Arts & Events

Jonathan Curiel, San Francisco journalist and author of the American Book Award-winning Al' America: Travels Through America's Arab and Islamic Roots, detailing historic influence of Arab and Muslim culture on many things American, from the influence of Persian poetry on the thought and verse of Ralph Waldo Emerson through Arabic music and The Doors, will talk onstage with Yahsmin Mayaan Binti Bobo and Hamsa Van Boom this Saturday at 6 p. m. at the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California, 1433 Madison, near the Main Library on 14th Street in Downtown Oakland. $5-$7. 832-7600; www.iccnc.org