Azlinah Tambu leaves her studio apartment off 73rd Avenue at 3:50 p.m. With enough time to pick up her younger daughter, Nasira, from after-school care at Parker K-8. She brings a set of keys, her phone and a bag of Cheetos. Before she locks the door, she makes sure she has her keys. Parker is eight blocks away and less than a 10 minute walk. Along the way, Tambu exchanges hellos with a man sitting outside the corner store whom…
What started as a one-day teachers strike against school closures turned into a “Day of Action” Friday, as the community joined educators on a march from the Lake Merritt Amphitheater to Oakland City Hall, on foot, bikes, rollerblades and in strollers. Students held picket signs high and chanted: “This is what democracy looks like! This is what community looks like!” Many parents brought their children, using the strike as a teaching lesson in activism, social justice and the right to…
Hundreds of people danced, chanted and marched down International Boulevard on Saturday to protest the Oakland Unified School Board’s decision to close seven schools. Wearing Black Panther Party symbols and shirts that said “Black Joy,” they rallied to the sounds of Bay Area classics like Mac Dre and E-40. Holding signs that read: “No cuts no closures” and “Hands off our schools,” they marched nearly 40 blocks, from the former Roots International Academy to the International Community School/Think College Now…