West Oakland Youth Advocate for Environmental Justice
We're excited to start our fourth year of West Oakland Legacy Project. This year, we'll be starting off at the Bioneers Conference; a yearly environmental gathering featuring activists, artists, musicians, and environmental specialists.
The youth watched teen environmental activist Greta Thunberg give a passionate speech to the United Nations last Tuesday.
We're so excited to start our fourth year of West Oakland Legacy & Leadership Project! This year, we'll be starting off at the Bioneers Conference; a yearly environmental gathering featuring activists, artists, musicians, and environmental specialists from around the world. Advocating for environmental justice is crucial for our community, as we know that residents of West Oakland are subjected to almost 3 times the average
air pollution in the bay area. We will be presenting a workshop titled Self
as Super Hero, Dream City Edition. The workshop is based on
Self As Super Hero, Handbook on Creating the Life-Size Self-Portrait
by AHC Executive Director Amana Harris.
We will also be bringing the ArtEsteem ArtMobile to the conference, creating a space for screen printing youth-made designs relating to environmental justice.
From top: “We Stand On The Shoulders of Giants…We Grow Their Seeds.” Design example for the Bioneers screen printing project. •Nirali Bhakta returns to WOLLP for a second year • College students from
CCA help out for the day.
After the Bioneers bonanza, we will be moving into our ROOTS unit, where students will explore their own ancestry, elders' stories, and histories of the land they live on. Throughout this interdisciplinary program, our students will root themselves more deeply in who they are and where they came from, so their activism and identities can be grounded in the stories of people who love them. We will be producing a final multi-media digital art piece, featuring interviews that youth conducted with community and family elders.
We are also excited to begin on our garden, which has become very overgrown since we last worked on it during the summer. Our garden will address a very real issue in our community; the lack of exposure to fresh foods and sustainable practices. With a population of over 25,000 and only 2 full-scale grocery stores in the neighborhood, West Oakland has long been classified as a food desert. We will be weeding 6 ft. tall grasses, and bolted crops to make space for new seeds in our vegetable garden! Students will choose culturally relevant foods, asking their families what they used to grow, in order to inform our crop plan for the garden. This truly does round out our ROOTS curriculum, as we will be putting literal roots in the ground, as we grow food in the ways our ancestors did.
Chard, kale and flowers in our garden located at City Slicker Farms.
Neeka Salmasi, October 2019
Neeka is the head coordinator for West Oakland Legacy & Leadership Project (WOLLP). She can be reached at neeka@ahc-oakland.org
Thank You, ArtEsteem Exhibition 2019
Thank you for gracing us with your presence, smiles, cheers and accolades at AHC's 21st Annual ArtEsteem Exhibition! ArtEsteem students put their heart and soul into their artwork and we had one of our most successful exhibition openings to date.
ArtEsteem students from Hoover Elementary School in Oakland.
Friends, families and community allies!
Thank you for gracing us with your presence, smiles, cheers and accolades at AHC's 21st Annual ArtEsteem Exhibition! ArtEsteem students put their heart and soul into their artwork and we had one of our most successful exhibition openings to date. We are so appreciative of AHC volunteers who worked with passion to engage our young people and make this event a success!
ArtEsteem instructor “Mr. Justin” with family
Life-sized self portrait by ArtEsteem student Isabella Alonzo, “Let Us In”
WOLP Celebrates Mother Earth
Students were all smiles on Saturday’s Earth Day event at DeFermery Park where they spoke to crowds on the some of the environment’s most pressing issues.
West Oakland Legacy Project (WOLP) students were all smiles on Saturday’s Earth Day event at DeFermery Park where they spoke to gliding crowds on the some of the environment’s most pressing issues. WOLP students have gained much knowledge on local, national and global environmental catastrophes that has damaged the Earth’s health and with that, human and creatures alike.
Earth Day served as a wonderful opportunity for students to raise awareness on some of the issues they felt most passionate of and build confidence while doing so. The WOLP students have greatly improved in public speaking over the year and events such as these ones provide students like Enoch, pictured above, to showcase their growing skills.
CSCE Family Adds To Their Garden
This past Saturday at The Community School for Creative Education (CSCE) we got our green thumb on for the Annual Garden Clean-Up that was led by AHC and CSCE Board of Directors, and Dr. Oberman.
This past Saturday at The Community School for Creative Education (CSCE) we got our green thumb on for the Annual Garden Clean-Up that was led by AHC and CSCE Board of Directors, and Dr. Oberman. CSCE families and students planted new vegetation such as kale, lettuce, and tomatoes.
