From porch, euphoric, the Wests cheer and hope

By MAGGIE FAZELI FARD Nov. 4 — When Clara West woke up this morning, she really wanted to wear blue jeans and a denim shirt, complete with fringe hanging off the sides and arms — her “protest clothes,” she calls them. A Berkeley baby, West says protest is in her blood; if there were ever…

Read More

Anxiety, candor as black students anticipate results

By MARTIN RICARD Nov. 4 — In their classrooms and offices, they might not have had the chance to say how they really felt about today’s historic election. But on Monday night, a group of black graduate students at UC Berkeley candidly spoke their minds in anticipation of possibly seeing an African-American ascend to the…

Read More

Ethiopians in Temescal see hope in Obama

By KRISTINE WONG  Photos by BAGASSI KOURA OCT. 7 — As one of the oldest Ethiopian restaurants in Oakland, Asmara is a popular gathering place for Ethiopians in Temescal’s business district. Tonight was no different, as the Telegraph Avenue restaurant and bar drew in a steady stream of Ethiopian men who watched the second Presidential…

Read More

Second debate not a game-changer, experts say

By MAGGIE FAZELI FARD, CLARE MAJOR and CHRISTINA SALERNO OCT. 7—The experts agree: the second presidential debate was a snoozer—and irrelevant. Three political experts analyzed the candidates’ performance after a debate-watching party sponsored by the Institute of Governmental Studies department at UC Berkeley, where a rather sedate crowd of about 140 students and professors gathered to watch the event.

Read More

Debate-watching parties draw jeers, applause

By OAKLAND NORTH STAFF Sept. 27—They cheered, they jeered and they rolled their eyes. Some even slurped “Obama-Mama” cocktails—a special concoction of coconut rum and pineapple juice—at one of the dozens of debate-watching parties held throughout Oakland and Berkeley on Friday night. Ardent supporters of Barack Obama or John McCain gathered to watch the season’s…

Read More

Oakland Democrats focus on local elections

By BAGASSI KOURA Sept. 22 — As the California Democratic Party works on playing a larger role in the battleground states for the presidential election, Bay Area Democrats opened Sunday a new Oakland campaign office that will focus on local races. “We want the Obama supporters to get involved for the different propositions that we support,…

Read More