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Jazz vocalist Valerie Troutt tells a coming-of-age story in her new album "The Oakland Girl." Valerie Troutt grew up in The Town, where the community recognized her talent when she was a kid. Members of her church would buy her tickets to concerts and musicals to expose her to all types of music. That support, plus having encouraging parents (her mom took her to the night club Sweet Jimmie’s!), influenced Valerie. "The 'Oakland Girl' is someone who gives birth. Someone who is a holder of space and really has a vision for life." Valerie’s jazz and gospel vocals have been heard all around the Bay Area. She wrote second album, The Oakland Girl wrote 20 years ago while living in New York City. But the themes of growth and love still resonate today. Her album is available on Bandcamp. This interview was produced by Jenee Darden and Precious J. Green and mixed by Gabe Grabin.

At the beginning of the Coronavirus shutdown, the city of San Francisco rented hotel rooms for over 2,300 homeless people. For many, it was the first time in years they had a bed and bathroom to themselves. Now, the city is gradually closing these shelter-in-place hotels. The plan is to eventually move everyone into permanent housing. And if it’s successful, it could be one of the city’s largest rehousing efforts to date. But critics say the plan is moving too quickly. "The people who are in these hotel units are in very, very poor health condition for the most part. It is likely be a death sentence sending them back to the streets." - Jennifer Friedenbach Jennifer Friedenbach is the executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness.

San Francisco author Marke Bieschke reads from his new book, "Into the Streets." It’s about how 500 years of protest shaped what’s happening in our world today.

Natalie Devora’s memoir "Black Girl, White Skin: A Life in Stories" is about challenges she faced growing up with albinism during the '60s and '70s in East Oakland.

This election, voters in Richmond elected City Council members, West Contra Costa School Board members, and passed Measure U, which changes the way businesses are taxed — it would generate $5 million dollars a year for the city. Overall, the results show big wins for progressives in Richmond.

The country is starting the week with a new president-elect. For many people, it was a weekend of celebration. For others, it was a weekend of protest. And, while we’ve been directing a lot of our attention to the presidential race, we are also following the aftermath of our local elections here in the Bay Area. Today, we are looking at Bayview-Hunters Point in San Francisco, and what the results mean to people who live there. Policing has been a big issue, and San Francisco voters passed Measure D, increasing oversight of the Sherriff’s Dept, and Measure E to adjust police staffing requirements. Measure A passed, approving nearly $30 million dollars towards to develop India Basin Open Space Park in Bayview. Overall, in this historically low turnout area, more voters cast their ballots this election. In this interview, Hoodline reporter Meaghan Mitchell breaks down what the local election results mean for San Francisco's Bayview-Hunters Point.

Over the past weeks, we've ramped up our voter outreach in five communities with historically lower voter turnout rates. We created special voter guides for East Palo Alto, West Oakland, Richmond, Fairfield, and San Francisco's Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhoods. These pamphlets are tailored to each area, and explain where and how to vote.

It’s around 11 a.m. on a Saturday morning at the 2200 block of the Wood Street homeless encampment in West Oakland. I’m here because I want to find out whether at least some of the city’s estimated 4,000 homeless people will vote. There’s a lot at stake for them this year.

In San Francisco, there are 588 polling places spread out across the city. And, most elections, the city needs about 3,000 people to volunteer to work them. This year, the Department of Elections got more applicants than ever -- 14,000! They actually had to turn people away.

This year has marked a turning point in how American athletes have engaged in political issues. In this episode of tbh, Maddie Johnson catches up with a Bay Area group that has been organizing basketball-themed Black lives matter protests around the country.

In these final days before the election, we’ve been checking in with locations around the Bay Area with the lowest voter turnout rates. We’ve gone to Richmond, East Palo Alto, West Oakland, and today we go to San Francisco's Bayview-Hunters Point district to hear what’s being done there to engage voters. Hoodline reporter Meaghan Mitchell has spoken to community groups working to mobilize voters. In this interview, she shares what she's been hearing in the neighborhood a week before election day.

