Arts and Culture

Financial Failure by Oakland Cannery’s Landlord Leads to Eviction of Longtime Residential Artists

Douglas Stewart has spent the last 15 years making his space at the Oakland Cannery into a home with artwork on every free space of the walls and vinyl records covering the tabletops. The Oakland Cannery is more than a residence for Stewart and its other tenants, it’s also their workspace. However, after 47 years, the residents have been issued a 120-day eviction notice.

Published

3 years ago

November 7, 2023

Magaly Muñoz

Tenants Doug Stewart (left) and Alistair Monroe in the studio of the late Arthur Monroe, who made the Cannery the site of Oakland’s first live-work space in Oakland. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

By Magaly Muñoz

Post Staff

Douglas Stewart has spent the last 15 years making his space at the Oakland Cannery into a home with artwork on every free space of the walls and vinyl records covering the tabletops.

Stewart is a man of many titles, including teacher, activist, advocate and above all, artist. He’s worked in arts preservation, poetry and has helped in juvenile justice centers and prisons to support vulnerable communities dealing with mental health and wellness issues.

The Oakland Cannery is more than a residence for Stewart and its other tenants, it’s also their workspace. However, after 47 years, the residents have been issued a 120-day eviction notice.

Problems at the Cannery began in 2016 when Green Sage, a Colorado-based cannabis cultivation company, acquired the property at 5733 San Leandro St. Their plan was to use this and other similar sites in the area for large-scale cannabis production.

“Unfortunately, however you want to look at it, Green Sage took over as landlords right around the time that the licenses and the Oakland Cannery got deemed as a ‘green zone’. And that’s when they started kicking out the commercial tenants below us and really started activating the space for cannabis operators and operations,” Stewart said.

Stewart and Alistair Monroe, son of the late painter Arthur Monroe who is responsible for the Cannery’s transformation into Oakland’s first live-work residence, claim their homes became unlivable due to the property owners’ neglect.

Both told stories of poor plumbing, electrical problems, lack of security and maintenance workers entering their homes unannounced. Despite numerous complaints and maintenance, requests, the property owners failed to address the problems.

“They had a lawless mentality to say that we were not residential use, we were commercial use, and we had to do as they say,” Monroe said.

Stewart supports safe cannabis cultivation and equal market opportunities. He is critical of Green Sage for saturating the market and hindering local business growth in Oakland.

Holding a micro-license for distribution and sales, Stewart benefits from an equity program that aids Oakland residents impacted by the War on Drugs with permits, grants and interest-free loans.

Stewart tried to use the Cannery’s commercial space for his license but was denied by the property owners. His efforts to rent other city spaces also ended in eviction.

“I can’t really afford to find a new place for my business license to hang up after being displaced by my last business operations location and then also having to try to juggle and figure out where I’m gonna be laying my head within the next three months after the Ellis Act eviction,” Stewart said.

Three years into their ownership, Green Sage defaulted on a $55 million loan from a Canadian private commercial mortgage lender, Romspen. The managers of Green Sage have since disappeared.

In September, Ellis Act evictions were served to residents of the Oakland Cannery enabling the landlords to take their properties off the market and remove all tenants.

According to Wikipedia, the Ellis Act is a 1985 California state law that allows landlords to evict residential tenants to “go out of the rental business” in spite of desires by local governments to compel them to continue providing rental housing.

Mark Mersel, an attorney who represents Romspen, states that after Green Sage defaulted on their loan, the mortgage company had to foreclose on the property.

He stated that many, if not all, of the current tenants at the Oakland Cannery had not paid rent or did not have valid leases with the property, and that they are all “basically squatters.”

“All Romspen is trying to do is get this property to operate, not be a blight on the neighborhood, and operate it for its industrial intended purpose,” Mersel said.

Monroe suspects the evictions were retaliation for lawsuits and complaints about unlivable conditions in the building and says he saw this coming from a mile away.

“The first day the landlords were on site they just openly said ‘we’re going to be removing you guys,’” Monroe said.

Eddie Ytuarte from the Oakland Tenants Union asserts that under the Ellis Act, unless the tenants were given relocation payments at the time of the notice, the eviction is invalid.

“A lot of things that landlords refuse to do are actual code violations,” Ytuarte stated. “For instance, if the plumbing is no good, or if the heat is insufficient, it’s breaking city codes and if the tenants are under rent control, they could petition for lower rents or they could sue in small claims court.”

Neither Stewart nor Monroe received relocation payments, only copies of checks via email.

Ytuarte suggested that tenants looking to fight eviction should seek pro-bono legal services or find an attorney who will take on the case for a much lower rate.

Monroe said that they tried those options, but to no avail. In other efforts, he and Stewart have hosted events to bring in city officials, like Mayor Sheng Thao and almost every Oakland City Council member to plead their case and find support from their resources.

A City of Oakland’s public information officer (PIO) wrote in an email to the Post that they have attempted to connect local developers who want to preserve the live-work space to the property owner, but the property owner has not shown any interest.

