Culture
The people of Oakland are set to celebrate their annual Pride festival on Sunday, September 11. This will be Oakland’s seventh annual Pride festival and third annual parade since the event returned in 2008. This year’s festival will have 60 contingents and floats representing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) groups marching in Sunday’s parade, which is 18 more than last year. The Pride committee is also hosting an exhibition game with the National Gay Basketball Association, which will be…
High school students filled the rooms at the East Oakland Youth Development Center over Labor Day weekend to learn about virtual reality technology. Among the 45 attendees was fourteen-year old Oakland-native Gabriel Sanchez, who participated on a team that was working to incorporate virtual reality (VR) technology in simulating the Oval Office. He said he signed up for another hackathon last year and enjoyed it so much that he decided to be a part of this one. The two-day event…
12 recent graduates of San Jose State University’s Master of Fine Arts program participated in the “Minted” exhibit, which opened at Pro Arts Gallery in downtown Oakland on September 2.
With the recent closure of Oakland’s 74-year-old Lions Center for the Blind, clients and staff alike are wondering how to move forward.
Launched on April 11 and to be held on the second Monday in every two months at Era Art Bar, the activity is welcome to all who want to try their hand at sketching.
On May 7, people gathered in Oakland’s Fruitvale district to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, commemorating the Mexican Army’s victory, despite the odds, against the French at the Battle in Puebla in 1862. The event, hosted by Oakland City Councilmember Noel Gallo (District 5) and the City of Oakland, began with a Mother’s Day mural dedication.
In the early 1980s, the Bay Area was at the center of thrash metal music, one of the many subgenres of heavy metal. During that decade, heavy metal became incredibly popular around the world; kids were growing their hair long, flashing the devil horn sign with their hands, and playing air guitar.
“Dogtown Redemption,” a documentary film shot over seven years in West Oakland, follows the lives of three local shopping cart recyclers.
Sury Martín and Paw Sei are part of a rapidly growing number of district parents who don’t natively speak English. According to OUSD’s fast facts website, during the 2014-2015 school year, 49.5 percent of students in the Oakland school district used a language other than English at home. Fifty native languages are spoken throughout the district.