Najim Rahim

Displaced for 95 days, Coliseum Connections residents demand answers from city and landlord

Dozens of displaced Coliseum Connections Apartments residents protested Wednesday, the 95th day of their displacement from a Jan. 1 flood, calling on the city and landlord to do more to get them back into their homes. Chanting “Home, not hotel” and carrying placards that read “No More Lies,” they rallied in front of the West Oakland Senior Center and demanded to know why the apartment complex is still not repaired and why they are being pushed out of the temporary…

PHOTOS: Joyful sights and sounds abound at Oakland’s Black Joy Parade

Bands, dancers, clowns, cowboys and cool cars filled downtown Oakland Sunday afternoon for the Black Joy Parade. Wet streets and chilly weather didn’t discourage hundreds of people from enjoying music, food and a host of activities for children and adults. In its sixth year, the parade celebrates the Black experience and culture. It also promotes Oakland’s many Black-owned small businesses. All photos by Najim Rahim

“Every system failed to us!” Flooded out Coliseum Connections’ residents frustrated with work pace

Davina Brown was awakened on New Year’s Eve by a car horn that was continuously honking outside her home in Coliseum Connections Apartments on 71st Avenue in Oakland. Looking out the window, she could see flooded streets from the storm that would pound the Bay Area for the next couple weeks.  Soon she would find out that the building’s garage, where her car was parked, was flooded too, and that she and her 9-year-old son would have to evacuate.  “The…