Culture

Volunteers transform slab of concrete in East Oakland into playground

On Friday, parents, kids, and community leaders came out to Youth Uprising, a youth center in East Oakland, to help build a community playground.  In six hours, the play area at Youth Uprising transformed from a slab of concrete to a playground that includes swings, monkey bars and artwork made by the kids who volunteered. “If you would have showed up here at 7:00 this morning, you would have seen an empty lot with a bunch of concrete,” said Manuel…

The Nightcap: Halloween at The Avenue

The Nightcap is a series that features a favorite Oakland drinking establishment every Friday afternoon. This week, it’s The Avenue, a Temescal dive bar that pretty much turns into a haunted house every Halloween.

Students at Oakland International High School describe their immigration experiences with graphic art

Thi Bui has just begun her fifth year teaching at OHIS. During her time here she has worn several hats. She taught social studies for one year, then art, reading and literacy for another; for the past two years she’s been the art and media teacher. As she begins her third year teaching a combined comic book and oral history curriculum, she finds she is doing a little bit of everything.

Occupy Oakland, Wed night in the streets, video footage just shot

Reporters from Oakland North and Richmond Confidential are shooting cellphone videos Wednesday evening as the Occupy Oakland protests move noisily into the streets, with BART and city police trying to corral their movements and keep them out of downtown BART stations. This raw footage was captured between 9 and 11:00 PM.

The Oakland Museum of California hosts 17th annual Day of the Dead celebrations

The Oakland Museum of California was adorned with vibrant colors, packed with people wearing morbid costumes and smelled like fresh marigolds on Sunday afternoon for the museum’s 17th annual Dia de Muertos community celebration and exhibition.

Kids and adults with painted faces wandered around the museum’s lawn, buying handmade tortillas and jewelry, and dancing to Mexican music as they celebrated Día de Muertos, Spanish for “day of the dead.” The theme for the exhibition, which started October 12, is “Love & Loss.” The Dia de Muertos holiday is traditionally celebrated November 1 and 2.