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Enjoy Jonah Melvon featuring Adesha at the Art + Soul Celebration on July 27, 2019

https://www.riovida.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Join Jonah Melvon featuring Adesha on Saturday July 27,2019 Oakland Art + Soul
“Jonah Melvon featuring Adesha”

July 12, 2019, 12th & Clay Street, Oakland, CA, Jonah Melvon featuring Adesha will perform at the Oakland Art + Soul Festival, on Saturday 27th at 5pm. You will find their performance at the Art & Soul: Victor McElhaney Emerging Artists Stage on 12th and Clay which is west of Frank H. Ogawa Plaza and easily reachable with public transportation. See entire line up here.

The Oakland Art + Soul Festival is an annual tradition to celebrate art, music, great food and the Oakland Spirit. The festival brings together a wide range of musical performers, artists, dancers, and vendors to create one of the West Coast’s best city wide celebrations. It features 4 stages, dance areas, and a sea of food vendors including Jambalaya, Gumbo, Crawfish Etoufee Catfish, Snapper, Oysters, Crab Cakes, Shrimp, Hush Puppies, Remoulade Sauce Ethiopian Cuisine Fried Chicken Chicken Tikka Masala, Veggie Pakoras Pork, Chicken or Veggie Lumpia Hawaiian BBQ, Malasadas Tri Tip and Sausage Sandwiches, Smoked Turkey Legs, Jerk Chicken, Funnel Cake, Jazzy Juice Drinks and much more.

Jonah Melvon and his sister Adesha are born and raised in Oakland. Their success is based on their world-class talent and their commitment to positivity whether that is at their performances, community involvement, or sharing the positive and mellow soul spirit internationally. Their music can be found on Spotify or Soundcloud.

Jonah Melvon featuring Adesha are taking the world with their breezy sound and intelligent lyrics.

Aside of Jonah Melvon featuring Adesha’s songs about truth, love songs, that include the city, relationships, love for parentsclear communication, and the importance of the wider community to forge content lives.

Jonah Melvon and his sister Adesha lift the spirit with their intelligent and fun lyrics and smooth soul music; using socially conscious rap lyrics to spread love and joy from their soul.

Jonah Melvon is dedicated to “Bridging the Gap” and Equity for all!

Jonah Melvon featuring Adesha will perform as the headliners for the Art + Soul Emerging Artists Stage

In Memory of Victor McElhaney

Art + Soul has partnered with Angela Wellman, Founding Director of the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music (OPC), to present two days of music performed by emerging artists in loving memory of the late Victor McElhaney, son of Oakland City Councilmember Lynette McElhaney. An immensely talented drummer, Victor joined the OPC musical family at age 10 and was a founding member of the Frederick Douglass Youth Ensemble, the organization’s pre-professional ensemble that debuted at Art + Soul in 2009. Confirmed headliners include Jonah Melvon and Adesha ─ R&B/conscious hip hop artists and siblings from Oakland on Saturday ─ and Victor’s Village, a special showcase featuring musicians who loved and worked with Victor, curated by Bay Area hip hop artists SOL Development on Sunday. Performances on the Emerging Artists Stage will take place both days of the festival, also featuring Union de la Bahia, Ajai KasimSean Huang Ensemble,and The Void on Saturday; Barbara DeveauxGenius Wesley, Jayla Hernandez,and Oaktown Jazz Workshop on Sunday. A separate announcement about this new festival stage with more details on the artists will be issued soon.

Art + Soul Oakland 2019 takes place in downtown Oakland Saturday, July 27 and Sunday, July 28, from noon to 6 p.m., centered in and around Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. Advance tickets are available for purchase online for just $12 Adults and $6 Seniors (65 & older). Festivalgoers can save even more with two-day tickets available through advance purchase only. At the door, admission will be $15 Adults and $9 Seniors (65 & older). Ages 18 and under enjoy free admission (no ticket required).

