Community

No matter how busy or stressful the day, a cup of tea is an invitation to slow down, says Reem Rahim, chief brand officer and co-founder of Numi Organic Tea, a privately-owned, triple bottom-line company based in Oakland. As a benefit corporation, or “B Corp.,” Numi pursues not just profit, but a trio of goals: economic, social and environmental benefits. Numi plans to donate 1 percent of its net profits to water access projects in 2015. The goal is to…

In 1980, refugees from Laos gathered in the living room of a modest three-bedroom Richmond apartment. Their daunting goal was to help their growing community find jobs and housing in America after fleeing the destruction wrought by the Vietnam War. On Wednesday last week, Lao Family Community Development, Inc. celebrated its 35th anniversary at Maple Hall in the San Pablo Civic Center. Each year, the non-profit organization helps 15,000 people from more than 30 countries become self-sufficient. From its humble…

Many of us wanted to be an astronaut as a kid, but this dream comes true for only a few. It would be a journey into the unknown filled with unforgettable experiences. But there is a hook: If you want to be one of the first explorers to reach Mars, you have to leave everyone behind—forever. The Dutch foundation Mars One received more than 200,000 applications for exactly this, a one-way trip to Mars. The global application elimination process started in 2013…

The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) is presenting a new exhibition exploring Oakland through the work of local artists. The exhibition is called “Who is Oakland?” and is organized by Chris Johnson, the lead artist, in cooperation with the museum. The exhibition is featuring the work of nine local artists lead by Johnson, produced using different forms of art and different materials. “The most important material is the content,” said Johnson. In his piece, he took a map of Oakland,…

Mayor Libby Schaaf and City Attorney Barbara Parker announced last Monday that Oakland has joined the Cities United for Immigration Action (CUIA), a national coalition that supports President Barack Obama’s appeal of a federal district court order that halted his recent immigration reform plans. “We continue to stand with President Obama and millions of Americans in affording law-abiding individuals a path to citizenship, the chance to earn an honest living and freedom from the fear of having their families torn…

The Christian and Chinese New Years parties are long over. But on March 21, the Bahá’i celebrated their Naw-Rúz (literally, New Year). The Bahá’i faith was established a century and a half ago and has more than 5 million members all over the planet. The religion is the second most widespread worldwide; only Christianity can be found in more regions on the globe. California is home to more than 19,000 believers, and therefore the largest Bahá’i community in the United…

The local conversation about development and displacement in Oakland made its way to the University of California, Berkeley in form of a play and panel at Anthony Hall on Tuesday evening. The play “We Go Boom” explores the effect of the tech industry in Oakland by dramatizing the future ribbon cutting at Uptown Station—a real-life project to develop the area above the 19th Street BART Station and the Sears Building at 20th Street and Broadway. The development site was bought…

Blue Bottle Coffee’s historic W.C. Morse Cafe on Broadway became a casual and intimate concert hall Thursday night as three members of the Oakland East Bay Symphony performed selections from Vivaldi, Debussy and more. Called “Cup of Classical,” the event was the latest in the Oakland East Bay Symphony’s efforts to bring classical music into the community by performing it in non-traditional venues. The symphony hosted a similar event, called “Bach & Brew,” last May that brought together beer aficionados…

The Oakland City Council chambers were filled to capacity on Tuesday evening for a special meeting of the Oakland Redevelopment Successor Agency, which is responsible for creating and enacting urban redevelopment plans in Oakland. Some of the most-discussed items on the agenda were the treatment of the city’s temporary part-time workers, a resolution in support of Assembly Bill 65, a proposed state bill that would fund body-worn cameras for local law enforcement agencies, and the development in the Oakland Coliseum…