I am sitting at the Fat Lady Restaurant in Jack London Square with two friends. One friend grew up in a middle class family in Vallejo. Her mom is White and her dad is Black. The […]
Living in East Oakland is like having a close relationship with a problematic relative. You can call your auntie “crazy,” because she’s your auntie, but you can’t let anyone outside the family call her crazy. […]
Monday, May 1, 2017. May Day procession through the Fruitvale District on International Blvd at 29th Ave. Words matter and I’d like to see these events publicized as processions, rather than protests.
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 […]
“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. […]
Oakland Voices community correspondents Monica Scott Green and Sandra Tavel interviewed the director of Oakland Food Policy Council (OFPC), Shaniece Alexander, one rainy Saturday afternoon in beautiful downtown San Leandro. What followed was an inspiring, hopeful […]
Driving through East Oakland to get to Evergreen Cemetery is a colorful, noisy and energetic experience. Churches, corner stores, foot traffic and hectic driving punctuate the three-mile journey from my house in […]
It was 2004 in San Francisco’s Mission District. I was at the Lexington Club with my friends standing at the juke box. An attractive, tattooed, masculine bartender came up to me and handed me a […]
Jingletown is a small neighborhood in East Oakland adjacent to Alameda, next to the 880 Highway near the Fruitvale BART station. Local lore tells us this was once a working class, Portuguese neighborhood where people […]
Oakland Voices has a tradition of having a pizza party before heading out to collect stories on election night. My stomach jumped around and though the pizza looked lovely, I couldn’t eat. Which is odd […]
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