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Oakland Holds Pride Festival and Parade

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Oakland’s Pride is stepping out from under San Francisco’s shadow.

Celebrating its fifth year, Oakland Pride festival and Parade, Northern California’s 2nd largest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride celebration, will take place Sunday, Aug. 31, Labor day week end 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The parade starts at 10:30 a.m. at Broadway and 14th Street. The festival runs from 11 .m. to 7 p.m. at Broadway and 20th Street.

This year, and for the first time ever, Oakland Pride will produce a LGBT Pride Parade in the city. Event organizers are expecting over 50,000 attendees who will come to enjoy the parade, multiple entertainment stages with over 50 artists and over 100 food, beverage and community information booths, children’s play area, a wedding pavilion, senior seating, community health pavilion, bicycle parking, easy BART access (19th Street Bart), and more in Northern California’s

2014 Oakland Pride Celebrity Grand Marshal Sheila E.

2014 Oakland Pride Celebrity Grand Marshal Sheila E.

most diverse LGBTQ city.

After a six-year absence, Oakland Pride’s revival in 2010 had been years in the making. In 2008, out lesbian and then mayoral candidate Rebecca Kaplan captured the at-large seat on the City Council and reconstituted the LGBT roundtable to work on gay specific issues in Oakland.

One of the group’s main objectives was to see Oakland Pride’s celebration reborn.

Oakland has been recognized as having the sixth largest LGBTQ population in the nation, with the largest percentage of African American LGBTQ people in the Bay Area. Oakland is noted as having the second highest number of same sex couples in the nation and is home to the largest concentration of lesbians in America.

Pride is an affirmation of one’s self and the community as a whole. Pride’s movement began after Stonewall riots in New York, 1969, when groups of gay people, mostly transgendered people in local bars stood up to unconstitutional raids by New York Police.

2014 Oakland Pride Legacy Grand Marshall, Joe Hawkins

2014 Oakland Pride Legacy Grand Marshal, Joe Hawkins

Today, many countries around the world celebrate LGBT Pride.

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and The East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club will host their 2nd Annual Oakland Pride Breakfast. Assembly member Tom Ammiano will be given a Pride award for his commitment to the LGBTQ community. Oakland’s first parade Grand Marshals will be recognized: Celebrity Grand Marshal Sheila E, Legacy Grand Marshal nightclub promoter Joe Hawkins and Youth Grand Marshal Lirio Zepeda.

Oakland Pride will connect LGBTQ community members to essential services and programs, including HIV prevention, support for persons of color, women, seniors/elders, youth, people with disabilities, Transgender services and support groups.

The AIDS project of the East bay, a leader in providing HIV prevention, will unveil a newly wrapped mobile testing unit sponsored by the CDC’s “Testing Makes Us Stronger” campaign,

 

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Oakland Post: Week of November 22 – 28, 2023

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 22 – 28, 2023

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The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 22 - 28, 2023

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Oakland Post: Week of November 15 – 21, 2023

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 15 – 21, 2023

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The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 15 - 21, 2023

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School Board President Shuts Down Meeting Trying to Silence Gaza Ceasefire Protesters

Since the executive board of the Oakland Education Association originally took a stand to oppose genocide and call for a ceasefire, the union has been under intense criticism both from mainstream media and an Oakland parents’ group, which has been encouraging teachers to quit the union.

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By Ken Epstein

Several hundred people, including teachers, school staff, students, parents, and community activists, showed up at the Oakland Unified School District board meeting Wednesday night, most of them calling on the board to pass a resolution to support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and end the killing of civilians, when school board President Mike Hutchinson refused to let them speak and abruptly shut down the meeting as they demanded to be heard.

At the start of the meeting, Hutchinson announced that a resolution proposed by Board member Valarie Bachelor, “Calling for a Ceasefire and Release of Hostages in Israel and Palestine,” would not be discussed that evening and that there was no place anywhere on the agenda where attendees would be allowed to speak on the issue.

However, there was a moment of confusion when the parliamentarian, speaking over Hutchinson’s objections, explained that there was one 30-minute period for people to discuss nonagenda items.

A chorus of boos filled the auditorium as Hutchinson attempted to move on. He quickly suspended the meeting, and he and several other board members left the room, though some board members remained.

One young woman shouted at Hutchinson. “You’re having a tantrum, and we’re talking about genocide.”

People crowded around a bullhorn at the front of the room, and attendees held their own meeting.

“You are on the right side of history – we’ll be back,” said a youth soccer coach, Maria Martinez.

A young woman named Lulwa said, ‘I believe we all deserve our land, we all deserve our freedom, and we all deserve not to have our children bombed. The media is lying to us, and social media is bringing us together.”

Lulwa explained that she has been living in the U.S. and Oakland since the age of 9. “I was taken in by the community in Oakland, and I was loved.”

Board member Bachelor was cheered as she spoke on the bullhorn, supporting the people of Palestine and the people of Israel.

“We have to stop killing children, we have to stop bombing hospitals, we have to stop killing UN workers; we have to stop the killing,” she said. “We are a global community. The fight continues.”

A woman who identified herself as a Jewish Oakland teacher said, “The school board does not speak for the teachers, Monday night, we (teachers) passed a very strong resolution demanding an end to the genocide in Gaza and an end to U.S. funding (for the war).

An Oakland man named Izzy said, “What did the school board do today? They walked out on our kids…. There’s nobody to blame but Mike Hutchinson.”

Jabari Shaw said that African Americans stand in solidarity with Palestine. “We know how it is to not be recognized as human beings,” he said.

Since the executive board of the Oakland Education Association originally took a stand to oppose genocide and call for a ceasefire, the union has been under intense criticism both from mainstream media and an Oakland parents’ group, which has been encouraging teachers to quit the union.

However, on Monday evening, union delegates from the Oakland schools upheld a strong position, voting 66 to 31 in favor of a ceasefire.

Hutchinson and board member Sam Davis, joined by school board candidate Jorge Lerma, have been working with the parent group in opposition to the teachers’ union.

But another group of parents and community members supporting the teachers’ union’s stance just started a petition in the last couple of days and has already received over 300 signatures.

“As Oakland parents, caregivers, and community members, we are committed to the safety and well-being of all of our children,” the petition said. “We are writing to express our solidarity with the families of Palestine and to express support for district leaders and the OEA for standing in solidarity with the people of Palestine.”

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