Black Arts Movement and Business District
Oakland's living legacy of Black creativity, resistance, and excellence.
Created by Rashida Chase
Revolutionary • rooted • regenerative
Download printable map (coming soon)
About the Black Arts Movement and Business District
The Black Arts Movement and Business District is revolutionary in its legacy and purpose, carrying forward a tradition of Black artistic excellence, cultural self-determination, and social transformation born in Oakland and nationally influential since the 1960s. It is rooted in place, sustained by elders, artists, businesses, and residents whose lived experience anchors the district, while youth continue to reinterpret, innovate, and define its future.
The district is anchored by historic and contemporary cultural assets including the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, Geoffrey’s Inner Circle, the African American Museum and Library, innovative Black-owned businesses, and signature festivals such as the Black Joy Parade and Hiero Day.
The Black Arts Movement and Business District is regenerative in practice, committed to repairing historic and ongoing harm through cultural preservation, anti-displacement strategies, artist housing, economic opportunity, and public space activation. It is a living cultural ecosystem that will stabilize community, fuel creative enterprise, strengthen belonging, and ensures Black art, culture, and community flourish for generations to come.
District Region: Oakland - Alameda County
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