January 2016 - Oakland Voices

Black Lives Matter from Haiti to Oakland

January 28, 2016 Bill Joyce

As the clouds lifted and hundreds mustered at Frank Ogawa Plaza on Martin Luther King Day, a spirited group of about 75 supporters of Haiti gathered two blocks away at the Ronald Dellums Federal Building

Deeper causes of gun violence

January 25, 2016 Rosalinda Hernandez

My earliest memory of actually seeing a gun is probably the gun my dad owned when I was a kid. It was a beautiful gun, or at least as I recall it. It had

A close call

January 25, 2016 Carlos Gonzalez

The dude drew a weapon (hand gun) and made the ugliest grimace that one could imagine. And then he hollered, “Gimme yo sh*t!!” It was 18 minutes past midnight, on the 26th of December

Different realities regarding guns

January 25, 2016 Angela Scott

When talking about the subject of guns or gun control in this country, we have to understand that just because we live in the same country doesn’t mean we share the same reality. Intersectionality

Why is it necessary to debate the need for background checks?

January 25, 2016 Bill Joyce

The first time I saw a gun was in my grandmother’s attic. The attic was off limits, accessible only by stairs from a second floor bedroom. I had to have been with my father.

There has got to be something the government can do regarding guns

January 25, 2016 Randy Filio

I was about 7 when I had my first encounter with a gun. It was my grandpa’s and I found it somewhere around the living rom. As a young kid I was really exited

Gun violence: Stay ready

January 25, 2016 Saleem Gilmore

If you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready. I was born to a teenage mother who learned how to be a woman as she learned how to be a mother. My biological

Oakland Voices reflect on guns

January 25, 2016 Brenda Payton

Following President Barack Obama’s executive order addressing gun violence and regulations, the Oakland Voices correspondents wrote about their experiences with guns and their thoughts about government efforts to curb gun violence. Probably reflecting much of

Oakland teachers join the Makers Movement

January 20, 2016 Debora Gordon

A bicycle-powered blender. A hooked rug wolf portrait that lights up and maybe howls. A squirrel that registers the noise level in a classroom. These are a few of the creations invented by Oakland

A Community Discusses High Rents and Displacement

January 19, 2016 Sabah Williams

Oakland Voices hosted a forum on high rents and displacement in Oakland on December 8th, 2015 at the 81st Avenue Library. Aqueila Lewis, artist and Oakland Voices correspondent, opened the evening with a powerful spoken word