Award-winning Bay Area journalist DeBolt will report on City Hall and policing, while Fermoso joins the newsroom on a Knight-Wallace Fellowship to examine the reasons for Oakland’s unsafe streets.
Author Archives: Jacob Simas
Jacob Simas is Managing Editor of The Oaklandside. He joined us from Univision, where he led social-impact initiatives and established the Rise Up: Be Heard journalism training program at Fusion for young people and community organizers in underserved areas of California. He was a senior editor and director of youth and community media at New America Media, where he led a community news network that amplified student and youth reporting in California news deserts. He is an advisory board member for Youth Beat, a graduate of UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, and a former producer with KPFA's First Voice apprenticeship program.
Posted inHealth & Environment
Watch: Oakland community leaders weigh in on rising gun violence
The Oaklandside recorded conversations with five local organizers who’ve been directly impacted by violence to better understand why it’s happening, and what can be done to prevent it.
Posted inOaklandside
Cómo reportamos sobre la vida de Mario González
Nuestra sala de redacción se esfuerza por informar responsablemente y con mucho cuidado sobre la vida de aquellas personas afectadas por violencia. Queríamos compartir más sobre nuestro enfoque de esta historia.
Posted inHow We Work
How we reported on the life of Mario Gonzalez
Striving to report responsibly on the lives of people impacted by violence requires great care. We wanted to share more on our approach to this story.
Posted inCity Hall & Policing
‘We still have so much work to do’: East Oakland residents gather to process the Chauvin verdict
We asked community members at a sunset healing circle at Liberation Park to share their feelings about the murder conviction of the Minneapolis officer who killed George Floyd.
Posted inCity Hall & Policing
A win for local journalism: Judge says Oakland Police Department must comply with Public Records Act
The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by two journalists, including The Oaklandside’s news editor, Darwin BondGraham.
Posted inEducation Equity
‘Larger than life’: Mr. Brooks was more than a teacher to students and colleagues at Oakland Tech
When Wayne Brooks passed away on March 19, he left with a 50-year legacy as a student and beloved educator at the North Oakland high school.
Posted inHealth & Environment
More Oaklanders left sick and in the dark as COVID surges and county says it can’t keep up
After Maria González got sick, she expected a follow-up call from county health workers. Why didn’t it come?
Posted inArts & Community
Radio B’alam is ready to serve Oakland’s immigrant Mam community
The online radio station will feature local news, music, and community conversations, all in the indigenous Mam language.
Posted inArts & Community
Holiday shopping? The Black Cultural Zone’s outdoor market is open for business this Sunday
This month’s holiday-themed Akoma market will feature local farmers, food vendors, artists, and retailers selling their wares in a festive—and COVID-safe—environment.
Posted inHealth & Environment
Peace parade planned for Sunday in Oakland neighborhoods suffering from gun violence
The walk in East Oakland will launch a yearlong violence reduction initiative and call for a citywide truce in the wake of surging violence.
Posted inCity Hall & Policing
These Oakland civic groups are finding new ways to mobilize voters during the pandemic
Voter registration efforts have focused on East and West Oakland, where voter turnout has been lowest.
Posted inHow We Work
Work with us to ‘Amplify Oakland’ through first-person storytelling
In the coming months, we’ll be sharing the mic with more Oaklanders who have important stories about life in our city. This is how we’re planning to do it, and why.
Posted inOaklandside
Ahora que la calidad del aire ha mejorado, las pruebas de COVID gratuitas en Fruitvale se realizarán este fin de semana
Los organizadores todavía necesitan voluntarios en persona para ayudar con el evento de prueba al aire libre de dos días, que podría atraer a varios miles.
Posted inHealth & Environment
With skies clear, free COVID testing in Fruitvale to happen this weekend
Organizers still need in-person volunteers to help with the two-day outdoor testing event, which could draw several thousand.
Posted inHealth & Environment
East Oakland’s colliding health crises: Where do we go from here?
A conversation with Native American Health Center’s Dr. Gerard Jenkins on how and why COVID-19 and bad air are impacting three East Oakland zip codes so badly—and what it will really take to help.
Posted inHealth & Environment
Update: Smoke postpones a 2nd mass COVID testing event
Organizers pulled the plug on a mass testing event in Fruitvale, where Latinos have been hit hard by the pandemic.
Posted inHealth & Environment
Air pollution cancels a massive East Oakland COVID testing event. Organizers say they’ll come back stronger
The Eastmont Mall testing event represented an impressive collaboration between grassroots groups—and those partnerships aren’t going away.
Posted inHow We Work
How El Tímpano passes the mic to Spanish-speaking and Indigenous immigrant communities
Journalist Madeleine Bair on Oakland’s media deserts and reaching communities where they’re at.
Posted inCity Hall & Policing
The long history of curfews against anti-racist movements
To understand why countless Oakland residents will gather to defy the curfew tonight, it’s important to understand how curfews have long been used to quell pain and fury in communities of color.