More than 90 girls of color from around the Bay Area gathered at the inaugural G.U.R.L.S. Rock Summit Saturday, eager to learn and to be a part of a larger community. While entering the summit, I noticed that many of the girls were chit-chatting amongst themselves.

Matú Feliciano is an elder. She knows it, claims it, understands it. The weight of it, the mass, the influence - the experience has power. 

Oakland  Pride is back!

Oakland, city of dreams.  If you doubted it, take a look at the new song and video from Hayward's Supreme Sketch, which exhibits all the dreamy, magical longing of a Langston Hughes in  NY.  Or a Jack Kerouac on the road.

Okay, we admit it. The last batch of Raider photos we put up weren't all that great.

To really understand the Scraper Bike movement, one must experience it in its element: the turfs of East Oakland.  “The Deep East,” as it’s known, is a seemingly endless stretch of inner city, which begins at the east end of Lake Merritt and continues all the way to San Leandro. Like the rest of Oakland, its population is diverse, yet there are more African Americans and Latinos than in other parts of the town.

It’s not uncommon to see graffiti ominously announcing “BB 187” on a wall over a crossed-out Border Brothers tag on a wall. Churches are as numerous as liquor stores. There are plenty of well-maintained single-family homes, along with not so-well-maintained housing projects and apartment complexes. Car culture is big; since homes are generally modest, a clean ride is a source of pride – 22” rims, and sometimes larger, are a status symbol. And shiny Japanese sports cars, big-body American muscle cars abound, as do vans, SUV’s and pick-up trucks.

Local videographer and long-time resident Nenna Joiner is working to open a sex-positive, woman-friendly sex shop in downtown Oakland, called

Dan Das Mann called me from his 40-foot school bus, on his way to the Black Rock desert, the location of the annual pilgrimage known as Burning Man - the art event of radical self-expression that this local artist approaches in earnest.

This participatory community waiting for him on what is known as "the playa," can grow to nearly 50,000 citizens. It's also what Das Man, co-founder of Big Art Studios of Oakland, calls his art school. For 2010's "Metropolis" theme, he and his partner Karen Cusolito have fantasy in mind.

Did you get a chance to meet your favorite Raider Friday during Back to Football: The Raider Nation Celebration in downtown Oakland?

If you missed it, check out these photos to see the fun that was had by all--this past weekend..and earlier.

On Saturday, Aug. 28 and 29, the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce will present its 23rd Annual Chinatown StreetFest, spanning multiple neighborhood blocks - from Franklin Street between Seventh and 11th streets, and Eighth and Ninth streets from Broadway to Harrison Street in Oakland.

There was a  dance party, a BBQ, a live DJ, a whole lotta dance workshops, live art by Estria, a panel discussion and both a showing of the new B-Girl documentary, "All The Ladies Say" and an appearance by two of the stars - Lady Champ and Aiko Shirakawa.

Kate Bornstein was the keynote speaker last weekend at the Femme2010 conference - Read the whole story...