Culture Makers is back! Join us Thursday, March 19, from 6:30–8:00 pm at The New Parkway Theater for a vibrant conversation with local authors and the booksellers who help bring their work into the community.
Jasmine Guillory, New York Times bestselling romance author and Carolina Ixta, acclaimed author of "Shut Up, This Is Serious" and recently released "Few Blue Skies," will take part in a conversation moderated by The Oaklandside's arts and community reporter, Azucena Rasilla. They’ll be joined by J.K. Fowler, founder of Nomadic Bookshop to talk about how books move from idea to bookshelf — and how independent, community-centered bookshops help stories reach the people who need them most. Together, they’ll reflect on their creative journeys, what inspires their work, and how place, identity, and community shape the stories they tell. The evening will also feature a poetry performance by Myra Estrada.
Stay after the conversation to meet the authors, get your books signed, and connect with fellow readers.
🎟️ Tickets at the link in bio.
So, we are all collectively grieving?
2016 was such a vibe… until the nameless creature ruined it.
Snapchat
Great music
Oakland was thriving (while also fighting gentrification)
Our President was Black
Our waists were snatched
What a time to be alive.
And yes, this carousels are also training AI. But let’s face it, these tech companies been having everything.
The best way to end the year is by sharing photos from the most perfect day in 2025.
@yungbren and I wanted the most Oakland wedding and we DELIVERED…
From getting married by the most iconic Catholic priest, Father Jayson Landeza, to having our iconic entrance be to “N.E.W. Oakland” by @fabbydavisjr , to having Bay Area Legend @chuygomez Emcee (and his bad ass brother @hugogomez DJ), this wedding by two truly rooted Oakland families was a function!
We can’t thank enough all of our families for all of the love and support to make this day happen.
Also, @iambecki is the real MVP and best director of events there ever is.
I gotta shoutout all the vendors cause they deserve hella love!
👰🏻♀️ dress: @flaresbridal
💐 bouquet: @wallflower.sanfrancisco (thank you Panchis)
👔 Bren and groosmen suits: @louisthomas1946
🎸🥁 live band: @bahianatos
⛲️ venue: @piedmontcommunitychurch Guild Hall
🍹Mobile bartending: @monicasmobilemixologyllc
🥗🍝 catering by Leticia’s Cuisine @oscarnunez485
🖌️ welcome and bar signs: @sign_syndicalist (are you kidding me with these hand drawn signs? They are art pieces we will treasure for life)
📸 no one I would have trusted other than @carla.hr . I cry every single time I look at the wedding photos
🎵🎤🎧: @norcaldjs - ICONIQUE 🍰🍪🧁 while our dessert table was made with love by family members, the gorgeous conchas were by @pan.de.juan (get your rosca orders in soon)
🧀🍇 the grazing board was a masterpiece by my co-worker Sarah who needs to have an IG to advertise her exquisite work
In early 2021, as the uncertainty of the pandemic’s impact on our thoughts was growing, I got my cards read. I was worried about work and my grandma, and I sought comfort in the thought that the future would look better than the present.
Brita (cronewytch) pulled several cards; one of them was the Emperor card. Brita said it was an ether card and represented structure, stability, and leadership. “The emperor looks after the empress,” I remember her telling me. “I see a Capricorn or an Aries entering your life.” Bren is the most Capricorn of Capricorns.
The rest of the cards read of new beginnings, abundance, and a King of Wands, which she said represented my spiritual teacher (my grandma, I’m sure of).
2021 brought everything Brita talked about. Bren and I started dating in April, after we had been pen pals for almost a year. We moved in together that September, and we both had the privilege of getting to know two crucial figures in our lives: my grandma and his grandpa. We took care of them, and we both found comfort in grieving when they passed away a year apart.
We got engaged at the end of 2023, but we had begun envisioning our wedding long before that.
Our bridal shower was magical; we got to have it at a property dear to Bren’s heart. Kenwood has witnessed many love stories, and it was the first place where I met all of his family.
We are deeply grateful to Ann, David, and Kate for hosting such a wonderful shower, to my parents for gifting the beer and wine, and to every single person who attended or contributed in any way.
As we begin the 30-day countdown to the big day, I think of how lucky we are to have such amazing families behind us. We have blended our group of friends and have made new friends along the way.
My brain is in full wedding mode, and although I sometimes feel guilty for feeling joyous about celebrating, given everything that is happening around us, I know that faith, hope, and resilience are what keep us going.
I can’t wait to marry Bren and have our perfect Oakland wedding. Our story, after all, is that of two Oakland kids from different backgrounds who found each other and fell in love right here in The Town.
On a muggy Saturday in August, along Coliseum Way a block away from the Oakland flea market, the weekday smells of diesel exhaust and the rumble of construction crews have been replaced with aromas from clay pots bubbling with a variety of delectable dishes, competing scents of lengua, and al pastor meats, and cheese oozing from quesadillas and searing itself on the griddle while salsa and Norteña rhythms pulse from a wall-mounted speaker.
This cluster, located in a large industrial area, is lined with food stands along 50th Avenue and wraps around Coliseum Way. A handful of vendors — makeshift stands, modified storage containers, tarps covering patches of sidewalk — set up shop during the week. But the corridor is the busiest on weekends, especially Sundays, as families flock to the flea market. All the stalls have plenty of picnic-style seating under tarps.
