“We need you to help make this world a better place for your little brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, cousins, whether they’re here yet or not.” “It is an exciting time to be Indigenous,” he said, addressing the graduates. Everything about his person was Native to Oakland, troubling assumptions about both those things: Natives and Oakland. His look, like his words, were authentic to this city-our shared hometown, The Town -in a way that feathers, fringe, beadwork and mystical proclamations just aren’t. Orange wore navy Nike high tops, a navy button down shirt to match, acid washed jeans and a black fitted cap with the iconic Port of Oakland crane (inspiration for the imperial walkers in Star Wars) and “The Town” in stylized cursive above its bill. Get over what? The mountain that is history?” We still hear them saying: ‘just get over it already,’ even when they’re saying they know the feeling is there. With his head buried in his notes, he intoned, “As Native people we have a bad history with schools, with institutions. It read: “The students of today are the warriors of tomorrow.” Behind him, a banner congratulated this year’s graduating class of East Bay Native American high school seniors. On a June afternoon, Tommy Orange, author of There There, one of this summer’s breakout books, stood at the foot of the stage at the Fellowship of Humanity, a lavender-interiored church on 27 th Street in Oakland, California.
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