Community
On February 27, the Supreme Court overturned a 2013 ruling that allowed immigrants who have been detained for at least six months the right to periodic bond hearings. The decision is concerning for many immigrant advocates, including Oakland-based nonprofit Asian Prisoner Support Committee (APSC). The organization provides “culturally competent” support and services to Asian Pacific Islander prisoners and the formerly incarcerated population. They’re worried that without the right to a bond hearing, many will remain detained indefinitely, including those seeking…
Oakland Technical High School has had a library with no librarian for years. Recently, a group of students turned a class assignment about social justice into a new group, which they called Students for Library Improvement.
Every sunny weekend since mid-January, volunteers have been building houses for the unsheltered residents of a local homeless encampment called The Village. Despite construction being pushed back due to rain, they are almost ready to move their first resident into a home. The Village is an activist-led group that’s been working to provide transitional housing to the homeless by building tiny homes on a plot of land at East 12th Street and 23rd Avenue, under a highway overpass in Oakland….
A number of community groups spoke at Tuesday’s Oakland City Council meeting in support of a resolution calling on the federal government to extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to immigrants, and to create a path to permanent residency for those protected by the program that was recently eliminated by the Trump administration. TPS provides temporary residency to immigrants from countries affected by war or natural disasters. Oakland community members spoke largely in favor of residency protections for Haitian and El…
On March 10, students from seven schools in the Oakland Unified School District participated in the 2018 Prescott Theater Circus showcase. The circus partnered with the Oakland Spirit Orchestra and the Museum of the African Diaspora to create the show entitled “Uplift.”
“Tale of Two Cities” is back! On this episode we bring you stories about the different ways life brings us love and heartache. Tune in to hear stories about: how two Bay Area gay couples found each other, a young poet who writes love letters to his city and how Oakland Raiders fans are dealing with their team leaving them…again. You’ll also hear from Adizah Eghan, producer at the Snap Judgement podcast, about how they covered every murder of 2017 in Oakland.
On Thursday morning, about 20 kindergarteners gathered together in front of the stage at the auditorium in Bridges Academy at Melrose and cried, “I’m going to college!” Anita Iverson-Comelo, the principal of the school, introduced the kids to the audience saying, “This is the class of 2033,” suggesting that the kids are going to graduate college in that year. “Please give them a big hand!” the principal added as the audience applauded. The kids were participating in the “Kindergarten to…
Oakland High School is the first school within the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) to have all their students enrolled in what they call “wall to wall” college preparation programs. School staff implemented them in the hopes of achieving higher retention rates between 10th and 11th grade, and higher graduation rates. These college preparation programs include Advance Via Individual Determination (AVID), the Environmental Science Academy (ESA), Visual Arts and Academics Magnet Program (VAAMP), Project Lead the Way (PLW), and the…
Tensions ran high at the BART Police Citizen Review Board (BPCRB) meeting on Monday as the family of a slain Oakland man attended to protest the involved BART Police officer’s return to active duty. On January 3, Shaleem Tindle died after being shot outside of the West Oakland BART station by BART Police Officer Joseph Mateu, according to a statement from the Oakland Police Department. According to news reports, the officer heard gunshots before running to the scene, where he…