Alameda briefs: Olympic champ Joyner-Kersee to address boys, girls club

ALAMEDA

The Alameda Boys & Girls Club (ABGC) invites the public Sept. 25 to its “Building Great Futures Luncheon” featuring guest speaker Jackie Joyner-Kersee, a six-time Olympic track and field medalist, three of which were gold.

Throughout Joyner-Kersee’s career and over four Olympic Games, she dominated the Olympic heptathlon and long jump events. Her World Heptathlon Record set at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, still stands today.

Join the ABGC from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 1900 Third St. in Alameda to celeberate our youth and teens. The luncheon’s proceeds will help the club keep providing its high-impact youth development programs and services, skilled and caring adult mentorship and a positive, safe environment for more than 1,200 youth and teens in Alameda.

General admission is $75. For tickets and more information online, visit alamedabgc.harnessgiving.org/events/1989.

— ABGC

Education foundation’s Back 2 School BBQ set for Sept. 19

The Alameda Education Foundation (AEF) is looking forward to seeing you Sept. 19 at their second annual Back 2 School BBQ! This fun community event kicks off the school year and raises critically needed funds for AEF teacher mini-grants, mental health care support, visual arts programs and so much more!

Come and enjoy a barbecue dinner (with vegan options) plus a beer, wine or nonalcoholic drink at The Rake at Admiral Maltings and support Alameda public school students and teachers. The AEF have a silent auction with incredible items, plus popular Bay Area ukulele musician Ukulenny will be back!

For tickets and information online, visit bit.ly/46TASSw.

— AEF

Blues, Brews & BBQ festival Sept. 22 in Washington Park

Alameda’s seventh annual Blues, Brews & BBQ music festival will bring together world-class blues musicians, a myriad of local craft breweries and smoking barbecue vendors from 12 to 6 p.m. Sept. 22 in Washington Park at 740 Central Ave. in Alameda.

Live music at this free event for all ages will feature Grammy-award nominee Mark Hummel, The Dynamic Faye Carol, The Mighty Mules and The Bonafides. The BBQ grills will be smoking up delicious plates, including San Francisco-made Evergood beef hot links, smoked ribs, chicken and bratwurst.

Tracy-based Speer Family BBQ is bringing their famous flavor-packed experience to the festival. The festival’s many food options will pair perfectly with seasonal craft brews from Alameda Brewing, Berryessa Brewing and other area vendors. Artisanal wines, cocktails and nonalcoholic beverages will be available too.

Attendees will have the opportunity to peruse locally-crafted wares from Bay Area vendors. Also, kids can get crafty with Ozzy’s Music Academy and stay engaged at the Family Zone. For more information online and a free RSVP with raffle prizes, visit westendartsdistrict.org.

— West End Arts District

Yearlong series to start Saturday with ‘Rising Seas’ event

The city of Alameda is joining forces with three of Alameda’s most prominent arts organizations — the West End Arts District, Radium Presents and Rhythmix Cultural Works — to present “Rising Tides,” a yearlong series of extraordinary arts experiences and performances aiming to inform and inspire that will culminate in the summer of 2025 with a photo exhibition entitled “In Plain Site.”

The series will kick off from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, when Rhythmix will present “Rising Seas,” the first of their four contributions to the series. This free climate art event will feature live music, dance, visual art and theater at 2513 Blanding Ave. in Alameda.

The idea of “a rising tide lifting all boats” gained popularity in the early 1960s, when President John Kennedy used the aphorism to suggest that investing in economic development could benefit everyone who participates in the economy. Similarly, that is the ultimate goal of the “Rising Tides” series, meaning to engage audiences so they invest in the subject of climate change and galvanize action.

The Rising Seas event on the other hand is about sharing the joys and concerns of living on an island amid a climate crisis through a day of public performances that will include the dramatic and propulsive Japanese taiko ensemble Maze Daiko as well as SF Mime Troupe veteran Ed Holmes as “The Climate Detective from the Future,” who will tell stories of Alameda’s waterfront past, present and future.

Directed by Jeff Raz (formerly of Cirque du Soleil), this show promises to supply all kinds of food for thought yet be fun at the same time. Also on deck will be KT Nelson, the beloved Bay Area Izzy-winning choreographer and former co-artistic director at ODC Dance presenting her piece “Where Do We Draw the Line?”

In addition to the performances, “Rising Seas” will have plenty of family-friendly fare, including a section during Maze Daiko where kids (and their parents), will learn a Japanese dance celebrating that country’s fisherman ancestors hauling in a plentiful catch. Attendees can also see and hear music played by horns made from kelp! (Yes, we said kelp).

If all of that were not enough, attendees can engage in some fun time travel with “the Climate Detective” and if inclined, take a deeper dive into nature with the East Bay Regional Park mobile education unit. For online details, visit rhythmixrisingseas.org/#about-2024-25.

— Liam Passmore

Kidd, Brown announce launch of racial wealth gap initiative

Oakland native, graduate of Alameda’s St. Joseph Notre Dame High School and professional basketball Hall of Famer Jason Kidd, along with NBA All Star and Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, has announced the launch of the Oakland XChange, a national initiative to bridge the racial wealth gap by generating $5 billion in net wealth for historically marginalized communities.

Coming off the heels of the Boston XChange announcement last week, Kidd and Brown are bringing generational wealth-building solutions to Oakland in partnership with Oakstop, a prominent community anchor organization.

Designed to provide opportunities at the intersection of business and culture, the XChange will use a place-based strategy to drive solutions for better cities, integrating real estate development, business education, technology and cultural competence to foster economic growth. Oakland and Boston chapters of the XChange will serve as organizing hubs, using commercial real estate to empower underserved communities.

The XChange will create and showcase scalable and repeatable models for shared real estate ownership and impact investments to facilitate asset building for underserved community members that can be adopted across the country.

“The racial wealth gap is not limited to Boston — it’s a national issue, affecting Oakland and cities throughout the country, revealing how some groups are better positioned to make critical investments in their futures that benefit their families and communities,” said Kidd, who was raised in Oakland, attended Alameda’s St. Joseph Notre Dame High and has made significant philanthropic contributions to Oakland such as funding the Willie Keyes Recreation Center on the city’s west side.

— Alford & Co. Public Relations

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