Art + Soul Oakland 2019 is Northern California’s most accessible festival with direct service via both BART’s 12th Street City Center station and AC Transit, in addition to $5 parking in the adjacent City Center West Garage, 12th Street at Martin Luther King Jr., Way. Free attended bicycle parking will be available (please bring your own lock).

About us and how to get in touch for further conversations, interviews, etc.:

The Oakland Art + Soul Festival one of the top highlights of the SF Bay Area Summer.

To learn more about the Oakland Art + Soul Festival please contact Samee Roberts 510.550.4804, ext. 1| sameeroberts@heartofthetownevents.org

To learn more about the Oakland Art + Soul Festival’ Emerging Artist Stage in honor of the late Victor McElhaney, son of Oakland City Councilmember Lynette McElhaney please contact Angela Wellman 510-836-4649 | amwellman2@gmail.com

To learn more about Jonah Melvon and the Rainwater Project, please visit his website at https://www.jonahmelvon.com/

See you at the show! To set up an appointment for an interview or requests for additional materials with the label, photos, video links, etc. please text Edie Okamoto, Media Relations, at 510-693-0166 or facebook or linked in or reach out at edie.okamoto@gmail.com.

About the Rainwater Project

You can hear the music on Spotify or purchase them on Amazon.

Please join our list of sponsors who like you believe that education and better paying jobs are the answer to a higher standard of living for all. #Equity

Sponsored by Riovida Networks: RioVida Networks brings causes, celebrities, music, film makers, artist and corporations together for mutual benefit. www.riovida.net

HOTT is an Oakland-based 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to enhancing the region’s economic and cultural landscape through marketing,public relations, event production, and operational support for area arts, civic, and community organizations.www.heartofthetownevents.org

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Today Oakland is a model city that has pulled together to create a new future for all its citizens. Part 4

Jonah Melvon & Adesha will join the Art & Soul Festival this year. The most ethnically diverse fun festival on the West Coast. Great music, great food, great art and good vibes.

The citizens were ready for the change. It started to gentrify without pushing out locals. The East Bay Times reports that the Fruitvale district is a great example that this is possible: “Schildt said it’s possible to invest in a community without causing displacement — particularly if it’s public investment or community-driven. Oakland’s Fruitvale Village is held up as a national model. As Scott Morris reports, the mixed-use development near Fruitvale BART improved the socio-economic well-being of residents in the immediate neighborhood and preserved the area’s racial and ethnic diversity.”

Today 38% of people in Oakland hold secondary degrees, crime is down to the same level as San Francisco, aside of Long Beach California it is the most racially mixed town in the world. When researching the most crime ridden towns in the US no California town made it into the top 30 most dangerous towns in the US. Niche voted Oakland as the 26th best US city to live in.

How did Oakland do it? This is the story that Oakland born and raised artists “Jonah Melvon featuring Adesha” wish to tell. Their song 1099 available on Spotify tells the story of how cities need to pull together to become whole again. Jonah Melvon works closely with business leaders and educational and community outreach organizations to bring about a spirit of “togetherness, love, peace and understanding.” Adesha works with the Boys and Girls Club as a Community Relations Manager. They have lived the story and they want to help cities around the world to help create living conditions that are pleasing for all ethnic groups. It can be done! Oakland is proof that it can be done.

Jonah Melvon believes, as his lyrics explain, that we all need to support local businesses, make education available and accessable to everyone who wishes to improve their lifestyle and take part of a thriving economy. In Oakland, Peralta Colleges came together to provide educational access to everyone at affordable rates. Businesses cleaned up neighborhoods and provide access to comfortable yet affordable housing. Charities pitched in with Kindergardens and Schools. When all people, regardless of ethnic background join forces to create a nice place to live, with compassionate support for those least among us, and businesses create access to well paying jobs through education, mentorships, classes cities can be reclaimed. Today WeWorks, General Assembly, Kickstart Coding, App Academy, Springboard, help young and mature people find ways to succeed.

