Black Arts Movement District Community Meeting, Sunday, Jan. 3, 3pm, Joyce Gordon Gallery, 14th and Franklin Sts, Oakland

12/23/15

Dear artists, vendors, educators, businesspersons:

We are requesting your attendance at a community meeting to discuss plans for the renaming of the 14th Street corridor, downtown Oakland. The meeting will be held on Sunday, Jan. 3, 3-5pm, at the Joyce Gordon Gallery, 14th and Franklin, Oakland. In preparation of a planning meeting with the City of Oakland on Monday, Jan. 4, 2:30pm, we want to discuss the proposed name: Black Arts Movement Cultural and Economic District. We want to honor the Black Arts Movement, the most radical artistic and literary movement in American history. BAM was the artistic sister of the Black Power Movement. The Black Arts Movement gave rise to Black Studies, Asian Studies, La Raza Studies, Native American Studies, Gender Studies, et al. Oakland played a critical role as a group of artistic freedom fighters. We think of such persons as Ruth Beckford, Adam David Miller, Emory Douglas, Halifu Osumare, Sarah Webster Fabio, Avotcja, Marvin X, et al. See the book Black Artists in Oakland, ed. by Duane Diterville. See also The Black Arts Movement by James Smethurst, UMASS Press; also SOS: Calling all Black People, A Black Arts Movement Reader, edited by Sonia Sanchez, James Smethurst and John Bracey, UMASS Press.

We hope to see you at the community meeting, Sunday, January 3, 3pm, and at the City of Oakland planning meeting on Monday, January 4, 2:30. The City of Oakland planning meeting will be hosted by Lynette McElhaney, President of the Oakland City Council.

For more information, please contact me at jmarvinx@yahoo.com. Call 510-200-4164.

Sincerely,

Marvin X, BAM Planner