Culture
Misty Rose sat in concentration, threading, measuring, and cutting as she re-soled an old pair of Chuck Taylor Converse by hand. She was transforming the worn-out sneakers, which her niece had nearly thrown into the trash, into something brand new with a leather toe cap and chunky Vibram sole. Rose is a leatherworker and designer in Oakland. Her business, MzzTrzz, specializes in locally based shoemaking material and tool distribution for home crafters and artists. Rose demonstrated her sneaker refurbishing, or…
Dozens of local queer leaders, community members and allies gathered at the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center on a rainy Thursday afternoon to celebrate the unveiling of the city’s first permanent rainbow crosswalk and the second anniversary of the Lakeshore LGBTQ Cultural District. The crosswalk was installed on Lakeshore Avenue, outside the LGBTQ center, symbolizing Oakland’s commitment to LGBTQ inclusion and visibility, the center said in a news release. Instead of paint, it is made from thermoplastic materials to ensure durability…
Whoever broke into an off-site Oakland Museum storage facility earlier this month probably had no idea they were stealing historic artifacts, the museum said in a statement issued Friday. “There is no indication that the perpetrators specifically identified the facility as museum storage or sought particular artworks or artifacts. Instead, it appears they gained access and took items that were most easily available,” the statement said. No arrests have been made in what the museum is calling “a crime of…
For the past year, an exhibit at the Oakland Black Panther Party Museum has educated visitors about the community school model that was launched by the Panthers in 1973 and has since been incorporated into every Oakland Unified School District building. Recently, the exhibit’s reach was expanded, thanks to the efforts of a Madison Park Academy student and the nonprofit Ocelotl, which worked to translate the exhibit into Spanish. “The Black Panther Party, they brought communities together, and I feel…
“The Nutcracker” ballet has been performed at Christmastime for more than 100 years, but not quite the way the Oakland Ballet is staging it this weekend. “Graham Lustig’s The Nutcracker” isn’t set in the stuffy Victorian era, but in the looser early 20th century, when women had ditched their corsets and upped their hems, when they had sidestepped convention for free thinking. “A birth of intellectualism for women, when women were fighting for suffrage, riding bicycles and had a different…
In Oakland, as in many parts of the country, winter brings gloomy days, chilly temperatures and the beginning of tamale season, which kicks off unofficially on Thanksgiving. In Mexico the dish is popularly served during the month of December at holiday parties known as “Las Posadas.” In homes across Oakland, steam permeates out of big stainless steel pots this time of year, converting kitchens into saunas. Dew on walls will drip around depictions of “The Last Supper” overlooking dinner tables….
Sporting a pair of gray, paint-splattered, vintage jeans, a teal thermal shirt, two gold chains and a brown beanie, rapper and producer Ovrkast is dancing atop an old pick-up truck on Oakland’s Lakeshore Avenue as a sea of fans swirls around him. It’s a warm, early October night, just past 9 p.m., an hour when this snazzy strip of restaurants and vintage clothing stores is usually quiet. But tonight the rising rap star and East Oakland native has drawn a…
In a nook between the parish offices and the sanctuary, with its pearly white walls and stained glass windows, a line of worshippers has come to St. Elizabeth church in Fruitvale looking for answers to the unexpected and unexplainable. A woman, her son by her side, is weeping, hyperventilating, her head tilted down as she stands before the still figure of La Virgen de Guadalupe, or the Virgin Mary. Behind her, another woman waits patiently for her turn to feel…
Sugar skulls, costumed toddlers and the aroma of fresh-cooked tamales filled the Port of Oakland waterfront on Sunday, as Jack London Square hosted its annual Halloween and Día de los Muertos festival. The event kicked off a string of holiday events throughout the city that will continue through the weekend. The celebration drew a diverse crowd of all ages, including from the nearby farmers market. Professional chalk artists, a mariachi band, and Mexican folklórico dancers provided free entertainment and highlighted…