Oakland North TV

Three ingredients travel across the country

A container of pasta. A 10-pound tube of ground turkey. A can of tomato sauce. It was a Monday in November at a central kitchen in East Oakland and dozens of cardboard boxes were being unloaded, revealing the three main ingredients for a pasta and meat-sauce dish that would be served to elementary school kids in the Oakland Unified School District that Thursday. In a matter of hours, stainless steel racks filled with clumps of pasta, each in open-faced cardboard…

Hooligan Toy Drive in Oakland

The Hooligans MC Christmas Toy Run had their 5th annual toy drive this afternoon in a parking lot on 51st Street and Telelgraph Avenue. The motorcycle group from Modesto comes to Oakland every year for the day to collect gifts and cash donations to make sure every patient at Children’s Hospital in Oakland has a gift for the holidays. In addition to the main event of the day—collecting toys—there was a well-attended barbecue and motorcycle enthusiasts from all over California…

Oakland Black Cowboy Association revives forgotten memories of the American West

Oakland resident Wilbert McAlister grew up watching Westerns at the movie theater in his rural hometown of Madera, Calif.  For years he reveled in the exploits of white heroes, but as an adult he began to ask himself why none of the actors resembled him or his ancestors, who were ranchers in Oklahoma.  As he explained to Oakland North, this question of identity led him to become president of the Oakland Black Cowboy Association, which keeps East Bay residents connected…