Commentary
Neighborhood Empowerment Day in Deep East Oakland Brings Community Together After Recent Tragedy
Hosted by the 40×40 Council, the free, family-friendly resource fair featured health and wellness services, workshops, children’s activities, food, giveaways and local Black-owned businesses. Residents also connected with community organizations working to strengthen East Oakland.
Families, residents and community organizations gathered at the Parker Community Resource Center on Saturday, Sept. 12, for the 40×40 Neighborhood Empowerment Day, transforming the site of a recent tragedy into a space for healing, resources, connection and joy.
Hosted by the 40×40 Council, the free, family-friendly resource fair featured health and wellness services, workshops, children’s activities, food, giveaways and local Black-owned businesses. Residents also connected with community organizations working to strengthen East Oakland.
The gathering came six weeks after a fatal shooting occurred at the Ney Avenue center on July 31. The violence happened shortly before 9 a.m. on the campus of the adult education center and claimed the life of 25-year-old Kimarii McLemore. A second person was injured.
McLemore was attending what was supposed to be her final day in an adult education carpentry class. The shooting deeply affected her family and traumatized students, staff members and residents who had viewed the center as a safe place where community members could pursue education, career training and a better future.
Neighborhood Empowerment Day offered residents an opportunity to return to the center in a spirit of unity and reclaim the space as an important neighborhood resource.
“Reclaiming the space after a tragedy means creating opportunities for people to gather, connect, experience joy and feel a sense of community once again,” said Tim Zenor-Davis, program manager at Roots Community Health. “After a trauma occurs, we see what happened, we acknowledge its impact, and we are continuing to show up.”
Throughout the afternoon, children and families participated in activities while residents received information about health, wellness and other community services. The event also gave local entrepreneurs and service providers an opportunity to connect with the community.
Complimentary meals included grilled burgers and tacos while a DJ played popular music.
Guests received blood pressure and eye-sight checks. A space to exercise on yoga mats was provided while headphones with guided meditation offered a moment to slow down and reflect.
The 40×40 Council includes the Black Cultural Zone, Brotherhood of Elders Network, East Oakland Youth Development Center and Roots Community Health. Together, the organizations have worked to address community violence and the deeper systemic conditions that have affected generations of East Oakland residents.
The council’s work has extended beyond responding to individual tragedies. As part of the broader Rise East initiative, the collaborative has focused on reversing decades of economic disinvestment, systemic poverty, health disparities and the displacement of Black legacy residents.
The 40×40 area stretches from Seminary Avenue to the San Leandro border and from MacArthur Boulevard to the Bay. More than 30,000 Black residents live within the area, which contains Oakland’s largest concentration of Black residents.
Organizers said the area has continued to demonstrate resilience despite experiencing community violence, declining investment and a significant life-expectancy gap compared with wealthier parts of the region.
The council seeks to help reshape East Oakland into a vibrant, multigenerational community where Black residents can remain, return, heal, prosper and build power.
