Author: jill

Native American Heritage Month

Native American Heritage Month

November is Native American Heritage Month! Also known as American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, this is a time to recognize the history, culture, and contributions of Indigenous people. National Native American Heritage Month was recognized federally for the first time in the United States in 1990. Joaquin Newman, one of our Art Changes local artists, is a member of the Yaqui tribe. You can read more about Joaquin and learn about his art here.

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Regina Mason speaks to high school students

Descendant of First Slave to Write a Narrative Speaks to High School Students

This article was featured in the Alameda Unified School District, Community Group for Newsletter

Students in AP African-American Studies at Alameda High School and Encinal Jr. & Sr. High School were visited last week by Regina Mason, the great-great-great granddaughter of William Grimes, an African-American barber who wrote the first narrative of a formerly enslaved American.

Ms. Mason has spent the last 20 years researching Grimes, whose book, Life of William Grimes,

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Windemere Foundation donation

Thank You Windermere Foundation!

AEF is very grateful to be a part of a group of Alameda non-profits who received a generous donation from Windemere Foundation.

Shannon Reese from Windemere wrote: “Windermere Bay Area Properties is grateful to be connected with such dedicated leaders in the Alameda community. It’s a privilege to work alongside each of you to make a positive impact here.”

Thank you Windemere for your support of Alameda students and teachers!

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Descendants Film Award

‘Descendants’ Wins Film Award

Descendants: The Story of Us‘ was the Lunda Award recipient at the 22nd Annual Oakland International Film Festival in October 2024. This short film, created and produced by Shanti Lair–Croom and directed by Shaun Daniels, best exemplified the theme of the Lunda Award through its depiction of the journey and obstacles faced by several families right here in the East Bay in their pursuit of the American dream.

The Lunda people were known to have of the largest expansions in Central Africa.

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Filipino American History Month

Filipino American History Month

Filipino Americans are the second-largest Asian American group in the nation and the third-largest ethnic group in California, after Latinas/os and African Americans. The celebration of Filipino American History Month in October commemorates the first recorded presence of Filipinos in the continental United States, which occurred on October 18, 1587, when “Luzones Indios” came ashore from the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Esperanza and landed at what is now Morro Bay, California. In 2009, U.S.

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Hispanic Heritage month

Hispanic Heritage Month

National Hispanic Heritage Month, which begins in the United States each year on Sep. 15 and ends on Oct. 15, celebrates U.S. Latinos, their culture and their history. AEF’s Art Changes program features five artists who represent Hispanic Culture: Brazilian landscape painter Alex D. da Silva, Joaquin Newman who builds on the tradition of Mayan art, Bolivian-American painter and weaver Miguel Arzabe, water-colorist and muralist Irene Juarez-O’Connell,

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