Most importantly the soul based neighborhood spirit that teaches belief in each of our ability to participate in a thriving economy creates a new mindset. Love is the answer. Diversity is beautiful. By opening people’s minds through the Peralta Study Abroad Programs and by offering genuine assistance the East Bay and especially Oakland are becoming a thriving metropolis again. http://web.peralta.edu/foundation/scholarships-and-grants/

This program is immensely successful and has brought peace and prosperity through education to Oakland. The Peralta Study Abroad program brings students from around the world together and allows them to see the world, broadening their horizons while boosting their confidence.

We can do anything, when we work together. When political leaders, business leaders, eduational leaders, and religious leaders come together with the single purpose to lift up everyone of its citizens success is within reach.

Since 2010 Oakland is a new shining star showing its can do spirit. Now, Jonah Melvon and Adesha want to share how it happened. They want to bring the knowledge that celebration of life, work, and family can bring amazing results and lead to a thriving, safe town. They are supported by Drew Gephart, International Services Manager at the Peralta College Group of fine educational institutions. This group of Junior Colleges serve as feeder schools to UC Hayward, UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco. All we have to do is believe and then act on our beliefs.

Jerry Brown leads Oakland and slowly the city changes to make Equality possible – Part 3

Oakland was named the most ethnically and economically diverse city

Oakland is the most diverse city in the country and the world.

Even before the city “hit bottom” Jerry Brown and business leaders stepped up to create a plan to fix the city. After a six year out of public service Brown returned to public life, serving as Mayor of Oakland (1999–2007). It took a lot of work to attract new investments. The police corruption that plagued cities all across California had to be dealt with.

A group of four corrupt police officers called “The Rough Riders” finally were dealt with after outrage grew too much that the city kept settling law suits to sweep the offences under the table. The clashes between the racially white police and the largely ethnic population caused much dissatisfaction and distortions about the way Oakland was perceived. Politico reported in their March/April issue of 2015: “Oakland’s cops, a legal advocate for victims of police abuse said at the time, might just be “the worst department in the country. Officer-involved shootings were frequent, and often fatal.” In continued: “Complaints of beatings, shakedowns and unwarranted arrests were rampant and cost the city dearly. All told, from 2001 to 2011, Oakland paid some $57 million for claims, lawsuits and settlements involving alleged misconduct by the Oakland Police Department—not just the largest sum paid by any municipality in California, but more than double what San Francisco, with roughly twice the population, paid in the same time frame. The police force seemed broken, brutal beyond repair.”

Accusations of corruption in Oakland were rampant in 2005 the FBI investigated Perata. The East Bay Times reported: Records show Perata’s son’s and daughter’s businesses have been paid at least $750,000 since 1999 by political committees under his direct control, even as Nick Perata and his businesses have been involved in real estate rentals and sales with his father. Also, Perata’s consulting business brought in more than $100,000 in 2003, and between $10,000 and $100,000 in each of the four years before that; his bigger clients during those years included his son’s business as well as two belonging to Staples. The case was stopped by Schwarzenegger’s call for a special election.

The citizens were ready for the change. It started to gentrify without pushing out locals. The East Bay Times reports that the Fruitvale district is a great example that this is possible: “Schildt said it’s possible to invest in a community without causing displacement — particularly if it’s public investment or community-driven. Oakland’s Fruitvale Village is held up as a national model. As Scott Morris reports, the mixed-use development near Fruitvale BART improved the socio-economic well-being of residents in the immediate neighborhood and preserved the area’s racial and ethnic diversity.”

Education in Trouble

Even in 2009 SF Gate reported that Schwarzenegger decided to California ranks 47th in per-pupil spending, according to “Quality Counts,” a report issued Tuesday from Education Week, a national newspaper specializing in public schools. It showed that while the national average is $9,963 per pupil, California spends $7,571, according to the report. Vermont spends the most, with $15,139. Utah spends the least, with just $5,964 per pupil.

Around the state, school administrators have begun looking at how many employees they can lay off next year and which programs they can cancel.

