A Week on the Job

Submitted by Ryan Dowell Baum on June 17, 2007 - 3:57am.

It has been a great first week for me at Oakland Community Organizations!

Tuesday was an exciting second day at work. I met Kamara, my supervisor, in West Oakland to observe a 1-to-1 (or, I suppose, with me there it was a 2-to-1) with Ms. Patty, a longtime West Oakland resident and OCO leader. We filled her in on the previous evening's meeting at the Mayor's Office, and asked her opinions on how we should proceed. She reminded us of OCO's efforts to pass an inclusionary zoning ordinance in order to provide Oakland residents with affordable housing, and how she felt that when OCO left it up to the city, the bill seemed to die in City Council. "We can't let that happen with this," she told us. After all, young people are dying.

After saying goodbye to Ms. Patty, Kamara and I spent some time walking around the neighborhood visiting with other neighbors, who all seemed to be saying the same thing: OCO needs to do its thing regardless of where the city is in its process.

We spent a bit of time visiting with Kamara's friend and neighbor Jamilah, who was a construction worker before she got shot in the leg last year. Jamilah talked with me a bit about what's going on in the neighborhood, and introduced me to her pet turtle, Li'l Hyphy.

We then went back to the office to try and get leaders together for a meeting on how we can work together to stem the tide of violence in Oakland. Among the key players are Olis Simmons of Youth UpRising, Kevin Grant of Measure Y, and Nicole Lee of Silence the Violence.

On Thursday, Silence the Violence hosted a vigil in Frank Ogawa Plaza in memory of the 148 people who were murdered in Oakland last year and to give community members an opportunity to express their commitment to ending violence in Oakland. It was a powerful event and many young Oakland artists performed poetry, rap and song.

I've had an enjoyable week getting to know the neighborhood of West Oakland and the folks at OCO and other organizations who are working to make it a more peaceful place. I look forward to seven more wonderful weeks!

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