Events

REVOLVE Art and Film Festival Kicks Off August 24th

Published

12 years ago

August 20, 2014

The 3^rd Annual Spectrum Queer Media “REVOLVE, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) and allies, Pride creative Arts and Film Festival” will be held in Oakland from Aug. 24th to Aug. 30th.

REVOLVE 2014 is a week of cinematic and artistic celebration of LGBTQ artists as a precursor to Oakland’s Pride celebration.

Spectrum Queer Media will be presenting award winning LGBTQIA movies each night. The festival takes place in the arts community of downtown Oakland and encompasses exhibition, gallery and theatre venues throughout the city, including Oakland City Hall and ends with the R/EVOLVE Bay Cruise.

“I am An Artivist: Social Activism through Art” is this year’s theme. The festival kicks off with a gala at “Oakland Venue at 420 14^th St.

The opening will be hosted by gay funnyman, Grammy nominee Sampson McCormick, and Melanie DeMore a vocal activist. Both have documentaries that will be shown.

Monica Anderson, also known as Kin Folkz, founded Spectrum Queer Media in 2009 to honor and highlight LGBTQ media representations that promote authentic visions, voices and viewpoints.

Each night will bring something new starting on the first night with “Visionaries Won,” a digital exhibit highlighting LGBTQIA artists who are redefining the meaning of self with sound and sight as their conduit.

There will be artwork on display, with several exhibiting artists in attendance to curate their pieces and share their thoughts.

Day 2 will be at Imagine Affairs Art lounge at 408 14^th St. with performance and films. Performances will include singer/songwriter, Gina Breedlove dubbed as “the vocal priestess” and local celebrity musician, “Black Berri,” whose music recordings were placed in The Smithsonian Library of music 10 years ago.

Black Berri will be honored along with director/writer/actor Maurice Jamal for activism through film. Jamal’s film credits include, “Dirty laundry,” a 2006 film that he wrote, directed and starred

Songwriter Gina Breedlove who will be performing at the festival.

in alongside actresses Loretta Divine and Jennifer Lewis.

The movie about a gay Black man who comes out to his family and meets a son he might have fathered years prior.

Day 3 will move to Joyce Gordon Gallery, which will feature such artists as “The Literary Masturbator,” a local gay poet and artist Kermit Amenophis.

The Oakland Eastbay Gay men’s chorus will also perform at Joyce Gordon’s Gallery.

For the complete schedule go to www.SpectrumQueerMedia.com

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Related Topics:Art Film film festival LGBTQ Oakland REVOLVE Spectrum Queer Media

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

3 days ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.