Culture
Over 200 Oakland residents of all ages crowded onto the main floor of the Scottish Rite Center Friday night to kick off the two-day “Voices for Peace” festival with singing, dancing, and messages of nonviolence. The festival, a benefit for Oakland’s Urban Peace Movement, is part of a three-month “Summer of Peace” global celebration that features youth outreach programs, weekly online “telesummits” and multicultural events.
“Dedicated to the One I Love” is a classic love song, originally recorded in the 1950s by The “5” Royales and remade by numerous artists who wanted to put their own spin on it. On Sunday, Actual Café in Oakland decided to take the theme in another direction with a musical event called “Dedicated to the One I Love” during which customers could make a request or a dedication to friends and loved ones. Listeners were invited to bring in their favorite songs or choose from the musical collection of KALX’s DJ Poindexter, who hosted the event.
At the screening in Chinatown Wednesday night of the four documentaries made by 12 young men in the Warriors for Peace pilot project, the excitement of having produced and appearing in publicly distributed content seemed to fascinate the 70 or so young people who gathered for the premiere. Many showed a familiarity with the stories told, and moments of silence punctuated a few intense scenes.
On Wednesday, participants in the new Warriors for Peace program will present their video productions and narratives at a showcase to be held in Oakland, marking the end of 32 weeks of hands-on training in the production of short video narratives and interviewing skills that have enabled young men of color from the Bay Area to tell stories based on their life experiences.
Over 200 people gathered on 49th Street, just off of Telegraph Avenue, to sit down in the middle of the street and watch a documentary film screened on the side of the Bank of the West building. The weekly tradition in the summer, known as the Temescal Street Cinema, started its season last Thursday and has been a part of the community since 2008.
On Friday afternoon, community leaders and over 100 local residents gathered on the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Way and 32nd Street in Oakland to celebrate the life of slain rapper Tupac Shakur and to commemorate what would have been his 41st birthday.
All four B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls teams will compete in the league’s Double Header Coastal Clash bout on Saturday night at The Craneway Pavilion in Richmond. The first match will be between the Oakland Outlaws and the San Francisco ShEvil Dead, by the Richmond Wrecking Belles and Berkeley Resistance.
From Tuesday through Friday, Oliveto Café and Restaurant in Rockridge will offer four nights of notable seafood dishes for its 11th Annual Oceanic Dinner. The meals will include historic San Francisco seafood recipes like cioppino made from local fish and shellfish, Crab Louie, Hog Island Oyster Po’Boys and salt-roasted black sea bass with Romano beans. The focus on seafood is a part of the restaurant’s continued interest in expanding the use of locally sourced products. The large menu, with over 20 options, is transparent, listing where every fish was caught and how.
Since he was kid, Dvondre Woodards has gone by another name, Pooka. Given to him by his grandmother, the name stuck, be it with friends, family, and even teachers. It doesn’t have any meaning as far as 22-year-old Woodards knows. “It’s just unique. So I’m making my own definition of it,” he said.