Community

One month after deadly shooting, First Friday returns with a focus on peace

One month after a homicide forced city leaders and event organizers to question the future of Oakland’s First Friday art festival, the event returned this weekend—smaller and more low-key than past versions, but turnout was strong. The themes of the March 1 were peace and unity. People gave peace signs all night, some wore neon green t-shirts that read “Respect Our City,” and organizers held two moments of silence in honor of Kiante Campell, the 18-year-old who was shot and…

Children celebrate Black History Month at Ile Omode Elementary

Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and a number of famous African Americans ancestors made an appearance at an elementary school in East Oakland on the final day of Black History Month. Ancestor Day 2013 at Ile Omode, a pre-kindergarten through eighth grade school in East Oakland, consisted of four and five year-old students dressing up as notable historical figures and delivering their most memorable quotes to a room full of parents and teachers. The audience cheered as students dressed as Dr….

School board votes to end adult education

On behalf of Oakland’s family literacy programs, student Malak Alsabahi stood at the podium and asked the school board not to cut adult education. Fellow supporters held paintings of Yemeni women while Alsabahi spoke, representing classmates who could not be there at the school board meeting Wednesday.

AIMS community to OUSD: Please don’t close our schools

About three dozen American Indian Model Schools (AIMS) students and parents took turns Wednesday, each speaking for one minute, hoping to convince the Oakland school board that their three schools shouldn’t be shut down. The board voted in January to give the AIMS administration a “notice of intent to revoke” the schools’ charters after alleging fraud and financial mismanagement at the schools.

Oakland by the ZIP code: Photos from the 94603

For the third installment in a new photography series, here is this week’s photo gallery for The Pulse of Oakland—the featured ZIP code is 94603 in East Oakland. The area includes Elmhurst, Brookfield Village, parts of the industrial district and more.