The Black Arts Movement Supports the State of Black Oakland, Saturday, March 28, 10am, Geoffery's Inner Circle

Join Black led organizations on Saturday, March 28, 2015 10:00 am - 4:00 pm in creating a Black People's Agenda for Oakland.

There is tremendous work happening in Oakland with and for Black people. Many organizers, artists, advocates, community members, mothers, and more are working hard towards systematic change for the 109,471 Black residents left in Oakland (as of the 2010 census). The reality, however, is that we've also suffered many blows in the past few years. Every 28 hours a Black woman, child, or man is killed by a government protected vigilante force, as is evidenced by the report issued by MXGM, Operation Ghetto Storm. Simultaneously, the recent national uprisings for Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and countless others in our own backyard, have ushered in a spirit of hope and inspiration for a renewed people led movement.

Arguably, after the Oscar Grant uprisings (where Black folks where at the helm of leadership and collective response in Oakland) the Black community has not come together to sustain city wide change across issue. Moreover, the legacy of COINTELPRO which was key in dismantling the Black Panther Party and reared its head as recent as the Oscar Grant uprisings, have made Black collective action seem even harder. Additionally, the displacement of 25% of African people in the last decade from Oakland, and the pouring of federal monies, nearly 2 million dollars recently, into upholding a police state in Oakland has weakened our community. At the same time, there's been a "renaissance" of art and culture of Black people into Oakland that has been ushered into the city. In the midst, there are folks that have continued or birthed, a commitment to a spirit of Black Power, Service to the People, Pan Africanism, Self Determination, Youth Development, Community Empowerment and more!

Join us as we bring Black Oakland together to discuss these conditions, and what we can do as a collective Black community to bring change! This is open to all and only Black community members in Oakland!!!