Carlos Gonzalez, Author at Oakland Voices

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

Oakland Holidays

December 22, 2015 Carlos Gonzalez

In Oakland, California, I recall the early years of going with my father to choose a pine tree from the sales lot across the street from Lake Merritt. We would place it on the roof

Strangely Familiar, Oakland City Hall’s Public Safety Discourse

November 23, 2015 Carlos Gonzalez

Shakespearean? Is it that Art imitates Life or is it that life imitates art? Prior to arriving at the Public Safety committee meeting at Oakland City Hall, I envisioned a large and crowded chamber like

Changes in Oakland – a Philosophical View

November 3, 2015 Carlos Gonzalez

What is there to say about the latest changes in our city and whether those changes are affecting or how they will affect the East sector of Oakland? It’s been predicted that the changes will

La Estrellita – The Third Generation

October 26, 2015 Carlos Gonzalez

I interviewed Andrea Contreras, granddaughter of Isabela Macias, the matriarch and founder of the La Estrellita Cafe and Bar. Contreras described when it all first started in 1969. Initially her grandmother worked in various capacities

East Oakland Youth Development Center: A National Model

October 15, 2015 Carlos Gonzalez

East Oakland Youth Development Center’s (EOYDC) 30- year old facility was recently rebuilt and a grand reopening and ribbon cutting ceremony to commemorate the marvelous history and the new era dawning on the facility

Ella Baker Center for Human Rights

September 28, 2015 Carlos Gonzalez

San Francisco native, Zachary Norris, moved to East Oakland when he was about a week old. He grew up in Oakland but lived a relatively sheltered life until he began his undergraduate studies at Harvard.