Bay Area

Marin City Market Owner Nita Hayden Vasquez, 80

Nita Hayden Vasquez, who owned Hayden’s Market in Marin City, died Jan. 11, 2023, in Tampa, Fla., of natural causes. She was 80 years old. Vasquez made many friends when she lived in Marin City. The small market also allowed people to forge community bonds, reported the Marin IJ.

Published

4 years ago

March 15, 2023

Oakland Post

Nita Hayden Vasquez. Photo provided by Sheri Murphy for Marin IJ.

By Godfrey Lee

Nita Hayden Vasquez, who owned Hayden’s Market in Marin City, died Jan. 11, 2023, in Tampa, Fla., of natural causes.

She was 80 years old.

Vasquez made many friends when she lived in Marin City. The small market also allowed people to forge community bonds, reported the Marin IJ.

“Nita was the first Black businesswoman that I ever met and she inspired me to do law enforcement, be very independent, and not back down,” said Valanza Wilson-Parker, a cashier who worked in the market. “Everyone didn’t agree with her, and she didn’t care. She danced to her own beat.”

Royce McLemore, said that Vasquez “set herself apart from any Black woman in Marin City, and showed all her hard work from her store. She was business savvy.”

Felecia Gaston, executive director of Performing Stars, and founder of the Marin City Historical and Preservation Society, described Vasquez as a trailblazer, role model and business leader. “Nita Hayden Vasquez exemplified hard work, pride, and loyalty to help in keeping her parents’ business alive, which in turn contributed to the legacy of Marin City,” Gaston said.

Hayden’s Market was located at the intersection of Cole Drive and Drake Avenue. Locals used to gather outside the store in an area they called “The Front,” McLemore said

Vasquez’s father, Daniel Hayden, founded the Market in 1956. The familyhad moved to California from Louisiana during World War II in 1943 to seek work and a new life near the shipyards, said Bea Stephens, Vasquez’s sister.

After the war, Daniel Hayden settled in Marin City, and operated the store until he passed away in 1982. Vasquez took over until the mid-1990s when the land was sold to developers by its owner, the Tamalpais High School District.

It was the only commercial business in Marin City, a Black-owned business in a predominantly Black-owned town,” Wilson-Parker said to the SF Gate. “It had the first and only arcade and Pac-Man. The kids can come, have pizza and burritos, and actually sit there and have something to do.”

The late rapper Tupac Shakur, who grew up in Marin City, also visited the store, and told Vasquez: “I love how you keep your head up, Nita.” Shakur later returned to Marin City and said that Vasquez had inspired some of his lyrics.

Hayden’s Market was located across from the housing project since 1962, giving people in the community a place to meet and socialize. It was torn down when the (Gateway) Shopping Center was built in Marin City. The developers, which include the San Francisco-based Martin Group, insisted they had no obligation to provide space in the new shopping center to Hayden’s Market or other existing businesses.

Vasquez said that while it was time for Marin City to be developed, she was also treated unfairly by the developers, and was bitter that she was denied her livelihood when she did not become a part of the new center.

Ms. Hayden Vasquez is survived by her daughter Sheri Murphy and a granddaughter; sisters Bea Stephens and Flo Hamilton and brother Daniel Hayden Jr.

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Oakland Post: Week of September 9 – 15, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 9 – 15, 2026

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September 14, 2026

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Oakland Post: Week of September 2 – 8, 2026

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Youth-Led Black August Event Brings Past to Present at East Oakland Boxing Association

The mission of Youth Alive! Is to “break the cycle of violence, heal trauma, and uplift a thriving community of leaders, to save lives in Oakland and beyond” by serving “as mentors, youth leaders, counselors, case managers, intervention specialists and violence interrupters,” working “to help violently wounded people heal themselves and their community.”

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2 weeks ago

August 29, 2026

Post News Group

Dawna Williams, EOBA executive director speaks to attendees at the Black August Eperience on Aug. 21. Photo courtesy of Carolyn Flynn of EOBA.

By Jana Lang Propel Youth Reporter

Youth-Led Black August Event Brings Past to Present at East Oakland Boxing Association

The East Oakland Boxing Association (EOBA) and Youth Alive! came together on Aug. 21 to share with their community all that Black August means to them.

Held on EOBA’s patio at 816 98th Ave. in Deep East Oakland, the two organizations hosted their second annual Black August Experience, featuring a food tasting, financial literacy and mindfulness workshops, and voter registration with the League of Women Voters Oakland (LWV).

Black August is known as a time to uphold the legacy of prisoners who protested their conditions by fasting, fighting, and educating themselves on the economic and political circumstances that contributed to their incarceration.

According to its website, “EOBA is a multi-service youth and community development hub that goes far beyond the ring. While rooted in the discipline of boxing, for nearly 40 years EOBA has also integrated robust programs in workforce development, food justice, afterschool enrichment, financial literacy, mentorship, and wellness.”.

The mission of Youth Alive! Is to “break the cycle of violence, heal trauma, and uplift a thriving community of leaders, to save lives in Oakland and beyond” by serving “as mentors, youth leaders, counselors, case managers, intervention specialists and violence interrupters,” working “to help violently wounded people heal themselves and their community.”

Through Coro California, another leadership organization serving young people across the state for 80 years, they gained a broader understanding of Black August.

EOBA Executive Director Dawna Williams spoke about how much she learned about Black August from the youth who created it. “I let them educate me,” she said. Instead of talking about prison reform and mass incarceration, Williams and youth interns found that Black August meant so much more. “We would have done a disservice if we had just focused on who the people were and what their situation was…We tried to take their message from back in the day and make it relevant to the young people today. What do they need to know?”

Youth interns created and placed posters around the patio to help participants understand how traditional Black foodways, civic engagement, financial literacy, and the power of education are relevant to Black resistance today.

An EOBA member described Black August with Youth ALIVE! as “a whole vibe. “This year we added the Fun Zone for the kids, because you really cannot go wrong with a Fun Zone. I also loved seeing everyone chillin’ in the outdoor lounge, catching some Vitamin D and just enjoying a Friday evening together.”

The food tasting, a popular event from last year, featured traditional Black foods such as black-eyed peas, johnny cakes, and fried chicken. Led by Williams, the tasting included a talk about how these traditional foods were made and why they are forms of Black resilience.

The “‘Plate of History’ was a favorite of the online writers. “Fun, educational, and did I mention delicious? Our Taste of History cook, Angela Southall, served up some good eats while connecting food to history and culture.”

The writer also commended the “League of Women Voters Oakland for their civic leadership and for getting our young people informed, ready, and registered to vote.”

Overall, it was a “good Friday event in East Oakland,” the writer said.

Upcoming Black August events: Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), will host “Black August: The Arc of Liberation” at Oakland City Hall on Sat. Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The websites for East Oakland Boxing Association, Youth Alive! and CORO are sources for this report.

Jana Lang is an Oakland resident, teacher, gardener and poet participating in the Propel News Initiative.