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<\/a>Trending(REBROADCAST) | The Conversation with Al McFarlane \u2013 Building Wealth and Community<\/a>![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Post-News-Spanish-728x90-1.png\"\/)
<\/a>\nA Legacy of Resistance<\/p>\n
In 1979, Paul Cobb, publisher of the Post News Group and then a 36-year-old civil-rights organizer, defiantly planted himself in front of a bulldozer on Brush Street to prevent another historic Victorian home from being flattened for the long-delayed I-980 Freeway. Refusing to move, Cobb was arrested and hauled off in handcuffs\u2014a moment that landed him on the front page of the Oakland Tribune.\n<\/p>\n
Cobb and his family had a long history of fighting for their community, particularly around infrastructure projects in West Oakland. In 1954, his family was part of an NAACP lawsuit challenging the U.S. Post Office\u2019s decision to place its main facility in the neighborhood, which wiped out an entire community of Black residents.\n<\/p>\n
In 1964, they opposed the BART line down Seventh Street\u2014the \u201cHarlem of the West.\u201d Later, Cobb was deeply involved in successfully rerouting the Cypress Freeway out of the neighborhood after the Loma Prieta earthquake.\n<\/p>\n
The 980 Freeway, a 1.6-mile stretch, created an ominous barrier severing West Oakland from Downtown. Opposition stemmed from its very existence and the national practice of plowing freeways through Black communities with little input from residents and no regard for health, economic, or social impacts. By the time Cobb stood before the bulldozer, construction was inevitable, and his fight shifted toward jobs and economic opportunity.\n<\/p>\n
Fast-forward 45 years: Cobb recalled the story at a convening of \u201cSuper OGs\u201d organized to gather input from legacy residents on reimagining the corridor. He quickly retrieved his framed Tribune front page, adding a new dimension to the conversation about the dedication required to make change. Themes of harm repair and restoration surfaced again and again, grounded in memories of a thriving, cohesive Black neighborhood before the freeway.\n<\/p>\n
The Lasting Scar<\/p>\n
The 980 Freeway was touted as a road to prosperity\u2014funneling economic opportunity into the City Center, igniting downtown commerce, and creating jobs. Instead, it cut a gash through the city, erasing 503 homes, four churches, 22 businesses, and hundreds of dreams. A promised second approach to the Bay Bridge never materialized.\n<\/p>\n
Planning began in the late 1940s, bulldozers arrived in 1968, and after years of delays and opposition, the freeway opened in 1985. By then, Oakland\u2019s economic engines had shifted, leaving behind a 600-foot-wide wound that resulted in fewer jobs, poorer health outcomes, and a divided neighborhood. The harm of displacement and loss of generational wealth was compounded through redlining, disinvestment, drugs, and the police state. Many residents fled to outlying cities, while those who stayed carried forward the spirit of perseverance.\n<\/p>\n
The Big Picture<\/p>\n
At stake now is up to 67 acres of new, buildable land in Downtown West Oakland. This time, we must not repeat the institutional wrongs of the past. Instead, we must be as deliberate in building a collective, equitable vision as planners once were in destroying communities.\n<\/p>\n
EVOAK!\u2019s strategy is rooted in four pillars: health, housing, economic development, and cultural preservation. These were the very foundations stripped away, and they are what\u00a0 they aim to reclaim. West Oakland continues to suffer among the worst social determinants of health in the region, much of it linked to the three freeways cutting through the neighborhood.\n<\/p>\n
The harms of urban planning also decimated cultural life, reinforced oppressive public safety policies, underfunded education, and fueled poverty and blight.\n<\/p>\n
Healing the Wound<\/p>\n
West Oakland was once the center of Black culture during the Great Migration\u2014the birthplace of the Black Panther Party and home to the \u201cSchool of Champions,\u201d the mighty Warriors of McClymonds High. Drawing on that legacy, we must channel the community\u2019s proud past into a bold, community-led future that restores connection, sparks innovation, and uplifts every resident.\n<\/p>\n
Two years ago, Caltrans won a federal Reconnecting Communities grant to fund Vision 980, a community-driven study co-led by local partners. Phase 1 launched in Spring 2024 with surveys and outreach; Phase 2, a feasibility study, begins in 2026. Over 4,000 surveys have already been completed. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity could transform the corridor into a blank slate\u2014making way for accessible housing, open space, cultural facilities, and economic opportunity for West Oakland and the entire region.\n<\/p>\n
Leading with Community<\/p>\n
