Trying to keep my little girl off the pole (Reflections)
Article by Roger Porter.
Last updated at Mon, 26 Dec at 12:42am.

I expose my 7-year-old daughter to as many things as I possibly can.

We go to the Museum of African Diaspora together, and already she has been to several readings and open mics. The girl paints, creates music, plays soccer and loves math.

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Teen Queen, Part 1: A fostering story (Community Voices)
Blog entry by Charlie Stephens.
Last updated at Sat, 1 Oct at 4:16am.

Around the age of 14, I decided I wanted to be a foster parent some day.

In Oregon, where I grew up, my grandma’s sister, who I spent a lot of time with, became a foster parent around that time, and across the country in New Jersey, my FTM uncle and his (male) partner were in the process of adopting four young children themselves.

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Teen Queen Part 2: From foster care to family unit (Community Voices)
Blog entry by Charlie Stephens.
Last updated at Fri, 30 Sep at 3:03am.

(Read "Teen Queen Part 1: A fostering story" here.)

To be honest, when my teen queen came to live with me it was both amazing and amazingly hard.

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Athletics vs. Education: The struggles of a father (Community Voices)
Blog entry by Roger Porter.
Last updated at Thu, 25 Aug at 12:38pm.

I’m such a bad parent.

No wait, I think that’s a little too harsh.

It’s not so much that I’m a bad parent as much as I’m a stereotypical one. Yeah, that sounds better. I’m a stereotypical black father who is actually present.

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Oakland Kids' Summer Resource Guide: Your One-Stop Shop for Summer Fun
Article by CB Smith-Dahl.
Last updated at Tue, 4 May at 12:34pm.

The teacher's strike didn't have Oakland parents scrambling for child care options, but this summer certainly will. Oakland has consistently cut funding for programs that educate and care for children when public schools are closed. For parents who have not yet finalized plans for their kids, we've put together a short list of where you can start looking.

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April 30: Boost Your Parenting Skills with the Bay Area Parent Leadership Action Network
Blog entry by Debi Mason.
Last updated at Mon, 26 Apr at 6:24am.

The mission of Bay Area PLAN (Parent Leadership Action Network) is to promote greater involvement in the complex and often intimidating educational process by training culturally and economically diverse parents to become better advocates for their children and to strengthen the parent organizations in their local schools.

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Parent, community groups fight uphill battle to reform public school food
Article by Sierra Filucci.
Last updated at Wed, 9 Dec at 3:06pm.

Tavon Frazier is a skinny 9-year-old squirming in front of his Styrofoam lunch tray. He's eaten most of his chicken taco and his friends, all wearing the navy polo shirts of East Oakland's Korematsu Discovery Academy, are wiggling around him, chewing on their flour tortillas and nibbling on baby carrots. Tavon didn't stop at the salad bar on his way to the cafeteria table today.

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