On December 15, the New York Architectural League sponsored an online discussion titled, Current Work: Walter Hood. Walter’s presentation focused on several projects including the Oakland Museum improvements, the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida and the proposed Curtain of Courage memorial (pictured above) honoring the fourteen individuals in San Bernardino who were killed by terrorists in 2015. The video of his presentation and the discussion that followed are on this link.
For the last couple of years, we’ve been waxing poetic (pun intended) about the annual Oakland Youth Poet Laureate contest. The application process for this coming year opens January 1. Oakland residents ages 13–18 are invited to participate. Coincidentally, the Mercury News just published a wonderful profile of last year’s winner, Greer Nakadegawa-Lee and said this about her predecessors:
Nakadegawa-Lee’s predecessors are a formidable group, too. Leila Mottley, Oakland’s 2018 Youth Poet Laureate, is at work on her first novel, “Nightcrawling,” due out from Knopf in 2022. The 2019 laureate, Samuel Getachew, has published opinion pieces on immigration in the New York Times and Washington Post. And Eleanor Wikstrom, 2019 Oakland Vice Youth Poet Laureate, was chosen to read her poem, “Inheritance,” as part of this year’s official online ceremony commemorating the 75th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter in San Francisco.
Pixar’s new film Soul (about a middle school music instructor) premiered this past Saturday with Edna Brewer’s Jazz Band as their special guests. As reported in this Chronicle article, the film makers spent time in their classroom to ensure that their portrayal of a middle school music classroom rang true.
Join Emeryville photographer Xan Blood Walker in a virtual presentation of her new book, Abandoned East Bay San Francisco: Where Graffiti Is King. She selected some of the more formidable vacancies in the East Bay and some of the glorious graffiti that is now adorning them to make subjects of the photographs included in the book. Walker will be joined in the event by librarian Steven Lavoie who will field questions about the particular structures and try to contribute some background about the specific locations included in the book. This is a virtual event to be webcast live on the Oakland Public Library’s Facebook (@oaklibrary). On Facebook via this link on Saturday, January 16 at 2:30.
The Grand Lake Neighbors group meets via Zoom on Wednesday, January 20 beginning at 7:00 pm.
The message on the left is from Ashley Ragus, the Outreach Coordinator for the Cleveland Heights Neighborhood Council.
Local Food Adventures is offering an Inauguration Breakfast Box in honor of the incoming Vice-President, Oakland-native Kamala Harris. Contents include corn-bread mix from Everett & Jones Barbecue, a jar of Garam Masala Spice Blend from Oaktown Spice and much more. Also included an invitation to an inauguration live watch party. Details are here.
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