2017-2018 Project Blogs
Sweet and Bitter
I’m leaving my $1400 – a-month two-bedroom rented house, locking my closet door; otherwise, known as my front door, with the leaky roof above it. I lock the two locks on my security door and […]
Our Neighbors
2017-2018 Project Blogs
Love letter to the Fruitvale
Kalil and I were in bed just last night and at about 8 p.m. we heard firecrackers outside our bedroom window. Several rounds of fire crackers-crackle, boom, swoosh. We just laughed hard, what are […]
2017-2018 Project Blogs
The Glenview District: The Past. The Present. What Is The Future?
The Glenview District is a neighborhood in East Oakland that is home to some of the city’s highest- rated restaurants and local businesses. It serves as a crown jewel on Park Boulevard that is within […]
2016 Project Blogs
Volunteer Artists Give Oakland’s Animal Shelter a Makeover
If you’re an animal lover, an animal shelter can be a depressing place. For decades, the reputation of Oakland’s mismanaged shelter was no exception. But as is often the case in Oakland, when a city […]
2016 Project Blogs
My Neighborhood
I live a block above MacArthur Ave., between Fruitvale Ave. and 35th St., so we aren’t really in either the Dimond or the Laurel Districts. I looked it up once and learned that it’s called […]
2016 Project Blogs
Two Spiritual Practices
What is a spiritual practice? Spirituality is a common thread that allows different orientations to thrive in 12-step programs that require a belief in a Higher Power, as a person understands. What is God or […]
2016 Project Blogs
A Client’s Choice Pantry in East Oakland Grocery Desert
I arrive around 10:15 a.m. on a recent Saturday at the Flunder Foundation Word of Mouth Food Pantry located at the City of Refuge United Church of Christ http://www.cityofrefugeucc.org/, which is in a mixed residential […]
2016 Project Blogs
Healthy Food Access within a One-Mile Radius: A Conversation with Shaniece Alexander of OFPC
Oakland Voices community correspondents Monica Scott Green and Sandra Tavel interviewed the director of Oakland Food Policy Council (OFPC), Shaniece Alexander, one rainy Saturday afternoon in beautiful downtown San Leandro. What followed was an inspiring, hopeful […]
2016 Project Blogs
Building A Healthy East Oakland, One Student At A Time
“What are you doing after you graduate?” – The most nerve-racking question for a high school senior. Like most youth in East Oakland, I will be a first generation college student in my family – and […]
2016 Project Blogs
Full circle
On a brisk Monday night, we roamed through the streets of Oakland in search of supplies to finish up a project for The Naming Gallery. Jonathan Bailey and I spent at least 30 minutes at […]