On February 5, 2009 Ada Pinkston talked to Soup Stone about a public art and community storytelling project by artist Rene Yung called Our Oakland: Eastside Stories.

> Click here to see her presentation. (4.1MB PDF)

Our Oakland is creating an online web archive composed of stories by and for the community of East Oakland.  One of the many ways the project is gathering content for the archive is through community events called Community Storytelling Days.  These are family-oriented events where East Oakland residents can gather for a day of food, activities, and meeting their neighbors, while having the opportunity to record their stories in front of the video camera. 

Here's an example of one of the videos that was shot at the first CSD:

> Click here to see some of the other stories from the project.

The project is gearing up for its second Community Storytelling Day and needs some help.  Our Oakland is currently seeking:

~ Contacts with local grass-roots organizations in East Oakland

~ Volunteers for the next Communty Storytelling Day on March 28th, 2009

~ People with expertise in video and video editing

~ Druple development skills

~ Connections with potential food sponsors

For more information about the project, and how you can get involved please visit the Our Oakland website: http://oaklandspeaks.weebly.com.  If you have any further ideas about how to help, also feel free to include them here in comments.

Drop Ada an email about Our Oakland