Tens of thousands of people filled the streets of downtown Oakland on February 22nd for the city’s ninth annual Black Joy Parade. We took our microphones out to meet some of the people who showed up and heard what the parade means to them — and what they want the world to know about Oakland.
Plus: a federal arrest near the Port of Oakland puts immigrant communities further on edge, Mayor Lee’s office releases a draft plan to cut unsheltered homelessness by 50%, Oakland’s struggle to collect illegal dumping fines, the search for the city’s next police chief, a new West Oakland outpost from FOB Kitchen chef Janice Dulce, and a new mural honoring Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu.
Stories in this episode:
Black Joy Parade
First Amendment Award
ICE arrest near Port of Oakland
Homelessness plan
Illegal dumping fines
Police chief search
Nosh
Alysa Liu mural
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Tasneem Raja is the Editor-in-Chief of The Oaklandside. A pioneer in data journalism and local nonprofit news startups, she co-founded The Tyler Loop, a nationally recognized community news platform in East Texas. She was a senior editor at NPR’s Code Switch and at Mother Jones, where the team she led helped build the first-ever database of mass shootings in America. She started her career as features reporter at The Chicago Reader and The Philadelphia Weekly, and lives in Oakland with her husband and daughter.