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8 upcoming events in Oakland
The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most ecologically diverse—and most transformed—regions on Earth. In his sweeping and beautifully detailed book, San Francisco Bay Area: An Environmental History , David D. Schmidt traces how natural forces and human choices have shaped the landscape over thousands of years Grounded in meticulous research and accessible storytelling, Schmidt's book won a California Book Award Gold Medal, and it is an honor to welcome him here at the Oakland Public Library. Schmidt will give us a presentation on his research and book—with a particular focus on Oakland and the East Bay— and an audience Q&A and book signing will follow. Please register to receive updates and reminders. Registration assists with planning; however, it does not guarantee a seat. Additionally, masks are encouraged and will be provided. Get accessibility information . Listed from Oakland Public Library's public calendar. Details and registration: https://oaklandlibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/6a3c164f48c98c3600a20b8e
Uncovered after 50 years, an absorbing and illuminating photographic archive of Black West Oakland in the 1970s. In 1974 Ken Light, a young underground press photographer recently arrived in California, was encouraged by residents of West Oakland to document daily life in the neighborhood. A white activist building relationships in an eminent Black community, Light was invited into homes and churches, flagged down on the street for impromptu portraits. The resulting images, taken over two years, ended up unpublished and nearly forgotten for half a century. Now made public for the first time in Soul City: Oakland, U.S.A. , they form a stunning and historically important archive of Black urban life in a major American city in the 1970s. These photographs reveal the deep pride running through West Oakland, despite the formidable attempts of local governments and agencies to tear the neighborhood apart. Soul City presents the everyday experiences and emotions of West Oaklanders: hard work, love, determination, resistance, humor, delight. Ken Light is the Reva and David Logan Professor in Photojournalism at the UC Berkeley School of Journalism and he will be in conversation this evening with Noni Session of The East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative and Andrea Steves of the 7th Street Museum . They will be in conversation about Light's book, his career as a journalist in Oakland and the East Bay, West Oakland - its history and transformations - and the importance of docume Listed from Oakland Public Library's public calendar. Details and registration: https://oaklandlibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/6a82fbf8aafa6100295d1e69
Throughout her career, Cindy Cohn has been driven by a fundamental question: Can we still have private conversations if we live our lives online? Privacy’s Defender: My Thirty-Year Fight Against Digital Surveillance chronicles her battle to protect our right to digital privacy and shows just how central this right is to all our other rights, including our ability to organize and make change in the world. Part memoir and part legal history for the general reader, the book is a compelling testament to just how hard-won the privacy rights we now enjoy as tech users are, but also how crucial these rights are in our efforts to combat authoritarianism, grow democracy, and strengthen other human rights. Cohn will discuss her career, and the future of digital surveillance and rights in the time of AI and creeping authoritarianism. Following the conversation will be an audience Q&A and book signing. Mrs. Dalloway's will be on site selling copies of the book. Please register to receive updates and reminders. Registration assists with planning; however, it does not guarantee a seat. Additionally, masks are encouraged and will be provided. Get accessibility information . Listed from Oakland Public Library's public calendar. Details and registration: https://oaklandlibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/6a3e85217e16a03d00e83414
UC Berkeley School of Law Professor, Saira Mohamed will discuss her book, WHAT A COUNTRY OWES ITS SOLDIERS . A clarion call to recognize soldiers’ rights, arguing that volunteering to fight and die for one’s country does not mean consenting to exploitation in the process. American leaders endlessly profess their admiration for military service members. But these effusive declarations hardly comport with reality. Soldiers receive shoddy equipment and inadequate medical care; they are ordered to commit crimes and deployed to illegal wars. Such treatment is rarely recognized for what it is: a violation of the duty owed to soldiers by their government. When American service members are injured or killed during training, for example, they and their families are barred from suing the military for negligence or malfeasance. And when the torture of detainees at Abu Ghraib came to light, the subsequent proceedings focused just on low-ranking perpetrators. The psychological harm done to the soldiers themselves by commanders who ordered them to commit torture in the first place went unacknowledged. Copies of the book will be available for purchase from Tally Ho! Books . Doors open at 6:00. Come early to enjoy a cup of tea provided by Peet's. Registering for the event is not required but helps us prepare and will provide you with an email reminder. Listed from Oakland Public Library's public calendar. Details and registration: https://oaklandlibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/6abb200dde300e004516d769
