So much biking and walking this week, Oakland! Even neighborhood meeting-y things are outside this week. Clearly, we’re supposed to go outside. Eh, let’s not fight it. Enjoy!
Friday, July 11
Bike Life Exhibit Opens
5 – 7 p.m.
Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza
This month-long exhibit at Oakland City Hall celebrates bicycle culture and features the artwork of Jillian Betterly, Mary Ann Blackwell and Pamela Palma.
July Peace ‘n’ Justice Community Walk, North Oakland
6 p.m.
Bethany Baptist Parking Lot, 5400 Adeline
The purpose of the walk is for neighbors to meet each other, build commUNITY, and feel safe outside at night in Oakland, through a community walk visiting recent and historical sites of violence in North Oakland. The aim of the walks is to build a multi-faith/-class/-race neighborhood movement to address violence through community-initiated restorative justice projects and work that involves and supports families directly affected by physical, emotional and structural violence in North Oakland and surrounding areas. For more information and to RSVP for the walk, check out the North Oakland Restorative Justice Council at www.NorthOaklandRestorativeJustice.org.
Nailedit Crowdfund Party
6 – 8 p.m.
Oakland Asian Cultural Center, 388 9th Street, Suite 290
Nailedit: Vietnamese & the Nail Industry is a documentary film about the origins and impact of Vietnamese in the 8.7-billion-dollar nail industry. Come to Oakland’s Chinatown for the crowd-fundraising party, which is co-sponsored by OACC. Enjoy complimentary wine and Vietnamese food while viewing a 10-minute sneak peek screening of the film, followed by a question-and-answer session with the Producer/Director Adele Free Pham and Producer/Editor Ina Adele Ray. There will also be raffle prizes and fun perks for donors!
USS Potomac Flights and Lights
7 – 9 p.m.
Jack London Square Berth, 540 Water Street
This is a fantastic night of wine tasting aboard the USS Potomac. Premier local vintners will present their wines as we cruise the bay and enjoy the lights on the western span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.usspotomac.org.
Dancing Under the Stars: Merengue
8:30 – 10 p.m.
Foot of Broadway, Jack London Square
From experienced dancers to newbies, everyone is invited to kick up their heels and enjoy these free dance lessons. Each Friday night during the summer, Jack London Square will host a different dance theme. These festive, free dance lessons begin at 8:30, followed by a dance party at 9 p.m. to try out all the new moves. For more information, visit www.jacklondonsquare.com.
57th Street Gallery Presents Tory Teasley and Friends
8:30 – 11 p.m. (doors open at 6 p.m.)
5701 Telegraph Avenue
Tory Teasley is a Bay Area native who started his journey of singing at the age of 12. Tory’s sound is described as “honey and silk in a romantic love affair.” With the encouragement of his family and community, Tory has been able to tend to his calling with confidence and focused persistence. He will present the works of his influences at this evening of laughter, love and song. Don’t forget to bring your dancing shoes! Musicians are Tory Teasley, vocals; Mali Williams, guitar; Kenney Kearney, guitar; and John Adams, drums. For more information and to make reservations, visit www.57thStreetGallery.com.
Saturday, July 12
Three Corners Neighborhood Group Saturday Neighborhood Cleanup
9 – 10 a.m.
The corner of 66th and San Pablo
It’s the second Saturday of the month: time for a Saturday Neighborhood cleanup! Join neighbors to walk the block and pick up the trash that’s accumulated. Bring a pair of gloves and a trash bag and meet up. It’s a great way to meet neighbors and make things cleaner, too! For more information, visit groups.yahoo.com/group/ThreeCornersNeighborhoodgroup/cal.
Adams Point Neighborhood Group
9:30 a.m. – noon
Grand and Lenox
Volunteer for a good cause, make new friends, and improve our community! The Adams Point Neighborhood Group is thrilled to receive a grant from Keep America Beautiful and Bud Light to plant flowers, shrubs and greenery around existing trees on Grand Avenue as it runs along Lake Merritt. This will make Grand more pedestrian-friendly and enhance Adams Point by making our main artery more attractive. On this day, participants will prepare and enhance the soil around the trees on Grand Avenue, in preparation for planting on July 26. The city will supply volunteers with tools. To volunteer, email adamspointneighborhood@gmail.com.
