After over four decades of disenfranchisement, Californians on parole now have the right to vote. Because the U.S. invests heavily in mass incarceration, the number of people who have lost their right to vote because of their parole status has risen from 1.7 million Americans in 1976 to 6.1 million in 2016. This act would start to reverse those numbers. In Alameda County, an overwhelming majority of residents voted to make this possible. 74% of the population voted to restore…
California voters have decided not to restore affirmative action in schools. Proposition 16, which failed by a margin of 12 percentage points, would have reversed a 1996 ban on considering race, gender or ethnicity in public education systems and public contracting. State lawmakers—motivated by high-profile racial injustices, such as the police killing of George Floyd—voted to put this proposition on the November ballot. The Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) had already begun discussions on how they would take advantage of…
In recent years, Oakland city officials have struggled to address the growing number of residents who have begun living in RVs on the city’s streets. One nearby community in the South Bay is grappling with a similar issue ahead of tomorrow’s election. Headquarters to Google and home to branches of companies like Microsoft and LinkedIn, Mountain View has some of the most sought-after real estate in Silicon Valley. A stroll past its manicured yards offers a glimpse of a high-tech idyll…
Encrypted social media allows a broad range of people to communicate safely, from organizers of protests against police brutality to LGBTQ+ youth looking for a community to reach out to when they feel unsafe. A potential new federal law threatens to take away many of these secure methods of communication.
On Thursday, Oct. 8, family and friends of Oscar Grant entered the René C. Davidson Courthouse days after District Attorney Nancy O’Malley announced the reopening of the investigation of the Grant’s killing by a BART police officer more than a decade ago. The family planned to meet with the DA to discuss the decision. But instead they were told the meeting wouldn’t happen