Community
On Friday evening, and a diverse crowd had gathered for “April Ful’s Night,” a communal meal during which visitors would reflect on the political events happening throughout the Middle East.
Saturday morning, Oakland restaurant Pizzaiolo raised $12,000 selling cookies, cupcakes, and other baked goods. Hundreds of people turned out to support the restaurant’s Bakesale for Japan and eye a wide selection of sweets and treats prepared by hundreds of professional bakers and local volunteers. A long stream of customers spilled out from Pizzaiolo and flowed halfway down the Telegraph Avenue block.
More than 300 people convened at the North Oakland Senior Center on Saturday morning to share their concerns – most of them budget-related – with Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and Councilmember Jane Brunner.
Community members rallied alongside city leaders Thursday evening to protest the sexual exploitation of minors, shutting down 17th Ave at International Blvd in Oakland’s San Antonio neighborhood — a neighborhood where residents say encountering hookers, pimps and johns is a day-to-day part of life.
AXIS Dance Company’s dancers are exceptional in more ways than most performers. Four of the company’s seven members, including artistic director Judith Smith, have physical disabilities and dance in wheelchairs. Since AXIS’s founding in 1987, its dancers have been exploding conventional notions of contemporary dance.
The Oakland Athletics will open their 2011 season Friday at the Coliseum with a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners. Despite an offseason loss Tuesday, many predict 2011 could be the team’s best season yet. But Oakland fans are still anxious that they may lose the A’s to San Jose, where owner Lew Wolff continues to try to move the team.
“Ful,” Egypt’s national dish made of mashed fava beans, will be served together with roasted goat at Friday night’s event at the Oakland Museum of California, when “April Ful’s Night” visitors will share a communal meal and talk about the latest developments in the Middle East.
Chickens, cilantro and compost – oh, my! These were just some of the options for guests at the San Francisco Flower and Garden show as they walked through the 5,000 square feet of edible gardens arranged by Oakland-based Star Apple Edible Gardening. The company displayed what a modern urban homestead can look like. Throughout the four days of the show, Leslie Bennett, one of the three co-owners spoke to garden growers. “For reasons hard to comprehend, not everyone is growing…
Twenty two-year-old spoken word artist Jasmine “Jazz” Hudson has been rocking Oakland’s mics since the eighth grade. From her first writer’s workshop at the West Oakland Library — where her father sent her to “curb that mouth of hers” — she has performed everywhere from the streets of Oakland and Richmond to the national stage, often with her three-year-old son Nassor at her side.