Oakland: from the Black Panthers to the bay port

The Merritt Lake, a saltwater lagoon in the heart of the city, remains the first officially designated wildlife reserve in the United States, established in 1870.

A short walk away, the Oakland Museum of California recounts the social and political history of the state, including the Black Panther movement founded in the city.

Continuing toward the port, one observes the operations of Oakland's port, one of the busiest on the United States West Coast.

Toward evening, the Jack London Square neighborhood animates with restaurants and venues along the city's waterfront, among the most frequent on the bay.

The Black Panther Party was founded in Oakland in nineteen sixty-six by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, becoming one of the twentieth century's most influential movements for African American civil rights.

Lake Merritt, declared a wildlife reserve in eighteen seventy, remains America's oldest officially protected nature reserve, situated surprisingly in the heart of a densely populated urban area.