Culture
Tamales come in all shapes, flavors, and sizes. At Oakland’s Peralta Hacienda Historical Park, tamales — and how to make them — took center stage on a recent weekend.
Dance professor Julia Hughes is finishing a rehearsal in a big circle in the center of a studio. “Breathe in, breathe out,” she says. “Let’s leave all our bad energies and refresh by saying something we are thankful for!” This is the first time that her group, Tô Aí: We Are One People, will be performing as part of the Black Choreographers Festival, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary this February during the month dedicated to black history. The festival,…
Last Friday, online music company Bandcamp hosted the grand opening of a new record store and performance space in downtown Oakland. Local artists Sol Development, Queens D. Light, Jazz on the Sidewalk, and MJ’s Brass Boppers performed in front of a packed house. Attendees chatted away while browsing through the store’s diverse music selection. For the record store’s general manager, Sarah Sexton, this new space is all about bringing together musicians that “really showcased the diversity and range of the…
During his lecture at the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland on Friday night, Oakland rapper Jahi cited a rhyme from artist Erykah Badu: “I was born underwater With three dollars and six dimes You may laugh, but you did not do your math.” “Three dollars and six dimes is 360 degrees,” Jahi explained to more than 100 adults and children who filled the Megadome Theater to hear his lecture, “The Intersection between Hip-Hop Culture and Education.” He focused…
Afters 17 years in business, The popular Tabletop gaming store is closing its doors for good this Friday.
Built in memory of the 1991 Oakland Hills Fire, which claimed the lives of 25 people and destroyed over 37 hundred homes, the memorial features a fire-gutted home next to a rocky garden to educate the public about the importance of emergency preparedness in case of disasters. But signs of visitors over the years are visible. Both the exhibit and garden have been graffitied, and cigarette butts along with other common trash are strewn about. Click the audio piece to…
The Cathedral of Christ the Light stands on a big plaza in Oakland where people are sitting on benches and lawns, talking to each other, or drinking coffee between meetings. Students come to study under the sun. Children are running along the lake and near Children’s Fairyland on the other bank. Inside the cathedral, three people are praying in silence in front of a giant image of Christ. Some come and go to see the unique wooden architecture of the…
Washington Avenue in Point Richmond is an uphill road with a view to the Golden Gate. At a first glance, it seems to contain only big houses, but when looking closer, almost everywhere there is a tiny magical neighbour—a fairy house! Those little magical inhabitants not only bring happiness to the locals, but also attract visitors to the neighborhood. When you are fairy house hunting, you constantly listen to short stories and advice about where to look next from those…
The Evergreen Cemetery has nothing of the dark, morbid and ghostly atmosphere people tend to associate with graveyards or see in the movies. It is a sunlit, open space with tall palm trees and mountains in the background. It feels paradoxically full of life. At 11 am on a Monday, there are not a lot of people there. Other than me and a gardener, only one woman with bright pink neon shoes can be seen from a distance. She seems…