In parallel, EVOAK! is advancing a community-led process to complement Caltrans\u2019 work. EVOAK! is developing a framework for community power-building, quantifying harm, exploring policy and legislative repair strategies, structuring community governance, and hosting arts activations to spark collective imagination. The goal: a spirit of co-creation and true collaboration.\n<\/p>\n
What EVOAK! Learned So Far<\/p>\n
Through surveys, interviews, and gatherings, residents have voiced their priorities: a healthy environment, stable housing, and opportunities to thrive. Elders with decades in the neighborhood shared stories of resilience, community bonds, and visions of what repair should look like.\n<\/p>\n
They heard from folks like Ezra Payton, whose family home was destroyed at Eighth and Brush streets; Ernestine\u202fNettles, still a pillar of civic life and activism; Tom\u202fBowden, a blues man who performed on Seventh Street as a child 70 years ago; Queen Thurston, whose family moved to West Oakland in 1942; Leo\u202fBazille who served on the Oakland City Council from 1983 to 1993; Herman Brown, still organizing in the community today; Greg Bridges, whose family\u2019s home was picked up and moved in the construction process; Martha Carpenter Peterson, who has a vivid memory of better times in West Oakland; Sharon Graves, who experienced both the challenges and the triumphs of the neighborhood; Lionel Wilson, Jr., whose family were anchors of pre-freeway North Oakland; Dorothy Lazard, a resident of 13th Street in the \u201960s and font of historical knowledge; Bishop Henry Williams, whose simple request is to \u201ctell the truth,\u201d James Moree, affectionately known as \u201cJimmy\u201d; the Flippin twins, still anchored in the community; and Maxine Ussery, whose father was a business and land owner before redlining.\n<\/p>\n
EVOAK! will continue to capture these stories and invites the public to share theirs as well.\n<\/p>\n
Beyond the Block Party<\/p>\n
The 980 Block Party is just the beginning. Beyond this one-day event, EVOAK! Is \u00a0building a long-term process to ensure West Oakland\u2019s future is shaped by those who lived its past. To succeed, EVOAK! Is seeking partners across the community\u2014residents, neighborhood associations, faith groups, and organizations\u2014to help connect with legacy residents and host conversations.\n<\/p>\n
980 Block Party Event Details
Saturday, Oct. 25
10 a.m. \u2013 4 p.m.
Preservation Park, 1233 Preservation Park Way, Oakland, CA 94612
980BlockParty.org
<\/a>info@evoak.org<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Randolph BelleSpecial to The Post Join EVOAK!, a nonprofit addressing the historical harm to West Oakland since…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27865,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[20926,20927,20928,959,20929,20930,20931,184,20932,20933,961,20934,20935,20936,963,12871,964,179,20937,20938,5524,20939,9858,15,968,20940,584,93,413,20941,20942,405,3966,20943,20944,20945,20946,20947,972,20948,20949,20950,20951,20952,20953,20954,330,20955,20956,100,143,145,144,957,20957,20958,20959,20960,1086,20961,958,20962,6681,20963,20964,20965,20966,20967,20968],"class_list":["post-27864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-10-year-anniversary","tag-10-projects","tag-15-community-partners","tag-activism","tag-after-school-program","tag-all-community-members","tag-annual-martin-luther-king-jr-day-of-service","tag-bay-area","tag-beautification","tag-bike-enrichment-program","tag-black-history","tag-black-oakland-natives","tag-brookfield-and-sobrante-park-youth","tag-build-awareness","tag-city-government","tag-city-of-oakland","tag-commentary","tag-community","tag-community-clean-up","tag-community-garden","tag-community-members","tag-distance-learning-hub","tag-east-oakland","tag-education","tag-equity","tag-eventbrite","tag-events","tag-featured","tag-food","tag-gifted","tag-golden-state-warriors-merchandise-giveaways","tag-government","tag-health-and-wellness","tag-higher-ground-ndc-deputy-executive-director-khariyyah-shabazz","tag-higher-ground-neighborhood-development-corporation","tag-key-partner","tag-khariyyah-shabazz","tag-lead-service-projects","tag-local","tag-long-standing-environmental-struggles","tag-madison-park-academy","tag-middle-and-high-school-aged-youth","tag-mlk-service-day","tag-monumental-event","tag-multimillion-dollar-project","tag-mural-painting","tag-music","tag-neighborhoods-mission","tag-neighboring-organizations","tag-news","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-oakland-post","tag-oakland-unified-school-district-students","tag-oaklands-sobrante-park-brookfield-neighborhoods","tag-organizer-of-the-event","tag-paid-internships","tag-pandemic","tag-pandemic-of-2020","tag-post-news-group","tag-provide-valuable-resources","tag-services","tag-small-women-lead-nonprofit","tag-transformative-climate-community","tag-tree-planting","tag-workforce-development-program","tag-young","tag-young-black-and-brown-children"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}