About

Ken Lester is an avid enjoyer of life. When you can’t find him in the upper deck at the Coliseum watching the green and gold bash homeruns, with peanuts and crackerjack in hand, you might try one of the other local sports venues. If he is still lost, check the parks (themed or not), where he can often be found with his camera capturing beauty as he sees it, or the local restaurants – bonus points if they have a reuben sandwich on the menu. If all else fails look no further than on his couch at home, where you will often find him adorned in a snuggie with his border collie Indiana draped across his lap, perhaps reading Lord of the Rings, or maybe just watching the movies again — for the hundredth time.

Tamara Copes is a California native with a nomadic spirit and curious mind. Deep family roots in Oakland brought her back here to live as an adult and since then she has involved herself in numerous and varied community projects; determined to leave her mark. When not working, you may find her dancing to House, Salsa and Hip Hop music or rolling around town running errands and rhythm skating. Tamara most enjoys creative forms of storytelling. She is on the hunt to find her place in the literary world and has returned to a Journalism major after 20 years of pursuing other interests.

Jillian Jones Grant was born and raised in East Oakland, CA. She is RBT, LMT and is majoring in journalism. She is the property of October! Jillian is a bold, blunt, and beautiful Scorpio and single mother. She loves to cook, write poetry, and listen to music. She has always wanted to write and bring facts and knowledge to her peers and others. Catch her on campus or around town jamming with her headphones, dancing, writing, and last but not least, munching on her snacks!

Li Khan is a lifelong lover of food. As a child of Pakistani immigrants, she has experienced the ways immigrant families connect through food. She believes that behind every dish, there’s a rich story to tell about the people who make and eat it. Li hopes that an interest in journalism will one day empower her to report on the history and politics tied to Oakland’s food cultures. When she’s not cooking at home with her husband or searching for discounts at local grocery stores, Li can be found exploring local restaurants or playing video games with her friends.

Born and raised in Oakland, California, Daniel Lopez is a first generation college student currently working towards an associates degree for transfer in journalism. Daniel’s main hobbies include cooking, playing all sorts of video games, and coaching basketball at his former high school. Daniel has always had an interest in journalism that sparked from watching KTVU every morning while getting ready for school. This led to a spark in his love for sports journalism as he spends a lot of time reading up on not only his favorite teams, but also on the entirety of sports in general. If Daniel isn’t working or at school, he’s more than likely to be found spending quality time with family and friends.

After a 40 year career in advertising, David is considering journalism as his “second act” and preparing himself for that new profession by taking classes at Laney. During his days in advertising, Rowe headed up the media departments for a number of leading ad agencies in San Francisco and Salt Lake City. In this capacity, he was responsible for the planning and placement of tens of millions of dollars of paid media. A high point of his career was placing Intel’s first Super Bowl TV ad in 1997. Rowe has a lifelong interest in journalism dating back to high school in San Jose where he started an underground newspaper called, appropriately enough, The Del Mar Free Press. The school administration threatened to suspend him, so Rowe, with the help of his attorney father, sued the school district in Federal Court and won and injunction. Ultimately, the case was decided in his favor and California state law regarding the rights of high school students was re-written as a result. Rowe is a political junkie who enjoys watching all the Sunday morning news programs and is actively involved in the Joe Biden presidential campaign this year.

This is Pamela Rudd’s forth semester at Laney College and her third as a staff writer for The Citizen. Pam was born in San Francisco and grew up in Contra Costa County when cattle roamed the hills and life had yet to cross from rural to suburban. She attended college directly after high school and received a doctorate from the University of Nevada, Reno in psychology. As a Bay Area native she witnessed the the Vietnam War, the Free Speech and Black Panther movements, the AIDS crisis, and the birth of Silicon Valley. Pamela is always amazed by the resiliency of the human spirit and the repetitiveness of history. She is excited to be back in school and to be part of The Citizen’s newsroom. For Pam, journalism was the path not taken..

Isabelly was born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil and moved to the US in 2018 to pursue a life change. Back home, she went to communication school where she focused her studies in Radio, Tv and Internet productions and worked as a media and marketing producer for 5 years, producing for the biggest Brazilian pop radio and traveling the world to cover concerts and events. Isabelly moved to California as an aupair and extended her stay in the US to explore and study, taking extension classes in Stanford, UCLA and UC Berkeley and now majoring in Journalism at Laney. You can find Isabelly petting all the dogs at the park and cuddling her guinea pig when she is at home. She also enjoys pop culture, Spider Man, playing instruments, karaoke, exploring the bay, a good true crime documentary and spends a lot of time reading and learning about earthquakes.

