2010 West Oakland Project Blogs

By Tyrese Johnson and Adimu Madyun OAKLAND, CA – Break, glide, pop, lock, backspin, suicide. These moves and more were on display last Friday at the All Styles Dance Battle in Jack London Square. The […]

By Jo Ann Bell OAKLAND, CA – The West Oakland Senior Center is not an especially big place. But the two-story building, located at a quiet intersection right across from deFremery Park, is a strong […]

By Diana Alonzo OAKLAND, CA – After a stroke in 2002 left Myra Chang unable to walk, she needed a home that was affordable and handicap-accessible. Chang, a San Francisco native, signed up for an […]

By Adimu Madyun OAKLAND, CA – It’s been nearly two decades since Ed Kikumoto proudly accepted his role as a Home Alert block captain in West Oakland. Kikumoto was 43 years old when he and […]

By Brian Beveridge OAKLAND, CA – While more than a thousand Oakland port trucks were replaced with taxpayer assistance or cleaned up to meet federal engine emission standards, companies serving the port say that non-compliant […]

By Tyrese Johnson OAKLAND, CA – James Harris likes his guns. The 39-year-old West Oakland resident owns a .45 caliber pistol, a .9mm handgun and a 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun. Harris’s father was a Marine who […]

Mom had a bad fall last year. She broke her shoulder and her wrist.  When she came home from the hospital, she was patched up in splints, wrappings, and a sling. Each morning I stepped […]

By Peace Harmony OAKLAND, CA – Nicci Butler is turning 40 years old this year, and the Oakland native has already picked her birthday wish. It’s a serious one. “I hope to live another decade […]

There is something about Momma and shoes. Not any shoes. Ruth’s shoes. She imagines everyone wants Ruth’s shoes. She thinks everybody just might be trying to wear them. One night when I was getting her […]