1 00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:03,920 Speaker 1: Hey, I'm Barraitune Day Thurston, and this is how to 2 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:08,880 Speaker 1: citizen with Baritune Day in season two, we're talking about 3 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:12,640 Speaker 1: the money, because, to be real, it's hard to citizen 4 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:23,000 Speaker 1: when we can barely pay the bills. When I grew 5 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:25,079 Speaker 1: up in d C in the nineteen eighties, it was 6 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:31,400 Speaker 1: known as Chocolate City because it was that black. Then 7 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: I left d C in the mid nineties that went 8 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 1: off to Boston for college, lived there twelve years. New 9 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:41,559 Speaker 1: York after that, mostly Brooklyn another twelve years. And in 10 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:44,880 Speaker 1: every one of these places, the neighborhoods I lived and 11 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:47,520 Speaker 1: the ones that felt so much like my childhood neighborhood, 12 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: there was something changing. I couldn't put my finger on 13 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:57,240 Speaker 1: it until I revisited my hometown, my home block, and 14 00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: Chocolate City didn't feel so chocolate e anymore had more 15 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 1: of a Caramelfuly. My mother had to sell our home 16 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: before we fully left d C. Not because she really 17 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:15,200 Speaker 1: wanted to, not because we couldn't afford the payments, but 18 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 1: because it was just too dangerous. This was the peak 19 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: of the crack Wars, and she was worried about the 20 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: safety of her baby for good reason. So when I 21 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:28,759 Speaker 1: went back to look at our family home, my childhood home. 22 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:34,319 Speaker 1: We weren't there. The residents were a nice white couple 23 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:38,200 Speaker 1: from Iowa. Sometimes I torture myself to this day looking 24 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:41,680 Speaker 1: up the real estate value of that childhood home and 25 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: seeing how much wealth is not in my family, and 26 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 1: it creates a little bit of a conflict in me 27 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:51,960 Speaker 1: because I've been a part of that change in so 28 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:56,120 Speaker 1: many neighborhoods. I've been the new money coming in, And 29 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:57,919 Speaker 1: to be honest, I like some of the new stuff. 30 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: I am a sucker for an over priced cocktail from 31 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: the school of mixology. I love fancy coffee, more foam, 32 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:09,239 Speaker 1: more happy baritune day. That's my jam. But I'm also 33 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:13,480 Speaker 1: troubled by the idea that new folks coming into a 34 00:02:13,639 --> 00:02:18,240 Speaker 1: culturally rich environment are part of the destruction of that 35 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:22,960 Speaker 1: very culture. That all this nice new stuff is not 36 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:25,800 Speaker 1: for the people who held it down for so long 37 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: in their neighborhoods, and that's not right. We've got to 38 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 1: have a different way of letting people own their community, 39 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:41,200 Speaker 1: determine that future, and have the benefits for themselves. I 40 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 1: believe we can improve neighborhoods for the people already there, 41 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:47,200 Speaker 1: and I know someone who has an idea of how 42 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: to do it, who believes that nice things, including good coffee, 43 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:56,440 Speaker 1: shouldn't mean displacing long term residents because it's all about ownership. 44 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:03,399 Speaker 1: And she's at the epicenter of gentrification in the US Oakland, California. 45 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:07,079 Speaker 1: You ask how Oakland could get into the condition it's 46 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: in now. No one has had a moment to stop 47 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: and build a future for themselves. You better believe these 48 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 1: hedge funds have hundred and five hundred year plans for themselves. 49 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 1: After the break my conversation with third generation West Oaklander 50 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:34,800 Speaker 1: Noni Session, let me fix my hair. Oh, your hair 51 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 1: looks great coming out. I mean, you know, the messy 52 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 1: afro is a look, but it's very messy, so I 53 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:45,720 Speaker 1: have to work on bad. Noni Session is the executive 54 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:49,360 Speaker 1: director of the East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative eb 55 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:53,119 Speaker 1: PREC fights gentrification in West Oakland by buying up real 56 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 1: estate and historically black and brown communities and then collectively 57 00:03:56,960 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 1: owning and managing those properties within the community. Alright, so 58 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:04,680 Speaker 1: can you introduce yourself? Say your name and what it 59 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: is you do. My name is Nony Session. Um I 60 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: am an accidental community led movement builder, real estate developer, 61 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:21,039 Speaker 1: and impact investment galvanizer when in my actual professional training, 62 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:24,520 Speaker 1: I'm trained as a cultural anthropologist who stumbled into grass 63 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:28,839 Speaker 1: roots organizing. And here we are today. Okay, wow, we 64 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: are clearly going to go on a journey with you, 65 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 1: because that was a lot of nouns. You know, we 66 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: got organizer, galvanizer, developer, anthropologists, woo woo. Okay, why do 67 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:43,280 Speaker 1: you use the word accidental to describe so many of 68 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:49,720 Speaker 1: your jobs? Well, I'm essentially just this little kid from 69 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:54,240 Speaker 1: West Oakland who was raised on Sesame Street and Nature 70 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:58,800 Speaker 1: TV shows and read lots of sci fi before it 71 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: was cool to read side Hi. And then I majored 72 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 1: in Black studies and cultural anthropology, and then did my 73 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:09,839 Speaker 1: doctoral work at Cornell in Nairobi on the United Nations 74 00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 1: Development Program. And um, when I came home after ten 75 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:19,840 Speaker 1: years away for grad school, the city was just crazy. 