ST EOBHCSunset 072321 - Flipbook - Page 10
Since 2015, as new development has picked up,
For small, mostly minoritythe physical environment in East Oakland has also
owned businesses that have
also been changing rapidly. Construction of the
International Boulevard Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)—a
operated on International
project that spans a ten-mile stretch through a
Boulevard for decades, it
central artery in East Oakland—is now in full swing.
is becoming increasingly
With the promise of vastly improved transportation
from Oakland’s downtown to points along the
difficult to survive in this
East Oakland International Boulevard Corridor,
environment.
newcomers are finding East Oakland increasingly
attractive. Developers and potential investors are
scouting new opportunities and constructing deals on new market-rate housing and commercial
enterprises. For small, mostly minority-owned businesses that have operated on International
Boulevard for decades, it is becoming increasingly difficult to survive in this environment.
In 2010, a new Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) Superintendent with a strong racial justice
agenda was hired, and there was promise of a total overhaul of the policies and practices that
have resulted in the worst education outcomes for youth of color, especially Black youth. At that
time, an Office of African American Male Achievement was established and community partners
working both inside and outside OUSD were enlisted to develop and collaborate with the District
to implement a comprehensive equity agenda. This effort was thwarted when, after three years in
office, the Superintendent resigned, and OUSD brought in new leadership that slowly rolled back
important equity gains and engaged in gross mismanagement of the District budget. Today, OUSD
considers students’ from pre-Kindergarten to second grade “return to school” as four hours of inperson learning per week, earning skeptical chagrin from teachers, administrators, and parents alike.
It is with this complex context, history, and political and demographic understanding that we now
turn to the story of EOBHC. We narrate the story using four distinct initiative time frames: 2008–
2014, 2014–2016, 2016–2018, 2018–2020, and analyze each time period with four thematic threads:
• Cultivating relational capital among organizations and residents in East Oakland,
• Building resident power and voice in East Oakland,
• Improving the material conditions for residents in East Oakland, and
• Searching for a generative EOBHC structure to support its purpose.
4
FOR THE LOVE OF BLACK EAST OAKLAND: EOBHC Sunset Report