Community
Cava Menzies could feel the warm sun pouring into her bedroom as she sat in silence, eyes closed, legs crossed, engaged in meditation. Menzies, a founding faculty member and music teacher at the Oakland School for the Arts, often draws creative inspiration during morning meditation in her downtown Oakland apartment. But this meditation session in February 2022 brought a revelation. After her practice, Menzies wrote CO-LLAB Choir on her whiteboard, her intuition telling her to create an adult ensemble group. …
On the side of a nondescript Temescal building, a tableau is coming alive in a vibrant array of blues, oranges and reds. An artist on a ladder, spray paint in hand, adds the final touches, catching the eye of a passerby, who yells, “It looks great,” as he drives by. Rachel Wolfe-Goldsmith smiles and waves, then returns to her work. “Murals are cool because you’re out here connecting with other human beings,” the artist said. “Because you’re outside all day, I’m…
When Chien Nguyen closed his boba shop in East Oakland in 2023, he turned his focus to another venture: revitalizing a nearby park and its community center. Over the past eight years, Nguyen said he has watched the deterioration of Clinton Park, where he used to bring his daughter, from a once safe space into a public safety hazard. From the expansion of homeless encampments, to open crime and drug use, Nguyen said families and kids have stopped going to…
The East Bay Regional Park District began during the height of the Great Depression with a ballot measure asking voters to institute a property tax for the purpose of creating a park system. Despite the hard economic times, voters overwhelmingly agreed to tax themselves so they could have more parks. Ninety years later, about 25 million people a year enjoy what has become the largest park district of its kind in the nation, a network essential to the active, outdoor…
Over 70 people gathered outside the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center near Lake Merritt Wednesday to celebrate the first anniversary of the creation of the Lakeshore LGBTQ Cultural District — bringing a moment of joy to many who felt discouraged by last week’s election of Donald Trump as president. Last November, the city declared an official LGBTQ+ Cultural District in the heart of Oakland, between Grand Avenue and El Embarcadero to the south, Lakeshore Avenue to the east, and Boulevard Way…
In a nook between the parish offices and the sanctuary, with its pearly white walls and stained glass windows, a line of worshippers has come to St. Elizabeth church in Fruitvale looking for answers to the unexpected and unexplainable. A woman, her son by her side, is weeping, hyperventilating, her head tilted down as she stands before the still figure of La Virgen de Guadalupe, or the Virgin Mary. Behind her, another woman waits patiently for her turn to feel…
Sugar skulls, costumed toddlers and the aroma of fresh-cooked tamales filled the Port of Oakland waterfront on Sunday, as Jack London Square hosted its annual Halloween and Día de los Muertos festival. The event kicked off a string of holiday events throughout the city that will continue through the weekend. The celebration drew a diverse crowd of all ages, including from the nearby farmers market. Professional chalk artists, a mariachi band, and Mexican folklórico dancers provided free entertainment and highlighted…
Former Warriors players gathered at City Hall last week to honor the head coach who helped them win the Oakland team’s first championship. The event, hosted by the city, honored Al Attles for his innovation and being one of five Black coaches in the NBA. Attles, who spent his entire career as an NBA player with the Warriors in the 1960s before becoming the team’s coach from 1970 to 1983, died in August at age 87. “We had two great…