I got home from the party I DJ’ed Saturday morning about 4am. Before I went to bed I got a text from my high school bud, Kevin Joa, asking if I was in the fire in Oakland. I didn’t think much about it at the moment. Most California residents are used to out-of-state friends and family assuming we are close to whatever atrocity the state conjures up and is reported nationwide. Saturday, I got a few more texts, emails and voice mails about it. Finally I looked into it and found out why I was getting more calls than usual about this disaster. Basically, there was a really good chance that I would have been there. It was 100% the type of party that I would have played at.
Unfortunately, I did at least tangentially know or met “along the way” people who died in the fire. One of The Hard Data’s artists, M27’s, housemates died in the fire, and a virtual who’s-who of underground movers-and-shakers in the Bay area’s underground rave scene died Friday night in the blaze.
As a victim of a fire, the situation hit hard for me, bringing to mind the initial aftermath I experienced, when even the sight of a flame would pre-occupy my thoughts. That said, my loss was nothing compared to the victims of the Oakland fire.
Immediately, I want to make some sense of the loss. I want to glean at least a lesson from the tragedy. But here, not one comes readily to mind. Politicians and advocates of various stripe have used the situation to further their agendas, and now it’s an issue. As this party was part of the music scene The Hard Data covers, I guess we are required to say something about it. So, I’ll do my best, because really talking about it does help. I know that.
Most of us have been too crazy parties that looked like there were multiple fire-code violations going on. And, I bet most of us would say those were some of the best parties we were ever at. Some changed our lives in positive ways. It certainly sounds like this party-space went a little over the already blurry line in this regard. We also know that there were multiple creative and bright people that died that night in the blaze. The biggest thing that comes to my mind is, “Why do we have to party in dangerous places?”
Let me be clear, I am not advocating for tougher laws on anything. I’m not asking for stricter enforcement of anything. Only corrupt corporations and corrupt officials would benefit from those at this point. No, I have a more general gripe: Why do the creative people have little or no money? Why is money so important? When will the shroud of “illegality, drugs and booze” be tossed off of the simple act of people dancing at night… as they should be doing anyway?
Our society has let the greedy oversee, enforce, regulate and legislate basic human needs like dancing and socializing and rationalize it with a monetary value. So, guess what? All you have to do is pay someone to do something illegal, and it’s no problem. You can get away with anything. The money, the symbol of value, long ago became more important than the good or service it’s supposed to transact. Part of the reason the fire probably happened, is that there was never enough money to go around, but enough to get by the next week, and things just fell apart gradually. It really wasn’t anyone’s fault, exactly. It just shows how we’ve prioritized in our society. The one thing that solves problems, creativity, is channeled and ghettoized to the fringes, and is last on the list of anyone’s concerns.
For whatever it’s worth, as an editor for this magazine, that’s my take on the situation at the moment. My heart grieves for the victims friends and family. Their loss in unfathomable and beyond quantification. Please pray for them and remember those that passed in your heart, forever.
