This Place is Home
Martin and Keyanna in front of their East Oakland home.
Keyanna and Martin Trahan have been a part of the East Oakland community for more than 40 years. From growing up near Havenscourt Junior High School to visiting the Eastmont Mall on the weekends to hanging out with friends, they have seen remarkable changes in the East. Keyanna has played basketball since the second grade and started attending the East Oakland Youth Development Center (EOYDC) at 13 years old, where she developed a deep love for the community. She now works at EOYDC and coaches several boys Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) teams and is working on adding a girls team soon. Martin attended St. Benedict’s School on 82nd and Bancroft, and remembers fondly playing basketball at Arroyo Park and serving as an altar boy at the church led by community legend, Father Jay. Today, Martin is a barber and community leader.
The two met in junior high school, started dating in high school (graduating from Fremont High School and Castlemont High School respectively), married in 2006, and have been together ever since. They have two children who both graduated from Oakland High School: One daughter, and a son who is headed to Morgan State University this year. Because of their long history and deep love for East Oakland, we asked them to share their hopes for Rise East.
What do you love about East Oakland?
We know East Oakland is a handful, but this place is home in so many ways. We raised our family here. We love being homeowners, working in our garden, connecting with our neighbors, and being fully immersed in our community. We are considering buying a duplex to help bring more young, Black families to the East.
What’s hard about living in East Oakland?
We are disconnected in most neighborhoods. Neighbors don’t know neighbors. Most of our schools are academically underperforming, and it seems like unless you drive your kid to school, there are no safe routes that allow them to walk or ride their bike. We have the constant feeling that we are not safe when outside of our home, and when our son leaves the house, that feeling is magnified. We see lots of empty lots and abandoned buildings where there were once businesses. And the streets are not kept up by the city or community.
When you imagine what Rise East can do, what do you see? We see ourselves being proud of our community. We have good middle and high schools and more outdoor green spaces that the city keeps clean. We feel safe walking or riding our bikes to work and home, and there are no doughnut marks on our major intersections. Our streets are clean! In this vision, there are more Black homeowners and Black people serious about buying homes in the Deep East. And most importantly, we are a connected community.
