Sights + Sounds: 'The Curse of Hester Gardens' horror novel

SHOW: Police Reform, and Street Poetry

After more than two decades, Oakland’s Police Department is on track to be released from federal oversight. Today, the future of Oakland’s PD. Then, the Flor Y Canto literary festival returns to San Francisco’s Mission District.

OPD poised to emerge from 23 years of federal oversight

Oakland’s Police Department has been under federal oversight since 2003, but this year that will be coming to an end. The oversight began after a civil rights lawsuit filed on behalf of 119 residents, most of them Black men, who alleged that multiple Oakland police officers had beaten and planted evidence on them. [https://oaklandside.org/2025/07/11/oakland-police-federal-oversight-hearing/]  To understand what this moment means, KALW’s Sunni Khalid spoke with Darwin BondGraham, the news editor at The Oaklandside. He is also the author, along with Ali Winston, of the book, "The Riders Come Out At Night," an exhaustive look at the scandal that shook the city of Oakland, as well as a history of decades of corruption inside the OPD.

Sights + Sounds: Flor Y Canto Literary Festival Returns to the Mission

Flor Y Canto [https://www.instagram.com/sfflorycanto/], translates to “flower and song.” This weekend San Francisco’s Mission District will be home again to the weekend-long literary festival known as Flor Y Canto. The streets of the City’s Latino Cultural District will be filled with vibrant events, decorations, and music. All centered around the works by Latine writers, with readings happening all throughout the neighborhood.  KALW’s Jenee Darden spoke with two organizers of the festival for “The Sights + Sounds Show," poets Lourdes Figueroa and Josiah Luis Alderete, host of KALW’s “Bay Poets.” Here’s an excerpt of their interview.

SHOW: Seeking Refuge in Black Horror and AfroFuturism

Today, an East Bay author channels the monsters of injustice into a new horror novel. Then, one bookstore owner is helping people connect and envision brighter futures.

Sights + Sounds: 'The Curse of Hester Gardens' horror novel

In the novel, “The Curse of Hester Gardens” a Black mother lives in a Michigan housing project with her teen sons. She’s raising them alone while her husband serves time in prison.  Hester Gardens is haunted and cursed.. But not just by ghosts. Injustices like systemic oppression, poverty, and gun violence have also become monsters in the residents' lives.  Tamika Thompson is the author of  “The Curse of Hester Gardens.” She is from Detroit and now lives in the East Bay. She talked with KALW’s Jeneé Darden, host of the Sights and Sounds show. In this excerpt from their conversations, she reflects on how her personal experience witnessing gun violence growing up in Detroit inspired her book.