Urban Cycling 101 Classroom Workshop
10 a.m. – noon
de Fremery Recreation Center, 1651 Adeline Street
Learn basic rules of the road, how to share the road with cars on busy streets, how to equip your bicycle, lock your bike, fit your helmet, and avoid crashes by riding predictably, visibly, and communicating with other road users by your actions and signals. This class is for adults and teens, with no bike needed. Register here.
OHA Walking Tour: “Lake Merritt Modern”
10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Meet at the Lakeview Branch Library, 550 El Embarcadero
This Oakland Heritage Alliance walking tour features Modernist (mid-20th century) apartment buildings near the lake. Points of discussion will include examining modernist architecture as applied to apartment buildings, features of the buildings that are shaped to relate (or not) to the view of the water, contrasting these buildings with single-family residences, urban development patterns, and finally, discussion of the “meaning” of these buildings. The tour will walk up the hill above the lake, also viewing similar buildings beyond the lake, then drop back down to Lake Merritt at its completion. Register here.
City Slicker Farms Second Saturday Tour
11 a.m. – noon
34th and Peralta Streets
Come and enjoy a Saturday afternoon with us as we tour our largest community market farm here in West Oakland. You’ll get to see how we do things on the farm, and learn more about City Slicker Farms and why we do what we do. Most of all, meet other fantastic folks who share similar passions, like growing yummy, fresh foods. For more information, visit www.cityslickerfarms.org/events.
Phat Beets Food ‘n’ Justice Series: “Why Disability Justice Matters to Food Justice”
11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Feel the Beet! Farmers Market, 970 Grace Avenue
This workshop is meant to lead the way in thinking about how health is framed within the food justice movement, and how we can begin to think differently about issues of food and health with the help of a disability justice framework. Natasha Simpson will discuss the major food justice issues facing people with disabilities, what dis/able-ism is and how it plays out, a bit of history about the category of disability and its relation to capitalism, make the distinction between disability rights vs. disability justice, and discuss why there is such difficulty in addressing disability within food justice, illustrating some of this with her own identity and experiences. We’ll work collaboratively to think through some of the ways we can have a bit more disability justice with our food justice.
Love Our Neighborhood “Oaklavía”
11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
San Pablo Avenue and Doyle Street
Oaklavía (pronounced ohk-la-vee-ah) is Oakland’s Open Streets Initiative modeled after “Ciclovia,” which originated in Bogotá, Colombia. It is a movement that has spread around the world from Tokyo to Kiev, and to cities throughout the US as a day to enjoy free health- and community-oriented events on city streets temporarily closed to auto traffic. The Office of the Mayor of Oakland and Walk Oakland Bike Oakland (WOBO) are teaming up to bring Oaklavía back for a three-peat in 2014. Oaklavía connects all who live, work and play in Oakland with the many community organizations, business owners, entertainers and performers, and neighborhood groups that showcase our city’s diversity, creativity and spirit. Over 15,000 people are expected to participate at each event to stroll, to bike, to roller skate, to dance, or just to people-watch. Visit oaklavia.org for more information.
Jack of All Trades
11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Throughout Jack London Square
Jack of All Trades is a curated mix of local makers, indie designers, antiquers, collectors, artists, start-ups and more, brought together by the Treasure Island Flea. Free to the public, this eclectic market will feature one-of-a-kind items, live music and several free DIY workshops for all ages. For additional information on Jack of All Trades, visit www.JackofAllTradesOakland.com.
Talk and Play: Bay Area Experimental Music
1 – 2:30 p.m.
Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak Street
Join Joe Colley, experimental sound artist and owner of Issues in Oakland, for an audio journey through the history of experimental music in the Bay Area. Listen as Joe shares stories and songs from his personal record collection. Talk and Play, a program series in Vinyl: The Sound and Culture of Records, features guest participants from DJs to music journalists, record collectors to experimental musicians. With something different every week, you might find yourself swapping albums with collectors, learning from an expert about the mechanics of pressing an album, or listening to a specially-curated music set.
Meet the Oakland Youth Poet Laureate Finalists
5 p.m.
