Short Notes

Mar 042014
 

Tonight, the Oakland City Council will vote on whether to go ahead with the construction of the Domain Awareness Center.  The DAC is a fusion center that aims to congregate in one place the feeds from surveillance cameras and license plate cameras in the city and port of Oakland.  It will be the “eyes on the ground” for the NSA and other intelligence agencies, and will be primarily used against protesters. The DAC is strongly opposed by the ACLU, the EFF, Wellstone Democratic Club and the Oakland Education Association, the union for Oakland teachers.  Several organizations and community leaders have [Continue Reading]

Feb 112014
 
Commonwealth Club Fetes Brian Copeland in Lily White Lafayette

The Commonwealth Club is feting the 10th anniversary of Brian Copeland’s celebrated one-man show Not a Genuine Black Man with a special program at the Lafayette Library.  It’ll take place on February 26th from 6:30 to 7:30pm.  Tickets are $12/$22 for members/nonmembers, but SLT readers can get $5 off the nonmember price by using the code: specialcopeland. Get tickets here. I, personally, find it deliciously ironic that Brian will be celebrated for his book and one man show about growing up black in lily white San Leandro, in what is probably currently the whitest city in the Bay Area.  Just 166 out of Lafayette’s [Continue Reading]

Jan 292014
 

If you are ever going to read one article one Oakland, this is the one you must read If you dare to call yourself progressive, to think of yourself a progressive, then you must read it and think about it. “There are two public/private worlds in Oakland existing in parallel to one another. Mostly white, fairly affluent people live in one, where they are focused on issues of expression and personal privacy—especially in cyberspace. The privacy battlefield of this group is theoretical. While there is much generalized surveillance it is not yet directed at this demographic in any copious way, [Continue Reading]

Jan 262014
 

I was just looking through the City’s Spring Activity Guide.  There are tons of classes, trips and activities for seniors (defined as those 50 and over). If you’re a teen or pre-teen, however, you are pretty much out of luck. Your choices are tennis, martial arts and jazzersize.  There is basketball for those under 15, and spinning and yoga for those above.   Your only other choices are belly dancing and cake decorating. Another problem is getting to the classes. Most of the classes are at the Marina Community Center. Great if you live in the neighborhood or have a [Continue Reading]

Dec 292013
 
Civil Rights Attorney Dan Siegel to Run for Oakland Mayor

Civil Rights Attorney Dan Siegel announced last week that he will run for Mayor of Oakland in 2014. Siegel spoke about his race with Oakland blogger Zennie Abraham. Originally from New York, Siegel was a political activists during his years as a law student at UC Berkeley. Since 1973 he’s been in private practice as an attorney, specializing in labor law, employment discrimination and civil rights litigation.  He served as legal adviser for Mayor Quan early in her term, but he quit in protest over Quan’s mishandling of Occupy Oakland. Siegel has gathered attention most recently for standing up against the Domain [Continue Reading]