Bay Area

Former Black Panther Party Headquarters Could Be Turned into Apartments

Fredrika Newton, widow of Black Panther Party founder Huey P. Newton, read a statement in support of the proposal at Monday’s meeting, noting that an agreement between the Huey P. Newton Foundation and Cloud ensured that the BPP’s history would be preserved there. “[We] believe the appropriate path forward is to support a Black and Oakland-owned redevelopment that will simultaneously welcome us to expanding our footprint at the site.”

Published

2 years ago

February 13, 2022

Oakland Post

Brandon Patterson

By Brandon Patterson

The former North Oakland headquarters of the Black Panther Party could be converted into apartments under a new proposal from the building’s current owner, a plan that has drawn consternation from community members about the implications of tearing down the historic site while receiving mixed reactions from former members of the BPP.

Kim Cloud, who has owned the building since 1996 and currently runs a bakery out of it, is proposing to convert the building into a five-story, 20-unit apartment building and said at an online hearing of the Landmark Preservation Advisory board on Monday that his aim is to create more housing in Oakland.

He has the backing of Fredrika Newton, the widow of BPP co-founder Huey Newton. Yet, other former BBP members voiced concern at the meeting or to the media in the past week.

The advisory board voted to allow the proposal to go through the standard city review process on Monday, while requiring Cloud and his development partners to do a deeper historical analysis of the property than the one they presented at the meeting and develop added proposals for how to preserve BPP history at the site if their redevelopment plan gets approved by the city.

“The concerns I hear from the community and staff and folks on this board is that it’s just not quite there,” board member Chris Andrews said on Monday, referring to Cloud’s team’s preservation proposal.

The development plan made waves on social media last week after a picture of the notice of the plan posted in the window of Cloud’s bakery began circulating online. Commenters on Instagram raised concerns about the role of gentrification in bringing an end to the historic site, located at 5616-5626 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, and opponents of the plan voiced similar concerns at Monday’s hearing.

The proposal would create 18 units of market-rate housing while reserving just two units for low-income residents. And while the building has already been significantly altered since the days of the BPP, memorabilia commemorating the history of the site, including copies of the original BPP newspaper and the organization’s famous Ten Point plan, currently hang on the wall in the bakery.

Cloud has worked collaboratively with former BPP members to preserve the history of the party at the site. But a historical analysis conducted on behalf of his development team determined that the building itself does not qualify for historic preservation since the only current marker of the site’s history is the “impermanent” display of memorabilia on the bakery’s wall.

Fredrika Newton read a statement in support of the proposal at Monday’s meeting, noting that an agreement between the Huey P. Newton Foundation and Cloud ensured that the BPP’s history would be preserved there. “[We] believe the appropriate path forward is to support a Black and Oakland-owned redevelopment that will simultaneously welcome us to expanding our footprint at the site.”

But other former BPP members have expressed resistance. “Consulting us is the best thing, whether it’s yea or nay,” Katherine Campbell, who was active in the BPP in San Francisco and Oakland, told The Oaklandside, “We didn’t know if we were going to live to tell the story, but we did, and we’re here.”

Another former party member, Saturu Ned, raised concern about access to the new housing for low-income residents. “Someone has a right to look at what’s going to benefit them and their family,” said Ned, “but also we need to look at the community.”

“When we did housing, it was housing according to income.”

According to The Oaklandside, city planners said at the meeting that Oakland’s zoning manager would make the final decision, and the proposal will not come up for discussion again at other public meetings.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

8 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

DA Pamela Price Stands by Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence in Oakland

Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018.

Published

4 days ago

April 22, 2024

Oakland Post

District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones

Publisher’s note: Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018. The photo was too small for readers to see where the women were and what they were doing. Here we show Price and Jones as they complete a walk in memory of Scott. For more information and to contribute, please contact Carol Jones at 510-978-5517 at morefoundation.help@gmail.com. Courtesy photo.

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Bay Area

State Controller Malia Cohen Keynote Speaker at S.F. Wealth Conference

California State Controller Malia Cohen delivered the keynote speech to over 50 business women at the Black Wealth Brunch held on March 28 at the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center at 301 Van Ness Ave. in San Francisco. The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.

Published

6 days ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

American Business Women’s Association Vice President Velma Landers, left, with California State Controller Malia Cohen (center), and ABWA President LaRonda Smith at the Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the ABWA at the Black Wealth Brunch.

By Carla Thomas

The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.

“Our goal is to educate Black and Brown families in the masses about financial wellness, wealth building, and how to protect and preserve wealth,” said ABWA San Francisco Chapter President LaRonda Smith.

ABWA’s mission is to bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations and provide opportunities for them to help themselves and others grow personally and professionally through leadership, education, networking support, and national recognition.

“This day is about recognizing influential women, hearing from an accomplished woman as our keynote speaker and allowing women to come together as powerful people,” said ABWA SF Chapter Vice President Velma Landers.

More than 60 attendees dined on the culinary delights of Chef Sharon Lee of The Spot catering, which included a full soul food brunch of skewered shrimp, chicken, blackened salmon, and mac and cheese.

Cohen discussed the many economic disparities women and people of color face. From pay equity to financial literacy, Cohen shared not only statistics, but was excited about a new solution in motion which entailed partnering with Californians for Financial Education.

“I want everyone to reach their full potential,” she said. “Just a few weeks ago in Sacramento, I partnered with an organization, Californians for Financial Education.

“We gathered 990 signatures and submitted it to the [California] Secretary of State to get an initiative on the ballot that guarantees personal finance courses for every public school kid in the state of California.

“Every California student deserves an equal opportunity to learn about filing taxes, interest rates, budgets, and understanding the impact of credit scores. The way we begin to do that is to teach it,” Cohen said.

By equipping students with information, Cohen hopes to close the financial wealth gap, and give everyone an opportunity to reach their full financial potential. “They have to first be equipped with the information and education is the key. Then all we need are opportunities to step into spaces and places of power.”

Cohen went on to share that in her own upbringing, she was not guided on financial principles that could jump start her finances. “Communities of color don’t have the same information and I don’t know about you, but I did not grow up listening to my parents discussing their assets, their investments, and diversifying their portfolio. This is the kind of nomenclature and language we are trying to introduce to our future generations so we can pivot from a life of poverty so we can pivot away and never return to poverty.”

Cohen urged audience members to pass the initiative on the November 2024 ballot.

“When we come together as women, uplift women, and support women, we all win. By networking and learning together, we can continue to build generational wealth,” said Landers. “Passing a powerful initiative will ensure the next generation of California students will be empowered to make more informed financial decisions, decisions that will last them a lifetime.”