!huge lineup of merchandise. "I lost a lot of good friends behind that s---., But the club survived, and continues to attract new members. Theyd only talk about the good things they do and how they are positive role models for our children.. They nevertheless built up a positive reputation in the neighborhood, supporting the Oakland area while giving voice to the oppressed during a time before the civil rights movement really took off. Going up North with a story about a Hells Angels Motorcycle Club member. Elon Musk tweets support for Dilbert creator Scott Adams after racist tirade [1] Both the Phoenixes and the P. League+ champions of Taiwan were designated by the EASL as Greater China's representatives. the club, which this weekend celebrated its 60th year, has since become one of Oaklands most iconic cultural exports, one recognized around the world. What does Spellman know? Unlike many outlaw motorcycle clubs, the East Bay Dragons do not claim a state as territory by wearing a bottom "rocker". In the show, she examines big topics, like the class differences that exist in cities separated by a few simple bridges, and tells stories based on the nonfictional locals, like the real-life storied motorcycle club, the East Bay Dragons. As a result of this, the suit alleges, fairgrounds staff invented the ruse that there was a credible threat to the safety of the event, but there was no credible threat at all.. East Bay Rats MC. 1 review of East Bay Dragons "These guys are living legends and a great bunch to hang around with, be sure to show up whenever they have an event or if you can catch up with them peeling rubber down the mean streets of East Oakland. Its why Nelson knows the club will endure for another 60 years. "My dad had a little bodega restaurant in Paterson, New Jersey, and he would keep it open because there was a bar across the street where they all would congregate and celebrate. He is an Oakland treasure that will be sorely missed. The East Bay Dragons have a a rich history as the first all-black motorcycle club. Oakland was all rock n roll and chromed-out cars at the time, Tobie Gene Levingston wrote in his memoir, Soul on Bikes: The East Bay Dragons MC and the Black Biker Set. So, he decided to start a car club, and the Dragons were born. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. Members of The East Bay Dragons must own and ride a Harley Davidson motorcycle. RELATED:Oakland from 1900 to now: See how the city has changed, "I remember them fondly as a little girl because they used to have this black family day picnic every year up in Nolan Park, and that was huge," Spellman explained. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group), OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA AUGUST 29: East Bay Dragons Motorcycle Club members pose for a group photo before their meeting at the East Bay Dragons Motorcycle Club in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019. As Levingston recalled in his 2004 autobiography, Soul on Bikes, most families in the '50s couldn't afford the luxury of having more than one vehicle. Tobie Gene Levingston, who founded the East Bay Dragons as the Bay Area's first all-Black motorcycle club and one of the nation's first, died early Tuesday of natural causes. Their friendship with the Black Panthers may have caused confusion for law enforcement, oftentimes putting the bikers in contention with police, but that bond placed the crew in the spotlight which energized members of the East Bay community. The club regularly participates in charity rides, holds block parties and donates supplies to schools. An undated photo of the East Bay Dragons. [2], The team was established under the agreement of the Hong Kong Basketball Association and Chun Yu Basketball Club. So we played with that, visually. #jaylenoTobie Gene Levingston has been the president of the #EastBayDragons ever since he started the club in 1959! "Soul on Bikes," a book written by East Bay Dragons' founding member Tobie Levingston, provided insight for both Spellman and Cephas Jones, who acknowledge their shared memories of the club as all positive. Hes had health problems in recent years, including a bout with cancer, so he wasnt able to ride his own Harley to the Halfway Run. The bakerys website says its founder, Kim Cloud, is proud of that fact because his family benefited from the Panthers free breakfast program as kids. The suit, filed last June, claims that the Dragons planned a 60th anniversary event at the Solano County Fairgrounds in Vallejo that was to be attended by at least 3,800 people and would have featured an impressive lineup of music and comedy. The Black Panthers earliest headquarters was just a few blocks from the Dragons