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Pamoja Magazine, East Palo Alto, CA (2026)

02/27/2024

This story covers San Francisquito, Searsville Dam and a lawsuit between Stanford and two Environmental Groups.

Searsville dam is in Portola Valley, next to the Santa Cruz foothills where the San Francisquito watershed begins. Today, the dam is no longer useful as a means of storing or holding water back as it is mostly full of sediment.

There is a current project to put a hole near the bottom of the dam to allow for the sediment to clear out. This will also allow for fish and plants to thrive in a somewhat larger riparian habitat.

While there is some evidence to suggest there were Salmon in the SFC, there isn’t enough to suggest there was a historical, thriving population of Salmon. This is both due to archaeological and biological analysis determining inadequate habitat and overall not enough remains.

Flood infrastructure in EPA has helped a lot with flooding in recent years. By draining sediment it will allow for more water to be controlled for floods than the current state of the dam.

Sources:
KQED - The Real History Behind Myths and Mystery of Stanford’s Searsville Lake
Palo Alto Online - Stanford plans to remoce Lagunita Dam
Stanford | Searsville Watershed Restoration website

10/10/2023

Thank you to everyone that participated in this year’s Rainbow House Art Show! We are honored to have had such a great line up of artists and vendors all from East Palo Alto! 🌈🏡

Once again honoring the late Norman Fontaine with an event we believe he would be proud of. Artists definitely brought their best, it continues to get better every year. We hope to see you all again next year!

Here are some film photos of the event! 🎞️ We’ll post more photos and videos in a part 2

09/22/2023

ANNOUNCING OUR LINEUP OF ARTISTS!! 🌈 🏡
iley / will be accompanied by incredibly talented East Palo Alto/EMP artists of almost every art medium you can think of 📸🖼️🎨

The event is free for everyone but make sure you bring money for our food vendors and buy art from living artists! 👨‍🎨👩‍🎨

We will have two blocks of performances, first one is at 1-2:30 (Tongan & Samoan cultural dances) and a performance by . and the second will be from 3-4:30. Los Hermanos de Oro starts at 3! Then a performance by B-R-E the Rapper and a poetry reading from , to close off the event! Stay tuned for any changes or additions.

Vendors will be selling ice cream rolls, soul food, Keke’s and Otai, fresh juice and ginger shots, popcorn snacks and candles! 🍊🫚 🌮 🐟 🥘

Check out what has been involved with and even get your face painted! 👩‍🎤🧑‍🎤👨‍🎤

Lastly, make sure to stop by for a little video memory of the event 💃🕺📸 And a couple carnival games and co****le set up outside of the building 🎪

Cooley Landing will be absolutely packed with art. Hope to see you there! 🌈🏡💫

08/27/2023

NEW DATE!!! 🌈🏡🎨 2023 Rainbow House Art Show!! SAVE THE DATE OCTOBER 1ST 12-5PM COOLEY LANDING

This year’s headlining artist is Flooda’s very own, Darius Riley .iley / Darius is an accomplished photographer and filmmaker who is known for capturing Bay Area culture and life. He brings EPA wherever he goes, and connects it to the work he produces.

Darius will be accompanied by some new and returning artists & vendors from East Palo Alto.

We will be having cultural dances and performances by other artists later on in the show. More details on that will be announced later. Hope to see you there 💫 🌈 🏡

Pictures used for these flyers were all taken by Darius in EPA, and each neighborhood, The Vill, Flooda, The Mid, The G, and OTR will have their own flyer in those respective areas. Flyer designs by

THIS EVENT IS IN CELEBRATION OF NORMAN FONTAINE AND HIS VISION FOR A SPACE, THE RAINBOW HOUSE, FOR ARTISTS TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES

05/12/2023

Here are some more film pictures of the 37th annual Cinco De Mayo Festival organized by at Bell Street Park 📸

03/16/2023

Part 1: After one of the severe storms that hit EPA late last month, we met with Laura at Bell Street Park to learn about her story, her current work, and her hopes for the future of the town. Born in a small town in Michoacan Mexico called Maravatio, Laura Rubio is one of the many inspirational leaders in East Palo Alto serving as a voice for the Latinx community in our community. She moved to East Palo Alto in 2003 and for the past eight years has been a true servant to the people:
“Cuando yo llegué hace 20 años todavía había muchos rumores de que era muy peligroso estar en las calles entonces este... Me daba mucho miedo salir a las calles. Pero de repente, un día alguien me invitó a una reunión y me gustó y fue donde me apasiono bastante trabajar para la comunidad.”
What makes Laura important is that she is able to see through the politics, and help people one way or another. The day we met, she told us about the lack of attention the city council, and local non profits were placing on the needs of the people whose food went bad because of the power shut offs. According to Laura, her phone was ringing all day asking her where residents predominantly from the west side can access food; from which she had to refer them to Redwood City because for some reasons nonprofits and activists groups were not in EPA that day. Her influence was able to get our city active on the issue, and this is just one example of Laura’s importance to our community.
Despite EPA being only 2.5 square miles, Laura believes that such truth serves as a competitive advantage in comparison to other towns: “Pero yo veo en East Palo Alto a raíz de que es más pequeño, somos más unidos. Y podemos lograr muchos cambios con esta unión.”
Stay tuned for part two where we will explore Laura’s activist history in Chiapas, Mexico "

12/14/2022

THE PANAMANIAN COMMUNITY IN EPA 🇵🇦

During the late 80’s and early 90’s there was a migration of Latinxs to East Palo Alto including people from Panama 🌏

Panamanians played an integral part in uniting our community at a time when there was unspoken tension between the brown and black community ; as Afro-Latinxs, Panamanians identified as both Latinx and Black.

