Community
Death is an uncomfortable topic for millions of people. However, there is a regular meeting every month in Oakland at the Chapel of the Chimes to make the topic easier for people to discuss: the death café.
Watercolor illustrator Pamela Baron has set out to capture Oakland’s unique neighborhoods through her hand-painted images of people’s homes, a project she calls “The House Portrait Commission.”
After an announcement from the Bay Area News Group (BANG) on March 1, Oakland found itself on its way to becoming a city without a daily newspaper: In April, the Oakland Tribune will be folded into a new multi-city publication called the East Bay Times, along with the Contra Costa Times, the Daily Review that serves Hayward, and their Fremont counterpart, the Argus. “These changes are prompted by a desire to sharpen our content offerings and are supported by extensive…
Throughout the years, Oakland librarian Nina Lindsay shelved books, helped cardholders with reference questions, and aided children in interpreting their school assignments, sometimes with instructions from teachers that were somewhat lost in translation. As she helped other people, slowly but surely she was collecting something of her own: poems.
Adam Hubenig grew up in Quebec and Ontario, Canada, surrounded by lush forest, hidden brooks and rivers, with access to a secluded cabin where he could completely escape into nature. He moved to Oakland in 2001 for a technology job, but, more importantly, he wanted to be just a few hours a way from Yosemite National Park to rock climb, his favorite past-time. “Being three hours away from Yosemite allowed me to go rock climbing in the world’s best rock…
When Brittani Sensabaugh walks down the streets of East Oakland, she notices a combination of characteristics among those who live there—strength, struggles and power. It is those features she wants to capture in her photography. Sensabaugh, better known as “Britt Sense,” is a documentarian whose project “222ForgottenCities,” is currently exhibiting in New York. Last month, it exhibited in Oakland, where the project began. Through it, the young photographer showcases communities where people with “melanin,” as she puts it, live, to…
This week on Tales of Two Cities, we talk about hobbies! From contributor Lacy Roberts, we’ll hear about a dedicated group of fantasy role-players in Oakland. Reporter Libby Leyden introduces us to a local man who makes his living by harvesting driftwood. We’ll also hear about Oakland’s 57th Annual White Elephant Sale which took place last weekend. Matt Beagle is our host this week!
Any deaf visitors will be directed to DeafHope, which focuses specifically on providing services to victims of domestic violence in that community. “We just feel like there really is a need,” says Aracelia Aguilar, an empowerment director with DeafHope, speaking through a relay interpreter via phone. “And we can see how people are trying to survive. There’s such limited communication.”
DeafHope was founded in 2003 by Julie Rems-Smario along with eight other women, who recognized there was a need for specialized services. Previously, says Rems-Smario, also speaking through a relay interpreter, in domestic violence cases, it was often easier for survivors to stay in an abusive home where the abuser knew sign language than to access services available for sexual assault or domestic violence victims, which were designed for the hearing community.
Sunset Magazine hosted a party in mid February to celebrate its new move, new editor – in – chief, and new direction it planned to take editorially at its new Oakland location.