Measure Z is causing debate in Alameda. It would repeal a rule in the city’s charter that limits the density of housing. But some say more dense housing would hurt the island.

Ying Liu doesn’t just tell ghost stories, she shows them. Liu is creator of the documentary series "The Haunted Bay," where she and her team investigate haunted places around the Bay Area from gay bars to old ships.

California is one of just three states that requires people convicted of felonies to finish parole before they can vote. Prop 17 would change that, and grant voting rights to nearly 40,000 Californians on parole.

In the final weeks before the election, we’re checking in with five locations in the Bay Area with the lowest voter turnout rates. Today, we go to East Palo Alto, a city with a 62% Latinx population. This year they are voting for city councilmembers and on Measure V, an affordable housing tax on hotels. Daniel Marquez is a reporter with El Tecolote covering the election in East Palo Alto. He spoke with city council candidates and community groups to understand what has held back voter participation in this largely Latinx city. This interview was produced by Victor Tence.

Nearly every election you'll see a bond measure on San Francisco ballots. It’s always the first proposition listed, and it's a way to fund what the Board of Supervisors or the mayor deem essential city services, like earthquake safety, school repairs, or park maintenance. This year, San Franciscans will vote on Proposition A, the Health and Recovery Bond.

America’s entrenched institutional racism has roots in its schools. In this episode of tbh, Masiyah Edwards reflects on how too often, students in the Bay Area experience severe consequences for their "bad" behavior rather than understanding, mentorship and help.

Oakland Poet Tureeda Mikell has many stories to tell. Her first book "Synchronicity: The Oracle of Sun Medicine" is a collection of poetry that covers spirituality and Black culture, while also challenging organized religion and institutionalized racism.

Oakland is voting on everything from city council members to the school board, from whether to give the police commission more independence, to removing a limit on fines around things like illegal dumping.

When people are killed by law enforcement, family members don’t get the same resources family members killed by civilians get. That’s what Rosie Chavez learned after her nephew Jacob Dominguez was killed by law enforcement in 2017. So without help from the state, she found her own support network.

In these last couple weeks leading up to the elections, we’re talking to people in Bay Area neighborhoods with the lowest voter turnout. Today, we go to the City of Richmond in Contra Costa County. Isabella Bloom, a reporter with Richmond Confidential and student at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism shares what people in Richmond are thinking about in the upcoming election. This interview was produced by Victor Tence with support from Richmond Confidential.

Oakland Tech is one of the most diverse schools in the country, and Chosang Tenzin, a Tibetan American and high school senior, had looked forward to going there. But, she was disappointed.

In Deep East Oakland, a big city council race is happening. And, the current city council is set to vote on a policy that could change the visibility of homelessness in Oakland. The District 7 City Council seat is open because Councilman Larry Reid is retiring after serving for 24 years. And on Tuesday, Oct 20, the Oakland City Council will vote on the Encampment Management Policy. The policy could remove homeless encampments from many parts of Oakland. But homeless advocates are rallying against it.

Wildfires have caused record-breaking stretches of bad air quality in the Bay Area these last few years. In this interview, Dr. Gina Solomon from UCSF and the Public Health Institute speaks about the long term health effects of breathing in all this smoke.

The pandemic has taken a toll on many people’s mental health. Brian Copeland wants to help those dealing with depression. His one-man show "The Waiting Period" he shares his personal story about contemplating suicide.

As Election Day approaches, we're focusing on communities with historically low voter turnout in five Bay Area counties. These 5 areas include West Oakland in Alameda County, Richmond’s Iron Triangle in Contra Costa County, Bayview-Hunter’s Point in San Francisco, East Palo Alto in San Mateo County, and Fairfield in Solano County.

Like other businesses, small movie theaters are also fighting to survive in the age of COVID. Derek Zemrak knows first hand. He owns the Orinda Theatre, which turns 80 next year. Derek talks about the future of the film industry and movie theaters.

