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11 Local Restaurants Host a Caribbean Heritage Month Celebration at Oakland’s Brookdale Park on June 29

This year, Goodridge and Merissa Lyons, is expanding the event to include 11 more Caribbean restaurants in Oakland. The restaurants included are: AlaMar Dominican Kitchen, Calabash Oakland, Cocobreeze Caribbean Restaurant, Jamaica Sweet Spices, La Perla (Puerto Rican cuisine), Level 13 Oakland, Minto’s Jamaican Restaurant, Mystical Mixes Oakland, Sobre Mesa, Sweet Fingers Jamaican Restaurant, and T’chaka Haitian Cuisine.

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A celebration of Caribbean Heritage Month last year in front of Cocobreeze Restaurant at 2370 High St. Photo courtesy Annabelle Goodridge.
A celebration of Caribbean Heritage Month last year in front of Cocobreeze Restaurant at 2370 High St. Photo courtesy Annabelle Goodridge.

By Daisha Williams

June is known for a lot of things:  weddings, graduations, LGBTQ Pride Month, Black Music Month, and, of course, Juneteenth.

But since 2006, June is also Caribbean History Month. It was nationally recognized in the United States after the House of Representatives adopted H. Con. Res. 71, sponsored by Congresswoman Barbara Lee.

It is a time of celebration, culture, and family for Caribbean people and their descendants.  The recognition honors the significance of Caribbean people and their descendants in the history and culture of the United States.

On June 29, several restaurants will hold a free Caribbean Heritage Month event at Brookdale Park at Brookdale Avenue and High Streets in East Oakland from 12 -8 p.m.

As characterized by Annabelle Goodridge, owner of Cocobreeze, a Caribbean restaurant a few blocks away at 2370 High Street, the annual event is a way of giving back to the community that has allowed them to prosper.

This year, however, Goodridge and Merissa Lyons, is expanding the event to include 11 more Caribbean restaurants in Oakland. The restaurants included are: AlaMar Dominican Kitchen, Calabash Oakland, Cocobreeze Caribbean Restaurant, Jamaica Sweet Spices, La Perla (Puerto Rican cuisine), Level 13 Oakland, Minto’s Jamaican Restaurant, Mystical Mixes Oakland, Sobre Mesa, Sweet Fingers Jamaican Restaurant, and T’chaka Haitian Cuisine.

Along with food there will be live performances, and an award ceremony. Everything at the event is free, including all the delicious food being offered.

From the Visit Oakland website: “Bring a flag to represent your country! DJ’s representing the Caribbean diaspora will be spinning all your favorite Soca, Dancehall, Reggae, Latin and Afrobeat hits. Games and fun for the entire family! Bring blankets and chairs for the park.”

When talking about goals for this event Lyons, Goodridge’s daughter, said that they’re hoping to “shine a light on the beautiful diversity of the Bay Area, to create awareness of a variety of cultural dishes, highlight the fun of trying new things, bring family-friendly fun to Oakland and educate the community about Caribbean culture and offer support to local restaurants.”

Ahead of the event, Cocobreeze and the other restaurants created a ‘bucket list’ contest including foods from all the participating restaurants. Attendees have the option of completing the ‘bucket list’ by visiting each of the restaurants before the event. Winners for the bucket list activity will be announced on Saturday. The prize is a $20 gift card for each of the restaurants included in the event.

Cocobreeze also cultivates community in ways outside of this event. One is through their youth apprentice program which shows high schoolers the ways of the industry and the foods of their culture. They are currently working on expanding this program so that it is available for young adults as well as teenagers.

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of February 19 – 25, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of February 19 – 25, 2025

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Activism

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Lateefah Simon to Speak at Elihu Harris Lecture Series

The popular lecture series is co-produced by the Oakland-based Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Peralta Community College District. Jeffries’ appearance marks the 32nd lecture of the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series, which has provided thousands of individuals with accessible, free, high-quality information.

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U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (left) and Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) (Right).
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (left) and Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) (Right).

By Scott Horton

United States House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY-8) will be a speaker at the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series on Friday, Feb. 21.

The event will be held at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts, 10 Tenth Street in Oakland, at 7 p.m.

The popular lecture series is co-produced by the Oakland-based Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Peralta Community College District. Jeffries’ appearance marks the 32nd lecture of the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series, which has provided thousands of individuals with accessible, free, high-quality information.