clubhouse. . The group, which initially started out as a car club in the late 1950s, rides customized Harley Davidson motorcycles (also known as choppers) and is a well-loved fixture of West Oakland. Instead, the event was canceled at the last minute, after the Dragons had spent thousands in fees and planning. That was 1964. all that is interesting Hells Angels' old ladies (girlfriends) sit during a rest stop on the group's ride from San Bernardino to Bakersfield, California. The East Bay Dragons built a reputation as family men who owned homes, cars and had steady jobs, supported each other with skill-networking and contributed to regular charity drives, love runs, Thanksgiving-turkey donations, and Christmas family-adoption and gift-giving, as well as yearly Labor Day weekend fundraisers. Tobie Gene Levingston was born to a sharecropper father who made the migration west, and eventually settled with his family in Brookfield Village, Oakland (Tribune). The club took up the Dragons name in 1958, before switching over to motorcycles, which were cheaper and drew less attention from police, as Levingston wrote in his classic memoir Soul on Bikes: The East Bay Dragons MC and the Black Biker Set.. Click To See Our Other Locations Below: Location Address; 1: Double Dragon Chinese Restaurant: East Bay Street (close to Paradise Island Bridge) 2: h. The East Bay Dragons MC is an all-black, all-male, all-Harley Davidson riding motorcycle club founded in Oakland, California, in 1959 by Tobie Gene Levingston, who died in July 2020. The son of sharecroppers moved from Louisiana to Oakland and wanted something to keep his siblings busy. Spellman found this locale to be perfect for reminiscing on her childhood, in effect highlighting the profound influence a long-running regional African American motorcycle club, the East Bay Dragons MC, had on her forming identity. The club is turning 60 years this weekend at the same and only location it was founded in East Oakland. It sits on a bright yellow square with a green dragon and red lettering of the club's name, underscored by the word "Oakland.". These drill teams performed group routines consisting of stunts and challenging maneuvers weaving in and out of cones and between other motorcyclists. Its the traffic, its the people youre riding with.. In 2006 Alex Abramovich came across the name Trevor Latham in a high-school alumni note: "I moved to California, became a bouncer, and started a motorcycle club." Rapid demise of Dilbert no surprise to some who were watching But through all the changes, the Dragons stuck with the same man as president: Tobie Gene Levingston. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group), OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA AUGUST 29: East Bay Dragons motorcycle club member Jack The Mack Wilson poses for a photo at the East Bay Dragons Motorcycle Club in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019. During the Christmas season, they sponsor a toy drive and deliver toys to Oakland children on their bikes, while dressing up as Santa Claus. This insidious belief of EBDs threat traveled all the way to Oakland and with the help of the Oakland Police Department, and at the conclusion of the 60th anniversary celebration, on September 2, 2019, the EBD were surrounded by Oakland Police Department officers due to racist motives as they were enjoying themselves at Level 13 in Oakland, the civil complaint says. On Wednesday, the club shared newsof Levingstons passing and asked well-wishers to keep Levingstons wife and children and club members in their prayers, saying: Rest in Heaven, Pres.. With The Path behind him, Dunbar says he's considering his next move, including directing a project about the East Bay Dragons Motorcycle Club, a familiar subject given the years he spent on FX . And they was kind of crazy! he remembers. East Bay Dragons-Hells Angels and incident in Iowa between clubs#BIKERNEWS- A popular Murrells Inlet biker bar will be allowed to hold a fall pre-bike week rally this weekend. Wheels of Soul MC Book - Soul on Bikes: The East Bay Dragons MC and the Black Biker Set by Tobie Levingston, Keith Zimmerman, Kent Zimmerman and forward by Ralph "Sonny" Barger. (Aaron Mendelson/KQED) In front of his hotel room, Ali Ar Rasheed takes in the scene. And they ride only Harley-Davidsons. Biker Angle Weekly News Wrap Up Season 1 Episode 9, They were all sharp, real clean looking, Harper remembers. The club is turning 60 years this weekend at the same and only location it was founded in East Oakland. [11], The East Bay Dragons were featured in the 2015 victory parade through downtown Oakland commemorating the 2015 NBA Championship of the Golden State Warriors. He was 86. Recognizing