Pro Arts Gallery, 150 Frank Ogawa Plaza
The 2014 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate finalists will be introduced in an upcoming showcase of their talents. These poet all-stars have made it through a rigorous first round of judging. In August, one of them will be chosen to represent Oakland as the next laureate! You can catch their words as they burst onto the scene at “Turn Down for What: Oakland Youth Amplify,” part of Beast Crawl, the East Bay’s literary festival featuring more than 100 events across Oakland. These young bards will offer you love, justice and Oakland like you’ve never heard before! Hosted by OPL, Youth Speaks, Pro Arts and more than a dozen community partners. For more information, contact oaklandpoets@gmail.com.
Art Show: “Heat in the Streets”
6 – 10 p.m.
Oakland Surf Club, 337 14th Street
Oakland Surf Club celebrates 2 years with this new art show in its upstairs gallery. There will be a performance by The Younger Lovers and free beer from Lagunitas Brewery.
The Comedy of Josh Kornbluth: “Love and Taxes”
7 p.m.
Skyline United Church of Christ, 12540 Skyline Boulevard
Critically-acclaimed comedian Josh Kornbluth will perform his hit comedic monologue, “Love and Taxes,” with proceeds donated to Jubilee USA, an anti-poverty advocacy organization. After years of failing to file his tax returns, Josh falls in love with Sara, a beautiful schoolteacher. When she gets pregnant, she tells him that she wants them to get married before their baby is born — but that she won’t marry him until he solves his horrible tax problems! Josh tries everything he can think of to get out of his growing tax obligations, and yet the situation only gets worse and worse. His increasingly desperate quest leads him to Washington, D.C., where he has a fateful encounter with a former commissioner of the I.R.S. Ultimately, Josh’s encounters with the Tax System — and his love for Sara — lead him to a stunning change in his views about his role as a citizen. This hilarious one-man show has been a hit from coast-to-coast and will soon be a major motion picture! Tickets are available here.
57th Street Gallery Presents “Words with Meaning”
8:30 – 11 p.m. (doors open at 6 p.m.)
5701 Telegraph Avenue
57th Street Gallery is pleased to have the return of its spoken-word artists. These artists have prepared their most exciting pieces to present in an unforgettable event. Spoken word artists include Deryl DeWitt, Elliot Weiss, Onaje Tuma, Jacquie Cole, Antoinette Evans (JLyrics), Javier Reyesm, Alison Fletcher, Chani Diprima, Ronald Blogett, Sheebah Maceo, and Antoine Moore. For more information and to make reservations, visit www.57thStreetGallery.com.
Sunday, July 13
OHA Walking Tour: “Upper Fruitvale Residential”
Noon – 2 p.m.
Meet at Peralta Hacienda, 2465 34th Avenue
In 1821, Oakland as we know it began with the establishment of the Peralta Hacienda on a hill between Peralta and Sausal creeks. Discover the Peralta House, historic park and ethno-botanic garden. Walk the neighborhood and see the area’s generations of new residents reflected in the architectural designs: Colonial revival, bungalow, post-war 40s modern, and remodeled. This walk includes a few short, steep hills. Register here. Participants may also elect to stay for a 45-minute tour of Peralta Hacienda at 2:30 or 4 p.m. Reservations are recommended.
Living Jazz Open House Celebration
5 – 7 p.m.
Piedmont Piano Company, 1728 San Pablo Avenue
This event includes great music, yummy food and wine. Musicians are Walter Bankovitch, piano; Marcus Shelby, bass; Deszon Claiborne, drums; and featuring vocals by Jazz Search West winners.
Monday, July 14
Oakland Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board Meeting
6 – 8 p.m.
Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza
It is recommended to confirm the date and location at www.oaklandnet.com. For additional information, call (510) 238-3941 or visit www.oaklandheritage.org.
Tuesday, July 15
Oakland City Council and Oakland Redevelopment Agency Meeting
5:30 p.m.
City Council Chambers, Third Floor, Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza
The City Council is the governing body of the City of Oakland, and consists of eight members who are elected directly by the citizens of Oakland: one representative from each of seven districts, and one at-large representative. The Council sets goals and priorities for the City, as well as approving the City budget, adopting ordinances to help the City serve its citizens, and appointing members to various boards and commissions. The City Council meets 2 – 3 times per month, on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Tuesdays. A downloadable agenda is available here. For more information, click here or call (510) 238-7370.
Wednesday, July 16
Fruitvale Unity NCPC Monthly Meeting
6:30 – 8 p.m.
