Bay Area

The Jollof Festival Brings Together Oakland Community

The Jollof Festival began its national run in Oakland on Saturday July 13. The festival was held outside at 1255 Seventh St., near the West Oakland BART Station. The event was co-produced by Ishmael Osekre, Quiana Webster, and Njleone. The Jollof Festival started 17 years ago, an event centered around a prevalent debate in Black culture: Who makes the best Jollof? Each year every city the festival visits gets to vote on which West African country makes the best Jollof.

Published

2 years ago

August 17, 2024

Oakland Post

About 150 people came to the Jollof Festival to sample plates and cheer on the contestants. Photo by Daisha Williams.

By Daisha Williams

The Jollof Festival began its national run in Oakland on Saturday July 13. The festival was held outside at 1255 Seventh St., near the West Oakland BART Station.

The event was co-produced by Ishmael Osekre, Quiana Webster, and Njleone. The Jollof Festival started 17 years ago, an event centered around a prevalent debate in Black culture: Who makes the best Jollof? Each year every city the festival visits gets to vote on which West African country makes the best Jollof.

In response to local requests, the festival began coming to Oakland in 2018. The Bay has been incredibly welcoming – this year there was a line down the block even hours after the festival had started.

On the walls of the Seventh Street building were beautiful murals and artwork even adorned the fence surrounding the event, adding to the vibe of the space.

Vendors – including Vibrant Designs and Red Ruby Boutique – rimmed the venue, separated from a seating area with the dance floor in the center. Also along the perimeter was the tasting area where people could order food or pick up their pre-ordered plate. AfroEats, MAMA”s Sauces and Marinades, and Eko Kitchen were among the caterers.

Although the rice is what brings people to the festival, community is really the heart of it. People stay long after the rice is gone, dancing, talking, and singing together.

“Our focus is on Jollof rice and this really fun cultural banter that is happening around it. But it’s not just food… there are all these activities that make it a fun, friendly, communal, and intercultural experience.” said co-producer Osekre.

Like a true cultural event, the thing that brought the most people together was the music. Everyone was on the dance floor, feeling the music that vibrated through the event. There were DJ’s such as DJ Leonne Brayo the DJ and performers including @jahniahomi and @olujazz on Instagram.

Fun for all ages, many families brought their kids and there was even a corner with games for them to play.

Around an hour before the event was over organizers called up volunteer judges from the audience. Each judge tested four different rice plates and rated each on a scale of 1 to 10. Everyone quieted as the scores were being announced, reacting loudly afterwards.

This was the most exciting part of the event with everyone rooting for their own countries.

Before the judging they emphasized that it doesn’t matter who wins because we’re all united as a community.

On July 20 the Jollof Festival will be in Atlanta, Georgia. It will then go to Washington, D.C., Detroit, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Durham, Dallas, and finally Houston.

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Activism

Youth-Led Black August Event Brings Past to Present at East Oakland Boxing Association

The mission of Youth Alive! Is to “break the cycle of violence, heal trauma, and uplift a thriving community of leaders, to save lives in Oakland and beyond” by serving “as mentors, youth leaders, counselors, case managers, intervention specialists and violence interrupters,” working “to help violently wounded people heal themselves and their community.”

Published

4 days ago

August 29, 2026

Post News Group

Dawna Williams, EOBA executive director speaks to attendees at the Black August Eperience on Aug. 21. Photo courtesy of Carolyn Flynn of EOBA.

By Jana Lang Propel Youth Reporter

Youth-Led Black August Event Brings Past to Present at East Oakland Boxing Association

The East Oakland Boxing Association (EOBA) and Youth Alive! came together on Aug. 21 to share with their community all that Black August means to them.

Held on EOBA’s patio at 816 98th Ave. in Deep East Oakland, the two organizations hosted their second annual Black August Experience, featuring a food tasting, financial literacy and mindfulness workshops, and voter registration with the League of Women Voters Oakland (LWV).

Black August is known as a time to uphold the legacy of prisoners who protested their conditions by fasting, fighting, and educating themselves on the economic and political circumstances that contributed to their incarceration.

According to its website, “EOBA is a multi-service youth and community development hub that goes far beyond the ring. While rooted in the discipline of boxing, for nearly 40 years EOBA has also integrated robust programs in workforce development, food justice, afterschool enrichment, financial literacy, mentorship, and wellness.”.

The mission of Youth Alive! Is to “break the cycle of violence, heal trauma, and uplift a thriving community of leaders, to save lives in Oakland and beyond” by serving “as mentors, youth leaders, counselors, case managers, intervention specialists and violence interrupters,” working “to help violently wounded people heal themselves and their community.”

Through Coro California, another leadership organization serving young people across the state for 80 years, they gained a broader understanding of Black August.

EOBA Executive Director Dawna Williams spoke about how much she learned about Black August from the youth who created it. “I let them educate me,” she said. Instead of talking about prison reform and mass incarceration, Williams and youth interns found that Black August meant so much more. “We would have done a disservice if we had just focused on who the people were and what their situation was…We tried to take their message from back in the day and make it relevant to the young people today. What do they need to know?”

Youth interns created and placed posters around the patio to help participants understand how traditional Black foodways, civic engagement, financial literacy, and the power of education are relevant to Black resistance today.

An EOBA member described Black August with Youth ALIVE! as “a whole vibe. “This year we added the Fun Zone for the kids, because you really cannot go wrong with a Fun Zone. I also loved seeing everyone chillin’ in the outdoor lounge, catching some Vitamin D and just enjoying a Friday evening together.”

The food tasting, a popular event from last year, featured traditional Black foods such as black-eyed peas, johnny cakes, and fried chicken. Led by Williams, the tasting included a talk about how these traditional foods were made and why they are forms of Black resilience.

The “‘Plate of History’ was a favorite of the online writers. “Fun, educational, and did I mention delicious? Our Taste of History cook, Angela Southall, served up some good eats while connecting food to history and culture.”

The writer also commended the “League of Women Voters Oakland for their civic leadership and for getting our young people informed, ready, and registered to vote.”

Overall, it was a “good Friday event in East Oakland,” the writer said.

Upcoming Black August events: Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), will host “Black August: The Arc of Liberation” at Oakland City Hall on Sat. Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The websites for East Oakland Boxing Association, Youth Alive! and CORO are sources for this report.

Jana Lang is an Oakland resident, teacher, gardener and poet participating in the Propel News Initiative.