Liberation Park

7101 Foothill Boulevard in Oakland, California is a 53,160 square  foot parcel (@ corner of 73rd Avenue and Foothill Boulevard) which is currently licensed by the Black Cultural Zone Community Development Corporation.  This parcel, which the community has named Liberation Park, will also host an array of cultural, community and commercial activities including:  

On  June 15, 2020 we began  Hot Meal and PPE Kit Distribution Drive Through at the site on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 4 – 6 pm.  On Saturday, August 8, 2020 we added Distribution Drive Through from 11 am until 1 pm.  We have distributed over 100,00 hot meals, sourced from World Central Kitchen and funding by the Eat Learn Play Foundation, in response to COVID 19.  

Liberation Park will be utilized for an outdoor farmers market, open to the public with physical distancing, from 9 am until 2 pm every Sunday beginning Sunday, September 6, 2020.  The Akoma Market will highlight produce from the Castlemont Farms, operated by students at the high school which is closest to us.  We will also prioritize local farms, particularly Black farms, for farm stands. In addition to the Farm Stands, we are going to engage local retail, restaurants (and food trucks), artists/makers, and health & wellness providers as well.  We hope to have our “stage” for arts/culture/entertainment up and running as well.  Our Arts & Culture (or a sub-group of it) will work on programming for the “stage”.  The Akoma Market will also serve as a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Box Pick-Up and Drop-off Location.  Other Community Supported Food Boxes will be sourced to utilize this lot as a Pick-Up and Drop-Off Location.

The Aya “Flex Streets” Lot @wellington Liberation Park  will provide a venue for outdoor dining and retail for Black, East Oakland and local businesses.  Our lot will spur equitable economic recovery for Black and East Oakland brick-and-mortar, online and hybrid retailers who do not have access to broad streets for outdoor dining or higher density pedestrian flow, as in downtown, uptown or other locations that are privileged with better access or proximity to built environments that are more Flex Street friendly. 

The Dwennimmen Resource Hub @ Liberation Parkwill provide a venue for the distribution of COVID 19 resources including PPE, Testing, Marketing Collateral and other resources.  Our lot will be a hub for these critical resources during this unprecedented pandemic.  It will serve as a pick-up and drop-off point to improve access for community organizations who need a proximate access site within a 10 – 15 minute radius.  We will store and maintain an up-to-date inventory tracking system with alerts when equipment and materials are at critically low levels, i.e. days of inventory on hand less than 2 – 3 days (tbd).

We are planning, in pilot phase now, a unique Community and Cultural ambassador program that will engage youth and adults as Black Cultural Zone and Liberation Park ambassadors for community safety, community maintenance, Black culture and arts and East Oakland culture and arts.   Our Ambassadors will be engaged in and/or from City of Oakland Workforce Development, Oakland career and workforce programs and career and technical education partnerships with the Oakland Unified School District and Peralta Community College District (Civic Design Partnership). 

Take a look at our upcoming events!