Women

Nia Imara sheds light on Oakland through art

Born in East Oakland and raised in the Bay Area, Imara is an astronomer and a researcher at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, holding the prestigious title of a Harvard-MIT Future Faculty Leader Postdoctoral Fellow. Not only was she was the first African American woman to get a Ph.D. in astrophysics from UC Berkeley, but she is also a self-taught painter.

Girls Inc. empowers Oakland girls with self-defense

Leah Goldstein is bobbing and weaving her way through a dozen girls poised to punch. Their tiny fists are held high, ready to strike. “Show me your fighting stance,” Goldstein says. “See how powerful you are? That’s enough to knock someone out if you hit them in the right spot.” The girls lunge at an invisible opponent. Sharp breaths cut through a chorus of giggles. Goldstein is leading a group of middle school girls in a self-defense course. The class…