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Jun 23, 2021
Future Is Now
Lou Fancher visits Oakland's Isis Asare and her Sistah Scifi online bookstore which focuses on Black speculative fiction through an Afrofuturistic lens. "Increasing interest in readers seeking sci-fi specifically has been propelled by not only the Black Lives Matter social justice movement, but also by the genre’s elevation through scholarly attention," Asare said.
May 26, 2021
Oaklash is Back
In this week's cover story, Chelsea Kurnick celebrates the Oaklash Drag Festival which returns Memorial Day Weekend for its fourth year. “That’s a beautiful thing,” said Oaklash co-creator, Mama Celeste.
Feb 3, 2021
Heart & Soul
Near the start of Disney/Pixar's latest animated film Soul, the character Ray Gardner encourages his son to appreciate live music: "Black improvisational music," he says. "It's one of our great contributions to American culture. At least give it...
Jan 27, 2021
Oakland Is Our Turf
Did you ever expect, during the pandemic lockdown, to miss the crushing inhumanity of riding on BART at rush hour? Didn't think so—unless over the past few months you've been the lonely sole member of a pod...
Dec 16, 2020
Finding Place, Holding Court
A woman sits, regal and poised like a goddess or a noble, Deep South "church lady" astride a truck-bed-length marble gravestone in the Morningstar Cemetery in Mossville, Louisiana. Captured in one of several photographs by Berkeley-based artist...
Nov 25, 2020
Gifts from Oaklandish give back
While the pandemic will force the reinvention of many holiday traditions this year, gift-giving will persist. But before you start speed-scrolling Amazon’s virtual aisles for perfect presents, take a socially-distanced breath and consider this proposition from Oaklandish,...
Oct 29, 2020
Day of the Dead Lives On In Fruitvale
Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood was looking forward to 2020’s Día de los Muertos Festival, celebrating its 25th anniversary. The music, the dancing, the food, the mercados bring everyone together in a dynamic party atmosphere.
Día de los Muertos, which...