April 2017 - Oakland Voices

Dad Hip Hop

April 27, 2017 Tony Daquipa

“It wasn’t hard to be a Tupac fan when I was in high school,” says Oakland rapper, music producer, record label owner, and dad, Tahajiye Edwards. “But people thought you were a little strange when

What Will Happen to This Land?

April 26, 2017 Monica Green

“I’m leaving here todayYes, I’m going back home to stayYes, I’m walking to New Orleans” Fats Domino This is the first in a series about how one family is addressing inherited land. Taxes are current

Oakland Estuary’s Tidal Canal

April 24, 2017 Sandra Tavel

The atmosphere holds East Oakland close with an overcast sky. The maritime air has a chill to it. The wind and the noise of the traffic whip into my ears as I watch birds soar

San Leandro Creek Project Aims for Park and Bikeway in Deep East Oakland

April 20, 2017 Howard Dyckoff

Kayaking near Oakland’s airport? That could become reality if a series of projects led by Merritt College’s Environmental Management professors and students get traction with City and County agencies and grant requests get funded. The

My Salvation

April 13, 2017 Tony Daquipa

I stared deeply into his brown eyes, not because I was trying to avoid looking at the graphic carnage that had been inflicted upon the rest of his body, but because I was transfixed by

Middle Eastern Students Speak Out

April 10, 2017 Katharine Davies Samway

I must have passed by the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California in Oakland many times, but never noticed it. This center was the site for a Sanctuary Education conference held in Oakland on

Leaving the streets behind

April 10, 2017 Debora Gordon

Prospective Berkeley Law student Clarence Ford, 28, has a 360-degree perspective on the law most lawyers lack. He was first arrested for marijuana possession at 17. Ford’s rap sheet eventually included armed robbery — three

Finding Ease

April 4, 2017 Sandra Tavel

“No struggle. No strain. Be happy,” the clipped yet gentle voice of my yoga teacher rings in my ears as I make my best attempt to stay in an impossible pose, smile and breathe, simultaneously.