Spotted this painted on the sidewalk near Laney College.
I find myself grimly amused by this. Also by the woman I saw standing at 14th & Broadway at lunchtime on Thursday holding a sign that said, “DUDE, WHERE’S MY MAYOR?”
(Source: oaklandriotcat)
About the Community Market Farms Program
Our Community Market Farms Program takes vacant or underutilized land and transforms it into market farms. All the food produced on the farms is distributed on a donation-only basis at our Saturday farm stand. In an area where access to healthy foods is limited, it is our farms that make it possible for many families to eat fresh vegetables rather than processed foods. The program creates sustainable food systems that provide affordable, nutritious food directly to traditionally underserved populations in West Oakland. We collect food scraps from local businesses each week using our bicycle carts. These scraps, combined with donated sawdust and manure, are used to create compost that builds soil to support year-round growing. We also operate a greenhouse that supplies our market farms, Backyard Gardeners, and the public with plants and seedlings. City Slicker Farms has created a truly local food cycle with residents contributing vegetable scraps for compost that is used to grow vegetables that are then distributed back to the community. All our culturally appropriate, nutrient-dense, seasonal vegetables and fruits, eggs and honey are marketed and distributed to West Oakland residents at our weekly farm stand. Everything is distributed on a donation-only basis to ensure that all residents are able to afford health-promoting foods, and no one is turned away due to a lack of funds.
Greetings and salutations!
Listed below is a self-guided anti-oppression text and video tour for our staff and allies. Please follow the self-guided tour for a holistic overview or pick and choose from the topics listed below. The basic outline takes one through West Oakland, the work and mission of People’s Grocery as a community-based empowerement organization in West Oakland, youth empowerment, principles of environmental justice and the Black Panther Party 10-point platform, anti-racism and the role of the white ally in communities of color, and understanding white supremacy and institutional racism.
This is a lot to take in, please read and reread carefully. Follow up resources and additional texts can be found in section 11 and 12. People’s Grocery uses food as a vehicle for social justice and empowerment, it is not just food- It’s FOOD JUSTICE- HEALTHY FOOD FOR EVERYONE!
“I just want to be one of the people that helps,” he said, “That’s all I want, to help.”
From an article in the Oakland Tribune.
Not long ago, Ernesto Diaz was locked up at the Camp Sweeney juvenile detention facility on felony assault charges, deemed a “menace to society.” Carl Bolds almost joined him there on many occasions during his life as an East Oakland “street hustler.”
Now, both are employed at local ambulance companies, and on the verge of becoming certified emergency medical technicians.
Bolds, 21, of Oakland, plans to become a firefighter. Diaz, 18, of Berkeley, dreams of medical school. The only thing both men want to do now, they say, is help.
In a special ceremony earlier this month, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors honored the pair, who have made a remarkable journey in a very short time.
A staff of volunteer EMTs, life coach specialists and mental health professionals from Alameda County public health is helping them achieve their goals. Diaz and Bolds are both beneficiaries of Bay EMT, a unique program that targets at-risk men ages 18 to 24, most of whom have had run-ins with the law, and diverts them to a vocational program that channels them into the health care field. The organization hopes to increase diversity in the health care industry and in the process help young men on the brink of self-destruction. Best of all, it’s free.
Bay EMT offers two five-month courses each year, one in June and another in January. Each session is open to about 30 students. If they complete the course successfully, students then are eligible to take the National Registry Exam, which qualifies them to work as EMTs in California and several other states. Since the program began in 2002, nearly 200 students have gone on to successful medical and firefighting careers, often helping the same residents they may have terrorized, robbed or hurt previously as gang members or thugs.
Read the rest here.