Nosh visited the stalls multiple times throughout the summer to sample as much as possible, but it would take several more trips to try everything. Here are my top five things to check out.
Click 📲 #LinkInBio to read more
✍🏼 @chroniclesofazu
📸 @menanatera for The Oaklandside
#oaklandside #theoaklandside #oakland #eastoakland
Immigration is a cornerstone of Oakland’s identity — shaping neighborhoods, powering small businesses, and enriching our cultural life.
Join us for The Oaklandside’s Culture Makers on Thursday, Sept. 18, 6:30-8pm at the New Parkway Theater, for an evening of community, conversation, and performance.
The Oaklandside’s Arts and Community Reporter Azucena Rasilla will be in conversation with Abby Sullivan Engen, Immigrants’ Rights Co-Directing Attorney at Centro Legal de la Raza, Gabriela Galicia, Executive Director of Street Level Health Project and Leva Zand, Founder and Executive Director of ARTogether. Together, they’ll share stories from Oakland’s immigrant communities and highlight critical resources — from navigating legal challenges and accessing health care to uplifting immigrant voices through the arts.
The evening will also feature powerful spoken word performances by Oakland Youth Poet Laureate Cael Dueñas-Lara and Vice Poet Laureate Sehinne Yohannes.
Come celebrate the richness of Oakland’s immigrant communities, dispel harmful myths, and learn how we can take meaningful action to support, protect, and stand in solidarity with our neighbors.
🎟️ Get your tickets in the ink in our bio.
Happy two-year adoptaversary to our sweet Belle Bells.
You made our little growing family be filled with love. You taught papa patience and the most selfless love. And, you taught me how to love again after your sister Cami went to heaven.
Thank you, Tia Alex for letting Belle come into our lives ❤️
If you’re looking for a new companion going or old, head over to Hopalong to find your furever buddy 🐶🐾
We are exactly 4 months away from our big day…
And, while some days it feels like the chaos of the atrocities happening in the country gets the best of me, and I get sad and feel helpless, your love and tender care remind me that no matter what happens outside of our home, you’ll always keep me safe.
I can’t wait to marry you @yungbren ❤️
Ps. Here’s to decades of charcuterie boards and tasty cocktails
📸 by the one and only who makes me look good in photos @carla.hr
Organizers of the “No Kings” rally including Indivisible East Bay estimate that over 10,000 people converged in Oakland’s Chinatown and marched to Frank Ogawa Plaza on Saturday, June 14 to take part in one of the many protests planned across the nation.
The peaceful demonstration, one of thousands across the country, was a “day of defiance” against the creeping authoritarianism exhibited by Donald Trump, and the complacent Republican-controlled Congress that has declined so far to check his power.
In Oakland, protesters started gathering at Wilma Chan Park around 11 a.m. By 1 p.m. thousands had arrived and marched to Frank Ogawa Plaza, where they rallied.
Click 📲 #LinkInBio to read more
✍🏼and 📹 @chroniclesofazu
📸 @drj_oakland
#oaklandside #theoaklandside #oakland #nokings
We’re done talking about loss, broken promises, and teams skipping town. With the sports season in full swing, we're excited to bring the community together to celebrate an exciting new era of sports in Oakland. A night about what’s next – the fan-powered future of sports in Oakland.
Join us on Thursday June 12 at 6:30 p.m. at the New Parkway Theater for an unforgettable evening of local sports, music, and community! We're shining a spotlight on the passionate folks who are bringing energy, pride and joy back to sports in Oakland.
We’ll sit down with Oakland Ballers General Manager Laura Geist, Oakland Roots Sports Club co-founder Tommy Hodul, and Oakland Girls Softball League President Amanda Wentworth for a conversation about building and sustaining a community-powered sports movement in Oakland—and what it means to root for teams that truly represent the people.
Plus, a special live musical performance by rising bluegrass duo, Spicy Sally – booked in partnership with emerging artist and music education program Follow the Music.
🎤 Lively talk + audience Q&A 🎶 Live music by Spicy Sally 🍿 Food, drinks, and that classic New Parkway energy ⚾ Giveaways throughout the night—score game tickets & swag!
The job of Oakland mayor has never been easy. It’s the rare four-year term that glided by without dropping a major crisis like a ton of bricks onto a mayor. We looked at 100 years of Oakland history to see how different mayors dealt with or were doomed by upheavals.
Click 📲 #LinkInBio to see the entire list of 16 mayors who faced crises during their tenure.
Reported and hosted by @chroniclesofazu
GMA was a fervent catholic, and Lent was a time of year she deeply respected and honored.
Three years ago, the week she passed happened to be Holy Week. It’s fitting that she would pass just an hour before the start of Good Friday.
Her last few days on earth were sunny and bright, but the night she passed, as we waited for the coroners to take her body, a storm came out of nowhere. It poured and poured as we waited. No one prepares you for having to see the physical body of a loved one for one last time, nor the bureaucracy of paperwork that follows.
Today, the grief feels like a slab across my chest, like I can’t breathe, and I am just masking through the day pretending I’m ok.
I miss my grandma dearly, every single day. Some days are easier than others and what pains me the most, is how distant her memory, her voice, the tracing of her beautiful wrinkled and soft skin feels.
