City Government

West Oakland Rocks ‘Friday Night Live’, Despite Youth Center Hold Up

Published

12 years ago

July 26, 2013

Despite funding issues forcing the West Oakland Youth Center to remain closed for now, last week staff kicked off Friday Night Live, a new series of community events that will run through August.

Approximately 150 people attended the event. Some residents danced to the tunes of a DJ spinning popular music while others enjoyed the food offerings. Most of the kids either got their face painted, rode their bikes or joined in the basketball tournament.

“I just heard the music and wanted to know what was going on,” said sixteen-year-old Edna Miller who lives nearby.

Sponsored by the City of Oakland, the County of Alameda, Healthy Oakland, YMCA, and District 3 Councilwoman Lynette McElhaney, organizers hope the new weekly event will give residents of the crime-ridden West Oakland community something to look forward to.

The Neighborhood Services Division decided on 33^rd and Market streets as the event venue in hopes of bringing energy and enthusiasm to residents of the area, Community Building Coordinator Dylan Hamilton said, citing the neighborhood as a “target area” in the Neighborhood Services Division.

West Oakland residents come out and support ‘FNL’

“It’s a message to the neighborhood that we’re going to use this as a positive space,” Hamilton said, adding they he also wants to drum up excitement for the youth center’s opening.

The $7.6 million West Oakland Youth Center began construction in 2008 under former District 3 Councilwoman Nancy Nadel. The grand opening was set to happen last Friday with the kickoff event, but according to Hamilton it was delayed due to issues with permits, licenses, and safety requirements.

Other reports in local media suggest that the center is ready to open but that the City of Oakland does not have the $340,000 needed to operate the facility. Mayor Jean Quan’s budget proposal released in June stated that the “City cannot absorb” the cost of operating the center. Oakland North attempted to reach Mayor Quan but she did not respond for comment.

Despite Mayor Quan’s budget, the City Council recently adopted an all-in budget providing the needed funding to support the Youth Center, according to McElhaney.

McElhaney also noted taxpayers made it possible last election, passing “Measures Y and A that fund the City-County Neighborhood Initiative,” she said.

The Neighborhood Services Division is still working to inspire residents in the community to come out and enjoy this family event. Some residents employed through the Mayor’s Summer Job program are tasked with canvasing the area to increase the community’s awareness about the event.

“We look forward to working with Supervisor Keith Carson and Alameda County on an ongoing collaboration to provide a safe place for youth in one of the most impoverished but culturally rich corridors in the City,” McElhaney said.

At last Friday’s event, local teen Miller gave her approval. “I am enjoying it and I’m going to come out again next week,” Miller said.

Friday Night Live will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. every Friday until Aug. 23. For more information, call Dylan Hamilton at (510) 238-2164 or email at dhamilton@oaklandnet.com

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

Community Members Win Police Accountability Victory

Don't Miss

Kernighan’s Drive to Censure Brooks Defeated

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

Published

4 days ago

June 7, 2025

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

1 week ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.