Welcome Thru West Oakland -- Enjoy Our 53 Liquor Stores

Although this litter campaign appears clever, it is just shows how lazy activists are misdirecting their energy.

It adds to urban blight, and at best mimics meaningful action for positive change.

It shows lack of concern for residents, and it clears a path for commercial businesses to do the same.

Imagine a world with less propaganda. Imagine using your creative energies to effect something real.

Don't get it wrong that sprayed or glued tagging is a question of free speech. This is vandalism and costs cities lots of money to clean. And where does that money come from?

The coolest activism I have seen is when citizens clean off this junk to make their neighborhoods look nicer.

please see:

Are freaking serious? Complaining about propaganda with message is the least of my worries. i would rather have graffitti on the wall with a message then no message at all. Liqour stores in low-income communities has been a problem for many people of color and now everyone else will know about it. I see it as a great opportunity to educate those that don't have to deal with this issue because the freeway passes right over the blight and exploitation in poor communities of color.

so who ever you are that made these posters, make more and make them bigger and get more creative and let me know how i can help.

FYI I just found out my friend lives on Myrtle ave. in west oakland. that block is littered with trash and i'm not talking paper here. i mean refrigerators, cars, all kinds of crap, believe me a strategically placed poster with a message is the least of our worries.

power to the people of West Oakland!

It seems very obvious that you dont' live in West Oakland or you would realize how important the messages of your so-called "vandalizing" posters are. These poster have been strategically placed where many commuters can see them. I think that their message is extermely effective given that this community is often neglected by the local and state government. I challenge you to walk through the neighborhood and find out for yourself how difficult it is to live in a place where you don't even have one single grocery store. You probably don't have to worry about this and probably take it for granted that you don't have to worry about driving 30 minutes or taking public transportation so that you can just get some fresh fruit.

I live in west Oakland and I can get fresh produce whenever I want by walking across the border to Emeryville. It's a mile away from me, much less for most. Are we always going to promulgate complaining and laziness? Or are we going to stop complaining and realize that even though a grocery store is not in west Oakland, but is a mile away, that it's not a bad thing. We in west Oakland thing we need to complain about everything. If we don't buy liquor and go buy produce at Pac n' save, maybe there would be more produce in west Oakland? Whose fault is it now?