LINKS The following links are a sample of organizations that have grown out of the movement for political, social, and racial equality among African Americans, Asian Americans, Chicanos, and Native Americans. Asian Health Services (Oakland) – Provides health care for immigrants, the uninsured, and low income Asians and Pacific Islanders in Cantonese, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Mandarin, Mien, Mongolian, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and English. Chinese Progressive Association (San Francisco) – Fights for improved living and working conditions for the immigrant, working class,…
Happy Odd Day! According to mathematicians, only 6 days this century will be made up of all odd numbers- and 5-7-09 is one of them! Redwood teacher Ron Gordon has announced a contest for the person who best celebrates Odd Day. The prize? $579. While some may be doing their math, others may not get a chance to, now that the UC Regents is set to approve a 9% undergrad student fee increase at all UC schools. Graduate student fees…
After three town hall meetings (covered by OaklandNorth here, here and here), Mayor Dellums has announced a two year budget for 2009-2011. Meant to close the city’s $83billion defecit, the new budget will likely cut some city services. To look at the official budget proposal, visit the city’s website. The Trib’s education reporter, Katy Murphy, writes in her blog that Oakland School Board President Alice Spearman resigned today. This while the District continues its search for a new superintendent. And…
According to the Oakland Tribune, Alameda County has declared a state of emergency due to the Swine Flu, officially (by request of the pork lobby) referred to as the A-H1N1 Flu. This will allow the county to get state and city funding to be able to keep up with the outbreak. For those who missed it, Malcolm X Elementary in West Berkeley continues to be shut down after a suspected swine flu case. Here’s a map of Bay Area swine-related…
The incessant rain didn’t stop over a thousand immigrant workers, youth and families, and their supporters, from taking to the Oakland streets Friday afternoon in commemoration of May 1st, International Workers’ Day. Skipping over puddles, completely drenched, the marchers made their way from Fruitvale Plaza to City Hall in a little under two hours.
Here’s some of today’s top OakNorth news: It’s May 1st, and Immigrant rights and labor groups across the Bay Area are mobilizing for International Workers Day. In Oakland, groups will be assembling at Fruitvale Plaza at around 4pm, and Marching to City Hall from 4:30-6:30. Here’s a quick history lesson on May 1st. Stay tuned for Oakland North’s coverage of the day’s mobilizations. In an update on the Oscar Grant case, the Alameda County Superior Court rejected Officer Johannes Mehsherle’s…
The day I got my Cali drivers license was also the day I got pulled over in Cali for the first time. And, you guessed it, it happened on San Pab Ave.
Maybe it’s the parking tickets I’ve been racking up (yo– for a peace and love hippie town Berkeley parking po-po sure got some Gestapo tendencies), or the fact that Bank of America stole $215 from me in overdraft fees for $7 worth of actual overdraft, or the fact that frankly I’m convinced que alguién me echó un mal de ojo and I need a pinche limpia to undo the money curse I got on me right now. Regardless, I am…
The other day I was rollin up San Pab from the Goodwill through the southwestern Berks-Eville border. I’d been looking for some workout pants now that I’m on a piyo (pilates yoga) kick, proof again that the East Bay hippie is seepin into my bloodstream. (Didn’t find the pants, did find a night light.) And speaking of hippies, most people who don’t know Berks –includin myself before I roamed West– hear the name and prolly some mental image pops up…
By Diana Montaño/Oakland North The tropical crops of Maria Inés Catalán’s youth don’t grow in Hollister. Instead of winding through the papaya and mango trees of her native Guerrero, Mexico, here, wearing black loafers caked in mud from the past week’s rain, she steps carefully over the kale, broccoli and artichoke plants that thrive in the Northern California winter.
(WARNING: spontaneous use of unitalicized spanglish. Read con precaución.) OK. I’m an East Coast Mexican transplant tryin to make my way en la Bahía. So my first weekend in Berkeley back in August involved the necessary search for my local tienda mexicana. My mexican store. No way I was gonna live off those hippy wheatgrass tortillas they got at Whole-Trader-Bowl. I need me some maíz, foo. I knew there was paisas in Fruitvale, so I drove aimlessly into Oakland, mapless…
Prologue This blog is about what I see, eat, do, buy, who I meet and everything in between on San Pablo Ave. According to trusty Google Maps, San Pab is about 17.3 miles running from downtown Oakland to a place called Crockett just off the I80 right before crossing the Carquinez Bridge into Vallejo. 17.3 miles–that stretch like a living corridor of the East Bay and all its yummy contradictions. The ladies of the night hustlin along the Oaktown-Berkeley border,…