Crime
For several months, the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights has urged the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to allocate 50 percent of their public safety funds to community organizations that assist people who have recently been released from incarceration. Their campaign is called “Jobs Not Jails.” Their effort paid off Tuesday, when the board passed a motion requesting of the allocation of 50 percent of its 2015-16 public safety budget towards re-entry programs and services. These funds come from…
Oakland residents gathered in Park Community Garden this weekend to commemorate the victims and survivors of violence against women. The event, which included the unveiling of several portraits, was organized by the anti-violence group Her Resilience and Mamacita’s Cafe. “Her Resilience is a testament to what can be done when women come together,” said Hazel Streete, the group’s director. She said the goal of the grassroots organization is to support women in the process of healing and dealing with trauma….
On an early October morning in 1990, Ralph Spinelli swung open the back door of a large restaurant as he shoved his other hand into the pocket of his lightweight windbreaker, pretending to hold a gun. He had eaten at the restaurant several times before and knew that the door was unlocked around that time for deliveries — it was his habit to notice the weaknesses of an establishment. The three workers in the restaurant stared at Spinelli in bewilderment…
The hip-hop community is mourning the loss of the Jacka, 37, whose given name was Dominic Newton. For many, the death of the rapper also means the loss of a mentor to at-risk youth and young artists in the Bay Area.
Frank Ogawa Plaza was filled with over 100 people wearing pink clothing or pink ribbons on Friday in support of ending violence against women. The rally was led by Bay Area Rising, an all-volunteer team dedicated to feminist principles and ending violence against women all over the world. A branch of the 1 Billion Rising campaign, the biggest mass action to end violence against women, Bay Area Rising has led a rally on February 13 and a celebration on February 14 for…
A young African American man enters the grocery store, hides behind a shelf, holding in his left hand what appears to be a gun. His hand is shaking. He is breathing heavily, bleeding from an injury, fighting his pain. The young man starts talking to himself. “I was born in jail, I grew up in jail,” he shouts. “I was born with an umbilical cord wrapped around my wrist, fluid in my lungs so I couldn’t say ***t. They should…
In Oakland, like many urban cities, violence tends to beget violence. But one program is attempting to use artistic expression to interrupt the cycle of bloodshed that pervades the city.
In one of her last organizing projects as mayor of Oakland, Jean Quan announced last week a new effort to stop the sexual exploitation of children along a stretch of East Oakland. The city began putting more police officers on the streets late last month in order to discourage pimps, as well as adult males seeking to buy sex, from preying on victims and minors at risk.
As many as 170 people were arrested in Oakland after protests erupted in the days following a grand jury decision in Missouri to not indict the officer responsible for the death of Michael Brown. Over three nights, arrests were made in connection with vandalism in the Temescal and downtown areas, as well as attempts to shut down local freeways.