ST EOBHCSunset 072321 - Flipbook - Page 34
The following themes emerged from the Power Formation Convening:
• Base-building is critical for implementation.
• If we seek to organize the most impacted, we must recognize that the most impacted are in crisis.
• Consult with others when identifying campaign targets.
• We need to learn how to interact with each other without being oppressive.
• We’re developing the leadership of youth without having warm hand-offs to new organizations
when they age out.
The Power Formation Convening was energizing, inspiring the EOBHC Transition Team to begin
thinking about articulating a fresh theory of change that incorporated political power, economic
power, and cultural power.
The Transition Team explicitly called out that these
This was the moment when
spheres of power are rooted in a historical legacy of
a clearer political vision
slavery, settler-colonialism, genocide, and capitalism
emerged, articulated by
that are structurally designed to serve the interests of
a privileged few at the expense of the majority. This
Nehanda Imara, which includes
historical context operates within each of three power
a land acquisition strategy,
spheres (political, economic, and cultural). Therefore,
Black-owned business
to transform systems and institutions, collective
power driven by those who are currently marginalized
development, and local
must be galvanized. Collective power must confront
currency initiatives.
power in all three spheres. One manifestation of
collective power is organized groups. The Transition
Team recognized EOBHC as part of an ecosystem of diverse organizations confronting (or with the
potential to confront) actors within all three spheres of power throughout Alameda County, and in
some cases, also at a statewide scale. This was the moment when a clearer political vision emerged,
articulated by Nehanda Imara, which includes a
land acquisition strategy, Black-owned business
development, and local currency initiatives.
Improving the material
conditions for residents in
East Oakland
The most significant EOBHC success story that
emerged during these years was the Healthy
Development Guidelines (HDG). HDG was in large
part powered by the organizations that made
up the Land Use Action Team of EOBHC and
facilitated by Nehanda Imara. The City of Oakland
Planning and Building Department adopted HDG
as a starting point for its General Plan update.
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FOR THE LOVE OF BLACK EAST OAKLAND: EOBHC Sunset Report