Community
The Pointer Sisters. The Black Panthers. Olympians Jim Hinds and Ray Norton, basketball player Bill Russell, baseball’s Frank Robinson and Curt Flood. These famous names all have roots in West Oakland, and Ed Howard wants to share their stories, along with those of other West Oakland residents from the 40s, 50s and 60s.
On Saturday afternoon, thousands of people from around the Bay Area walked, ran, and pedaled their way over to the 2nd Annual Pedalfest bicycle celebration at Jack London Square. Hosted by the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, the festival featured a variety of events for all ages to enjoy including BMX stunt jumps, bicycle dances performed on a tight rope by clowns and bike races inside Jack London Square.
The shrieks and squeals of happy children could be heard Friday over the boombox blasting pop music at Acta Non Verba Youth Urban Farm project in East Oakland. This was a day for play, not work. Celebrating the end of 100 hours of summer labor in the garden, nine local kids ran wild and free among the garden beds arranged in neat rows on the half-acre lot.
It’s that time again. The seven images above have been carefully shot, giving you just enough information to try to guess where and what this is. It’s your job to figure it out.
Barely one week after the Obama campaign office on Telegraph Avenue in downtown Oakland had one of its window panes shattered by Occupy protesters, at least 100 protesters calling for the release of jailed U.S. Army soldier Private First Class Bradley Manning invaded the campaign offices Thursday, occupying them for at least three hours and bringing business to a standstill before police forced them out.
Whether it is visual art, music, crafts, film or writing, the Rock Paper Scissors Collective in Oakland encourages community members to teach, sell, exhibit and learn about art. The shop on Grand and Telegraph Avenues offers a collection of hats, sketches, mixed media art, sewing equipment and jewelry as well as a large collection of zines—magazines, cartoons and books self-published by the writers.
Oakland residents converged Tuesday on an East Oakland street that has been blighted by foreclosures, calling for a freeze on foreclosures until the Homeowners Bill of Rights comes into effect in January, 2013. California Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill into law on July 2, which and will prevent banks from forcing families their homes while they are still negotiating mortgages settlements.
Every week, Oakland North will publish a photo submitted by one of our readers. This week’s photo is by Charles Pine.
Kayoko Akabori and Yoko Kumano, friends since college, recently opened a new store called Umami Mart in the heart of Oakland’s historical district, where they offer unique merchandise as well as their insight about cocktails and Japanese cuisine.