2012 East Oakland Project Blogs
A Reading List
One goal I always have for students is to have them read for pleasure. For the pure joy of reading. So often, in school, we drain every last ounce of possible enjoyment out of reading […]
Month: October 2012
2012 East Oakland Project Blogs
Native American Mental Health More Than A Dream
By Sabirah Mustafa Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes asked the question,”what happens to a dream deferred?” “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?,” goes his famous poem Harlem, “or does it explode?” […]
2012 East Oakland Project Blogs
‘Get a Straight Job’ & Stop Gang Banging!
I responded to the email Lam sent from Juvenile Hall within an hour of receiving it. That was more than 5 years ago, so I am trying to look back and remember what I was […]
2012 East Oakland Project Blogs
GUNS Part III: Protection 2012
Recently, two Oakland Voices writers offered very different views on whether owning guns is a bad idea for Oakland and people in general, or just common sense preparedness for life in a tough town. But it didn’t stop there. They read each other’s piece, and replied. […]
2012 East Oakland Project Blogs
GUNS Part IV: Still Strapped with Just My Wits
Recently, two Oakland Voices writers offered very different views on whether owning guns is a bad idea for Oakland and people in general, or just common sense preparedness for life in a tough town. But it didn’t stop there. They read each other’s piece, and replied. […]
2012 East Oakland Project Blogs
‘Lam Jail, Lam Jail’
Towards the end of the very last week, his mother came to see me unexpectedly. No one on our staff knew Vietnamese, and she spoke virtually no English. All she could really say was “Lam jail, Lam jail.” […]
2012 East Oakland Project Blogs
Cease Fire Redux: Oakland Relaunches Crime Plan, This Time with Broad Coalition
By Howard Dyckoff Oaklanders are marching to demand an end to gun violence. There have been youth rallies, peace marches and on-going night walks in the most violence-plagued areas of East Oakland. Many of these […]
2012 East Oakland Project Blogs
More Than a Tattoo: Body Art Honors Lost Loved Ones
By Sheila Blandon Tattoos are a trend among the teenagers I know. But these are not just regular tattoos. As more young people die on the streets in the Bay Area, it’s becoming common to […]
2012 East Oakland Project Blogs
Modern Day Manifest Destiny, or Just Plain Old Getting The Hell Out Of Dodge
In my East Oakland neighborhood, the sound of Crown Victoria cop cruisers can often be heard racing through the streets after shots are fired. Every few minutes, cars drive by with tremendous beat – Harley Davidsons with loud pipes – and all the gunshots. Antioch is starting to look better and better! […]
2012 East Oakland Project Blogs
VIDEO – An Oaktoberfest Poll: Obama’s Reelection Chances
President Obama believes in settling things over beer. So I went to one of Oakland’s biggest beer parties to settle a question that must be big on his mind right now: four more years, or one (term) and done? As the locally sourced, micro-brewed organic lager flowed at this year’s Oaktoberfest in Dimond, I polled a few revelers on Barack’s prospects for another go round in the Oval Office. […]