Many young people of color are faced with racism everyday, whether it’s blatant and in your face, or subtler microaggressions. One example was in the news three years ago, when a group of non black students at Albany High School created a racist instagram account attacking fellow Black students with racial slurs and depicted them as gorillas and hanging from nooses. The incident shook the school and the city.

There’s been some changes to the downtown Oakland's landscape in the past few months. There are lots of murals — over 1,000 total. They’re painted on the plywood that businesses used to cover their storefronts during anti-police brutality protests back in June. These murals, by an assortment of Bay Area artists, have brought a lot of color to the area. But what is going to happen to them after they come down?

Grammy-nominated violinist Alisa Rose is one-half of the duo Scroggins & Rose. Their contemporary roots music is a blend of classical and bluegrass. In this interview, Alisa talks about how her love for music has taken her from the midwest to the Bay Area.

A group of activists in San Francisco understood the importance of mass visibility four years ago when they went on a hunger strike after a series of fatal police killings. They were called the Frisco Five, and their goal was to force out the city's police chief.

Is cancel culture a valid form of activism? In this episode of tbh, Ava Richards explores a question that's on the minds of millions, as new controversies about the influential and not-so-influential surface on a daily basis.

I visit the bottom floor of the Alisal Health Center in East Salinas in February. It’s home to the Comprehensive Perinatal Services Program, where new parents on Medi-Cal can get prenatal or postpartum care. The small lobby is filled with posters and pamphlets in Spanish. There’s a giveaway table in the corner with children's clothes and colorful toys. And tucked in the back, is something you don’t normally find at clinics: a small office with an attorney. “So every Wednesday I come from my legal office over to this health clinic where I have six appointments with farmworkers and families to provide free legal services to address health-harming legal needs that they might have," says Aaron Voit, an attorney with California Rural Legal Assistance, a nonprofit legal services program.

This summer, farmworkers in California have been working with extreme heat, wildfire smoke, and, in Monterey County, high rates of COVID-19 as they harvest and pick the food we eat every day. Then, there’s another health concern, and it’s been around for much longer — pesticide exposure. For the past 20 years, researchers have measured the effects of early pesticide exposure on hundreds of children of farmworkers. The study is called the CHAMACOS study, and it’s shown links between pesticides, and lasting neurodevelopmental problems, like ADHD. The findings have influenced some changes, like restrictions around spraying near schools or during school hours. But even though the study has been around for two decades, there hasn’t been a huge lawsuit. In this interview, we hear why that is.

The Oakland Roots soccer team are in the semifinals for the National Independent Soccer Association championship. Their home games are about much more than the sport. Fans come to celebrate Oakland. We hear sounds of Oakland Roots games — from the local cumbia bands to Eritrean pop and hip hop.

In Salinas, if you make a run to the grocery store to pick up a bag of kale, you’ll probably pass rows and rows of the leafy green. There’s one store, Food For Less, where the fields are literally right next to the parking lot. Nineteen year old Maritza Flores and her mom shop at one there all the time. And a lot of the time, when she’s there, she notices this smell.

The video game industry is a multi-billion dollar enterprise, and has been growing during the pandemic. It arguably plays a bigger role in our lives than the movie, music and book publishing industries. But much of the public discussion about inclusion and diversity is still relegated to Hollywood. "tbh" producer Hannah Ni looks at the storylines and characters from some of the most popular video games and finds that they're riddled with stereotypes, and they still suffer from a lack of character diversity. Hannah talks to entrepreneurs who are want to change that. This episode was edited by Sarah Lai Stirland and engineered by Christopher Egusa and James Rowlands. Music by Sammus (Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo,) audio director at GlowUp Games, the creator of the forthcoming game "Insecure, The Come Up Game."

Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed a bill mandating that all Cal State University freshmen entering the 2020-2021 academic year must take an ethnic studies course. KALW’s Jenee Darden shares how majoring in ethnic studies shaped her life.

COVID-19 is disproportionately impacting Black and Latinx California residents. And it’s not just the coronavirus. Across the board, CDC data shows that Black Americans have lower life expectancies than white people in the U.S. — and research suggests that racism is one reason why.

