Immigrant
It’s 7 a.m. on a Friday morning and Carolina Avelar is behind the wheel of her Chevy Volt, squinting through the glare of early light. Avelar, 27, is on lookout in Richmond’s busiest commercial streets for signs of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. She’s done the weekday morning shift for months. Driving down 23rd Street, Avelar sees a handful of street vendors selling food. There are day laborers huddling on a corner, their breath visible in the chilly autumn air….
Explore the culture and meaning behind pupusas, a native food of El Salvador.
Having found his pathway in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics field, UC Berkeley Ph.D. student Robin D. Lopez is now teaching STEM courses to elementary school students during the weekend to bridge the educational gap between the opportunities given to Richmond youth and higher education.
A sunset Buddhist ceremony at Richmond’s Huntington Avenue and San Joaquin Street consecrated the renaming of a stretch of Huntington after the Dalai Lama on the 12th anniversary of the spiritual leader’s receipt of the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal. About seventy Tibetan community members, three Buddhist monks and City Councilmember Eduardo Martinez gathered Thursday evening to present symbolic food offerings, and knotted white scarves representing compassion around the post marking the new Dalai Lama Avenue. The religious leader visited Richmond’s…
September is Hunger Action Month, but some food benefits are going unused.
In 1996, an undocumented young man in the Easy Bay was tired of being paid under the table for his work, so he decided to do something about his legal status. Two friends recommended him to a notario—or notary—who had helped them obtain work permits. The man trusted his friends blindly, so on the advice of the notario, he filled out and signed some documents and was told that a work permit would be mailed to his home. The man…
Every morning in front of Melrose Leadership Academy, the same choreography is repeated: the uproar of the children arriving at the school displaces squirrels and birds to the cherry and palm trees that adorn the sidewalk. At this public school, in the sanctuary city of Oakland, people exchange greetings in Spanish. The first poster near the school’s entrance doesn’t inform parents about opening hours or extracurricular activities. Instead, it states: “You have rights, don’t let ICE or police enter your…
U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule this summer on whether its third version violates federal immigration law or the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition against religious discrimination