Culture
The line to get into the Department of Motor Vehicles on Claremont Avenue trailed out of the front doors and down the front of the building on Wednesday morning at 9 am. It was sunny but chilly, and people huddled in their coats or rubbed their arms to keep warm. Dolores Jones got in line forty minutes before the DMV opened its doors. She knew it would be a long wait, but was surprised to still be standing outside at…
What’s your dream zine? Check out our interactive feature for ideas from Oakland residents hitting up the zine scene Friday night.
“Can I help you?” asks one of the McDonald’s cashiers. “421!” another employee shouts, calling out an order number. The McDonalds on 46th and Telegraph is a relatively quiet fast-food stop. People come in and out, but very few sit inside to eat. Underneath the McDonald’s large sign it reads, “over 70 billion served,” but the restaurant seems so empty inside. Between 9 and 10 a.m., only ten people walk inside, although the drive-through window has steady traffic. The majority…
The tall man in black sweatpants fidgets as he waits for the bus and talks into his cell phone. His voice is gravelly. “One, two. What it do?” he says, leaning against the pole on which a sign explains what buses come to the intersection of 40th Street and Telegraph Avenue, and at what time. “I just wanted to holler at you for a minute about your boy.” He walks in a circle and leans against the wall of the…
Pull up a wooden chair at the front counter of Mama’s Café Royal, close your eyes, and this is what you’ll hear: The bubbling rise and fall of dozens of conversations. The slam of the register. Staff calling hellos to familiar customers. The sizzle of fat in the kitchen. The swoosh and creak of swinging doors. And Etta James, occasionally eclipsed by crashing plates, singing “At Last.” It’s Wednesday morning, 9 a.m. The hump of the rush is nearly over,…
The Oakland Museum of California hosted a ‘sneak peak’ of its renovations that have been two years in the making. The museum is making efforts to get back to its roots as a ‘museum for the people.’
Oakland is one step closer to being chosen as the site for a future World Cup Series soccer match, that is, if the Federation Internationale de Football Association picks the US as a host country for either the 2018 or 2022 tournament. City officials have been vying for the title of US host city since June, and earlier this month they passed a resolution to continue bidding. Although Oakland has already survived a few stages of the bidding process, it…
John “JC” Cho sells grills on Broadway near 21st street, and is Oakland’s self-proclaimed “Gold Teeth Master.” But with gold at $1,100 an ounce, business is tough and he’s had to figure out how to deal with the extra expenses while still pleasing his customers.
Three Oaklanders were honored by the Ella Baker Center last night at its annual fundraiser for their work on social and environmental issues in the community.