Tom Webb

About Tom Webb

Tom Webb was born and raised in Santa Rosa, CA. Since 1980 I have pursued graduate studies at the University of San Francisco (Theology, 1982), Duquesne University (Formative Spirituality 1994) and Catholic Theological Union (Pastoral Studies 2003). I have spent nearly 20 years living and working in the San Francisco Bay area as a Catholic high school teacher, lay pastoral associate and non-profit administrator. Additionally I have been involved in faith-based justice and peace and reconciliation efforts, including serving on the national council of Pax Christi USA. After spending nearly 13 years outside the Bay Area, I have now returned and serve on the staff of the Oakland Catholic Worker.

Oakland CROP walkers take one step at a time against hunger

April 29, 2015 Tom Webb

While Bay Area landlords, developers and real estate investors wildly cheer the latest housing boom, spiraling rents and housing prices, a small number of local residents responded Saturday morning to a more somber fact for

A Long Walk for Nuclear Disarmament

April 17, 2015 Tom Webb

The Chinese philosopher Lao Tze once observed, “[A] journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” On Sunday morning, March 22nd, in Oakland, Buddhist monk and peace activist Brother Senji Kanada along

Canticle Farms: Dancing on the Horizon

March 27, 2015 Tom Webb

[slideshow_deploy id=’8273′] When one hears the word “farm,” all sorts of images cross one’s mind. The idyllic world described in the childhood nursery rhyme “Old McDonald.” Small truck farms located on the margins of country

A Faith That Bears Good Fruit

February 13, 2015 Tom Webb

Josefina Lopez, the co-founder and proprietor of Corazon del Pueblo on East Oakland’s International Boulevard, may seem an unlikely social activist, Her mild demeanor and warmth hide a warrior with a passion for social

Healing from the scars and sin of racism is ongoing

January 28, 2015 Tom Webb

When Illinois Senator Barack Hussein Obama was elected president of the United States in 2008 to great fanfare, it was popularly believed the United States had exorcized the demons of racism from its national

The Spirit of MLK’s Dream Alive in East Oakland

January 20, 2015 Tom Webb

[slideshow_deploy id=’7803′] Celebrating the 86th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s birth, East Oakland residents of District 7 organized an annual street clean-up and tree-planting. More than 150 people from the neighborhood, East Oakland

The Lights of East Oakland

December 29, 2014 Tom Webb

In the darkest moments of people’s lives there appears to be an innate desire to search for hope. And evidence of that hope is often marked by reference to light. The month of December in

President’s Executive Order on Immigration: Voices from East Oakland

November 28, 2014 Tom Webb

Reactions to President Barack Obama’s Executive Order on immigration drew mixed responses from East Oakland residents. Known formally as the “Deferred Action for Parental Accountability and Expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival” programs, these actions

A Professorial Mayoral Campaign

November 13, 2014 Tom Webb

Exiting the elevator on the 6th Floor of the Oakland Central Suites to cover the mayoral campaign of Joe Tuman, I was surprised to see no signs nor hear sounds of a raucous election evening

Flowers of East Oakland

September 30, 2014 Tom Webb

If one judges by simple appearances, the neighborhoods which comprise East Oakland seem to teem with problems. The murder rate, though down from years past, is still unacceptably high. The frequency of crimes like assault,