Stories From the Eastside of Riverside - Episode One: Catching up with Ed Blakely
Welcome to the first of several conversations with a group of neighbors who grew up together on the Eastside of Riverside California. This was a community in the 1940’s through…
Welcome to the first of several conversations with a group of neighbors who grew up together on the Eastside of Riverside California. This was a community in the 1940’s through the 50’s that produced a remarkable group of people. People of color who grew up in a tight-knit community where all of the parents looked out for all of the children.
“We were all cousins,” Ed Blakley explains.
In this first episode we meet Ed Blakely born in 1938 in Riverside, California. He and his brother Warren, are members of a surviving cohort of African Americans who lived together on the Eastside during the 1940’s and 50’s. Two other members of that community, Buddy Jones and Alyce Smith Cooper spent time on Friday, December 4th, 2020 recalling shared experiences in an effort to describe what made this economically poor neighborhood so rich and nurturing that the children had no idea they were living at the bottom rung of American society.
Polytechnic High School, Riverside 1962 Ranked in the top ten California High Schools.
Ed Blakely
Professor Blakely, was Chair of the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley from 1986 through 1994.
A leading scholar and practitioner of urban policy, Blakely has been Dean of the School of Urban Planning and Development at the University of Southern California and Dean of the Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy, New School University in New York City. He has also held professorial appointments at the University of California Berkeley, the University of Southern California and the University of Sydney.
Professor Blakely is author of ten books and more than one hundred scholarly articles as well as scores of essays and opinion pieces.
Blakely's extensive record of public service includes advising the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, state and federal governments in Australia and the United States, as well as governments in Korea, Japan, Sweden, Indonesia, New Zealand and Vietnam.
Blakely was recognised by UN Habitat for his contributions to social justice and sustainable planning in disaster recovery in 2012.
About TOTA
TOTA.world provides cultural information and sharing across the world to help you explore your Family’s Cultural History and create deep connections with the lives and cultures of your ancestors.
