Culture
On an early October morning in 1990, Ralph Spinelli swung open the back door of a large restaurant as he shoved his other hand into the pocket of his lightweight windbreaker, pretending to hold a gun. He had eaten at the restaurant several times before and knew that the door was unlocked around that time for deliveries — it was his habit to notice the weaknesses of an establishment. The three workers in the restaurant stared at Spinelli in bewilderment…
For one night, dancers at Oakland’s Skyline High School transported the auditorium’s occupants to the shores of West Africa with rhythmic drumming that reverberated through the room. Dancers stomped and moved rapidly across the stage, their energy captivating their audience. Then came the mystical sounds of the Kura, a West African 21-string instrument, which when plucked makes sounds similar to those of a harp and a guitar. This was the 20th Annual Collage des Cultures Africaines (Collage of African Cultures),…
The hip-hop community is mourning the loss of the Jacka, 37, whose given name was Dominic Newton. For many, the death of the rapper also means the loss of a mentor to at-risk youth and young artists in the Bay Area.
The Oakland housing market has gotten so high-priced that some residents have decided to think creatively and chosen a shipping container as their home.
In her first appearance as Oakland’s mayor-elect, Libby Schaaf held a press conference wearing a striking red dress, a necklace of the Oakland tree, a bamboo earrings and riding — unforgettably — in a fire-snorting snail-shaped chariot. All of these were made in Oakland, and all of them had a story.
These local makers, and the idea of Oakland as a “maker city,” have been a central point in Schaaf’s run up to being sworn in as mayor, down to the transportation (an Oakland-made art car) she used at her victory press conference.
The fire-engine red sheath on our mayor-elect: it was Made in Oakland too, just as Libby Schaaf said. But the character who gave the dress its name would make for a slightly terrifying chief city executive.
The assembly of those bamboo trees on the new mayor’s earlobes was an Oakland production, start to finish — and one small product of the local “maker” culture that inspires the earrings’ designer.
The Jules Verne-ish, Dr. Doolittle-ish, 12’6 foot high, 18 foot long, 3000 pound, glow-in-the-dark, fire-blowing, motorized, iron snail, was built atop the skeleton of a 1966 VW Bug. But it came from a dream — literally.