In a conversation with Mayor Ruben Abrica, he shares always remembering Ms. Marva Als who often was the only individual in city council meetings who promoted unity when there were quarrels between the brown and black community.

There are even important community elders in the community including the Butlers, Wilks, the Edwards, the Als, and the list goes on.

We had the pleasure and opportunity of speaking with automotive and diesel technician Joset Diaz-Buttler, a 41 year old Panamanian who moved to East Palo Alto when he was 10 years old as a result of the US invasion of Panama.

Diaz-Buttler started writing in high school and mentioned community elder and Poet Laureate, Kalamu Chaché, as being the catalyst and even wrote a book: “the book was written on my own time it was published by a lady at Christian ministries where I volunteered through most of high school. Ms Chaché would take us to Stanford for the poetry readings and to perform a few times.”

Some stories that Diaz-Buttler shared were about art history, specifically musical history, in EPA.One story was about a local classic song by Totally Insane called The Newz 🎵. At 1:05, “white boy popo shoots Ricky P in the chest and the devils increased his pension” is actually referencing his cousin who was murdered by the police in the Mid. Along with songs mentioning his brother’s name, Zeke.

We wanted to highlight Diaz Butler’s experience to highlight Afro Latinx history in EPA during the 90’s. Sadly, it’s likely that much of our Panamanian community has been displaced due to gentrification but it’s important to celebrate those people that have contributed in making our community more together during divisive times.

10/07/2022

Pamoja Magazine was invited to a tea party at the Tulip L. Jones Women’s Club last Saturday hosted by

We had a chance to speak with President of the Tulip L. Jones Women’s Club of East Palo Alto, Sandra Pickrom 🌷 We broke down some of what Sandra shared with us in the pictures, but please read some more about the activities of the club down here👇

“My name is Sandra Pickrom from Manteca, CA, currently the president since 2011. Tulip L. Jones has a total of 18 members and five Tulies (Tulies are volunteers but not active members), that meet monthly on the 4th Saturday.

Tulip L. Jones Women's Club of East Palo Alto Affiliate of California State Association of Colored Women’s Club, Inc. 💐

Motto: “Deeds, Not Words”

“Your greatest potential can only be experienced when you tap into your strengths to meet the challenges and opportunities before you”

The club continues to support the community's youth by offering scholarships to local graduating high school seniors. Funds for the scholarship are raised through annual events such as the Black History Banquet, luncheons, and bus trips. The members are honored to advocate for students who have attended colleges such as Harvard, San Jose State, Occidental, Spellman, and UCLA👩‍🎓👨‍🎓🎓

The Clubhouse is rented for revenue to the members of the community for meetings, wedding receptions, parties, family dinners, and religious services just to name a few.

We provide a community hot breakfast twice a month at the club house, donate school supplies and gently used coats once a year, and for Thanksgiving and Christmas, we give food baskets to needy families and senior citizens that are unable to leave their homes.

We are committed to continuing the proud tradition set forth by our predecessors.”

Thank you so much again to Stephanie for the invitation, and and Sandra for sharing more with us about the club and sending these amazing pictures 📸💐

09/28/2022

Located at the end of Bay Road, Infinity Salvage is the last remaining car dismantling facility in East Palo Alto 🚘🚜

Since 1974, the two-acre lot has been owned by Mike Baker and his son. Before that, the lot was used for auto recycling purposes, and even for cattle in the early 1900’s 🐄

One of the staff we spoke to has worked at Infinity Salvage for 38 years. They showed us around including one of the oldest vehicles they have: a tractor from the early 1900’s, when East Palo Alto was an agricultural hub.

In 2003, Infinity Salvage fought to stay in business after the city tried to shut them down because they were in an area perfect for development. Here is a quote from a public letter sent out by Mike Baker:

“My name is Mike Baker & I own Infinity Salvage located at 2091 Bay Road, East Palo Alto. I am asking the East Palo Alto City Council to please reconsider the closing of my business and to renew my business license which will allow me to reopen my business in order to support my family, my employees' families, and to continue to provide the people of East Palo Alto a much needed service.” - infinityautosalvage.com

09/20/2022

Our first round of recap photos from the second annual Rainbow House Art Show 🌈

Hope that everyone had a good time, it was so nice to see people make connections and see people they haven’t seen in a long time. So beautiful to capture everyone connecting through art! 👩‍🎨💃 🖼🔥💫✨

More to come from us! Please share photos you took in our public google drive folder linked in our bio or through DM📍📸🎞

09/16/2022

“Saturday’s forecast may be for sunny weather, but there will be a rainbow in East Palo Alto that day - one year in the making”

- Heather Zimmerman, Arts and Entertainment Editor at

See you Saturday 🌈

Address: 2100 Bay Rd
East Palo Alto, CA 94303
United States 📍

Music performances begin at 2pm, and stop by before our food sells out! 👀

09/04/2022

film of Norman’s art captured by last year at our first annual Rainbow House Art Show 📽🎞

The audio heard in the video is music by Norman Fontaine from the 1970’s. Archive audio provided by Dennis Scherzer who was also a band member of Norman’s in the band, Pyramid 🎵

On September 17th, Fontaine’s discography will be playing at the second annual Rainbow House Art Show 🌈

Pamoja Magazine

02/27/2024

10/10/2023

09/22/2023

08/27/2023

05/12/2023

03/16/2023

12/14/2022

10/07/2022

09/28/2022

09/20/2022

09/16/2022

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