General

Merritt College original site in Oakland

The BART train whirrs by, leaving MacArthur station, as cars exit the freeway. Nobody notices the bit of history below. Under the train tracks at the speedway intersection of the flatlands at Martin Luther King Jr. Way and 58th Street in North Oakland is a salmon-colored building spanning the length of five blocks. It is the original site of Merritt College, where the Black Panthers met for the first time. Prominent leaders like Bobby Seale and Huey Newton met while…

Oakland City Hall

Oakland’s City Hall sticks out like a sore thumb. The rectangular building, a beautiful pearl, is surrounded by the sounds of construction in a gentrifying city. Pigeons fly above me as the nearby construction sounds pause. I hear their wings flapping against their bodies. On the amphitheater steps outside of city hall, the circle is divided in two: a shady part and a part in the sun. The shade comes from the official Oakland oak tree. This is the plaza…

Oakstop in Oakland

On a Monday morning, about 10 people sat around a big table in the Oakstop office, a shared working and event space in Oakland. Most of them were looking at their laptops and wearing big headphones while typing on their keyboards. One guy was talking with someone on the phone. “Okay, I’ll email you by tomorrow,” he said. Everyone was surrounded by art pieces hung on the walls. “All of the artwork within Oakstop is done by local artists of…

St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Oakland

The soundtrack of Telegraph Avenue at 29th Street is composed of the roar of cars, trucks and the number 6 and 800 buses. There aren’t many passersby on this summery morning. A white car blaring hip hop music stops at the intersection, breaking the monotony of the traffic sounds. The driver stares to his left at a red wooden building: St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church. It’s closed. It’s 11 am on a Monday, and even God has a schedule. Meanwhile, on…

It’s All Good Bakery in Oakland

The It’s All Good Bakery smells like sweets. There are all kinds of baked goods on display, such “sock it to me cake,” “7-Up pound cake,” chocolate chip squares, coconut cake, yellow cake, banana pudding cake, and sweet potato cake. There are also Black Panther Party posters up on the wall and pictures from the civil rights movement. One of the posters says: “The Black Panther Party for Self Defense Opened the Party’s first office at this location.” In October,…

Easter Hill United Methodist Church in Richmond

The sidewalk in front of Easter Hill United Methodist Church in Richmond was all but empty on Monday at 11 am. A cyclist slowly meandered by on Cutting Boulevard, the clinking of his bike chain breaking up the white noise created by a constant stream of passing cars. The doors of the church were locked, the interior dimly lit by sunlight sneaking through the high windows in the nave.    In a few hours, Easter Hill would come to life…

DeFremery Park in Oakland

DeFremery Park is an island. A two-story light blue Victorian sits alone in a massive yard, surrounded by fields of vibrant green grass. It’s quiet in the park on most days, the building’s stoic presence adding a layer of calm to the surrounding West Oakland neighborhood. The house sits next to a tennis court, a skate park, a swing set, basketball courts, a baseball diamond, and an indoor swimming pool—all of which go consistently underused on Oakland’s many sunny days….