Art and performances affirming positive social change and the activists who work for it will be presented Saturday at Studio One in Oakland in “Transformative Visions.”

Oakland Unified School District Superintendent Tony Smith will make the case for the urgent need to improve education, in the context of more budget cuts on already diminished resources, at a community meeting Thursday hosted by Great Oakland Public Schools.

The rally for education at Fruitvale BART Thursday morning didn't feature politicians or talking heads. Teachers were present but not the focal point. It was instead the students of East Oakland schools who motivated the crowd and made their case. Their main message? "We are the future, invest in us."

While at first it might be easy to confuse this poet's name with his famous cinema counterpart, but after reading James Cagney's work, the distinct passion of his subject matter and rhythm of his cadences

I have heard and saw with my own eyes that the march to the freeway was led by a group of mostly white anarchists (black bloc). Why are people that don't have any link to Oakland communities leading people in actions, the consequences of which many, especially young students of color, were not made aware?

Coffee and enthusiasm flowed at Emerson Elementary School in north Oakland on Saturday morning where District 1 parents, teachers and educators brainstormed how to improve their schools.

Related Oakland Local coverage:

• March with us (opinion)
• Education rallies overview
• Freeway takeover, 150 arrested in downtown Oakland
• Fruitvale march to City Hall
• Oakland Tech represents on March 4
• March 4 arrests
• Who paid the price?
• March 4 Education Day of Action flickr photo set
• March 4 Day of Action photographs by Tony Nguyen
• Photos by Olivia Shavies

At the party after the opening of Chinaka Hodge’s play Mirrors in Every Corner at Intersection for the Arts, Dwight Huntsman, one of the stars, said he enjoyed playing a char

More photos from the middle of the action in Oakland,by photographer Olivia Shavies-

With early morning rallies, a district-wide fire drill and sporadic walkouts, Oakland Technical High School students joined protestors throughout California to demand more money for education.

More than 150 people were arrested Thursday during a rally to support more money for education.

Tomorrow many of us will march and rally and walk out (if we are still teaching or can get into a class) for the cause of public education.

California was famous for its record of forward thinking about higher education. In 1960, the state passed a Master Plan for Higher Education, which promised a nearly free college education for any student who could make the grades.