Thursday March on City Hall for Malonga and Equitable Development

 Marvin X on Harambeeradio.com

5pm Pacific time

8pm East Coast time

Marvin X will speak on the Black Arts Movement Business District, Oakland. He spoke in Oakland today at the rally for the Malonga Center mural. A multi-cultural crowd of artists and arts organizations gathered at 14th and Alice in the parking lot to protest the City approving plans for a 16 story market rate apartment complex on the parking lot. They marched down 14th to Oakland City Hall to let the politicians know people come before developers. As we write, the Post News Group and Betti Ono Gallery in the BAMBD must move due to rent increases. Such is the problem throughout Oakland. Marvin X told the Malonga protesters, "Oakland is a radical city so we must stand tall and resist. The devil never sleeps, he just changes shifts. So we must stay awake or wake up in a hurry and stay on the case until victory. Yes, the City declared the Black Arts Movement Business District, but where's the budget to make it a reality?"

MEDIA ADVISORY
March on City Hall for Malonga and Equitable Development

For Immediate Release: February 10, 2016

(Oakland, CA) – Recently, the City of Oakland’s Planning Commission voted to approve a 16-story 126-unit development at 250 14^th Street in the parking lot directly across from the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Performing Arts. This development would obscure a brand-new mural highlighting the cultural practitioners of the Malonga Center and the contributions of Oakland’s Chinese-American community.  The development would also eliminate all public parking from the site. Another proposed development, at 226 13^th Street, would eliminate all public parking and build 262 market-rate housing units. Neither project includes affordable housing units or significant community benefits.

The elimination of over 325 public parking spaces could have a detrimental impact on the Malonga Center, an Oakland cultural institution and one of the centerpieces of the newly-minted Black Arts Movement Business District (BAMBD), an initiative championed by City Council President Lynnette Gibson-McElhaney. Parking is already scarce in the neighborhood, and the loss of public lots could impact those attending shows in the Malonga’s 355-seat theater, as well as dance and music students, residents, and instructors, as well as customers and workers of other local businesses and agencies   Most of the other public lots in the area are slated for development or sale as well.

To fight for Equitable Development and community benefits, a concerned community coalition including Malonga artists, members of the Chinatown Coalition, and the Community Rejuvenation Project has organized a march and rally Thursday, February 11, starting at 11:30 am. The march will begin at the Malonga Center (1428 Alice St.) and end at City Hall at 12pm, where the coalition will present their appeal of the Planning Commission’s decision to Oakland officials.

“We are holding this march and rally because the Planning Commission and city staff are fast-tracking developments without negotiating an equitable portion of community benefits, or in the case of the Malonga Center, without considering the full impact of the proposal on this important City-owned cultural institution,” said Lailan Huen, a Chinatown advocate. “This is egregious, especially because city planners have co-opted slogans like ‘development without displacement’ even as they implement development that will in fact displace both culture and residents.  Last Wednesday, the Planning Commission gave away millions in dollars of value to Bay Development by allowing for more than double the height limit, and not asking for any mitigation for the detrimental impacts this will cause for the neighborhood.”

“The Malonga Center is an international destination that draws visitors from across the region. Some come from as far away as Hayward, Antioch, or Santa Rosa. It’s just not realistic to expect all of them to take public transit or bike, and if there’s nowhere to park, it could cripple the Malonga Center economically,” said Carla Service of Malonga resident company Dance-A-Vision . “I highly doubt this is what Council President McElhaney had in mind when she proposed the BAMBD, that development would prevent our cultural resources from flourishing.”

“It’s unfortunate that a mural to which the city contributed $40,000 in public funds to, to honor the historic contributions and resiliency of Oakland’s Chinese and Afro-Diasporic communities, would be obscured by a development with no affordable housing and no tangible community benefits,” said Desi Mundo of the Community Rejuvenation Project, which spent the last two years working on the mural which was just completed a few months ago. “We have been in discussion with the developer about repainting the mural at an alternate site, but to date the developer hasn’t committed to putting an MOU in writing, or to a specific dollar amount for this $80,000 project.”

A diverse group of Malonga artists, drummers, and arts supporters from around the city will take to the streets in this lively and colorful march with instruments to bring to life Oakland’s spirit and the community’s message with banner proclaiming “Equitable Development Now!” and #KeepOaklandCreative in the streets of Downtown Oakland on Thursday, and into the Planning Department and City Hall to talk with city officials about community concerns.  Other neighborhood development movements will join in solidarity, including artists working to save the city’s beloved Art Murmur and First Fridays galleries which are also currently threatened by market-rate development.  This comes on the heels of widespread community opposition to a market-rate development at East 12^th not far away.

Coalition members will be available for interviews at 11:30am at Alice and 14^th and after the City Hall meetings around 12:45pm.

The coalition has gathered over 320 signatures in just six days on this petition which states the community demands: https://www.change.org/p/bay-development-build-real-community-benefits

And in only five days, 50 people contributed to raise $2,200 for the appeal filing fee and legal fees: https://www.gofundme.com/xyn67r9t

Watch the trailer of a documentary about this mural and community here: https://youtu.be/2TAj_CKApUI

MARCH/RALLY FOR EQUITABLE DEVELOPMENT AND TO SUPPORT THE MALONGA CENTER

Follow #KeepOaklandCreative #SupportMalonga for live updates.

Thursday, February 11, 11:30 am, 1428 Alice St. at 14^th St.

Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/663838503755662/permalink/665056293633883/

Media Contact: Eric Arnold, (510) 681-8213, escribe68@gmail[dot]com