Oakland Voices graduation ceremony honors 2024 class, alumni

Despite warnings of torrential rain, a flood of folks braved the weather on Friday, November 22 to celebrate the graduates of the 2024 class of Oakland Voices’ Community Journalism Academy. 

Family, friends, and alumni gathered at Oakstop on Broadway to the sounds of smooth jazz, amidst paintings of Grace Jones, Frida Kahlo, Sade, Kobe Bryant and two stretched prints of the late Nipsey Hussle. While Nipsey set words to music to “Hustle and Motivate,” Oakland Voices provides a platform for stories of the Town’s residents, history, and current state. 

Like any other ceremony, ritual took place. Rasheed Shabazz, director of Oakland Voices, began with everyone taking three collective breaths in and out – the same way he begins his classes. 

Honoring the past

At 6:17 p.m., Shabazz led a moment of silence for Robert C. Maynard and Baba Gerald Green. Maynard, born June 17, 1937, previously owned the Oakland Tribune newspaper and co-founded the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education. Green graduated from Oakland Voices in 2016. He died on June 17. 

Oakland Voices is a program of the Maynard Institute. 

Oakland Voices Co-Founder Martin G. Reynolds, co-executive director of the Maynard Institute, said the “lack of reflective representation” in journalism motivated the creation of the program. Reynolds said that the “class problem in journalism,” or journalists not reflecting the economic diversity of society, has contributed to the erosion of trust in the media. Programs, for and by community, like Oakland Voices, are one way to build these relations, he said. 

Oakland Voices encourages its participants to interact with their community and address issues that matter to their neighbors and highlight their stories. One of the ways students selected their stories is considering the “Social determinants of Health” and their impact on people in Oakland. These include: Education Access & Quality, Health Care Access & Quality, Neighborhood/Environment, Social and Community Context, and Economic Stability. Over six months, participants learn journalism ethics, tenets, and storytelling and publish stories for the Oakland Voices website. 

Oakland Voices Class of 2024

The 2024 class come from various neighborhoods in Oakland and beyond. The 2024 graduates included: Alma Collins Dumas, Kwajo Opoku Ware, Marian Johnson, Moamar Rafe, MuHaijir Boyle Hassan, Nikia Durgin, Sydney Lester, and Yasamin Hatefi. 

Each graduate gave a brief speech and received a certificate of completion. 

Alma Collins Dumas, a high school student at Bishop O’Dowd, said that Oakland Voices encouraged “conversation, connection, and kindness” and motivated her to “spread reliable information, even when folks in power do not.” She’s written about unhoused residents, teens coping with stress, and her experience voting for the first time.

Kwajo Opoku Ware, a Ghost Town resident, used what he learned in Oakland Voices for his own platform, the “Black Male Journal,” which focuses on wellness and justice advocacy for Black men. He’s written about lead contamination in Oakland schools and the cacophony of critiques targeting Black men following VP Kamala Harris’ presidential inauguration.

Marian Johnson, an East Oakland resident, shared how her family’s roots go back to Russell City (now Hayward) before they were pushed out. Marian wants to contribute to the “legacy of telling truth.” She interviewed her sister Carolyn “CJ” Johnson, who also attended the event, and also wrote about a new concert series in East Oakland.

Moamar Rafe, who grew up in Egypt, attended Cairo University, and worked for Egyptian TV, wants to help Oakland’s problems. His work focused on some of Oakland’s unhoused population.

MuHajir Hassan arrived from graduation after participating in the burial of renowned and respected Oakland rapper Saafir. “May he rest in inspiration,” Hassan said. Hassan is from East Oakland and wants to focus on human rights. He interviewed State Senate candidate Jovanka Beckles as well as an Oakland resident about an street naming honoring Bruce Lee.

Nikia Durgin, a mother and creative who is also known as the rap star, Qing Qi, had interests centered around anti-Blackness and policy. For Oakland Voices, she wrote about Oakland’s nightlife scene and interviewed her son.

Yasamin Hatefi, a sociology and public policy student at UC Berkeley, said she learned about and investigative journalism and governmental relations. She wrote about the City of Oakland’s budget as well as the impacts of vaping.

One graduate, Sydney Lester, did not attend. 

Thirty people applied to join the 2024 class; 16 were invited to join in May. Eight graduated.

Class of 2021 Graduate

The final honoree and speaker was Kristal Raheem, part of the virtual 2021 class that did not have an in-person graduation due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Raheem said Oakland Voices helped her find her voice after leaving her Ph.D. program in 2019, providing an anchor she previously found in education but now shared with the community. Oakland Voices has broadened the audience of her work. 

“My people can reach my work now,” Raheem said. Academia, she said, felt like it was locked away in the “Ivory Tower.” Since graduating, she’s written news stories about efforts to protect Black women from sexual trafficking, health stories about healing for sexual assault survivors, and an arts story about a photo exhibition focused on Black fathers. Her recent Oakland Voices story about the Black Tulip movement has also been published in the Oakland Post, SF Bay View, and on KALW.

Acknowledging alumni voices

Oakland Voices also honored other contributors. 

Brandy Collins, a 2019 alumna and a 2023 Maynard 200 Fellow, was recognized for ongoing contributions to Oakland Voices. Her work has been published in multiple regional publications since she graduated from Oakland Voices.  

Former Oakland Voices Co-Director Momo Chang was also honored for her work shepherding the alumni program during the pandemic’s early stages. She is now a senior editor at Civil Eats. When Chang received her certificate, she received a standing ovation. 

The keynote speaker for the evening was Oakland’s Poet Laureate Dr. Ayodele Nzinga, an alumna of Oakland Voices’ 2019 class, also known as “Wordslanger.”

“These are important times,” Nzinga said, in which the news can sometimes be “bought-and-paid-for opinion.” She emphasized the importance of each correspondent  being a “reliable narrator” using the “power of facts.” She added that the news media should provide “reliable information for us to make decisions about our health.” 

As the event closed, attendees took photos with each other, enjoyed memorable food from Blackberry Soul Fine Catering, listened to the soulful sounds of Al Green, and continued to make connections and share resources with each other. 

Local journalism inspiring, necessary

Reynolds, who was also recognized for co-founding the program in 2010, called the graduation “inspiring.” He appreciated that community correspondents understood their importance in contributing to a more nuanced narrative of Oakland. 

“It also speaks to the essential role that local journalism plays and why it pays to support it,” Reynolds told Oakland Voices. “Whether it be folks in the community seeing value and therefore donating to keep it going, or regional foundations understanding how informed communities make healthier more functional communities.” 

Oakland Voices has been supported by the California Endowment since 2010. More recently, the Langeloth Foundation and the Akonadi Foundation have supported the program. Oakland Voices launched its first end of year campaign in November.

In 2025, Oakland Voices will celebrate its 15th year. Over the next year, the program will focus on community engagement and working with the alumni network to contribute to and grow the program. The next Community Journalism Academy is planned for 2026; rain or shine.

Disclosure: Tanna Samone graduated from the 2023 class of Oakland Voices.

Editor’s note: We updated this story on November 27 to include a video recap of the graduation, created by Caron Creighton.