Celebrating and Preserving Heritage: The East Oakland Black Cultural Zone

September 27, 2021

The Black Cultural Zone, conceived in 2014, addresses the disparate impact that decades of disinvestment in East Oakland and more recent displacement of Black People and Black Businesses from their legacy communities here in Oakland by centering Black Arts and Culture within a community development framework. The East Oakland Black Cultural Zone Collaborative (the “Collaborative”) was formed by the Eastside Arts Alliance and several non-profit organizations located in East Oakland to develop the East Oakland Black Cultural Zone. The Collaborative designated the East Oakland Black Cultural Zone as the 50 square blocks from High Street to the San Leandro Border and focused on implementing arts and cultural strategies and engaging artists and community members in art activism.


The Black Cultural Zone is made up of 20 local organizations to promote community and celebrate the area’s Black cultural heritage in East Oakland. Through visual arts, spoken word, and music, they aim to preserve Black culture. Recent projects such as Black Cultural Zone’s “Better Neighborhoods, Same Neighbors” aim to revitalize the community while honoring tradition. BCZ also helps nurture and uplift black artists in their community through the Black Artists Network.


Photo courtesy of the Eastside Arts Alliance.

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