Despite the gloomy weather, tens of thousands gathered at Madison Park near downtown Oakland on Saturday to participate in one of the three branches of Women’s March Bay Area, a demonstration to support women and human rights. The three Bay Area marches—in Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose—are among the more than 600 locally-organized “sister marches” of the Women’s March on Washington, which is now expected to draw as many as half a million participants. The marches are nonpartisan and…
For Carmen Garcia, the end of a prison sentence was the beginning of a new set of problems.
“The biggest obstacle for me was continuing to stay in school, because the halfway house wanted me to get a job right away, a full-time job,” she said. “And I remember a case manager said to me, ‘You need to take this job, whatever job they offer you, because now you have a criminal record and you’re not going to be able to get another job. Don’t worry about education, because that’s not going to help you.’”
A crowd of around 5,000 mourners gathered in vigil for the victims of Oakland’s Ghost Ship fire at the edge of Lake Merritt on Monday night. They held electric candles and glow sticks, and listened as friends, family and community members took turns speaking to the crowd.
A fire that broke out during an electronic music party at an artists’ warehouse space in the Fruitvale late Friday night has claimed at least 9 lives, and an estimated 25 more people are feared missing. A joint statement by the Oakland Police Department and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office released mid-day on Saturday tallied 9 known fatalities, although the death toll is expected to rise once law enforcement officials are able to more closely search the building. Friends and family…
In an empty Jack in the Box on Telegraph Avenue and 45th Street, a fast food worker wearing a black sweater vest and a short-sleeved dark red button-down shirt is moving slowly, trying to keep herself busy cleaning tables after the morning breakfast crowd had gone. All they left behind were burger wrappers and half-empty soda cups on tables; some had landed on the floor. It’s an overcast Thursday morning. The cashier behind the counter says, “It’s slow,” commenting on…
Late Tuesday night, as president-elect Donald Trump was giving his victory speech, a group of protesters moved through downtown Oakland demonstrating against the results of the election. Shouting “Fuck Trump!” and “Fuck the KKK,” they marched down Broadway. By midnight, the group had about 70 people; the Oakland Police Department (OPD) reported that the group ultimately grew to 250 people before breaking up in the early morning hours. Some members of the group, wearing black bandanas across their faces, smashed…
On Election Day 2016, Oakland North photographers roamed the city. They captured images of voters at the polls, last minute campaign pushes, volunteers phone banking efforts, watch parties and other political scenes from across the city.
Oakland voters hit the polls today to cast votes for, among other things, a new president, city council members, school board seats, a potential soda tax, and a citizens’ commission to oversee the Oakland Police Department. Many voters exiting Oakland polling stations said they had voted for Hillary Clinton; not surprising considering more than 57 percent of registered Oakland voters are registered as Democrats. More than a quarter have not declared a party affiliation, according to data collected by the…
The Black Panther Party (BPP) was founded on October 15, 1966 in Oakland, California by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. The party was a political organization that agitated for greater rights for Black people in the United States. Seale and Newton captured the attention of the country (and of law enforcement) through their tactic of openly carrying rifles and shotguns while observing police officers in their community.
The Oakland City Council met on Tuesday night, the the last meeting before the November 8 election, and considered a resolution in support of Proposition 64, a state ballot initiative that would legalize recreational marijuana use for people age 21 and over.
A group of volunteers from Open Oakland have built a website called OpenDisclosure.io in partnership with the Oakland Public Ethics Commission. The site allows voters to view information about campaign funding for local ballot measures and for candidates running for office. Open Disclosure launched October 18, and uses existing data from city public records to create simple graphs and easy to understand information.
October 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of The Black Panther Party. The celebration started on October 20, when several of the original members of the Panthers came to Oakland to recognize their achievements and their struggles over the years.
This year was the ninth anniversary of The Plant Exchange, which encourages the recycling and sharing of plants in the Bay Area.
“I don’t care darling. I just serve my customers. Plastic or paper, I don’t care,” said Nikki Yi, the owner of the Fat Cat sandwich store on Telegraph Avenue in downtown Oakland, while preparing a club sandwich behind the counter. Yi greeted her customers by name and she seemed to know everyone who walked into her store that day.
The U.S. presidential election is less than two months away, but the campaigns of Republicans and Democrats in Oakland and California couldn’t be more different. According to the website Open Secrets, which tracks campaign contributions, so far donors in Oakland have given $4,629,987 to Democrat Hillary Clinton, compared to only $203,357 for Republican Donald Trump and $18,462 for Green Party candidate Jill Stein. Statewide, so far in 2016, the former Secretary of State has raised $63,707,471, which is almost 10…
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf announced this week that 12 Oakland police officers will be disciplined for their involvement in a wide-ranging sex scandal. But some Oakland residents are saying Schaaf’s response doesn’t go far enough.