In 1966, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale drafted the Black Panther manifesto in a two-bedroom bungalow on 57th Street in Oakland.
Last year, that house – refurbished with hardwood floors, drought-tolerant landscaping and quartz countertops – sold for $425,000.
Such is the story of West Oakland and its environs these days. The heart of African American culture in the Bay Area, if not the West Coast, is now a real estate agent’s dream. Thousands of transplants from San Francisco, mostly younger, mostly white people lured east by lower rents, have discovered the sunny enclaves of West Oakland and staked their claims.
“West Oakland is really vibrant right now. Young people, young families, are finding it to be an edgy, dynamic, urban place to live,” said Andrea Gordon, a top-producing real estate agent with Coldwell Banker’s Oakland office. “They can get a Victorian here that would cost $400,000 more a mile away in Rockridge.”
In some West Oakland census tracts, the number of white residents has doubled in the past 10 years, bringing their numbers to nearly equal with their African American counterparts. Asian and Latino residents have increased, as well.
Over the same period, thousands of African American families have left the neighborhood, mostly heading to eastern Contra Costa and Solano counties.
Some African Americans say the influx of white people has triggered a rise in rents and housing prices, pricing out black families from the neighborhoods their families have lived in for generations. Others say African Americans started leaving West Oakland years ago due to crime and schools, leaving vacancies for newcomers – in this case, mostly young people enticed by the good weather, proximity to San Francisco and block after block of affordable Victorians and ultramodern condos.
In any case, West Oakland looks a lot different than it did a decade ago. New condominiums have proliferated, old Victorians are undergoing renovations, shuttered factories are now artists’ studios, and blight has decreased. But gone, too, is a certain pride that sprung from what was once known as “Harlem of the West.”
“It hurts. I’m not going to say I’m content with this,” said Leander Muhammed, 34, a third-generation West Oakland resident who runs after-school and sports programs for kids in the neighborhood. “Suddenly there’s nonprofits and community gardens on every corner. Community gardens? I don’t get it – my granny was planting collards and tomatoes here for decades. It all seems crazy to me.”
Vibrant immigrant town
West Oakland is loaded with more history than possibly any other pocket of the East Bay, if not the Bay Area. It was one of the first American settlements in the East Bay, as thousands of Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, African Americans, Irish and others settled along the waterfront in the 1850s to work on the docks and later railroads.
Oakland grew out from the waterfront, but West Oakland remained pretty much the same: modest homes and businesses catering to dock, railroad and other industrial workers – most of whom were immigrants – and their families.
In the 1930s and ’40s, African Americans from Louisiana and Texas began pouring into West Oakland, most coming through the historic 16th Street train depot, and settled. African Americans had few choices about where they could live due to discriminatory housing covenants, but by nearly all accounts West Oakland was a thriving, vibrant community. In fact, it was the largest African American community in Northern California.
Seventh Street was lined with upscale restaurants and jazz clubs on what was known as the Chitlin Circuit. Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown, among others, were regular performers. Black-owned florists, barbershops and groceries flourished. Just about everyone knew each other.
MC Hammer, Pointer Sisters
“We didn’t even lock our doors,” said Ellen Wyrick Parkinson, who’s lived in West Oakland for more than 60 years. “But you couldn’t go outside West Oakland unless you were wearing an apron or chauffeur’s cap. Bushrod Park? No way. You’d be told to leave.”
Dozens of big names came from West Oakland, including Bill Russell, MC Hammer, Frank Robinson, Curt Flood, the Pointer Sisters, and, of course, the Black Panthers.
But over the decades, the jobs began to vanish – just as industrial jobs have disappeared across the country – and crime and poverty inched upward. Much of Seventh Street is boarded up. Even Esther’s Orbit Room, a mainstay of West Oakland nightlife, closed two years ago. In its place, nearby, is a natural food cooperative.
Parkinson said she’s happy with the neighborhood’s newest incarnation.
“I love it,” she said, noting that the neighborhood looks better than it has in decades. “I think the new people have done a beautiful job cleaning things up. These old houses needed fixing. I just hope it keeps going on.”
Ayodele Nzinga, a theater director who’s lived in West Oakland for most of 30 years, said she fears the history will be lost.
“There’s nothing inherently wrong with single white people moving in,” she said. “There’s nothing wrong with clean parks and Starbucks. We want that, too. But it terrifies me that all this culture and history will be over-written.”
Trying to preserve history
Preservationists are busy designating as landmarks what they can in West Oakland, including the entire Oak Center neighborhood and the Victorian that once housed Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association. The city also offers assistance for those wishing to build or remodel there. Nzinga wants to see the city do more to help African Americans living there currently – such as jobs, substance abuse and mental health services – instead of catering to newer residents.
Epli, 32, an artist from North Carolina of Chinese and Irish descent, is one of those newer residents. She moved to West Oakland in 2008, knowing nothing of the area except that she could find a room for $400 a month, and was surprised to learn the neighborhood’s history. She was also surprised at some of the tensions and misunderstandings she saw between older residents and newcomers. The conflict inspired her to organize an art show, scheduled for Oct. 26 at DeFremery Park, addressing gentrification.
She gave cameras to five longtime residents and asked them to document their own stories of West Oakland, and hopes the images will trigger a discussion about the prejudices, myths and vastly different perspectives surrounding the neighborhood.
“Really, it just comes down to acknowledging people exist as you walk down the street,” she said. “Anyone can say ‘Good morning.’ It seemed to me that this is a conversation we should we having.”
As for Muhammed, one of the participants in Epli’s project, the conversation is welcome.
“I heard about this and thought, why isn’t a black person doing it? Why does it have to be a white person?” he said. “Then I thought, who cares? I just want to talk about it, and I’m glad someone finally brought it up.”
‘Here Before’
The photography exhibition and panel discussion on West Oakland gentrification is set for 5 p.m. Oct. 26 at De Fremery Park, 16th and Adeline streets, Oakland. For information, go to “Here Before” on Facebook or e-mail eplimade@gmail.com.
Carolyn Jones is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: carolynjones@sfchronicle.com
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