5036 Telegraph 1997

Description:
Hoa Newens, owner and chief instructor, Aikido Institute, 5036 Telegraph Avenue, Temescal district, Oakland, Calif. The "martial arts with harmony" dojo opened in 1982.

Date of Document:
1997

Document Author:
Jeff Norman

Geographic Location:
5036 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, Calif.

Context:
The demolition of hundreds of residences and dozens of businesses to build the Grove-Shafter Freeway (Highway 24) in the 1960s and the disruption that its multi-year construction caused, as well as racial and generational demographic shifts that followed World War II, brought significant changes to Temescal including to it s commercial stretch along Telegraph Avenue. By the 1960s, black-owned businesses began replacing those that had been Italian-American-owned, and fast food restaurants McDonald s, Jack in the Box, and Church s had made incursions onto the avenue. Throughout the 1970s, 80s, and into the 90s, with a smattering of empty storefronts, commercial rents remained low, allowing for a diverse mix of businesses to open, including a black-owned health food store, Aikido studio, woman s bar, sea food takeout, yarn shop, and Eritrean/Ethiopian restaurant.