1234 OAKLAND Scraper bike riders, skateboarders and spoken word and graffiti artists came together Saturday at DeFremery Park to promote environmental activism at the “red, black and GREEN” outdoor concert. The annual event organized by San Francisco-based Youth Speaks was part of a multiday Living Word Festival featuring dance, music and art to address social issues. Other festival activities run until Oct. 26 and will be held at venues in San Francisco.

This year’s theme, “eco-equity,” focuses on a push to include poor communities and people of color in the “green economy” of creating a cleaner environment, jobs and wealth from ecologically sound technology and projects. Recently, Oakland ranked No. 9 in SustainLane Media’s listing of America’s “greenest” cities. At the festival, local environmental and social activists also participated in a lecture demonstration called Against Eco-Apartheid.

“Environmentalism is the great civil rights movement of the 21st century,” said Marc Bamuthi Joseph, artistic director for Youth Speaks. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a woman or gay or poor because we reach the tipping point when we are all struggling to save the planet.” Hip-hop superstar Mos Def was the concert headliner. Oakland-based Los Rakas, whose rhythms and rhymes reflect the duo’s Panamanian heritage, also shared the stage with DJ Leydis.

The Living Word Festival is an annual community gathering of artists, Advertisement educators, presenters and performers focusing on literary performance and literacy education. Festival partners include the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, Museum of the African Diaspora, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Global Exchange and the San Francisco Green Festival. “This event helps people to understand what’s happening in the world around,” said Ayesha Rahman, 16.