Staff member Malcolm, pictured to the right, assists a student shoveling new fertilizer into the planters-box.
Pictured here are students and volunteers planting some new veggies into the planter-box.
Another wonderful day for our students to learn the fundamentals of urban farming and the importance of learning how to nurture living things that can in-turn nurture and nourish ourselves. The students can now carry this knowledge with them for years to come, to practice and to share with others.
Mindful Drumming Circles at AHC
Mindful Drumming is a way to connect straight to the heart. The ancient art of synchronistic rhythms and sounds can be used for healing and for unleashing the spirit of human potential. Benefits include:
Increased Productivity and Wellness
Improved Communication
Effective Stress Reduction
Self Esteem Building
The last Friday of every month we host Mindful Drumming Circles at AHC. No prior knowledge is required and drums will be provided. This is a free class, but we appreciate donations. Check our upcoming events page to keep up to date.
If you are interested in private sessions or team building contact AHC by calling 510-652-5530 or email info (at) ahc-oakland.org.
Super Heroes in Progress
We are more than halfway through the Super Heroes project at AHC. Students have been studying social justice issues that are important to them, and designing life-sized self portraits that relate to their cause. Each painting exists not only as an art piece, but as a call for social change.
The finished pieces will be on display at our upcoming ArtEsteem Exhibition on May 18th. The annual ArtEsteem Exhibition is always one of our highlights of the year. You can see the full details on our event page.
ArtEsteem instructor Justin Mullon teaches some basic illustration techniques.
Identity, Strengths & Weaknesses
The ArtEsteem program is moving full steam ahead at Hoover Elementary School! The current project focuses on themes of identity. The youth are designing masks that reflect different aspect of their personality, and in essence, how they see themselves. This process has brought some thought provoking discussions to the classroom. Students were challenged by being asked critical questions such as, “What have you learned about your identity?” and “What are your strengths?”
This project will go on throughout the school year, and we’re excited to show you the completed pieces on May 18th at ArtEsteem’s 21st Annual Exhibition! The event is happening right here at AHC, catch the details on our event page.
Masks from different cultures, for inspiration.
From left: Mask inspiration, Mr. Eddie helps out, student writes down her strengths.
Students work on developing their narrative, and help each other along the way!
Student thinks about her identity.
BAYCAT Filming at AHC
We loved having our friends from BAYCAT at AHC this morning! BAYCAT is a nonprofit based in San Francisco that provides media education and jobs for youth of color. Their mission is to end inequality and racism through the art of storytelling.
This morning they interviewed AHC co-founders Kokomon and Aeeshah Clottey for a documentary on food justice in black communities. We will keep you posted about it’s release date!
pictured: AHC co-founder Kokomon Clottey
pictured: BAYCAT staff
pictured: AHC co-founder Aeeshah Clottney
Maze Cut Bookmaking: Honoring LGBTQ and Black Communities
The celebration and honoring of the LGBTQ community and Black community has been stiched into our art project this week at Tenderloin Community School (TCS) in San Francisco. Along with their mentors, our participating students learned and celebrated the LGBTQ and Black community during regular school hours. ArtEsteem stopped by TCS to support in the capturing of that knowledge and materialize it
into a book for the students to keep and share.
The handmade book integrated modern and classical symbols from all over the world that represent various gender identities. In addition, in honor of Black History Month students familiarize themselves with the classical Adinkra symbols from Ghana that centered around respected characteristics like strength, knowledge, honor, etc.
Mr. Eddie and Ms. Nan assisting students in the bookmaking process.
In all, it was a fantastic day of learning, celebrating and honoring the LGBTQ and Black communities in addition to learning a new art medium that will not be forgotten shortly.
-March 14, 2019
Three students pose with their freshly-made books.
Learning Fabric Arts with the ArtMobile
This week we took the ArtMobile across the Bay for Art Week at MLK Middle School! We facilitated fiber art classes for 3 days to over 400 students. Working with fiber arts is a unique experience, and the students were able to let their creativity soar.
Our projects involved bold designs, and we spoke about symbols relating to Black History Month, in addition to icons of peace and personal development.
Thanks to everyone at MLK Middle School for hosting the ArtMobile pop-up. The ArtEsteem ArtMobile is a fully equipped mobile art studio available for schools, festivals and community building events. To learn more, click here.
- February 27th, 2019
