Stories highlighting the resilience of Oakland families.
2017-2018 Project Blogs
Family resilience
2017-2018 Project Blogs
A Dark Storm
The Academy Awards were on and she had just put me to bed. My mom flopped down onto the couch, exhausted from the few days she had been with me alone since my dad had […]
2016 Project Blogs
2016 Project Blogs
Two Spiritual Practices
What is a spiritual practice? Spirituality is a common thread that allows different orientations to thrive in 12-step programs that require a belief in a Higher Power, as a person understands. What is God or […]
2016 Project Blogs
A Children’s Book Desert in the Fruitvale? Not Quite
If you walk up and down Piedmont Avenue in Oakland, you’ll pass by several independent bookstores, gift shops, and children’s clothing shops, all of which stock lots of books for children. In contrast, if you […]
2016 Project Blogs
Sidewalk Memorials: A Softer Side of Oakland
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. […]
2016 Project Blogs
What Will Happen to This Land?
“I’m leaving here today Yes, I’m going back home to stay Yes, I’m walking to New Orleans” Fats Domino This is the first in a series about how one family is addressing inherited land. Taxes […]
2016 Project Blogs
One Courageous Immigration Organizer
Imagine you’re 29. A Latina. You came to the U.S. with your family when you were 15. You’re undocumented, but in 2016, you got DACA status (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). What would you do […]
2016 Project Blogs
Oakland Sanctuary Posadas
Editor’s Note: This story was written during the Christmas season. Given the recent proposed immigration bans and the escalation of deportations of undocumented people, it is sadly more relevant than ever. It is December 23 […]
2016 Project Blogs
The Midas Touch
The typical immigrant narrative tends to showcase the struggle more than success. But what if there was a way or one person who could balance this type of narrative? I am positive that there […]