The East Bay Dragons Motorcycle Club, CHOSEN FEW & EAST BAY DRAGONS | AMERICAS BLACK BIKER SET REVISITED, Oakland City Council to Commemorate Founding of Historic East Bay Biker Club, Oakland motorcycle club member shot to death, East Bay Dragons Motorcycle Club: On the Road for 55 Years, East Bay Dragons motorcycle club founder dies, Meet the East Bay Dragons, the oldest Black motorcycle club in the West. Californias black clubs descend on Fresno each October, convening to celebrate motorcycles. [3] The Phoenixes are the only franchise team in the EASL, with other participating teams seeded from domestic leagues from Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and the Philippines. A year later, they switched to motorcycles, which were cheaper, more accessible and didnt draw as much attention from the police, Tobie Gene Levingston wrote. Would dismantling Interstate 980 repair damage to Black neighborhoods? He joined the Bay Area News Group in 2014. In front of his hotel room, Ali Ar Rasheed takes in the scene. Reid said the Dragons have held events at the Oakland Zoo and never faced complaints except about the noise of their motorcycles. [12], "2022 East Asia Super League format to include new GBA basketball team franchise with local players", "East Asia Super League Debuts Season 1 of Premier Home-and-Away Pan-Regional League in 2022", "East Asia Super League wants to bring professional basketball team to Hong Kong", "EASL looking to rise as world's third-biggest league", "EASL Greater China rep to see action in PBA", "Bay Area Dragons' Myles Powell, Liu Chuanxing look forward to playing in PBA", "PBA to welcome first foreign guest team in 22 years", "Hong Kong's Bay Area Dragons to join PBA as guest team", "Bay Area Dragons appoint NBL legend Goorjian as head coach", "Bay Area goes for kill vs San Miguel Beer", "Ginebra pulls off Game 7 rout of Bay Area before biggest PBA crowd ever", "Cholo Villanueva tapped as Bay Area Dragons deputy coach", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bay_Area_Dragons&oldid=1142250832, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 09:53. Before Rosa Parks took her historic bus ride and before Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Huey P. Newton and the Black Panthers stood bravely for equal rights, the East Bay Dragons MC risked life and limb during the days when it was a revolutionary act for a . The "Pagan's Motorcycle Club" has increased membership in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in recent years, law enforcement authorities say. Soul on Bikes: The East Bay Dragons MC and the Black Biker Set by Tobie Levingston, Keith Zimmerman, Kent Zimmerman and forward by Ralph "Sonny" Barger. I remember staying up late making hamburgers and hot dogs for these cats into the wee hours of the morning to feed these guys after they would come from the club.". Many of the riders here are affiliated with clubs, like Los Angeles Divided Time and Chosen Few, Sacramentos Aftermath and Fresnos Unknown Riders. OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 29: Memorabilia of the East Bay Dragons decorate the walls at the East Bay Dragons Motorcycle Club in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019. According to the suit, all of this was a problem for the employee, who allegedly remarked that the Black Panthers were the greatest threat to the internal security of the country, and started working to cancel the Dragons event. The two bottom patches displayed on their cuts showing their territory are one rectangular patch with "Oakland" in red text over a yellow background above another rectangular patch with "California" in red text over a yellow background. There was just one problem: the cars. Started in 1959,it was one of the first all-black motorcycle clubs. VALLEJO, CA The East Bay Dragons, the first all-Black motorcycle club to exist in the Bay Area, has filed a federal lawsuit against Solano County alleging that a county employee concocted a reason to cancel a planned club event at the fairgrounds after hearing that one of its members had associations with the Black Panthers. Levingston and the Dragons made the switch from cars to bikes in 1959. Born June 30, 1934, in Lillie, Louisiana, Levingston was one of 10 children raised by sharecropper parents who moved to [] . Instead of getting a passing look at Sutters all-black biker gang, Truth Be Told gives audiences a nuanced understanding of the familial connection this motorcycle club has with Parnell. He is a graduate of Bowie State University in Maryland with a BS degree in communications. Zoo and never faced complaints except about the noise of their motorcycles News... 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