ST EOBHCSunset 072321 - Flipbook - Page 22
Cultivating relational
capital among people
and organizations in
East Oakland
The strength of relationships built,
repairing and healing old wounds between
organizers, is one of EOBHC’s biggest
accomplishments. It helped form unlikely
partnerships across issues and sectors, as
well as innovative efforts with the City of
Oakland Planning and Building Department
and the County Health Division.
Perhaps the most important outcome of
the first five years of EOBHC was not the
community events, campaigns, and policy
wins, but rather the byproduct of these efforts: the relational capital that accumulated along the way.
“We did a lot of leadership development and political education and building
relationships with other EOBHC groups. We did a lot of work bridging Vietnamese
nail salon workers with their African American clients in East Oakland and that
has been a large focus of our work, to overcome miscommunications. Some of
the most valuable work that has happened has been to bring together different
communities, across uniqueness and commonalities.”
—EOBHC CBO partner
Interviews with residents and community partners highlight new understanding and connections
among East Oakland residents across ethnic boundaries. They also point to a strengthened network
among the CBO collaborative partners who worked together on various campaigns and issues,
learning about each other, developing trust and camaraderie as a result.
“Building solid relationships have been the greatest and most important thing.
With today’s pressing issues to defund the police, fighting the attacks on
Asians and Pacific Islanders…the solutions are contingent on deep relationship
building between organizations and residents and among residents. There
are not too many spaces that do that. With all the digital organizing out there,
there are no real relationships...and that won’t get us to true public safety.”
—John Jones III, Just Cities and EOBHC Resident Leader
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FOR THE LOVE OF BLACK EAST OAKLAND: EOBHC Sunset Report