San Antonio Senior Center, 3301 East 12th Street, Suite 201
Join this monthly community meeting to share strategies to resolve community issues and concerns. An agenda is posted by the Fruitvale Unity Council on the day of the event. For more information, email steinwaytna@yahoogroups.com.
Science Film Night: Thin Ice: The Inside Story of Climate Science
6:30 – 9:30 p.m.
Humanist Hall, 390 27th Street
Green Planet Films and the Humanist Hall present a film screening of Thin Ice: The Inside Story of Climate Science. There will also be a question-and-answer session with special guest Peter Barrett, a geologist from New Zealand, and Executive Producer of the film. In recent years, climate science has come under increasing attack, so concerned geologist Simon Lamb grabbed his camera and set out to explore the inside story of climate research. For over three years, he followed scientists from a wide range of disciplines at work in the Arctic, Antarctic, Southern Ocean, New Zealand, Europe and the USA. 40 scientists participated, covering a wide range of disciplines. They talk about their work, their hopes and fears with a rare candor and directness, resulting in an intimate portrait of the global community of researchers racing to understand our planet’s changing climate and provide a compelling case for rising CO2 as the main cause. From 6:30 to 7:30, there will be an optional potluck refreshments and social hour, with the film at 7:30. Click here for more information.
Allendale Park NCPC Meeting
7 p.m.
Allendale Recreation Center, 3711 Suter Street
For more information about this organization’s meetings, or to get on its mailing list, email allendale_ncpc@yahoogroups.com.
Golden Gate NCPC 10X Monthly Meeting
7 – 8:30 p.m.
Golden Gate Recreation Center, 1075 62nd Street
This monthly meeting of the Golden Gate Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council recurs on the third Wednesday of each month, except for December. For more information, or to get in touch with the organization, visit groups.yahoo.com/group/NCPC-10X/cal.
Thursday, July 17
Oakland City Council Rules and Legislation Committee Meeting
10:45 a.m.
Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Hearing Room 1
The Rules and Legislation Committee usually meets at this time (although it is recommended to confirm the day and time, as this is subject to change). A downloadable agenda is available here. For more information, click here or call (510) 238-7370.
Oakland Food Policy Council Work Group Meeting
5 – 7:30 p.m.
1000 Broadway, 5th Floor, Room A or B
The mission of the Oakland Food Policy Council (OFPC) is to establish an equitable and sustainable food system in Oakland. It strives to: ensure access to healthy, affordable food within walking distance of every Oakland resident; bring underserved neighborhoods to the food policy table and increase “food literacy” among Oakland residents; put food, hunger, and food systems on the City of Oakland’s agenda and contribute to the national dialog on food policy; and turn the Oakland food system into an engine for local economic development and involve local and regional agricultural communities.
Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee Meeting
5:30 p.m.
Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Hearing Room 4
Oakland’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) committee was chartered in 1995 to advise the City on the design of bicycle and pedestrian facilities and related issues. Meetings are held at City Hall the third Thursday of the month. Members of the public are welcome to attend all or part of any BPAC meeting. For more information, visit oaklandpw.com/Page124.aspx.
OSD Advisory Committee Meeting
6:30 p.m.
Hunter Hall, Paul Robeson Administrative Building, 1025 2nd Avenue
Representative parents, staff, students and community members make up the District Advisory Committee (DAC). The DAC provides a community perspective to the Board of Education and the District leadership on important educational issues. They also assure the District and individual schools are in compliance with state accountability laws. Each school appoints a representative to the DAC.
Melrose High Hopes NCPC Beat 27X Meeting
7 – 8:30 p.m.
Horace Mann School, 5222 Ygnacio
The NCPC is the main organizing group for the neighborhood. The Steering Committee, which is the NCPC leadership team, makes decisions about monthly meeting agendas and major events (e.g., speakers, priorities for OPD, elections, and projects like the Thanksgiving Food Drive, Annual Block Party, Courtland Creek Rejuvenation Project, Support for our Neighborhood School, Redevelopment on Foothill, and the like). The monthly meetings at Horace Mann School are a great opportunity to let the designated City Council Member and Community Policing Officers know about neighborhood concerns and engage them in helping the neighborhood. Visit ncpcbeat27x.org for updated agenda items, general information, or to get on the mailing list for future meetings.
To list an event for July 18 – 24, send the details to meg@oaklandlocal.com by noon on Tuesday, July 15.