its recorder. Microphone extended, with the quiet confidence of someone who knows exactly what they're doing and why it matters. He sat down with the Mayor. He sat down with supporters. He captured Oakland speaking for itself.
"Being at Mayor Barbara Lee's donor event," Xavier reflected, "felt like stepping into the heartbeat of Oakland — civic leaders, artists, and community builders all in one room. I was documenting the energy that makes this city what it is."
That's the Kingmakers of Oakland' spirit in motion. A young man, trained and equipped, stands in rooms where history is being made, not as an outsider looking in, but as Oakland, fully belonging. The music played. The people celebrated. Anthony and Karen's workspace became a sanctuary of civic love, if only for one perfect evening. Oakland is not waiting. Oakland is not wishing. Oakland is on the move, and the proof is in the people who show up, speak up, and refuse to let this city's story be told without them.