When Del Phresh first painted the words “OAKLAND IS PROUD” on a wall in East Oakland in the mid-’80s, he was on a mission.

At the time, Oakland’s reputation was ravaged by the war on drugs, and all it entailed: the influx of crack cocaine, extremely high unemployment, over-policing, swollen jails and nightly news reports sensationalizing crime.

In order to set the record straight about his community, Phresh grabbed a few aerosol cans and ensured the world put some respect on the Town’s name by painting a giant mural along E. 12th Street, reading “OAKLAND IS PROUD.”

Four decades later, I meet with Phresh on the concrete and grass median under the BART tracks on E. 12th Street, across from where the original piece was painted.

“At the time it was the early ’80s, and mid-’80s, and the cit

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