For most of her life, Neets’aii Gwich’in leader Sarah James has worked to protect her homelands, including the coastal plain of the nearby Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The U.S. government wants to lease some of the area for oil exploration and drilling. For the regions longtime inhabitants, those plans threaten land they call sacred.

Watching the hearings about Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and reading about the assault allegations against the two U.S. presidential candidates, student Zara Ahmed wonders why it all seems so downplayed. Then a light bulb went off: It's what we're taught — or not taught — that explains our cultural conditioning. Zara says that we need to talk to teens more about sex and healthy relationships, not less, if we want to see change.

Oakland Public Library is open for curbside pickup, but its doors remain shut. So what happens to families and kids who depend on libraries for more than books? In this installment of The Essentials, meet a children’s librarian who is working to preserve what makes the library so special.

Measure V would raise the hotel room tax in East Palo Alto. Every year, the proceeds would go toward improving affordable housing. Let’s get some background. When you stay in a hotel or any short-term rental for a period of 30 days or less, part of what you pay is called a Transient Occupancy Tax. In San Francisco and Oakland, that tax is 14%. Right now, in East Palo Alto, it’s 12%. If Measure V passes, East Palo Alto’s tax would rise to 14% by 2023. The city estimates that this would raise nearly $400,000 a year. Measure V supporters include the mayor and the entire city council of East Palo Alto. Measure V opponents include the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association, which is concerned about the government overreaching and overspending. They say that out-of-town visitors to East Palo Alto shouldn’t be the ones paying for city services like affordable housing. So here’s what it comes down to: if you’re an East Palo Alto voter and want to increase the transient occupancy tax to fund the city’s affordable housing projects, then vote yes on Measure V. If you want to keep the tax the same, then vote no.

Oakland DJ Nina Sol talks about spinning for virtual parties during the age of COVID and why she infuses her sound with messages of justice, freedom, and love. Nina Sol grew up in San Diego. Her name pays homage to her Afro-Latina heritage and sunny personality. Her mixes are heard domestically and overseas, especially the pandemic. You can party with Nina through the virtual party Elements, which will be live streaming from the African American Art & Culture Center in San Francisco. Follow Nina on Facebook and Instagram for information on future parties.

The deadline to get counted for Census 2020 is just around the corner — September 30. The good news is California has surpassed its 2010 census response rate. But, a quarter of Californians are considered "hard to count" because of language barriers, mistrust in government, or because they are unhoused or undocumented. The citizenship question that the Trump administration wanted to include added to immigrant fear and anxiety around the census. And then, there’s a new obstacle — the constraints of COVID-19. One county that is dealing with all these issues is Alameda. In this interview, Casey Farmer, Executive Director of Alameda County's Complete Count Committee for Census 2020, shares an update.

Joe Kirk is one of thousands released early from California prisons to slow the spread of COVID-19. The world he returned to was something he never prepared for. Unconfined is a new series of special episodes that feature Uncuffed producers navigating life after incarceration.

Oakland’s Fantastic Negrito has gone from singing in BART stations to performing on stages around the world. The two-time Grammy winner’s latest album is "Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?" This is his third full length album and first to top the Billboard Blues charts. In this interview, Fantastic Negrito talks about how his sound has evolved, his thoughts on mental health, and why he’s spending his time off stage farming.

Disability activist Alice Wong has been recognized by former Pres. Obama, Time magazine and most recently British Vogue. She’s editor of "Disability Visibility," an anthology featuring writers who give their take on living with disabilities today.

From Santa Rosa to Salinas, farmworkers are harvesting as California burns. Workers are risking heat, smoke, and COVID-19 to pick grapes and harvest strawberries. Activists worry that 2020’s historic combination of disasters is also fueling labor abuses.

Schools across the Bay Area are back in session — both virtually and in-person. But some are still feeling the effects of COVID-19 on the last school year. Research shows that 2008 graduates are still experiencing impacts of the Great Recession. So what can 2020 graduates expect?