Activism
Oakland Frontline Healers Host “Circle of Peace” Event at Lake Merritt December 28
The ‘Circle of Peace’ will be preceded by a ‘peace caravan’ starting at Liberation Park at 7101 Foothill Blvd at 3 p.m. It will arrive at the north end of Lake Merritt at 5:30 p.m. where artists will entertain the crowd. Candle stations will be established at north, south, east, and west locations on the lake. “Please bring your children. It’s time to teach peace.”
By Post Staff
On Dec. 28, over 20 Black nonprofits will stage the largest “Circle of Peace” in the history of Oakland around Lake Merritt. Their intent is to galvanize every citizen in Oakland to join them in a citywide appeal for “Peace in the Streets.”
“We need 1,500 men, women and children, standing 12 feet apart to totally encircle the lake,” says Tanya Dennis, member of Adamika Village #StopKillingOurKidsMovement and Oakland Frontline Healers (OFH).
“Dec. 28 is the third day of Kwanzaa, which honors ‘Ujima,’ collective work and responsibility,” said Dennis, who is lead organizer of the Circle of Peace event. “The purpose of Ujima is to build and maintain the Black community and make our brothers’ and sisters’ problems our problems and to solve them together.
“It takes a village to heal a village,” Dennis said.
The ‘Circle of Peace’ will be preceded by a ‘peace caravan’ starting at Liberation Park at 7101 Foothill Blvd at 3 p.m. It will arrive at the north end of Lake Merritt at 5:30 p.m. where artists will entertain the crowd.
Candle stations will be established at north, south, east, and west locations on the lake. “Please bring your children. It’s time to teach peace.”
The organizers are asking 1,500 of Oakland’s brothers and sisters to come to Lake Merritt at 6:30 p.m., stand 12 feet apart and light a candle, and stand in silence from 7-7:30 p.m. to “shift the energy in Oakland and end violence.”
“Let’s make this go national and inform the nation Oakland wants and supports peace in the streets,” Dennis said. A drone will record the event.
Last year’s “Peace in the Streets” event saw the installation of hundreds of peace banners installed on International Boulevard.
Darren White, CEO of Realized Potential, teaches fatherhood workshops for youth regarding how to be good fathers, respect women and disavow violence in resolving conflicts. Photo courtesy of Darren White.
Oakland Frontline Healers, Oakland’s premiere COVID-19 response team, comprises 19 Black-led nonprofits dedicated to the restoration, building, and healing of the Black community through providing resources, projects, and events.
The organization has also led development of a Black mental health initiative in partnership with the East Bay Association of Black Psychologists.
A collaboration with Adamika Village #StopKillingOurKidsMovement, MACRO, Broken Chains Ministries, and the Oakland Fire Department and headed by OFH member Realized Potential Inc., is hosting a community holiday event on Dec. 18 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at East Bay Dragons headquarters, located at 8731 International Blvd.
Realized Potential, which is headed by Darren White, does pop-up community resource events at local Oakland hot spots where gun violence has occurred to show residents that there are people and organizations engaged in gun violence prevention.
“We will provide Christmas gifts to youth and community members; we are serving food and distributing resource packets for community members that need information about jobs and housing,” White said. “We have hygiene kits, COVID-19 information, and PPE that will be available with hand sanitizer, masks, and home test kits — all free to the community.”
Realized Potential’s gift give-away and Adamika Village’s Circle of Peace are kicking off a series of OFH events in Oakland to prevent crime and show solidarity by modeling appropriate behavior for men and women involved in criminal behavior, utilizing their “African Way” philosophy.
OFH’s goal is to provide people with needed resources in order to change their behavior, put down guns, and end the violence that’s disrupting and traumatizing Oakland residents.
Activism
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.”
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.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of August 26 – September 1, 2026
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of August 26 – September 1, 2026
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Activism
Oakland Post: Week of August 19 – 25, 2026
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of August 18 – 25, 2026
To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.
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