College Bound Brotherhood 2.0 Graduation recognizes young Black men headed to college

African-American young men from throughout the San Francisco Bay Area who have graduated from high school and are heading to college in the fall will be recognized June 19 at a special graduation ceremony. The ceremony is hosted by College Bound Brotherhood 2.0, a growing network of organizations, funders, educational institutions and other stakeholders committed [...]

Oakland’s Actual Cafe to host SPAGGIA’s fundraiser, Bicycle Bingo, June 20

The great thing about games as fundraisers is that, even if you don’t win the game, you still win. The San Pablo Avenue Golden Gate Improvement Association (SPAGGIA) is holding just such a win-win opportunity at the Actual Café, 6334 San Pablo Avenue, Oakland on Thursday, June 20 at 7 p.m. Appropriate to the bike-loving [...]

Fashion Friday on the plaza in Oakland June 21 (Community Voices)

Popuphood Presents Fashion Friday on the Plaza, a slew of mobile fashion trucks and local wine folks to Frank Ogawa Plaza for a fun and FREE happy hour shopping event. 8 trucks, one night, all style. You’ll get to sip wine, peruse clothing, accessories, and housewares by local and national designers, get snapped at the [...]

Small Business & Community: A discussion hosted by Square

Last Wednesday evening, Twitter founder and Square CEO Jack Dorsey hosted a panel discussion focusing on the experience of being a small business in Oakland. The panel featured downtown business owners Angela Tsay of Oaklandish, Ari Serrano-Embree of Oakland Surf Club, Kate Ellen Murphy of Crown Nine, and Cortt Dunlap of Awaken Cafe. To begin the evening, Dorsey–who once lived [...]

Have you seen this? Watch Oakland’s Lake Merritt’s own “bee movie”

Permaculture enthusiast Nick Bellizzi recently completed an interesting short video project, entitled, “Flight of the Bees,” which is available here. From the point of view of being hot on the trail of bees as they go about their business, the camera follows these important pollinators around and through various flowers and plants. Bellizzi’s recently-posted video [...]

Oakland’s Budget – Worth Fighting For (Community Voices)

As the City puts together our budget, the resounding message I’ve been hearing from Oakland’s residents is that we love our town. I’m also hearing—and it should come as no surprise—that crime and City finances are the greatest challenges to maintaining the city we love. Oakland is worth fighting for. But how exactly should we [...]

Alameda County Closes $80 Million Deficit With Extra Leftover For Employees (Analysis)

ALAMEDA COUNTY//BUDGET | A proposal to close an $80 million budget shortfall in Alameda County includes cuts to the safety net and one-time only savings from previous budget years. County employee will also receive a cost-of-living increase for the first time in five years. The budget forecast was bolstered by increased sales tax revenues and a [...]

  Friends of Negro Spirituals: Angela Thomas, Sam Edwards, and Lyvonne Chrisman. Photo courtesy of Carolyn Hunt Peralta Hacienda Historical Park in Fruitvale, which is the  geological center of the city of Oakland, is celebrating Juneteenth this year with a blockbuster multi-cultural festival! There will be lots to see and do that day. Start by helping us cut the [...]

Plan Bay Area Detractors Object Once More As Approval Nears (Analysis)

PLAN BAY AREA | After three years and exactly 249 public meetings, a mash-up of regional  commission’s may approve “Plan Bay Area” next month, one of the most long-ranging local planning strategies in generations. Except, outside of a small group of hardy conservative activists, along with a smidgen of opponents across the political spectrum, the transportation, land-use and [...]

Oakland Social: An anti-fracking movement for the masses

I have a party to tell you about. It will include pizza and a movie screening and dancing, yes. And it will also be part of the statewide, national and global movement to ban fracking. By now you’ve probably heard of fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing — a process of drilling deep into the earth’s surface [...]