Really Making Oakland a Model City

Remember Mayor Dellums’ vision to make Oakland a model city? Regardless of what he did or didn’t do, some other Oaklanders decided to do their bit to make our town the best town it could be. The Ella Baker Center launched the Soul of the City program a year ago. The program tackles issues like economic and social justice by engaging the community. What they do isn’t rocket science. It’s simple, effective and shows results. The Ella Baker Center is throwing a party tonight to celebrate the program’s first anniversary. The director of Soul of the City, Amaka Agbo, chatted with the OakBook about the program's first year and its future.

Q: For people who aren’t too familiar with the Soul of the City, what is it that you do?

Agbo: The Soul of the City is a big vision campaign. It focuses on creating a model in the city of Oakland in which we transform the city to address social, environmental, and economic crises so that it is an urban city that’s socially just, ecologically sustainable, and spiritually connected. Instead of just focusing on economic justice or social justice issues, we bring them all together under one umbrella.

Q: What are the kinds of things you do in this campaign?

Agbo: We do community service events every month. This year, we’re doing them every other month. We do a lot of work through the coalition, Oakland rising about increasing voter participation in Oakland. We inform them. It’s about how to have them be more involved in what’s going on politically.

Q: Could you give me some examples of community service events that you’ve done?

Agbo: One that just ended on January 18 was at Sobrante Park Elementary School. The school is somewhat isolated. It’s hard to get to by public transit, BART doesn’t go there. We went in focusing on creating an outdoor living classroom and also a community center. We were also setting up an amphitheater. It’s a small space, we were able to do a lot with it. It’s a place where people can come and talk and gather. You have people from across the street coming to plant things there. The garden has burned down twice before. You have community participation, and the community watching over it.

We did tree planting in West Oakland. We partnered with Urban Relief. We planted 46 trees that day.

In the Oakland running festival in March, 58 individuals are going to run in the name of the Ella Baker Center with the message to build a healthy Oakland together. We need to do a better job of personal health. For those who can’t run, those people can participate by handing out water to the runners.

Q: What’s been your biggest challenge this past year?

Agbo: The biggest challenge is that a lot of people are stretched financially and with their time. People are working two jobs to support their families. Trying to get more young people of color to come out -- It’s been hard getting more young folks to come out and participate in our community service. But they understand that we can no longer wait on our political leaders to do something – it’s up to the individual.

Q: What about raising money in this economy? Has that been hard?

Agbo: Our community service – we’ve been successful in raising money for that. It’s a tangible thing that the funders can see. The money we gave,  these trees and benches are here because of that. We’re lucky. Our funders have really stepped up.

Q: In this past year, what’s been your biggest accomplishment?

Agbo: We have volunteer appreciation events to thank the people in the community that are coming out. The same people have come to two-three events. One woman said to me, “Tell me what to do. I just want to get the work done.” To see how the community service resonates with people, and with children, it’s quite powerful. Kids come help carry dirt, and sand the benches.  It’s been powerful to see how the community in Oakland has stepped up to take agency to improve their lives.

Q: And what’s coming up in the year ahead?

Agbo: Coming up – we’re going to continue community service. We’re going to ramp up for the transformative workshop we’re putting tougher. It’ll be an experience where we look at economic injustice, the state of the environment and the spiritual disconnect around us. How did we get there? What are the systems of oppression that have brought us here? How can we change the way we interact with each other and the planet? We’ll be looking at alternative economies. How can we start doing a gift economy in the neighborhood?

The workshop is going to start in July. We’re going to keep the classes small. We’ll be doing them twice a month. Towards the end of 2010, we’re gearing up our political education curriculum. Like the Instant Runoff Voting – we’ll be educating people about things like that. A lot people don’t know about the political process.

Q: Is there anything else that’s important that we haven’t spoken about?

Agbo: One thing that’s important for people to understand. It’s important to be sincere and real about relationships to continue to build the movement. It’s a way of holding each other accountable for the change we see in Oakland.