August 2015 - Oakland Voices

The Hills

August 28, 2015 Saleem Gilmore

Growing up in “Deep East” Oakland, we always heard about “the Hills” and how “they lived in the Hills and we lived in the Flats.” “They” were the proverbial other: affluent and white. Now, I

On My Block: E. 23rd and 23nd Avenue

August 25, 2015 Aqueila M. Lewis-Ross

[slideshow_deploy id=’8825′]It will be two years in November, just long enough to love where I live. It was a cold winter night when I first walked up the steps of the multi-family house. At

The smell of fresh baked bread follows me home

August 25, 2015 Rosalinda Hernandez

Waking up a Saturday morning in August and it’s already 70 degrees in East Oakland. It’s 9 in the morning and before it gets hotter, I grab my little Chihuahua, Night, and head east on

A Stroll through the Laurel, or is it the Upper Dimond?

August 25, 2015 Bill Joyce

I’ve always referred to my neighborhood as the Laurel district, but was surprised when a friend who has lived a block away for 30 years referred to it as the “Upper Dimond.” This is a

Top of Seminary/ Leona Heights Neighborhood

August 21, 2015 Sabah Williams

As I venture out and walk out my front door I see houses lining my street. Eight houses on each side. All are different in their own way, yet similar. There are three palm trees

The Dimond – We Have it All

August 21, 2015 Mustafa Solomon

I want to start out by saying that I live in the Dimond District of East Oakland. I’ve been a very fortunate person to live in this neighborhood. It has everything. As a grassroots activist, I

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

August 21, 2015 Angela Scott

I have come to realize living in East Oakland for the better part of 20 years, that to reside in a community of color one has to give up certain amnemities for others. Check

Looking forward to a new day every night

August 18, 2015 Randy Filio

Quinn Reedy is a young man in his early 20’s. He was one of the few lucky ones who survived the horrors of lymphoma cancer and is still here on earth to tell us about

Resiliency Passed Down

August 12, 2015 Angela Huapaya

Strength can come in many different forms. What does it mean to be resilient? How did you learn about it and where did you get it from? I believe that each generation has to overcome

A five-foot tall Warrior

August 11, 2015 Saleem Gilmore

Like many, my family migrated from Louisiana to Oakland in 1954. My mother, Linda Wilson, was 10-months-old and the baby of the family, as my Grandfather use to call her. She was a vibrant child