Life in the East Bay can be difficult to afford, but at the Oakland Coliseum Swap Meet, known affectionately as "La Pulga," patrons can find goods at a discounted price and vendors with an entrepreneurial spirit can try their best to earn a living.
My colleagues and I set out to better understand the market, its people, and its significance in Oakland. Over the course of three weekends in October of 2023, I invited patrons and vendors to participate in instant film portraits and interviews sessions with reporters.
What resulted is El Tímpano's largest multimedia project. I photographed and spoke with 75 people who told us tales of celebration, camaraderie, and some heartbreak. But mostly we heard stories of survival.
Toxic Inaction: Oakland’s Lead Funding Languishes As Residents Live With Serious Health Risks
Yazmin Alvarez first learned she had elevated lead levels in her blood when she was pregnant with her daughter Leyla four years ago. The now 30-year-old rents a home in Bancroft/Havenscourt, an East Oakland neighborhood home to predominantly low-income Latinos and immigrants.
The city of Oakland determined in 2021 that the neighborhood where Alvarez lives is in the top 5% of lead risk state-wide. Through a series of public records requests, interviews with city and county officials and an analysis of public meetings, reporters Jasmine Aguilera and Cassandra Garibay have found that a pattern of city staff turnover and distrust between city and county officials have led to years of inaction on lead poisoning despite funding to address the problem.
Aging Farmworkers In Half Moon Bay Want A Place To ‘Rest With Dignity’
A mass shooting at two farms in Half Moon Bay on January 23, 2023, left seven people dead and revealed horrific living conditions for local farmworkers, who were living on-site in shipping containers later described by county officials as “deplorable.”
Shortages of affordable housing and low wages mean that farmworkers who have built their lives in the region struggle to afford living there.
In the past few years, some of the farmworkers who have lived and worked in Half Moon Bay for decades have begun advocating for affordable housing, especially for seniors, speaking in support of housing at local meetings and informing others in their community.
‘It’s Not Just What You See.’ Illegal Dumping Is Affecting People’s Lives
In Oakland, illegal dumping has disproportionate impacts on communities of color.
Maria Suarez no longer visits her usual laundromat or walks a few blocks to local businesses due to the amount of trash she encounters around her home in East Oakland District 7. Suarez’s neighborhood is number two on the list of illegal dumping reports received by Oakland Public Works (OPW), according to their most recent data from 2021-2022. In that fiscal year, OPW completed more than 10,200 trash removal requests in the district, where Latinos make up more than half of the residents.
Suarez is a community leader at Faith in Action East Bay, a faith-based nonprofit advocacy organization that has been organizing around the issue of illegal dumping in Oakland since 2015. She says she wants city leaders to understand the significant economic, environmental, health, and safety impacts on residents.