Culture
This Kuro mame (black beans) recipe comes from a program the Buddhist Church of Oakland (BCO) held 12 years ago, highlighting food for the Oshogatsu (New Year’s) celebration. New Year’s is an important time in Japanese culture. Many of the foods served on this occasion are symbolic and come from the Buddhist tradition. Mame translates to “beans,” but also means “health.” When the black beans are combined with chestnuts (kuri, symbolizing success) and kelp (kombu, symbolizing joy), the dish symbolizes…
As the decade draws to a close, we canvassed North Oakland this week to find what people thought were the most important events of the last 10 years.
Many girls in multicultural, multiracial Oakland have grown up in the last several decades watching Disney heroines who don’t look like them. It’s not just that these characters are mermaids, fairies and princesses. It’s also that they are, with a handful of exceptions, white.
UC Berkeley unleashed 18 reporters on North Oakland back in late August. Here are some of the stories they found in the last four months.
The Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir performed its annual Christmas concert on December 23 at the 12th Street City Center.
Fifty lucky Oakland children on International Boulevard received some early presents yesterday morning from an Oakland police officer dressed as Father Christmas. Instead of eight tiny reindeer leading the way, this Chris Cringle rode an OPD Harley-Davidson.
This fall, Temescal martial arts studio Pacific Ring Sports hosted “Showdown in Oakland,” an amateur boxing tournament. This audioslide introduces two local fighters, C.J. and Shanti, working hard to try to dominate their bouts.
The Buddhist Church of Oakland is one of the last remaining physical reminders of the Japanese-American community that thrived in Oakland’s Chinatown before World War II.
Temescal residents voice their artistic opinions about a mural project intended to transform the 52nd Street underpass between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Shattuck Avenue.