The overarching goal of the lecture series is to provide speakers from diverse backgrounds a platform to offer their answers to Dr. King’s urgent question, which is also the title of Jeffries’ latest book: “Where do we go from here: Chaos or Community?”

In addition to Jeffries, Congresswoman Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) will also speak.

“Certainly, now is a time for humanity, in general, and Americans in particular to honestly and genuinely answer Dr. King’s question,” said Dr. Roy D. Wilson, Executive Director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Executive Producer of the lecture series.

“Dr. King teaches that time is neutral but not static. Like the water in a river, it arrives and then quickly moves on,” continued Wilson. “We must urgently create conditions for listening to many different answers to this vital question, and generate the development of unity of action among all those who struggle for a stronger democracy.”

In his book, Jeffries shares his experience of being unanimously elected by his colleagues as the first African American in history to ever hold the position of House Minority Leader.

In January 2023 in Washington, Jeffries made his first official speech as House Minority Leader. He affirmed Democratic values one letter of the alphabet at a time. His words and how he framed them as the alphabet caught the attention of Americans, and the speech was later turned into a book, The ABCs of Democracy, bringing Congressman Jeffries rousing speech to vivid, colorful life, including illustrations by Shaniya Carrington. The speech and book are inspiring and urgent as a timeless reminder of what it means to be a country with equal opportunities for all. Jeffries paints a road map for a brighter American future and warns of the perils of taking a different path.

Before his colleagues unanimously elected him Minority Leader in 2022, Jeffries previously served as Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and as an Impeachment Manager during the first Senate trial of the 45th President of the United States.

Jeffries was born in Brooklyn Hospital, raised in Crown Heights, grew up in the Cornerstone Baptist Church and he is a product of New York City’s public school system, graduating from Midwood High School. Jefferies went on to Binghamton University (BA), Georgetown University (master’s in public policy) and New York University (JD).

He served in the New York State Assembly from 2007 to 2012.

Admission is free for the Feb. 21 Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series featuring Congressman Jeffries. Please reserve seats by calling the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center at (510) 434-3988.

Signed copies of his book will be available for purchase at the event.

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Alameda County

After Years of Working Remotely, Oakland Requires All City Employees to Return to Office by April 7

City Administrator Jestin Johnson recently told city unions that he is ending Oakland’s telecommuting program. The new policy will require employees to come to work at least four days a week. These new regulations go into effect on Feb. 18 for non-union department heads, assistant and deputy directors, managers, and supervisors. All other employees must be back at work by April 7.

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Oakland City Hall. File photo.
Oakland City Hall. File photo.

By Post Staff

The City Oakland is requiring all employees to return to the office, thereby ending the telecommuting policy established during the pandemic that has left some City Hall departments understaffed.

City Administrator Jestin Johnson recently told city unions that he is ending Oakland’s telecommuting program. The new policy will require employees to come to work at least four days a week.

These new regulations go into effect on Feb. 18 for non-union department heads, assistant and deputy directors, managers, and supervisors. All other employees must be back at work by April 7.

The administration may still grant the right to work remotely on a case-by-case basis.

In his memo to city unions, Johnson said former President Joe Biden had declared an end to the pandemic in September 2022, and that since then, “We have collectively moved into newer, safer health conditions.”

Johnson said “multiple departments” already have all their staff back in the office or workplace.

The City’s COVID-era policy, enacted in September 2021, was designed to reduce the spread of the debilitating and potentially fatal virus.

Many cities and companies across the country are now ending their pandemic-related remote work policies. Locally, mayoral candidate Loren Taylor in a press conference made the policy a central issue in his campaign for mayor.

City Hall reopened for in-person meetings two years ago, and the city’s decision to end remote work occurred before Taylor’s press conference.

At an endorsement meeting last Saturday of the John George Democratic Club, mayoral candidate Barbara Lee said she agreed that city workers should return to the job.

At the same time, she said, the city should allow employees time to readjust their lives, which were disrupted by the pandemic, and should recognize individual needs, taking care to maintain staff morale.

The John George club endorsed Lee for Mayor and Charlene Wang for City Council representative for District 2. The club also voted to take no position on the sales tax measure that will be on the April 15 ballot.

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