Rosie the Riveter was a US cultural icon, most commonly associated with the famous poster featuring a woman wearing a red bandanna, denim shirt, and one arm curled into a flexed muscle. Half a dozen of Richmond’s Rosies still visit the historic Shipyards, but no longer as welders—they’re volunteers for the Rosie the Riveter Trust Visitor Center.
It’s an early Thursday morning and a slow trickle of clients are coming through the doors of A Friendly Manor, a center for homeless women in West Oakland. The sign-up sheet for showers that day is almost full, and the women take their seats around the common room, their belongings stacked next to them and their eyes and bodies heavy from the previous night. The door to the closet, where they can get all kinds of personal toiletries including pads,…
On January 25, President Donald Trump signed an executive order denying federal funds to sanctuary cities, such as Oakland and Richmond. But Bay Area officials are pushing back and affirming the status of sanctuary cities.