Equality is making comeback and business leaders join in to make it happen – Part 2

Oakland went through a period of decline during in the mid 20th century

https://youtu.be/Pp7Id9Qo3fU

Then came the 50s, 60s, and 70s which were a very tough time for Oakland. The city became every more dangerous, crime-ridden, and unlivable. First West Oakland was destroyed by the Nimitz Freeway and the Cypress Viaduct. Many homes and businesses were destroyed creating a period of poverty for West Oakland. Then in the 1960 West Oakland suffered from the construction of BART and the Main Post Office Building on 7th Street. Again local businesses suffered, more jobs and entire neighborhoods were replaced.

Oakland become the home of the motorcycle gang the “Hell’s Angels” named after Howard Hughes movie, and eventually grew ever more corrupt and crime ridden. Eventually it became the market place of Fred Mitchell who ran a crime symposium changing Oakland into a hotbed for the sale of Crack Cocaine, a very harmful substance that ruined many people’s lives. Additionally, the crime wave sent a lot of middle class inhabitants packing and many of the people who remained lost business. They eventually were unable to keep buildings, street, school and the city services in good repair. Crime attracted more crime and the lack of policing opened the door for more crime.

By the end of the 70s crime was twice as high in Oakland than it was in San Francisco. Most of the Police Officers were white, frightened and entitled. As a result police brutality created ever more problems. This in turn brought impoverished communities together to forge alliances such as the Black Power Movement to help each other by “policing the police.” They created kindergardens and food pantries for the poor, but grew ever more militaristic. Unfortunately, this turned the city into a gang run town, the Symbionese Liberation Army, the Crips and the Bloods, the People and the Folk, the 35th Street Gang, Norteños, Border Brothers and Sureños.

From the 1980s to 2000 Oakland suffered from a Crack epidemic that is now rivaled by the Opioid Crisis

By 2010 it was estimated that Oakland’s population of gang members had grown to over 10,000 members. The situation of both, the crime level, corruption and problems with the police became untenable.

Education

Even in 2009 SF Gate reported that Schwarzenegger decided to California ranks 47th in per-pupil spending, according to “Quality Counts,” a report issued Tuesday from Education Week, a national newspaper specializing in public schools. It showed that while the national average is $9,963 per pupil, California spends only $7,571 per pupil and three times that much on prisoners. Vermont spends the most, with $15,139. Utah spends the least, with just $5,964 per pupil.

Around the state, school administrators have begun looking at how many employees they can lay off next year and which programs they can cancel. Then citizens, business leaders, charities, and religious groups decided to get involved.

Equality is making a comeback and business leaders are joining in. Your town can succeed as well. Part 1

Oakland was a thriving town about 100 years ago. It went through many phases and now once again is a thriving town.

Oakland might be a poster child for our future.

Oakland had a most impressive long history as a thriving industrial center.

Oakland was first incorporated as a town in 1852. It had always been a popular place for thousands of years before by the Muwekna Ohlone who were part of the original Californians the Miwoks who spent winters near Temescal Creek and Lake Merritt for thousands of years. In 1772 the Spaniards occupied the land in the name of their king. Peralta, a Spanish soldier was deeded 44 thousand acres by the Spanish crown and his deed was confirmed when Mexico declared their independence. The land was divided up by his 4 sons. As much of California this region was covered by Oak trees and this is how it eventually got its name. During the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in the mid 19th century during the gold rush Mexico gave up the land to the US. Ever more and more squatters ignored the land ownership and a team of Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo roving soldiers led by three men from nearby San Francisco established “Contra Costa.”

In 1853 John Coffee “Jack” Hays took up residence while he served as the sheriff in San Francisco. On March 25, 1854, Oakland was once again incorporated as the City of Oakland with Carpentier one of the San Francisco war lords as the Mayor. However he was quite corrupt and was quickly voted out of office and replaced by Charles Campbell as Mayor on March 5, 1855. Thanks to the fact that the several railroads ended up in Oakland it quickly became a major industrial hub. In 1868, the Central Pacific ended at the Port of Oakland. The Long Wharf also served as the terminus for the Transcontinental Railroad and the Southern Pacific, which was localed initially at  16th Street Station located at 16th and Wood.

