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Wow. One person keeps sending comments about the incident at Easy, and no, I didn't post them. First, the matter is a painful one for me. Second, this person not of color doesn't seem to get that. Third, I made my point. Fourth, the owner sent an appology. Fifth, the person wasn't there. Sixth, someone else made the same "explain it away" comment -- with insults. Enough. What's equally hard for me to experience is the constant example of the racial dvide that exists -- and is growing -- in Oakland as based on the fact that African Americans I talk to understand what I experienced and some -- not all by any stretch, thank God -- white Oaklanders try to explain the matter away. Again, the owner of Easy emailed an appology. When I was a columnist with the Montclarion, we didn't publish every letter we received, but we knew who wrote it. By contrast, the people who tend to comment don't want you to know who they are, which (they think) leaves...

A nice story that shows a different side of Oakland. Transvestites charm macho Fruitvale bar Glamorous performers dazzle crowds with their weekly show By Angela Hill, STAFF WRITER - OAKLAND TRIBUNE OAKLAND — Danny Hernandez came out of the closet-sized dressing room in a gown that was sequined enough for a woman but made for a man. A little thicker in the shoulders. A little straighter in the hips. Techno-mariachi music throbbed a deep pulse -- not the kind of loud that hurts your ears, but the kind of loud that hurts your internal organs. A rainbow of colored spotlights twirled. A smoke machine puffed. The crowd in the tiny bar went wild, and the Mexican transvestite show was on. "The Queens of the Night" -- a troupe of four transvestites and one transsexual — perform at La Frontera nightclub in Oakland every Tuesday night. Kind of an odd sight to behold in this straight bar in the middle of the Fruitvale, and often an uneasy fit with macho Mexican traditions. But there...

PRESS ADVISORY FROM Office of Councilmember Nancy Nadel, District Three Contact: Marisa Arrona, (510) 238-7031 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 23, 2006 OAKLAND CITY COUNCILMEMBER NANCY NADEL INVITES COMMUNITY INPUT ON PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF THE LAKEVIEW LIBRARY DOG PARK. Thursday, June 29, 2006, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Resurrection Lutheran Church, 397 Euclid Avenue at Van Buren. Oakland, CA - Please join Oakland City Councilmember Nancy Nadel, the Department of Public Works, the Northlake Neighborhood Group, and O'DOG at a public meeting to review and comment on the preliminary design of the Lakeview Dog Park. The Community Meeting will take place on Thursday, June 29th, at 7:00 pm at the Resurrection Lutheran Church in Oakland. The idea of a dog park near Lake Merritt was first proposed by the Northlake Neighborhood Group back in 1998. This unique park-within-a- park will have garden pergolas at both ends and the outer fencing will be covered with hummingbird and butterfly friendly plants....

Two of the best hours of mu life were spent talking to a very wise Lionel Wilson at a table in front of Starbucks on Lakeshore in 1997, just one year before he passed away. We talked about what it means to carry on with your goals regardless of opposition. He gave me a lot of advise. But the best thing he told me to do was to listen to people. After five years, the downtown building that carries his name-- the terminal also known as the "Southwest Terminal" also has his name -- finally has the appropriate designation. Rededication honors Oakland's first black mayor Name of Lionel J. Wilson, who fought against discrimination, emblazoned on city building By Zuri Berry, CORRESPONDENT - OAKLAND TRIBUNE OAKLAND — In his 13 years as Oakland mayor, Lionel J. Wilson worked to stop discrimination in the city, rebuild downtown Oakland and create jobs for minorities. Wilson, who died of cancer in 1998, was elected the first black mayor of Oakland. He became mayor in 1977 after...

Someone recently asked me why I quit the City of Oakland after our Super Bowl work. I state "our" because the Oakland Alameda County Sports Commission, which I created and grew to a board of over 45 people, did do a lot of work. The handwriting was on the wall for me when, during a October 25th 2000 meeting with the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority to gain a vote to approve a contract between the NFL and the authority for the use of the stadium and arena for the 2005 Super Bowl, I learned from Ignacio De La Fuente -- the authority's president -- that he and Mayor Jerry Brown and a few others (including California Commercial Investments; Phil Tagami) had held meetings on the Super Bowl behind my back. That news also fit with callls from the NFL asking me why certain members of the City of Oakland were calling them to ask questions about the Super Bowl rather than ask me those questions. But when I got that information from Ignacio, I hit the ceiling. Enough wa...

"Choose or Lose The A's" Meeting - June 20th 2006 Watch the video While many -- probably you -- were watching the epic Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks NBA Finals game, a giant handful of Oaklanders were holding the third meeting of a group called "Choose or Lose The A's". Hey, I didn't make up the title. That honor belongs That honor belongs to Robert Limon, who organized this effort which has picked up steam and will be marked by it's first event, a July 7th tailgate party at the Oakland Coliseum in the "B" parking lot. The group's idea is to drum up enough fan outrage to force elected officials to pay attention to and take real action leading to the retention of the Oakland A's in Oakland. This vlog shows one of the planning meetings of the group, of which I'm a member. But we encourage you to get involved in any way large or small -- even if it's just sending an email link to this vlog to someone you k...

This guy -- see "V Smoothe" comments several "Easy" posts below -- keeps sending comments basically trying to explain away what happened to me at "Easy." The owner sent an appology, but since I've learned this guy hangs out there, I'll not return to Easy at all. I have neither the time nor the inclination to deal with people like that. He's part of the problem; he doesn't understand what modern racism is and how many African Americans endure subtle forms of racism every day. Perhaps from him. He claims to know the employee who should have been fired for the way he treated me, and if this is the case, it seems to be as if he's trying to justify his actions without seeing a thing. Moreover, he's just effectively undone the work the owner of the establishment did in making me feel comfortable about the idea of returning to "Easy" -- forget it. A 1998 poll conducted by the San Francisco Chronicle seems still to apply h...