News — Oaklandish

When I first saw the Oaklandish baseball jersey, I began feeling nostalgic. It reminded me of my time playing baseball in the Babe Ruth league in East Oakland at Greenman Field/Havenscourt. I remember marching from Concordia Park on 62nd to Greenman Field on 66th for opening day each April. The streets would be blocked off, and the champions from the previous year would get to ride in the back of trucks, making everybody want to be in their position next year. There would be a huge BBQ, team pictures, and events going on all day. The league was a staple...

Akeem Brown, Programs Director for the Hidden Genius Project, believes that "As long as you have the skills and a computer, you can build and change the world." The Hidden Genius Project, an Oakland-based nonprofit dedicated to training and mentoring black male youth in technology creation, is the Oaklandish Nonprofit of the Month for September. This local nonprofit was founded in 2012 by five black male entrepreneurs and technologists discouraged by high rates of unemployment of black male youth in the Bay Area contrasted with the numerous job opportunities available in the nearby tech industry. To address these inequities, the founders created...

We are excited to announce that the Oaklandish Nonprofit for the month of August is the WestCoast Children’s Clinic. The WestCoast Children’s Clinic provides psychological services to vulnerable children, youth, and their families in the East Bay. The Clinic, based in Oakland, is committed to supporting these children and their families regardless of their ability to pay, and to expanding accessibility to mental health services in our community. To do this, WestCoast trains the next generation of community psychologists. Founded in 1979, over the past 25 years, WestCoast has trained over 200 therapist interns, and provided an estimated 450,000 hours of...

Please join us this Saturday, July 22nd for @exploreoakland #instameet003: noon to 3pm. We'll meet up at BOSK in Old Oakland, meander downtown and Chinatown, ending up on the waterfront in Jack London Square for Pedalfest! Meet amateurs and pros alike as we explore the beauty of the Town, all are welcome, any and all cameras. The top three photos from the meetup will be featured in the Oaklandish 2018 calendar, so come along and meet in person some of the dopest photographers in Oakland and the Bay, plus folks traveling through!

General admission tickets will go on sale at Oakland Supply Co. at 10am on Saturday, July 22nd! Get your posse together! Please note: this benefit event is 21+ and you will need to show valid ID at the gate. During daylight hours, Children’s Fairyland is off-limits to grownups. Anyone who wants to enter the park has to arrive with a kid in tow. But not this August 18th from 7-10pm when Oaklandish and Fairyland are teaming up to host a night of pure imagination, for adults only! Enjoy tunes from Dion Decibels in the Old West Junction, local brews, performances,...

Local dance company, AXIS, has been at the forefront of exploring contemporary dance, integrated dance, and disability culture for the past 30 years. Founded in 1987, AXIS is our nation's most acclaimed dance ensemble of disabled and non-disabled performers. The Oakland-based group has visited over 100 cities in the USA, Europe and Russia. They have received seven Isadora Duncan Dance Awards and have graced the stage of So You Think You Can Dance. The dance company's vision is to increase access to dance education for people of all ages and abilities through their integrated dance education, outreach programs, and artistic performance program....

To celebrate the Golden State and the 2017 Champions, our sister brand Never Elsewhere has dropped this new tee and muscle tank for women. Shop at neverelsewhere.com or visit Oakland Supply Co. in the heart of Jack London Square to shop in person!

On June 2nd and 3rd, some of the Bay Area's best young emcees brought their freshest bars as they competed to be the next MC Olympics Champion. This year's champ, Mai'saan, will advance to the national MC Olympics, representing the Bay Area at the 20th Annual Brave New Voices Festival this July 19-22, 2017. Check out our photo round up of the two-day event below. All photos by Selena Davant. Day 1, Qualifiers - Oaklandish Day 2, Finals – The New Parish MC Olympics Champ 2017, Mai’saan

Join us for a live recording of 'Awkward Conversations with Beejus' at the downtown store (1444 Broadway) on Sunday, July 9th from 2-5pm! Beejus will discuss music, comedy, social issues, and random rants with special guests Anthony Dragons and Moe Green + open mic for questions from the audience. This event is free to attend!

The 2017 MC Olympics is an electrifying olympic-style hip hop competition featuring the freshest emcees in the Bay Area. Through a series of rounds, we get familiar with each emcee’s skill level (on the mic, rocking the crowd, freestyling and flow). Each year, we search for the next MC Olympics Champion and ask: are YOU the one? MC Olympics is open to all styles of MCs. Come as you are and #BringYourBars! Round 1Hot 16: This round is your introduction. Bring your hottest verse and all your charisma. Judges will be looking for stage presence, lyricism and originality. Round 2...

School’s almost out and we’re gearing up for our 6th annual “Oakland Educated” tee shirt giveaway. Now a summer tradition, all OUSD high school students with a GPA of 3.5 or higher are entitled to one free, limited-edition Oaklandish shirt, made just for the Oakland-educated. To pick up your free shirt, just bring a copy of your official year-end 2017 (final) report card (the blue one that comes in the mail) into the Oaklandish store at 1444 Broadway or in the Dimond at 3419 Fruitvale. After all, local love can’t exist without local learning, and the Town still has a...

Alex "Ghost" Hernandez, aka 54Ghosts, is an Oakland-raised photographer who captures the Town's historic culture — from local music, to the art and street scenes. Through his photographs, Hernandez depicts the simple beauty of Oakland's inner city. We asked Hernandez to share how he got his start behind the camera and his favorite spots to photograph in the city. Oaklandish (O): How did you get your start with a camera, and how did that translate into you doing what you are doing today? Alex Hernandez (AH) : I first got my start with a camera two and a half years ago....

The recent ‘OG Told Me’ book signing and meet and greet was a tremendous success this past Sunday, April 2nd! With his photographs and accompanying essays adorning the walls of our Broadway flagship, and an interview platform installed in the rear portion of the storefront, the stage was set and as 2pm came around, 1444 Broadway began to fill up. The faces, both familiar and new, were grinning ear to ear for the opportunity to meet and speak with Pen. Pen signed the books for enthusiastic supporters, took photos with his followers, and generally took things in stride – and if you...

Oaklandish is excited to announce that we will be hosting none other than 'OG Told Me' author Pendarvis Harshaw for an in-store meet and greet, book signing, and Q&A session on Sunday, April 2nd! Pendarvis, an Oakland native and graduate of UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, has worked with Oaklandish in various ways over the past years. When Pendarvis, or Pen as his friends call him, reached out to us about doing an event for his "OG Told Me' book we naturally had to make it happen. OG Told Me is, as Pen describes it, a coming of age memoir about...