Culture
Jay runs a non-profit in Oakland called Hip Hop for Change. His goal is to create a more positive image of hip hop that does not reinforce the stereotypical images perpetuated by the mainstream music industry. “We’re trying to put our real image out there, so people can see our real culture, instead of making stereotypical tropes of our culture to entertain themselves with,” Jay said. “Those tropes that criminalize our black and brown youth.”
Revamping an ice cream truck into a mobile tea business is just one part of Molly Gaylord and Karina Vlastnik’s vision for Steep Tea Company, based in West Oakland. They are renovating the “Steep Jeep,” a 1967 Jeep named Belle, so they can use it to serve hot tea, iced tea, tea lattes, tea soda, tea flavored soft-serve ice cream, as well as loose tea to take home. Fueled by a Kickstarter campaign, Gaylord and Vlastnik reached their fundraising goal…
Wearing a shirt with ruffles running down the front and a bright golden bowtie, children’s author James Kennedy bounced up from a chair and briefly introduced a longtime children’s favorite, My Father’s Dragon, before pressing a key on his computer that started a video on the projector screen. Kennedy was hosting his annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival in Oakland on Saturday, showing short clips filmed by children and teenagers based on Newbery Medal-winning books. Between his wardrobe choices and excited…
Mike Saidi has never received flowers from his wife on Valentine’s Day, but he would not mind it if he did. After all, Valentine’s Day is his favorite holiday and flowers are his favorite plants. “I get very excited about the holiday,” he said. “Every minute of it counts to do things and do it the best way you know it.” Saidi, originally from Iran, is the owner of Helen’s Flower Shop in Oakland. This Valentine’s Day is his 30th…
90 – year old Genova Deli Oakland could close its doors for the last time due to rent disputes with its landlord.
Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra will hold a winter concert on February 21 at the San Leandro High School Performing Arts Center.
Frank Ogawa Plaza hosted Oakland’s first design fair on Super Bowl weekend. The organizers of the event, Our City, chose local artists to center their designs around the theme of play. The designs ranged from an outdoor living room installed with picture frames that allowed passersby to upload selfies; an adult-sized board of Mancala, a counting and strategy game; and an LED-lit basketball hoop. The fair also featured dance classes that caught the attention of Oaklanders clocking off from work…
Oakland North caught up with Raiders fans at Super Bowl City in Downtown San Francisco to ask, “Who will you be rooting for this Sunday?”