Culture
With a wag of her tail feather, Oakland East Bay Symphony violinist and stand-up comedian Dawn Harms wooed the crowd of elementary school students at Oakland Technical High School on October 20th as part of The Musical Time Machine performance by the Oakland East Bay Symphony’s annual Young People’s Concerts series, which is designed to engage children and teach them about music. The symphony offered six free shows at Oakland Tech and Allen Temple Baptist Church from October 20th – October 22nd.
Families, physicians and volunteers came out to Children’s Hospital this weekend in support of the third annual Radiotón Para Nuestros Niños, a fundraiser in partnership with Spanish radio station KRZZ 93.3 LA RAZA.
Katherine Sherwood, whose show He-Charmers opened last week at The Compound Gallery, located in the Golden Gate arts district in North Oakland, has included a number of her own angiograms in the mixed media pieces that comprise her collection. Fourteen years ago, Sherwood, a professor of art and disabilities studies at UC Berkeley, had a massive cerebral hemorrhage in the left side of her brain—a stroke—that almost took her life and left her mostly paralyzed on the right side of her body. She had to learn how to walk, talk, think and paint all over again.
There used to be grass here, but it didn’t last long―not after the bodies started multiplying and the make-shift community started growing. Now the space is covered in mud and heaps of hay. And a runaway pancake that slid off of someone’s blue-plastic plate. And a stray sock, and a boardwalk of planks. And feet. Hundreds of feet. This used to be Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, but not any more. Welcome to Occupy Oakland.
After police served Occupy Oakland campers an eviction notice last night, demonstrators took to the streets, marching in a circuit around Lake Merritt this morning, October 22. The march lasted about three hours and remained peaceful. It appeared to span a wide range of age, race, religious and political differences. When asked about the possibility of eviction, one man, who only gave his first name Ethan, said, “I’m not going to fight them, but I’m definitely not going to leave.”
One of the most diverse regions in the world, the Bay Area hosts a variety of community centers where newcomers who speak little English and know nothing of the local customs can attain information and meet others like themselves. Almost all of these groups serve immigrants from foreign countries, but one of the oldest such places was never meant to serve immigrants at all.
It’s been 11 days since Occupy Oakland took over Oakland’s Frank Ogawa Plaza, and now the tent city is bigger than ever and facing eviction. Over 550 people occupy Oakland’s plaza, even after they received an evacuation notice from the City Administrator’s Office on Thursday evening. Among the concerns listed on the notice are graffiti, vandalism to plaza infrastructure and “the historic tree,” and the disruption of the plaza for public use by groups who had to relocate events which had previously been scheduled at the plaza.
Mayor Jean Quan, along with fifth graders from Martin Luther King and Lincoln Elementary schools, launched the kickoff of the The Bay Area Science Festival, scheduled for October 29th to November 6th. The festival will include hands-on activities, lecturers, exhibits, experiments, and games for students.
In recent years, Oakland has emerged as a major entry point for Mongolian immigrants. Nine years after Oktyabri’s arrival, more than 1,000 are believed to live in Oakland’s downtown alone, with more living in surrounding neighborhoods.