Black Cultural Zone pt. 1: A Demonstration of the Power of Hope

This is part 1 of a 6-part blog series where we’ve spent time hearing from our partners in Oakland: Black Cultural Zone, Oakstop, and Betti Ono Foundation. Read why we’re highlighting these three Black Oakland natives and their remarkable work here.

About Black Cultural Zone and CEO Carolyn Johnson

The East Oakland Black Cultural Zone Collaborative was launched in 2014 in response to decades of disinvestment in East Oakland and ongoing displacement of Black people and Black businesses, with the goal of keeping Black Oakland residents in the Town and bringing back those who’ve been displaced. The coalition of Black residents, organizers, and advocates works together to invest in and strengthen the fabric of the Black Arts and Culture ecosystem in the zone itself—the 40 square blocks from High Street to Oakland’s border with San Leandro. BCZ carries out the work with three core strategies for community development: Place Keeping, Building a Strong Economy, and Improving Quality of Life. 

Carolyn Johnson—known in the community as CJ—is the founding CEO of the Black Cultural Zone Community Development Corporation (BCZ CDC), which was formed in 2019 at the request of the East Oakland Black Cultural Zone Collaborative and a community Steering Committee.

Along with her insights as an Oakland native, CJ leverages her powerful track record in business management, real estate, and community development to activate the vision of the collaborative and hold place for Black community. Among the many key contributions she’s personally made to the work, CJ built the CDC from zero to nearly 90 employees and expanded the work to include community engagement, rapid response, outreach, navigation, and counseling. As she explains, “All of these areas of need have grown unexpectedly since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.” 

Liberation Park

Liberation Park is a 53,000 square foot parcel of land at the corner of 73rd Avenue and Foothill Boulevard in East Oakland. The BCZ CDC licensed the parcel, which was named by the community, to host a variety of cultural, community, and commercial activities and serve as a central space for Oakland cultural engagement. In addition to serving as a space for arts and culture, Liberation Park provides the surrounding community with access to one another as well as to critical services. Given that the site was activated shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic drastically impacted everyday life, BCZ was able to provide timely resources in partnership with other local community-serving organizations throughout the uniquely challenging time. Resources offered included COVID testing, personal protective equipment (PPE), and hot meals.

Akoma Market is one activation hosted by Liberation Park. Grown as an incubator for small businesses ranging from pop-ups to formal brick and mortars, Akoma brings together restaurant and farm vendors; self-care and wellness experts; resources for fair housing protections; chamber of commerce information, and more. CJ has even actualized her vision of an outdoor roller skating rink for community members of all ages to enjoy. “Akoma served as a predecessor for us to be able to develop our market halls and residences,” CJ shares. And Akoma and other Liberation Park engagements have demonstrated the promise and potential of the collective visions of BCZ.

CJ positions hope as a vital ingredient for transformation.

“One of the beauties of what we’ve done so far at Liberation Park is that we took that lot when it was a mess and turned it into what it is now. The most beautiful thing I recognized in my people through this process was hope,” she says. “That’s the spark we need, but we’ve gotta make sure our people are resourced enough that their basic needs are met—shelter, food, income, safety. Those are the things we need space to create solutions for—not just bring in more police and feed folks government cheese.”

Such transactional approaches won’t solve the ongoing problem of limited access to vital resources for people living in East Oakland.

Liberation Park is a model of what’s possible when we dream bigger than survival, and wield our imaginations and actions in service of solving deeply embedded and persistent social challenges for good.

“In everything we do,” CJ reflects, “we need to be thinking: how can my people just live with ease and not have a tight chest? But we also need to think bigger and be imaginative and find funders and resources who say, ‘Go for it!,’ so we can really incubate the thriving Black communities we want to see. I’m doing my best to extricate myself from the day to day so that I can have the space for dreaming up the vision.”

We’re grateful and excited to play a part in supporting the bolder dreams and visions of our community partners. Stay tuned for more about our work with Black Cultural Zone and our other Oakland community partners.

Read the series

About dana e. fitchett

dana e. fitchett is a trans-disciplinary artist whose practices are grounded in listening and cultivating new languages in service of alignment, integrity, and freedom. Within and outside of PJS Consultants, dana writes and edits for individuals and community organizations working for transformation and justice by way of truth and reconciliation. As Founder and Creative Director of dance collective, Movement for Liberation; teacher of her original Groovement classes; and in her visual art and transcription processes, dana works in and in conversation with the expressive legacy of the African diaspora. Also a novice music producer and practiced plant-based foodmaker, she holds a certificate in nonprofit management and leadership; a bachelor’s degree in urban studies; and a master’s of fine art in interdisciplinary art, and spends most of her time between Boston, Brooklyn, and Oakland.