In 1902 a deep channel was created for large ships and this is how Alameda become an Island separated from the mainland. Due to the earthquake and subsequent fires in San Francisco in 1906 the population doubled. This is when Mayor Frank Kanning Mott launched the “Beautiful City project” establishing the many parks, lakes and oak rimmed boulevards the city enjoys to this day. In 1914 he founded the Oakland Civic Auditorium which cost $1.4 Million dollars. It was used briefly as a hospital during the 1918 flue epidemic. Oakland was one of the most wonderful places to live and jobs were plentiful. Employers included General Motors, Chevrolet, Chrysler, and several other major auto companies.

Motorama “Dream Car” by Chevrolet 1954

The city also housed companies such as Kaiser, Bechtel, Phelan, Dreyer’s, Rocky Road Icecream, Western Union, Del Monte, and too many others to mention here. The high employment rate and associated growth of a strong middle class allowed Oakland to fashion itself into a world class city with the Golden State Theatre, Fox, Blumenfeld, Orpheum, Turner & Dahnken, the Grand Lake and the Paramount among others. By 1949 Oakland had a seating capacity of over 43 thousand theatre goers. Theatres came and went including the Hippodrome, Lurie, Premier and Roosevelt. Thanks to the start of commercial aviation Amelia Earhart , the Alameda Navel Air Station, and the 1930’s Howard Hughes’ movie the “Hell’s Angels” Oakland was one of the romanticized the epicenter of the West Coast.

100 Year Celebration of the ACLU – now more important than ever.

Join Jonah Melvon featuring Adesha on Saturday March 30 to celebrate the 100 Year ACLU anniversary at Jack London Square at 3:30pm

“Jonah Melvon featuring Adesha”

March 28, 2019

Join us to celebrate Year 100 of the ACLU at Jack London Square this Saturday, March 30, 2019, at 3:30pm with a concert by Jonah Melvon featuring Adesha

March 29, 2019, Jack London Square, Oakland, CA, at 3:30 pm Jonah Melvon featuring Adesha will perform to celebrate the ACLU 100 Years celebration, which will go on the entire weekend. See entire line up here.

This weekend’s Bay Area Celebration is part of a national tour. https://www.aclu100.org/aclu-100-experience/ which was started at SXSW. With celebrations in Phoenix, and Los Angeles. The key focus this year is to encourage everyone to join the effort to remind US citizens and voters that “Voting is a Right, not Privilege.” The Gerry Mandering and Voter Suppression have affected the countries leadership in a way that the majority of the voters are not heard:

Voting rights have come under attack across the country.  States have passed laws that have made it harder for people of color, the elderly, students, and people with disabilities to cast a ballot. Experience an interactive exhibit about the many barriers erected throughout American history to prevent people from voting.

Learn how you can help ensure that everyone has the ability to exercise their right to vote.

There are many other ways to give. You may designate your support for the ACLU of Northern California (not tax-deductible) or the ACLU Foundation of Northern California (tax-deductible):

  • Honor a friend’s birthday, wedding, or graduation with a special gift
  • Celebrate the life of a loved one with a memorial gift
  • Make a gift of stock
  • Leave a legacy. Make a planned gift to keep the ACLU strong after your lifetime.

If you are interested in making a gift to support LGB T rights by giving a gift to the FrontLine Fund, please contact us. For assistance, please contact the Development Department at giving@aclunc.org or (415) 621-2493.