Lylah Schmedel-Permanna is a Bay Area native and graduate from the University of California-Davis where she received her bachelor’s degree in Socio-Cultural Anthropology with an emphasis on political structures. She is returning back to the community college system after having attended Las Positas College, where she was student body president in 2019. Lylah also has a strong background working in employment law and police misconduct law. She is passionate about uplifting voices in the Bay Area which has sparked her interest in becoming a journalist.

Emily is a recent Cal graduate who is eager to begin a career in journalism. During her undergrad, Emily wrote stories on Bay Area activists, social movement groups, and the importance of community engagement. Some of her interests lie in healthcare, financial equity, social activism, and breakthrough technology. In her free time, Emily enjoys walking through the picturesque streets of the Bay, learning about new fusion foods, and driving at night.

Josh Winzeler is a lifelong Bay Area resident, having lived the majority of his life in Oakland. After graduating high school, he enrolled at Diablo Valley College where Josh was able to nurture his passion for photography and grow his skills through the Journalism program by way of Photojournalism. Back then, newspaper photography was a different beast as film was bought in 100ft. rolls and photos were processed in a darkroom. Josh became the Photo Editor for The Inquirer, DVC’s publication, as well as the Photo Editor for The Voice, Cabrillo College’s publication. Even though most of his journalistic background is with photography, the other editors at the newsrooms he worked at did let him write a few stories here and there. Life took over and brought Josh in a different direction than journalism, but stuck close to Laney to take photography related classes, and expanding his education. He has found himself back in college after some time with the hopes of honing his writing skills so that he may round out his journalism skills.

Saskia was born in Oakland with her little brother, to an American mother and a British father. Just before she turned seven, her family spontaneously relocated to a quiet village in rural France, where she would spend the majority of her childhood in nature and discovering art through photography and books. When she was 15, she relocated to an international boarding school where she graduated with honors and a bilingual diploma, and immediately left home to fulfill her dream of traveling. She picked strawberries and apples in Australian farms, lived in a van for a while, taught English in Cambodia, and returned home two years later with many stories to tell. Knowing that she had always wanted to return to the Bay Area, she did just that —once again leaving friends and family thousands of miles away. During this period of uncertainty, she enrolled at Peralta Colleges and eventually began taking journalism classes, where — upon encouragement from her professors — she began writing for the student newspaper. Currently Saskia is applying for transfer and works as a freelance journalist, photographer, writer and graphic designer for California news outlets, non-profits, and local businesses in the greater Bay Area. She hopes to graduate in 2021.

Michelle Snider is the Editor-in-Chief of The Citizen and has been an editor for three of the four semesters she has attended at Laney College. Best known for going viral filming “BBQ Becky” at Lake Merritt during her first semester, Michelle aspires to break into a new modern world of multimedia journalism. Dabbling in photojournalism, article writing, social media reporting, and film, Michelle has learned how to use different mediums to tell everyday stories. In 2017, Michelle was concerned about violent rallies breaking out in Berkeley, CA and went to document what she felt would one day be political history. When she learned what she was doing was considered journalism, she was inspired to go back to school to get a journalism degree. She later sold some of her Berkeley footage to a PBS Frontline documentary called “Documenting Hate.” At 42-years old, after raising 20-year-old twins, Michelle is ready to start a new life informing the local community and the world about the events around her. After all, journalism is the first draft of history.

Editor-in-Chief Isis Piccillo was born and raised in the Bay Area. An avid reader and lover of libraries, Piccillo knows reading has been key to developing their writing voice. They are invested in covering and amplifying the voices of marginalized and underrepresented groups, especially in the areas of health and science. When not frantically copyediting or furiously writing, Isis can be found on the soccer field, or with food.

Ryan B. is an Oakland native who is following his passion of writing. It has led to his desire to expand his knowledge and insight in this profession by learning and sharing with others. Ryan attended primary and secondary schools in Oakland and has ties to various community outreach programs throughout the East Bay. Indebted to the teachers that have supported him throughout his scholarly journey, Ryan desires to pursue a career that will allow him to positively impact the world around him.