“The City has been working to protect the Oakland Cannery and other live/work communities from displacement pressure due to cannabis for many years. In 2018, the City adopted legislation prohibiting any type of cannabis business in live/work spaces. Then in 2023 it went further, prohibiting cannabis cultivation on any part of a property that contains work/live spaces,” said the PIO.

“Unfortunately, no local protections can prevent landlords from filing an eviction under the Ellis Act, as that is California State law,” the PIO concluded.

Councilmember Kevin Jenkins, who represents District 6 where The Cannery is located, stated that beyond moral support, there’s not much else that his office can do to help the residents.

“I think displacement has been a big issue in the last 15 to 20 years. We are losing a large share of our African American population from Oakland. A lot of them are being displaced and being forced to move outside of the county and outside the state,” Jenkins said.

Monroe and Stewart stopped paying rent in response to the mistreatment of Green Sage and the COVID-19 pandemic. The eviction moratorium protected tenants from eviction due to unpaid rent during the pandemic.

City ordinance states that in order for a property owner to terminate residency, they have to provide a good or just cause. The Ellis Act is considered a just cause.

Ultimately, it’s not about the buyout price for Monroe or Stewart. They want The Cannery to remain an affordable live-work space for artists.

“It’s more than just having a place to lay my head. It’s a place of advocacy. It’s a place for art to be preserved. For a culture to be preserved and for a community to be lifted,” Stewart said.

Magaly Muñoz

A graduate of Sacramento State University, Magaly Muñoz’s journalism experience includes working for the State Hornet, the university’s student-run newspaper and conducting research and producing projects for “All Things Considered” at National Public Radio. She also was a community reporter for El Timpano, serving Latino and Mayan communities, and contributed to the Sacramento Observer, the area’s African American newspaper.

Muñoz is one of 40 early career journalists who are part of the California Local News Fellowship program, a state-funded initiative designed to strengthen local news reporting in California, with a focus on underserved communities.

The fellowship program places journalism fellows throughout the state in two-year, full-time reporting positions.

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Magaly Muñoz

A graduate of Sacramento State University, Magaly Muñoz’s journalism experience includes working for the State Hornet, the university’s student-run newspaper and conducting research and producing projects for “All Things Considered” at National Public Radio. She also was a community reporter for El Timpano, serving Latino and Mayan communities, and contributed to the Sacramento Observer, the area’s African American newspaper. Muñoz is one of 40 early career journalists who are part of the California Local News Fellowship program, a state-funded initiative designed to strengthen local news reporting in California, with a focus on underserved communities. The fellowship program places journalism fellows throughout the state in two-year, full-time reporting positions.

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Arts and Culture

Prescott Circus Theatre Presents Free Summer Performance Series

Now in its 41st year, the Prescott Circus Theatre is a nationally recognized performing arts education program for Oakland youth. The circus offers safe environments that challenge Oakland youth, through circus arts training, to develop the skills and confidence to thrive on stage, in school, and in life.

Published

2 weeks ago

June 26, 2026

Oakland Post

Prescott Circus showcase pathways pyramid. Photo courtesy of Prescott Circus.

By Post Staff

The Prescott Circus, Oakland’s longest-running youth circus, is returning this summer with its free shows. Join the Prescott Circus’s young stars as they share their joys and talents through stilt-dancing, tumbling, juggling, and more.

At the heart of this one-hour show, which demonstrates teamwork, pride, and joy, are Oakland Unified School District students ages 8 – 17 from more than 10 different schools

This is accomplished through no-cost school and community programs for more than 300 Oakland youth each year. Performing company members from Prescott, where the program began, perform and make appearances at as many as 40 Bay Area events each year.

The summer program is funded in part by Oakland Fund for Children and Youth, California Arts Council, Port of Oakland, and the West Davis & Bergard Foundation.

Performances will be held Tuesday, July 14, 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. (ASL interpreted) and Wednesday, July 15, 11 a.m., at the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. For free reservations go to

https://PrescottCircusSummerShows.eventbrite.com

For group reservations for camps, childcare centers, senior centers, go to www.prescottcircus.org

A community show will be held Saturday, July 18, 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., at DeFremery Park,1651 Adeline St., Oakland.

Oakland Post

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Activism

50 Years Later, ‘Wake Up Everybody!’ Still Resonates During Black Music

The words of the song, “Wake Up Everybody,” debuted by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes in 1975, still resonate today as those words are just as relevant more than a half century later.

Published

2 weeks ago

June 26, 2026

Oakland Post

iStockphoto.

By Hazel Trice Edney, Special to The Post

Hazel Trice Edney

“Wake up, everybody, No more sleepin’ in bed

No more backward thinkin’. Time for thinkin’ ahead

The world has changed so very much from what it used to be.

There is so much hatred, war, and poverty.

“The world won’t get no better If we just let it be.

Naw, naw, naw, naw, naw, naw, naw.

The world won’t get no better. We gotta change it, yeah– just you and me.”

The words of the song, “Wake Up Everybody,” debuted by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes in 1975, still resonate today as those words are just as relevant more than a half century later.