Gil Durán started his journalism career at the San Jose Mercury News . As the newspaper industry hit turbulence, he pivoted to politics and spent ten years as an advisor to politicians including Jerry Brown, Dianne Feinstein, and Kamala Harris. In 2018, he returned to journalism as California opinion editor of The Sacramento Bee , and then became editorial page editor of the San Francisco Examiner . Now an independent journalist, he publishes two newsletters: The Nerd Reich , focused on extremist tech politics, and FrameLab , focused on political language. The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy is his first book. It is a searing investigation into the political ideology of some of our wealthiest neighbors. When Silicon Valley says it is "moving fast and breaking things," the world interprets the chaos as a necessary cost of innovation. Gil Durán reveals something far more sinister: a decades-long campaign to replace elected governments with corporate rule. The Nerd Reich explains the origins, strategies, and ambitions of Silicon Valley's war on democracy for the first time. From San Francisco's weaponized elections and secret billionaire projects to the White House, Durán exposes how the world's richest men are building a new political order. The Guardian says that Durán "lays out the narrative in exacting detail, outlining the connections between these men (and it is all men) and the origins of their often deeply weird beliefs, many of which view Listed from Oakland Public Library's public calendar. Details and registration: https://oaklandlibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/6acd5eafde300e00451a03c1
In January of 2024, local artist and author Dylan Miles was diagnosed with stage four appendix cancer. Though his prognosis was grim, Miles refused to give up and with the help of the Appendix Cancer Research Foundation he was able to receive a treatment called Cytoreduction Surgery and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (CRS-HIPEC) which saved his life. Throughout the two difficult years from diagnosis through recovery Miles says that he made it through due to "community, movement, and art." Miles' 2026 memoir, My Not Chosen Adventure: A Medical Mystery and Love Story , is not just about his journey surviving cancer but also includes "rainbow squirrels and protective dragons." The book comes from Miles' "passion for open conversation about… hard stuff. And… a passion for joy and love and life." Miles will bring his unique, passionate perspective to the Main Library on Thursday, February 11th in conversation with our OPL librarian about the book and his journey. Following the conversation will be an audience Q&A and book signing. Please register to receive updates and reminders. Registration assists with planning; however, it does not guarantee a seat. Additionally, masks are encouraged and will be provided. Get accessibility information . Listed from Oakland Public Library's public calendar. Details and registration: https://oaklandlibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/6aa996f08cf597003f940e34
Matthew Wolfe is a journalist and sociologist whose reporting has appeared in the New York Times Magazine , Harper's , The Atlantic , National Geographic , and The New Republic . He holds a PhD in sociology from NYU and is a postdoctoral fellow at NYU's Institute for Public Knowledge. Wolfe's debut book - Fires In The Night: The Earth Liberation Front, The FBI, And A Secret History Of Eco-Sabotage - tells the story of the Earth Liberation Front - a secret group of radicals who carried out the most audacious series of politically motivated arsons in American history - and the relentless federal hunt to bring them down. Publisher's Weekly said that the book "poses potent questions about the ethical boundaries of extremism" and that "readers will be rapt." Journalist Seth Harp - author of The Fort Bragg Cartel - said that it was "as riveting as any thriller" and that the story is a "forgotten prequel to 9/11 that couldn't be more relevant today." The author will discuss his book, the environmental movement more broadly, and the ongoing relevance of the ELF as the climate crisis grows more serious every day and the federal government seeks to quash any dissidence in an increasingly authoritarian manner. Following the conversation will be audience Q&A and book signing. Mrs. Dalloway's will be on site selling copies of the book. Please register to receive updates and reminders. Registration assists with planning; however, it does not guarantee a seat. Additionally, masks are Listed from Oakland Public Library's public calendar. Details and registration: https://oaklandlibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/6aa996d96074830038271b59
Paulina Borsook has worked in and around Northern California tech culture since the early 1980s. Formerly on the masthead of Wired magazine , she has written for multiple tech publications and companies and for countless non-tech publications. She is currently a contributing editor for the magazine "InFormation/every day computers are making people easier to use", which offers both silly and serious critiques of tech as written by people within it. Borsook's book, Cyberselfish: A Critical Romp through the Terribly Libertarian Culture of High Tech was originally published in 2000. Truer now than when it was written—the prophetic classic is now back in print. A quarter century after its original publication, Borsook’s “smart, funny and irreverent” ( The New York Times ) critique of high-tech has proved a prescient assessment of a toxic ethos which has seeped into every corner of our world. Borsook will discuss her book and its accurate prediction of tech's current state, her career in tech and tech-criticism, and more. Following the conversation will be audience Q&A and book signing. Mrs. Dalloway's will be on site selling copies of the book. Please register to receive updates and reminders. Registration assists with planning; however, it does not guarantee a seat. Additionally, masks are encouraged and will be provided. Get accessibility information . Listed from Oakland Public Library's public calendar. Details and registration: https://oaklandlibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/6ab195df6074830038288f53
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