Firstly, I am thrilled to be heading to Mills College, a private liberal arts women's college, as a first-year student in the fall. The campus is located in Oakland at the base of the hills of the East Bay. Gorgeous. :) I will be majoring in Art History, with a double-minor in English and Women's Studies, and am very excited to explore this trifecta of subjects.
But, additionally, I am looking forward to better exploring the Bay Area. I've visited San Francisco, Berkeley, and Palo Alto, and I love love love the colorful and ever-progressive culture.
I'm from Eugene, Oregon, a small college city in the Willamette Valley (known for the University, Saturday Market, breweries, excessive coffee shops, organic food, theater, and the commune-like Country Fair). I love my hometown, and I know I will come to love Oakland just as much, but I'm really looking to make the transition as smooth as possible.
So, my question: Where are the best feminist centers (bookstores, cafes, organizations, clubs, events, etc.) in Oakland/San Francisco? Do any of you live in the area and have advice for how to connect and become familiar with the best parts of the city?
I adore Feministing and thought I might utilize the community feature to, well, scope out a new community. ;)
Thank you for your consideration and suggestions!
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Welcome to the YAY AREA!!
There's a wonderful art gallery/frequent site of feminist events in San Fran called Femina Potens that I recommend; one of my friends works there. Revolution Books in Berkeley is great; Jessica Valenti did a reading of the Purity Myth there. And do check out what the wonderful womyn at UC Berkeley NOW are doing, and the events put on by the Female Sexuality classes at Berkeley-- truly awesome stuff. Those are my two cents.
I graduated from Mills in 2007. I loved it. I highly recommend the ChoiceUSA group on campus- super active and very feminist. Also take any history class you can from Dr. Andrew Workman and queer theory or lesbian lit from Rebekah Edwards. They are both amazing professors. In the Mills neighborhood try Phnom Penh Restaurant(Cambodian food) and Full House Cafe for brunch. Also check out laurel books- a super adorable neighborhood bookshop. Other must trys in Oakland are the farmers market at the Grand Lake Saturdays and Arizmendi Bakery on Lakeshore. As far as organizations to check out- the ACLU of Northern CA rocks, so does NARAL and Equality California. UC Berkeley has some good free lecture series to check out. Random good things in and very near Oakland are Farmer Joes Market(Fruitvale), Creative Reuse and Urban Ore. Enjoy Mills and Oakland!
I live in San Francisco, so here are some suggestions for my neck of the woods: The Women's Buiding has some great workshops, events, and support groups. La Casa de las madres (DV shelter and advocacy program) has an incredible volunteer program, as well as About Face (media activism and watchdog org). For fun, the Mission has some great bars, restaurants and other meeting places that tend to be overrun with active, engaged, amazing women. I highly recommend heading there and just walking around. For theater, check out Brava!, the Magic, and Berkeley Rep which all have amazing progressive stuff showing during the theater season. And of course, you can miss the Castro for liberal fabulousness to the max. Just take the Muni to Church and market, get off and walk around. See a sing-along at the Castro Theater, eat at Chow, and enjoy!
Oops! I meant you CAN'T miss the Castro. Definitely can't.