In a rare, nearly somber moment, the group’s celebrated lead singer, Teddy Pendergrass, introduced the song on Soul Train, the weekly dance and live performance TV show that aired roughly between 1971 and 2006. Pendergrass told the attentive live audience and thousands watching by television that Wake Up Everybody, the title tune of their most recent album, was intended to inspire people to take action with a goal to change America for the better.

“I’m sure that you will all agree that there are things that need to be done in this country today,” he said. “So, what I’d like for you to do is listen very carefully to see what you can do to lend a hand.”

The song’s appeal worked.

“I played that song over and over and over again because it was a constant warning to keep ourselves prepared for the society that we were living in,” says A. Peter Bailey, then a 37-year-old former aide to Malcolm X.

When “Wake Up Everybody” hit the airwaves, Bailey was working as an associate editor of Ebony Magazine. “It was a call to be aware of what we were dealing with in the country that we lived in, the world we lived in, the neighborhood we lived in, the cities that we lived in,” Bailey said in an interview with the Trice Edney News Wire.

He concluded that during Black Music Month 2026, such songs should be recalled and celebrated as a key to changes for the good across America; especially because such songs successfully encouraged people to deal with the issues that might otherwise denigrate the promises of America, including the promise that “All men are created equal,”as stated in the Declaration of Independence.

“The rhythms and blues expressed our joys, our sorrows and our fears,” Bailey recalls. “It was those songs and the singing of those songs by our people that attracted us to the campaigns for justice.”

With his life inspired by that song and others, Bailey, now 88, went on to establish and teach a Black Press class at Virginia Commonwealth University. Also, he has since written three books, including a memoir, “Witnessing Brother Malcolm X, the Master Teacher,” in which he expounded upon successful principles of social justice, some of which are reflected in “Wake Up Everybody.”

Long before the term “woke” became associated with campaigns for justice, Pendergrass led the song that reverberated across America and still holds deep meaning.

The ‘wake up’ call exhorts teachers to ‘teach a new way,’ doctors to heal elders, and builders to ‘build a new land… we can do it if we all lend a hand.”

The song concludes:

“The world won’t get no better if we just let it be. Naw, naw, naw, naw, naw, naw, naw. The world won’t get no better. We gotta change it, yeah – just you and me.”

Hazel Trice Edney wrote this story as part of a four-part series powered by AARP in commemoration of Black Music Month, June 2026.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Inaugural Juneteenth Awards Ceremony Celebrates the Fillmore’s Black History, Leadership and Resilience

Addressing more than 100 Black and Asian attendees, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie stated “San Francisco is reliant on the Black community, and we must invest in this community.”

Published

2 weeks ago

June 26, 2026

Oakland Post

District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, Rev. Dr. Amos Brown, Pastor Emeritus of Third Baptist Church, SF Mayor Daniel Lurie. Photo by Linda Parker Pennington.

By Linda Parker Pennington

The Fillmore Community Ambassadors held its first annual Juneteenth Wesley Johnson White Horse Awards ceremony on June 19 inside the newly reopened Fillmore Heritage Center.

The event featured awards for former San Francisco mayors London Breed and Willie Brown, along with Third Baptist Church Pastor Emeritus, Rev. Dr. Amos Brown.

The Koret Heritage lobby at the newly reopened center at 1330 Fillmore St. held a standing-room-only, culturally diverse and multi-generational audience while the art gallery featured photos of Fillmore community members in action, red Japanese lanterns, art and calligraphy, and Chinese artwork, giving the space a multicultural feel.

Addressing more than 100 Black and Asian attendees, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie stated “San Francisco is reliant on the Black community, and we must invest in this community.”

District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood acknowledged that “the Fillmore community has had a difficult history. Thanks to Rev. Amos Brown’s continuous focus on accountability and resistance, you hold us accountable and continue to inspire us.”

Mahmoud is referring to the Fillmore’s Japanese residents who were forced from their homes and sent to concentration camps during World War II. Black people occupied those homes until the return of their Japanese neighbors and then gave them back, while homes that had been unoccupied were lost. The presence of the Asian community on Juneteenth is a testament to that shared history.

In receiving his honor, Amos Brown elicited a powerful spontaneous call-and-response, where members of San Francisco’s many Black churches proudly shouted out the names: “Bethel AME! Providence Baptist! Jones Memorial! Glide!”

Awards program Master of Ceremonies Shawn Richards of Brothers Against Guns warmly introduced Breed, highlighting her many accomplishments, particularly on “March 16, 2020, when she became the first mayor to shut down a major U.S. city due to COVID-19, saving thousands of lives.”

The audience was captivated by Breed’s emotional speech touching on past traumas, present conditions, and future hopes for the neighborhood where she grew up.

She recalled another trauma of the neighborhood during the City’s redevelopment era in the 1960s, where Black residents were forced to move with a promise of being able to return that was largely unfulfilled.

“We remember when this land was just a field because they bulldozed hundreds of Victorian homes that Black people owned. They built the Fillmore Center, where most Black people can’t afford to live or start their own business. But we are still here.”