Black Cultural Zone Community Development Corporation

The Black Cultural Zone Community Development Corporation (BCZ) innovates, incubates, informs, and elevates community-driven projects that allow our people and culture to thrive. Focused on East Oakland but of benefit to the larger Oakland community, our activities fall within four areas of work: Arts & Culture, Economic Development, Community Development, and Commercial Development. Our flagship initiative is LIBERATION PARK. We licensed a 53,160 square foot lot in the heart of East Oakland, transforming the site from an unsightly vacant lot into a thriving outdoor community, cultural, and commercial hub. Liberation Park is home to AKOMA MARKET, a biweekly farmers market highlighting produce from Black and Brown farmers, in addition to local retail, food trucks, and health and wellness providers. It is a community gathering space offering positivity, joy, and human connection for East Oakland residents and our neighbors through events like: Drive-in Movie Nights; Outdoor Play Days; and an Outdoor Roller Skating Rink. Other initiatives launched since our founding in 2019 include ART FOR THE MOVEMENT: an formed to preserve and document the protest art created in Oakland in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder; BLACK CULTURE KEEPERS PROGRAM, an intergenerational network of creatives that can preserve and promote the best of Black culture and community; and the BLACK ECONOMY NETWORK, a network of Black business consultants, technical assistance, and financial assistance providers to support the building of a Black economy. Over the next three years, we are activating a strategic plan that builds on this early progress. Battery Powered funding will support our strategic priorities including: - Black Cultural Zone Hub Development: This is the primary vehicle for tackling displacement and ensuring that our communities are anchored in place. We will identify viable hub catalyst sites; develop hub sites, including Liberation Park; and incubate, support and build resources for and capacity of our Commercial Real Estate Ecosystem. - Economic & Community Resource and Capacity Building: We will incubate artists, entrepreneurs, enterprises,and community leaders as anchors for Hubs and a strong economy; and build resources for and capacity of artists, entrepreneurs, enterprises, and community leaders with projects, programs, networks and collaborations