Community
In some cities, the annual United Nations’ International Day of Peace on September 21, is marked by large vigils and even ceasefires. For Oakland, which officially celebrated Peace Day for the first time this week, the occasion was a smaller and more musical affair.
McCullum Youth Court, a student-run justice system in Oakland for first-time middle and high school-age offenders, turns 17 this Friday. That makes it older than many of the young people who serve as its lawyers, bailiffs, and clerks. But instead of a birthday party, Youth Court organizers are scrambling to invite as many people as possible to a different type of event—a fundraiser.
This weekend, Oakland movie theaters will host body slamming Bolivian women, an afro-sporting high school funk band, and break dancing. It’s all part of the Oakland Underground Film Festival, opening Thursday night at the Grand Lake Theater.
Oaklanders got down to live music this weekend at the first installment of this fall’s “Sundays in the Redwoods” concert series at Woodminster Amphitheater in Joaquin Miller Park.
Mitchell, a senior at Oakland Technical High School, is just getting started in her role as the 2010-2011 All-City Council student representative on the Oakland school board. Unlike her adult counterparts, however, Mitchell has no official voting power on the school board, a fact that she considers a minor detail in her mission to make sure the voice of the district’s students is heard.
The gloomy weather and a short-lived drizzle couldn’t deter the eaters and drinkers on Sunday afternoon as they sampled gourmet delicacies, fine wines and desserts on the rooftop of the Kaiser Center in Downtown Oakland for the 28th annual “A Taste of California—Up on the Roof.”
For those who can’t decide between a Sunday morning bike ride and dutifully going to church, Manifesto Bicycles has been helping Oakland cyclists have it both ways. Since 2008, the locally owned bike shop on 40th Street has been hosting “Bike Church,” an irregular Sunday morning gathering at Manifesto, where attendees can listen to music, enjoy street food and catch up with one another.
The program began in order to teach local kids radio skills, went national, started winning major radio journalism awards, and just sponsored an open house in its new downtown Oakland headquarters to promote “Drop That Knowledge”–a book.
Trees, plants, benches and grass (or something like it) popped up around Oakland on Friday on stretches of concrete usually reserved for cars.