A CounterPoints Column by J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Suppose, just for the sake of discussion, that the City of
Oakland decided to end its “benign neglect” of its rapidly-diminishing Black
population and, instead, partnered with its Black citizens in an effort to help
rebuild the economic foundation of that population, to highlight Black Oaklanders'
history and many accomplishments within the city, and to give a needed boost to
Oakland’s image and finances.
And suppose, again for the sake of discussion, that the
population the city targeted in this speculative initiative included not only
Oakland’s African-Americans but also its Africans, Afro-Caribbeans,
Afro-Brazilians, and all other descendant populations from throughout the
African Diaspora, all of whom have played or are playing an important role in creating
the rich fabric of Oakland life.
What, do you imagine, might such an initiative look like?
Imagine for a moment that Oakland decided to set aside a
special district in its downtown area designated specifically to highlight and
promote African-American, African, and African-descendant arts, economics, and
entertainment, similar to how the popular and highly-successful Chinatown and
the Fruitvale district currently do for the city’s Chinese and Latino
residents, respectively.
Imagine, further, that rather than restricting itself to one
vision of Black life, the city allowed such a district to breathe such as what happens
in New Orleans’ famous French Quarter, where a large number of disparate
businesses and attractions and entertainments can all exist together and thrive
under the broad banner of New Orleans culture.
Imagine that such a Black arts, business, and entertainment
district became the location for a series of new and permanent public exhibits
highlighting Oakland’s Black past, present, and future: exhibit sites dedicated
to the Black Panther Party, for example, which attracted scores of residents
and new visitors to the various 50th anniversary celebration events recently
held in the city—to the Pullman porters and waiters, who formed the West Coast
headquarters of the nation’s first African-American labor union and helped
build Oakland’s Black middle class only a generation out of slavery—to Oakland’s
homegrown Black sports figures such as light heavyweight world champion boxer
John Henry Lewis, basketball legend Bill Russell, baseball star Frank Robinson,
baseball labor pioneer Curt Flood, and world champion sprinter Jim Hines down through
football great Marshawn Lynch and current boxing champion Andre Ward—to its incredibly
rich Black music history from gospel to the blues to rhythm and blues through rap
and hip hop—to its Black and African dance history and heritage from Ruth
Beckford and Malonga Casquelord and its tap and jitterbug heritage down through
current Afro-Caribbean-Brazilian groups such as SambaFunk! and African dance
groups such as Dimensions Dance Theater, Diamano Coura, Fua Dia Congo and its
ever-expanding collection of creative innovators such as turf dancers.
Imagine Black-themed murals throughout the downtown Oakland
area, and—instead of the eyesore of so many vacant storefront windows in that
area—filling those windows up with art, posters, and photographs highlighting
Oakland’s Black and African presence and heritage.
Imagine visitors walking through massive arches spanning 14th
street—similar to what we currently have in the Laurel District—set up over the
entrance gateways to such a Black arts, business, and entertainment district at
its western and eastern ends—the African-American Museum at Castro Street and
the Lake Merritt Park gateway, respectively—as well as directly over the heart
of both the city and the district at 14th and Broadway. Imagine such visitors walking
or driving or tour-busing down 14th or through the side streets of the
district, guided through the various points of interests by city-printed maps
and interactive, gps-guided smartphone apps, or by city- or organization-sponsored
tour guides.
Imagine a Black-themed downtown Oakland district becoming
the glue that finally pulls together several nearby but currently-divided
Oakland areas of public attraction: the newly-refurbished western end of Lake Merritt,
the restaurants and other amenities of the uptown district, Chinatown, old
Oakland, and Jack London Square.
Imagine downtown Oakland suddenly becoming a destination for
Oakland residents for shopping and entertainment throughout the daytime and
evening hours and the weekend, not simply to work in and then vacate at the 5
o’clock hour. Imagine retail businesses beginning to see downtown Oakland as a
preferred location because of the increasing foot traffic, instead of as a
pariah to be shunned. Imagine all of this coming about in large part because of
the creation and presence of a Black-themed downtown district.
Imagine a partnership between a downtown Oakland Black-oriented
historic district and the highly-successful, nationally-acclaimed Rosie The
Riveter National Park and Visitors Center, which has helped bring acclaim and positive
national attention to the City of Richmond, California, and which can certainly
help do the same for Oakland.
Imagine such a district becoming the catalyst for a major
round of Oakland festivals—music, dance, and literary—making the city one of
the national centers for such gatherings.
Imagine the number of Black organizational conventions such
a district would attract—the sororities and fraternities, the civil rights
organizations, the professional and business associations, the educational and
sports associations—because Oakland has long been considered one of the centers
of innovative Black life and can provide a Black experience that is impossible
to duplicate in most other areas of the country. All of these groups have money
to spend, and could most certainly be induced by the presence of a downtown-area
Black arts, business, and entertainment district to come and spend their
convention money in Oakland.
Imagine the jobs and the tax benefits to the city that would
accrue based upon the smart development of such a Black-themed downtown
district, the proverbial rising tide that lifts all of Oakland’s boats.
Imagine that the institutional foundation of such a
Black-themed arts, business, and entertainment district already exists within
Oakland’s downtown core, with the presence in that area of such public and
private institutions as Geoffrey’s Inner Circle, Joyce Gordon’s Gallery, the
Oakland Museum, the Oakland Main Library, the Malonga Casquelord Center, the
African-American Museum and Library, Laney College, and the soon-to-be-refurbished
Kaiser Convention Center, all of which—to one degree or another—have been
promoting Black and African culture in Oakland for years.
And now imagine, finally, that the Oakland City Council already
took the step to set up such a district months ago, with city officials now
working on the details, and that the State of California is ready to step in
with state funding and to help generate private funding for such an effort.
Well, you don’t have to imagine the last part because
actually, it’s already happened.
No. Seriously.
All that’s left is for us to fill in the details and get to
work implementing the vision.
I’ll tell you more about it, next time we talk, with some
ideas on how we—all of us—can help get this exciting proposed project from
being merely a grand vision to becoming a great reality.
