Wearing masks and keeping their distance, people lined up as the long-awaited COVID-19 vaccines arrived; Asian American and Pacific Islanders came out in droves to protest anti-Asian violence; parents demonstrated their frustration at the Berkeley Unified School District, demanding in-person teaching; Berkeley High School seniors were able to graduate albeit spaced apart and of course with masks on. These are just a few of the news stories in pictures that shaped our lives in 2021. Scroll on.
Getting the shot
Marvin Reed, a third-grade teacher at Thousand Oaks Elementary, poses in front of a mural outside of the school after getting the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. March 10, 2021. Photo: Kelly Sullivan Credit: Kelly Sullivan
Patients wait in line at the COVID-19 vaccination site at Ed Roberts Campus set up by the Center for Independent Living and Alameda County in partnership with FEMA, with support from Berkeley and AmeriCorps to improve equity. Feb. 25, 2021. Photo: Pete Rosos
Mia Gonzalez gets vaccinated while holding parent Brisa Montilla’s hand at Rosa Parks Elementary on Nov. 13, 2021. Credit: Kelly Sullivan
Protesting the hate
AAPI protesters march across Aquatic Park pedestrian bridge in Berkeley holding signs, March 29, 2021. Credit: Pete Rosos Credit: Pete Rosos
The Asian American and Pacific Islander Youth Rising movement holds a demonstration in the Aquatic Park to raise awareness toward prevention of hate and violence towards people of Asian descent, March 28, 2021. Photo: Pete Rosos
The Asian American and Pacific Islander Youth Rising movement holds a demonstration in the Aquatic Park to raise awareness toward prevention of hate and violence towards people of Asian descent, March 28, 2021. Photo: Pete Rosos
Demanding in-person learning
Berkeley parents protested outside BUSD headquarters and marched to Longfellow Middle School Saturday to ask the district to allow all students back to in-person classes, March 15, 2021. Photo: Pete Rosos
Berkeley parents protested outside BUSD headquarters and marched to Longfellow Middle School Saturday to ask the district to allow all students back to in-person classes, March 15, 2021. Photo: Pete Rosos
Back to school
The first day back to school for BUSD Oxford elementary school after over a year of lockdown resulting from the COVID 19 pandemic, March 29, 2021 Photo: Pete Rosos
The first day back to school for BUSD Oxford elementary school after over a year of lockdown resulting from the COVID 19 pandemic, March 29, 2021 Photo: Pete Rosos
The first day back to school for BUSD Oxford elementary school after over a year of lockdown resulting from the COVID 19 pandemic, March 29, 2021. Photo: Pete Rosos
The first day back to school for BUSD Ruth Acty Elementary school after over a year of lockdown resulting from the COVID 19 pandemic, March 29, 2021. Photo: Pete Rosos
Class of 2021
Graduates are spaced 6 feet apart during the Academic Choice graduation ceremony at Berkeley High School on June 5, 2021. Credit: Kelly Sullivan
Graduates Desiree Solis and Suhera Nuru dance onstage following the Academic Choice graduation ceremony at Berkeley High School on June 5, 2021. Credit: Kelly Sullivan
The upstairs encampment across from Seabreeze Cafe at University Avenue and Frontage Road, July 2, 2021. Credit: Supriya Yelimeli
People making news
Science teacher Neelam Patil embraces the saplings ready for planting at Cragmont Elementary on Nov. 15, 2021. Credit: Kelly Sullivan
Climate literacy advocates Ella Suring, Laura Babitt, Martha Cain, and Sarah Ranney pose for a photo at James Kenney Park in Northwest Berkeley on Nov. 11, 2021. Credit: Kelly Sullivan
Captain Taylor Hurt uses a waterproof camera to document swimmers in the South Sailing Basin at the Berkeley Marina on September 19, 2021. Credit: Kelly Sullivan
Jermaine “Cat” Lee White, a Frontage-University encampment resident over a year, now has a room at the Rodeway Inn. He prefers to be outside and doesn’t spend too much time at the hotel, Sept. 2, 2021. Credit: Supriya Yelimeli
Genevieve Mage, BHS Yearbook and religion teacher, July 2021. Credit: Kelly Sullivan
Robbi Montoya stands in an unfinished portion of the West Berkeley shelter on the day before opening. The private area within the shelter will be offered to women and female-identifying people who have experienced trauma to have a safe sleeping space, June 2021. Credit: Supriya Yelimeli
“Monument to Extraction” curator Susan Moffat at the Albany Bulb on June 2, 2021. Credit: Kelly Sullivan
Bill Briggs poses for a photo in his kindergarten classroom at Thousand Oaks Elementary on June 1, 2021. The stuffed hand puppets are a big hit with his class. Credit: Kelly Sullivan
Carol Finis Perez poses for a photo in the garden at Washington Elementary on June 1, 2021. Credit: Kelly Sullivan
Fiber artist Kay Sekimachi in her Berkeley studio on May 10, 2021. Credit: Kelly Sullivan
Charles “Chuck” Feezel died after getting hit by a car on Telegraph Avenue. Courtesy: Feezel family
A family run business since 1948, Oak Jewelers is owned by farther daughter team of Jeff and Melissa Accornero, April 14, 2021 Photo: Pete Rosos
Katherine Pope, 91, a COVID-19 vaccine recipient, March 20, 2021. Credit: Pete Rosos
Owner Peter Kemel in the back workshop of his shoe shop, Model Show Renew. Originally opening his shoe repair business in February 1999, Peter Kemel has kept up his family tradition of shoe repair he learned in his home of Byblos, Lebanon, March 2, 2021. Photo: Pete Rosos
When Charles Herring, 80, moved into the senior center 12 years ago, he brought a couple of house plants with him. Since that time, Herring’s collection of plants has grown to take up a large part of the outdoor grounds of the center. Recently, a representative from a pest control company advised that the plants should be removed due to the plants attracting nests for rodents, Feb. 25, 2021. Photo: Pete Rosos
Novelist Jesse Kellerman, whose most recent novel, Half Moon Bay, seemed to foreshadow the recent tumultuous events at People’s Park, leafs through an old copy of True Detective magazine given to him by his father, Feb. 11, 2021. Photo: Pete Rosos
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