Community
Nine candidates who want to be Oakland’s next mayor answered questions about gun violence, the environment and quality of life before an audience of about 50 voters Thursday at St. Columba Catholic Church in northwest Oakland. The forum was sponsored by Faith in Action East Bay, the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, the Alpha Nu Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and the Oakland chapter of the NAACP. The Rev. Ken Hamilton moderated, giving each candidate two…
For many, getting prepared for emergencies is a daunting task, leading them to procrastinate from taking simple preemptive steps to manage critical situations for themselves, their families, and their communities. About 500 people set those fears aside last Saturday to participate in an Emergency Preparedness Day at Chabot Elementary School in Oakland, where they had fun while learning practical steps to take in planning for emergencies. The event normally is held every other year, and last week’s was the first…
When Oakland resident LeJon Loggins lost his cousin to gun violence in 2006, he designed the obituary as he would a piece of artwork. It was an eight-page, double-sided pamphlet full of colors, images, quotes, and memories. “Kind of like a school yearbook,” Loggins said. “I wanted people in the community to know that his life was more than a number discussed on the news. When you look at the obituary and start smiling and remembering, you start the healing…
Protesters gathered under a warm sun in Frank Ogawa Plaza by Oakland City Hall Saturday for a pre-election rally in favor of Proposition 1, which would make abortion a right under California’s Constitution. Carrying signs that read “Supreme Illegitimacy” and “Politicians Make Lousy Doctors,” about 100 people came to hear speakers from Planned Parenthood, the medical community and other abortion rights activists. Pre-made posters were scattered about the plaza, including one of a Supreme Court justice with red hangers at…
The Queer Healing Art Center buzzed with excitement on Saturday as artists prepared their bright white canvases, paintbrushes, and acrylic paint for an Art Battle. This was the Queer Healing Art Center’s one year anniversary of hosting Art Battles — live competitions where artists paint blank canvases while surrounded by an audience. “As soon as the paintbrush hits the canvas, everyone is electrified,” said Kin Folkz né Monica Anderson, the center’s co-founder and executive director of the Queer Healing Art…
The 19th Annual Healthy Living Festival, Alameda County’s largest event for seniors, returned to the Oakland Zoo Thursday for its first in-person event in two years. Hosted by United Seniors of Oakland and Alameda County, the free festival featured 80 vendors and promoted health and wellness among adults over age 55. Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley, who was one of the festival’s founders, noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has been especially difficult and dangerous for seniors. “This event allows them…
Charlene Harrison hadn’t danced at a powwow in 10 years. But on Saturday, the site director at Oakland’s Native American Health Center wore her jingle dress, stepped into the grass circle at Merritt College, and danced alongside family members underneath a burning sun. “I’m a third-generation powwower,” said Harrison, who is Pomo, Paiute and Navajo. “This is what I know. So slipping on those old bear shoes, it feels right.” Thousands of people came out to celebrate NAHC’s 50th birthday…
Cars along International Boulevard honked their support Friday night as about 15 people walked down the sidewalk holding signs that read “Stop the Violence” and “Love One Another.” The group pleasantly greeted passersby as they strolled block by block through the East Oakland neighborhood. Oakland Ceasefire night walks started 10 years ago, with groups that sometimes number about 100 walking through areas most affected by gun and gang violence. The walks, which returned in September 2020 after a pandemic break,…
When they arrived at the Rockridge-Temescal Greenbelt, aka FROG Park, on Saturday morning, Alya Davidman and her 6-year-old daughters Evelyn and Josephine Ellis-Davidman found a group of over 100 volunteers hard at work raking leaves, pulling weeds, and picking up trash across the narrow greenway tucked between a row of houses, the DMV and the Temescal farmers market in north Oakland Josephine and Evelyn, waddling with bright orange trash pickers in one hand and garbage bags as big as their…