Davis, California

I temporarily lived in Davis, California for about 5 months before the covid pandemic in 2020 led to a bunch of shut downs. I went to community college for 2 years, and then I transferred to the university of California Davis (also known as UC Davis). I would also say that it’s important to build connections with the local indigenous nations of wherever you’re traveling to, and it might even be helpful to get to know someone before you visit. I did not do that, but if for some reason, I end up going to Davis again then I would try to do that. I learned some

Important lessons from a United shades of America episode about “native Hawaiians,” which might have been a season 7 episode 7 episode, and how one way you could move away from the exploitative tourism industry is to get to know people (maybe even bring gifts if you have the money and/or resources to do so), and then make it more into a cultural exchange. You could check the “Native Land Digital” website (or type out the name on “duck duck go” or “Google” or another search engine, in case you don’t trust people you don’t know on the internet, and I fall into that category of people you don’t know): https://native-land.ca/ It seems like Davis is on Miwok and Patwin lands, so you’ll want to reach out to both groups, and figure out how to form relationships with them. There’s also the Gorman Museum of Native American Art, which I haven’t gone to, but I’ve found out great and interesting details about this museum. I would make a trip to Davis, just to go to this museum actually. Davis is also about a 30 minute drive from Sacramento. One lgbtq+ person told me that there’s a lavender district there too, and a lavender district is a neighborhood for lgbtq+ people, but not in a separate-but-equal way that violates constitutional rights. It’s more like, it’s a fun area that is specifically designed for lgbtq+ folks, although any group has its own internal conflicts, so you’ll want to be careful of that too. I haven’t been to the lavender district in Sacramento, but it might be an interesting way to get to know people whom you otherwise wouldn’t have connected with, which is a wonderful thing to do, in my humble opinion! If you didn’t already know, Lex is an app that you could use to connect with lgbtq+ people from all around the world, although it’s been known to be anti-transgender (like a lot of groups, whether they’re lgbtq+ groups or not), but you could use Lex to connect with folks in Davis and/or Sacramento and/or other areas nearby. “Refuge restrooms” is an online database that could help you find gender neutral bathrooms, bathrooms with child care changing stations, accessible bathrooms, or all 3, so you could use it in Davis too. Users rate how easy it was to get access to the bathroom, so you’ll want to check those ratings before going to the actual bathrooms. If you don’t find many bathrooms in the areas you go to, my friend told me that malls are a good way to find a bathroom. To the best of my knowledge, Davis does not have a mall. It seems like Sacramento is on Nisenan lands and Miwok lands too, so if you do visit, you may want to connect with the nisenan nation and Miwok nations too. You could also get to Sacramento from Davis by bus too, but it’s gonna take longer. Also, there’s an Indian food place that’s a buffet, and I felt like you could get a good value for the amount you paid back in 2019, but I don’t know if that’s still the case. You’ll probably want to ask some south west Asian North African folks (s.w.a.n.a.) folks for their advice on the best s.w.a.n.a. food to get. Halal guys is a cheaper option too, but probably not as authentic since it’s a fast food chain. Davis also has a Dutch bros as well. If you’re a UC Davis student, there’s a group on an app called “group me” that will help connect you to other black folks, so they might be able to give you a better idea about how inclusive or exclusionary Davis is. I would say that, like most non-majority black cities, Davis is not as inclusive as it could be towards black people. Luckily, Sacramento is known as “chocolate town” (I forgot where I found that out from) and has a decent number of black people. Oakland is about 1 hour and 30 minutes away from Davis, when there isn’t traffic, and Oakland’s black population is about 1/4th of the city’s black population. Oakland has been compared to Brooklyn so some people have compared the nearby San Francisco to Manhattan. I haven’t been to Manhattan, but I would say that the San Francisco – Manhattan comparison is fair. However, Oakland is a black lgbtq+ Mecca so that’s a plus. I don’t know about Sacramento though, even with it’s lavender district, so you’ll have to ask the lgbtq+ black people in Sacramento, since everyone should feel like they feel safe(r) and included wherever they go. It’s possible to get to Davis and the Bay Area (like San Francisco and Oakland, for example) using flix bus or Amtrak. Flix bus is cheaper. Megabus might be an option, but I feel like flixbus is more convenient and easier to book a ticket with. There is a shuttle that goes from the UC Davis campus to Berkeley, but it’s usually crowded, and flixbus is cheaper. As for the campus itself, like most if not all colleges, UC Davis has not returned the land to indigenous people. There is a multicultural student center on campus, so that might be worth checking out. There’s also a “center for African diaspora student success,” which other schools don’t necessarily have, and there are black dorms too. I’m not really a fan of college in general, but if you’ve run out of options, then exploring the university might not be a bad idea. Like a lot of downtowns, exploring the Davis downtown will give you some stuff to do as well. I don’t feel like you’ll have to worry about hate crimes, but you just kind of have to watch out for general anti-blackness. I’ll usually go to s.w.a.n.a. businesses because I find that people are lot more friendly and welcoming at those kinds of businesses, and the music is a lot more interesting than the cracker a$$ cracker music they play at businesses that cater to white people, if they even play music at all. The “official black Wall Street” app and website is another place that you could check to find black owned businesses. This is not a black owned business, but you can get Korean shaved ice at a place called “Mandro Tea House.” The portions are large, but the shaved ice is pretty good. I’m not an expert on shaved ice, but it’s a bit more interesting than boring ol’ ice cream. There’s also a place called “Sweet and Shavery,” which seems to have soft serve and shaved ice. If you go to Sacramento and other places, you’ll most likely be able to find even more shaved ice places. I’ve tried Japanese shaved ice too, but in my opinion, bingsu (Korean shaved ice), is better. If you want to meet people and serve free food, “food not bombs” is a national and international organization that serves free food to people, and they have a chapter in Davis too. I never volunteered with them, but hopefully they’re not too cliquey. With some volunteer groups – like with any group – there’s a tendency for some people to be cliquey so you just kind of have to be aware of that. I would recommend checking out the “sling shot collective’s” “radical contact list” because it’ll recommend more open minded places to go to and/or get involved with. Here are some places in Davis and Sacramento and other nearby areas, but I would recommend checking out the “radical contact list” for yourself too: “bike forth,” “integreTea,” “lavender library,” “Sacramento bike kitchen,” “tana (taller arte del nuevo amanecer),” “underground books.” I have not gone to any of these places, but I would not be against going to these places if I have time. There’s also a business owned by the yocha dehe wintun nation called “séka hillls” that’s about a 42 minute drive from Davis, and it’s out of the way, but it is a business owned by indigenous people. I haven’t gone there either, but it seems interesting. I don’t know how other people find businesses run by indigenous people, but Mexican people are part of turtle island (“turtle island” is the indigenous name of “North America”) so supporting Mexican businesses – especially businesses that are connected to their indigenous roots – is probably one way to support more indigenous businesses. I feel like it’s important to support black owned businesses, but there are a lot of indigenous businesses that don’t even have store fronts while other businesses from marginalized communities do have some store fronts or a decent sized following. The “culture trip” app and article also has a few suggestions for what to do in nearby Sacramento, so that might be somewhat helpful. An anarchist book fair is happening in September 2024, and it’s going to be held at the Washington neighborhood center, which is a cultural center according to its website.