Networks with Bay Area and California Non-Profits

We are honored to collaborate with these non profits that make positive changes happen:

  • Ella Baker Center for HumanRights
  • Heyday Books Initiate
  • Justice League of Women Voters
  • BOSS: helping the homeless, poor, and disabled people achieve health and self-sufficiency
  • ACILEP network for immigrant rights
  • Youth Speaks
  • Oakland Public Library
  • Secure Justice
  • Design Action
  • Planting Justice
  • ARC: The Anti Recidivism Coalition
  • TGI Justice Project for transgender freedom and survival
  • ACCESS Women’s Health Justice

It takes a village to raise a child and a community to shape and strengthen a city. The Oakland, CA is known to have a population of which 38% hold secondary degrees. This is largely due to the effective education successes, strong family support, and a community that believes that everyone is created equally and should be treated as such under the law. Naturally, we need to reinforce these values on a daily basis to continue our history of civil rights successes.

Our History

The ACLU-NC was alone in standing with Fred Korematsu and against the forced detention of Japanese-Americans during WWII, in a case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. We dared to oppose obscenity laws in the prim 1950s, defending Lawrence Ferlinghetti for selling Howl, the groundbreaking book of poetry, in his San Francisco City Lights bookstore. In the years after 9/11, the ACLU pushed back on a wave of bigotry and fear mongering to protect the civil rights of Muslims and people of Middle Eastern and South Asian decent. In recent years, as discrimination has shifted to target Latinos and others perceived as “foreign,” the ACLU has stamped out anti-immigrant laws around the country and challenged unlawful policing in immigrant communities in California. We may be best known for litigation, but through our history the ACLU-NC has been powered by the passion of our activists. The organization was forged through the courage of trade workers and labor organizers in the 1930s. We aided the growing civil rights movements of the 1960s, providing legal protection to campaigns by African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and Asian Americans, as well as anti-war protestors and LGBT activists. Over the decades, battles have been fought and won by ACLU activists in fifteen chapters across Northern California and student groups on California’s university campuses, from the activists who launched the Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley in 1964 to the UC Davis students who endured pepper spray while exercising their free speech rights in 2011.

The ACLU of Northern California is one of the largest ACLU affiliates in the nation with nearly 170,000 members. We have a critical role to play. We must use our decades of experience in impact litigation, legislative advocacy, and fearless organizing to fight these un-American policies and protect our most cherished rights and freedoms. We are the resistance. Join us.

Did you know that prisoners get paid only $1.45 per day to put their life on the one fighting fires?
Maybe they are in jail because they could not afford their bail, like wealthy citizens. Equity for all!

About us and how to get in touch for further conversations, interviews, etc.:

The ACLU of Northern California is an enduring guardian of justice, fairness, equality, and freedom, working to protect and advance civil liberties for all Californians. To learn more about the ACLU in Northern California please contact Carmen King at 415.621.2493 | cking@aclunc.org

To learn more about Jonah Melvon and the Rainwater Project, please visit his website at https://www.jonahmelvon.com/

See you at the show! To set up an appointment or for request for additional materials with the label, college, get photos, video links, or more please text Edie Okamoto, Media Relations, 
at 510-693-0166 or facebook or linked in

You may also mail a check to our office at:

ACLU Foundation of Northern California
Attn: Development Department
39 Drumm Street
San Francisco, CA 94111

About the Rainwater Project

You can hear the music on Spotify or purchase them on Amazon.

Please join our list of sponsors who like you believe that education is the answer to a higher standard of living for all.

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Look forward to seeing you.

Join us on April 4th for “A Night at Yoshi’s Oakland featuring Jonah Melvon & Adesha”

Join us for “A Night at Yoshi's Oakland featuring Jonah Melvon & Adesha" - the Inaugural Peralta Colleges Foundation for Study Abroad Fundraising Event

Inaugural Peralta Colleges Foundation for Study Abroad Fundraising Event

March 21, 2019, Oakland, CA, The event will be held at the renowned jazz supper club Yoshi’s Oakland on Thursday, April 4, 2019 from 7:30pm – 10pm featuring entertainment by local sensations Jonah Melvon featuring Adesha. Jonah and Adesha are more than Oakland natives who share a passion for the arts, they also happen to be siblings. This year they decided to bring the household back together again, as they tour on Jonah’s latest record “RainWater Project”, with teasers from his first record “This is the Year”. This soulful, lyrical, warm-hearted dual, is proud to be bringing their home away from home experience, to listeners worldwide.

