Rightnowish

Inside of a classic Queen Anne victorian in West Oakland, photographer Traci Bartlow displays beautifully framed images of the people who shaped hip-hop culture in the Bay Area, and across the nation.

Her house doubles as a photography museum and a boutique hotel, that tells the complex story of multiple generations of Black folks, land ownership and community. This week we go back to the 90s as Traci takes us on a tour of B-Love's Guesthouse.

Read the transcript for this episode.

Information to visit Traci's photo exhibit, "Oakland Picture Lady"

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Fremont photographer Sydney Welch has compiled a collection of photos that serve as a highlight reel for the latest wave of talented hip-hop and R&B artists emerging from the Bay Area, including Stunnaman02, LaRussell, Kehlani, P-Lo, Su'Lan, Larry June, and Rexx Life Raj.

Her images are captured at concerts, showing artists rocking the stage or having an intimate moment backstage. She has Polaroid photos taken at parties and magazine-style portraits shot on film.

Most importantly: Sydney's images aren't taken from an outsider perspective. Before becoming a professional photographer, Sydney would attend concerts as a fan of Bay Area hip-hop and R&B.

This week Sydney Welch tells us how she relies on grace to navigate the notoriously treacherous music industry and why she's so passionate about representing the Bay.

Read the transcript.

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There's a lot going on in the world. On top of the constant grind that capitalism demands, there's news of natural disasters, inflation, war and conflicts. And that's in addition to the interpersonal issues we all face. We could use a little more laughter in our lives.

So last month, Rightnowish held an event called, Put Your Phone Down! A Rightnowish Comedy Night at KQED's headquarters in San Francisco. Hosted by Pendarvis Harshaw and Rightnowish producer Marisol Medina-Cadena, the evening consisted of a quick Q&A and an open mic segment where audience members came up and cracked some jokes. After the ice was broken and the punchlines were rollin ', three talented local comedians– Mike Evans Jr., Jackie Keliiaa, and Dara M. Wilson, stepped on the stage, one at a time, to headline the event.

In this week's episode, we share a bit of that night.

Read the transcript here. Check out a video of the full event here.

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"It's only on you for the rest of your life," reads the Instagram bio of tattoo artist Shannon Anderson aka Mo' Better.

A widely recognized tattoo artist, he's done notable pieces on famous athletes and entertainers, But he's also inked multiple generations of Bay Area families. He's a self-taught tattoo veteran who is paving the way for others to traverse an industry that hasn't been to kind to people who look like he does.

For the past twelve years, Mo'Better's been the owner of  Inkestry Custom Tattoos. But before he held a tattoo gun, he was known as a talented air brush artist, and before that he was a skilled barber. He learned each craft out of necessity. And each craft has earned him money, broadened his following and expanded his community.

For the final entry in our series on tattoo culture in the Bay Area, we talk to Mo' Better about his craft, and his life.

Read the transcript here.

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"People really want something that brings meaning into their life," says Sabreena Haque, a well-known henna artist and burgeoning tattoo artist. Henna is an important part of wedding rituals and birthday celebrations. Similar to tattoos, henna plays an important role in times of transition.

Sabreena says the practice of receiving henna, which involves sitting still and letting the paste sink into your skin, is an opportunity for people to set intentions. "As the henna fades, that's when the intentions deepen," she says. After the paste has faded away, the memories of the experience and thoughts about how to move forward linger.

This week, Sabreena tells us about her family and her craft, and shares what philosophy has seeped into her byway of doing body art for the community.

Read the transcript here.

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Sophia Blum, also known as Pio Poke, is a master of the stick-and-poke (or hand poke) method of tattooing. With a handheld needle, she creates detailed textile designs and images of feathers, arrows, birds and botanicals.

On top of being a skilled artist, she's in the business of changing the industry — after recognizing unfair labor practices within traditional tattoo parlors, where owners get the lion's share of the the revenue and workers make a small percentage, Blum organized with other artists and formed Thorns Tattoo, a worker-owned studio.

This week, we talk with Pio Poke about manually making her mark, as well as the importance of workers' rights and bodily autonomy.

Read the episode transcript here.

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Our series, Permanent Behavior: Getting Tatted in the Bay, starts with tattoo artist Miguel "Bounce" Perez.

Perez has vivid childhood memories of art created by his family: His mother drew “chola-style” portraits of women with feathered hair and sharp brows, while his uncles created lettering in Cali-Chicano Old English script. His father was part of a car club in his West Berkeley community, a neighborhood that was also home to a number of aerosol graffiti murals.

All of this poured into Perez, and laid the foundation for what he does today.

He's a versatile artist, who sees collaboration with his clients as central to his work. He's done touch-ups for people who've been incarcerated, and even inked a team of mathletes. His art is detailed and graphic, ranging from Mayan Goddesses to anime characters.

Perez says he doesn't have a "specialty," but he often does cover-ups of older tattoos; a community service of sorts. He's also part of the art collective Trust Your Struggle, which paints murals in countries for historically colonized and under-resourced communities.

Given Perez's experiences with both impermanent aerosol and indelible ink, we figured he'd be the best person to start this exploration into the culture of tattooing in the Bay Area, and what it feels like to create permanent artwork-- if such a thing exists.

Read the transcript here. 

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On Rightnowish, we feature a lot of stories about art that's here today, gone tomorrow—and we wanted to find art that lasts forever. So, we turned to tattoos.

Permanent Behavior, our four-part series on tattooing in the Bay, kicks off this week. In these stories, we dive into the permanence of ink, as it resides on impermanent beings.

We hear from the creators of the tattoos—the artists behind the needles—all of whom come from a unique mixture of crews, cultures and countries of origin. The artwork, as well as the stories behind the art, are unlike anything you’ll see (or hear) anywhere else. 

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Growing up, Robert Liu-Trujillo didn't see himself represented in the books he read. So after he became a dad, he wanted to make sure his son would have stories to relate to. Liu-Trujillo set forth on a path to fill the void. And in doing so, he's contributed to the effort to create a culturally aware and racially just future for all of us.

Initially an illustrator, he became an author and has published eight books. He often uses watercolors to create scenes that are full of bright hues and earth tones. His characters are from cultures and communities that have been historically overlooked in the US early childhood literature circles. And his books are written in English and Spanish.

With the historical evidence that people of color aren't proportionately represented in children's books, and the ongoing fight to ban certain books that address race and racism, it's extremely clear why Robert's work is important right now.

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The Rightnowish team is working on some new and exciting projects — but first, we want to hear from YOU. Do you listen to the show? What do you want to hear more of? What's missing?

By filling out a quick survey, you can help shape the future of Rightnowish. Check it out: https://bit.ly/3C4MRzt

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