The Office of International Education and Peralta Colleges Foundation of the Peralta Community College District will be hosting its Inaugural Study Abroad Fundraising Event, “A Night at Yoshi’s Oakland featuring Jonah Melvon & Adesha”, to raise monies for local students to support and expand their horizons in their quest to become global citizens in the 21st century.

The sponsors and listeners support provides scholarships to worthy students so that they may have the resources for this once in a lifetime experience.  In 2019, the Peralta Colleges are planning to offer up to 11 programs in Japan, Taiwan, Belize, New Zealand, Germany, Mexico, Egypt, London, China, Ghana and Costa Rica (http://web.peralta.edu/international/study-abroad).

It takes a village to raise a child and a community to shape and strengthen a city.

The Oakland, CA is known to have a population of which 38% hold secondary degrees. This is largely due to the effective education successes.

The Peralta Community College District helps fuel the economic engine of East Bay, supplying the region with a trained workforce in essential fields such as nursing, automotive technology, office administration, mechanics, biomanufacturing, bookkeeping, carpentry, food service and restaurant management, to name a few.  This workforce helps build and maintain a vibrant, economically diverse region that meets the present and future needs.

According to the California Community Colleges system, if an additional two percent of California’s population earned associate degrees and an extra one percent earned bachelor’s degrees, the state’s economy would grow by $20 billion.  These educated workers would generate state and local taxes of $1.2 billion a year, and create 174,000 new jobs in California.  Students receiving a degree or certificate from a community college see an 86 percent increase in their wages, from $25,600 to $45,571, three years after earning their degree.   For every dollar spent on economic and workforce development programs at community colleges, there is a $12 increase in California’s business income and employee wages.

According to the Institute for International Education (IIE), fewer than 10% of American college students participate in international study programs, and less than 25% of those students are from underrepresented minority groups. Since many of our students are from low-socioeconomic families, studying abroad has never been a major priority for them. The study abroad experience often is a life-changing event that can provide a student with a new found sense of confidence or independence, a new foreign language skill, an increased ability to work in diverse work environments and most importantly the opportunity to explore new cultures. The Study Abroad program has been shaped by visionary and author, Drew Gephart and his dedicated team.

Peralta Community College District STudy Abroad Book Cover

To learn more about how you can join us in this celebration of music, art, and education please contact Drew Gephart, M.S., International Services Manager at dgephart@peralta.edu or 510-587-7834 for any questions you may have. We sincerely thank you for your time and continued support. http://web.peralta.edu/international/study-abroad you save $5 per ticket by buying from the website. You may also purchase tickets at Yoshi’s.

About the Artists

Jonah and Adesha are siblings and Oakland, California natives, who have a passion for the arts. Raised in a household that fostered music and the arts, they have fond memories of their parents singing along to Marvin Gaye, and dancing the night away to Stevie Wonder.

In 2019, Jonah launched the “Bridging the Gap” music tech tour. Designed to bring awareness about the dissolving art scene to the tech community, and to spark ideas and thoughts of community leaders to actively “bridge the gap” between tech and art

To learn more about Jonah Melvon and the Rainwater Project, please visit his website at https://www.jonahmelvon.com/

Media Relations Contact

See you at the show! To set up an appointment or for request for additional materials with the label, college, get photos, video links, or more please text Edie Okamoto, Media Relations, 
at 510-693-0166 or facebook or linked in

About the Rainwater Project

You can hear the music on Spotify or purchase them on Amazon.

Please join our list of sponsors who like you believe that education is the answer to a higher standard of living for all.

Sponsored by Vigilint Biosensors: Keeping Families together 24/7 – digitally. www.vigilint.store

RioVida Networks: Bringing artists, musicians, celebrities 
and corporations together for mutual benefit. www.riovida.net

Welcome to the Jonah Melvon and the Rainwater Project – together we are “Bridging the Gap.”