76 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:22,920 Speaker 1: West Oakland has been a hot spot for local artists 77 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:27,359 Speaker 1: and musicians. Jessica Florida shows us as gentrification transforms the neighborhood, 78 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:29,560 Speaker 1: the people who have long called it home are getting 79 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 1: pushed out. High rents not only forced out families, but 80 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:35,839 Speaker 1: mom and pop shops. He and his companies have issued 81 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:40,719 Speaker 1: at least three thousand eviction notices. Prostitution, crime, poverty, the 82 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 1: illegal duppling, the homelessness were like second class citizens here. 83 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: And it was quite accidental because it started with me 84 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:55,320 Speaker 1: just volunteering because I wanted to meet some people, you know, 85 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 1: and talk about really interesting things I had learned in 86 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 1: grad school. And ten years later it's culminated in this 87 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:04,960 Speaker 1: work that is actually shocks me every day when I 88 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:07,359 Speaker 1: wake up. It's it's it's quite powerful for me to 89 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:13,679 Speaker 1: be involved in it. So where do you live now? 90 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 1: I live in West Oakland. I actually live in the 91 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 1: house that I was raised in. I'm speaking to you 92 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:22,440 Speaker 1: from there right now, which is radically unusual given the 93 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 1: extreme and accelerated racialized displacement that's taken place in my 94 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:30,719 Speaker 1: city and cities like it. So I'm pretty proud of 95 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:37,839 Speaker 1: that accelerated racialized displacement. Can you define that term please. 96 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:44,000 Speaker 1: We've lost over fifty of Oakland's black and legacy population 97 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:48,200 Speaker 1: in the last ten years. With a boom in our population, 98 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:52,600 Speaker 1: the ratio of people of color has dropped to such 99 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:56,160 Speaker 1: an extreme degree that you can't help but call it 100 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: racialized displacement. Your family has been in West Oakland for 101 00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:06,080 Speaker 1: how many generations? My grandparents migrated here in the early 102 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:10,480 Speaker 1: nineteen forty, So my grandparents, my cousins, my aunt's mincles, 103 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:15,240 Speaker 1: my dad, my my mom, my sisters, my brothers, and 104 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 1: then I have another generation after me as I was 105 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:21,080 Speaker 1: a teenage mother. So I now have a very very 106 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: very adult daughter living her life here as well. So 107 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:28,720 Speaker 1: what does it mean to you to have so many 108 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 1: generations from your family be based in West Oakland? I 109 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: think prior to this tenure arc, it didn't mean a lot. 110 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:41,320 Speaker 1: I did not understand the privilege of being grounded in 111 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:45,840 Speaker 1: a place for generations. And when I compare myself to 112 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:49,040 Speaker 1: my counterparts who have moved a lot, or who have 113 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:53,880 Speaker 1: had to live squarely in white dominated situations, I realized 114 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:57,840 Speaker 1: it was almost as if I was raised in a 115 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 1: royal or cloistered or a situation where my identity was 116 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 1: reinforced on a daily basis. We were well known, our 117 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:10,160 Speaker 1: life was stable and predictable, and it it really gives 118 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:14,240 Speaker 1: you this grounding to both claim and imagine a future 119 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:16,520 Speaker 1: for yourself that I think a lot of people around 120 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 1: me haven't had the privilege to capture in their life trajectory. 121 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:27,800 Speaker 1: You use the word wealth to describe what your family 122 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: gave you, and I suspect you don't mean buried chests 123 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:36,520 Speaker 1: of gold or stock certificates. How do you define this 124 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 1: wealth that your family left for you in West Oakland? Um? 125 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:46,000 Speaker 1: I think I define it as identity right, as a 126 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:52,920 Speaker 1: well from which I can gather new creative material. I 127 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: think that it really drives a lot of the underlying 128 00:08:56,559 --> 00:09:01,920 Speaker 1: mission and political philosophy of my work now, and that 129 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: that is the definition of culture and Black Americans as 130 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:09,000 Speaker 1: one of the clear landless people on this planet. It's 131 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 1: one reason that we've had such complications with getting a 132 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:16,720 Speaker 1: foothold here and that we don't have a firm place 133 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:21,040 Speaker 1: to retire ourselves, to to define and build for the 134 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:25,120 Speaker 1: next generation. We are in a constant state of rebuilding, 135 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:28,680 Speaker 1: not just generation to generation, I mean day to day, 136 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:32,200 Speaker 1: month to month, year to year. So that is really 137 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:36,840 Speaker 1: the definition of wealth. Can you describe your West Oakland? 138 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:39,480 Speaker 1: What does it look like, what does it smell like? 139 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:44,679 Speaker 1: Who's in it? Lots of oak trees and big, wide 140 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 1: empty streets. You know, I think as a kid, and 141 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:51,840 Speaker 1: as Black Americans, we still thought we were living in 142 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 1: a place that would show up for us and rescue us. So, 143 00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:59,800 Speaker 1: despite Oakland being empty, washed out city, we at least 144 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:04,280 Speaker 1: we're left alone to our um class identities and our 145 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:08,040 Speaker 1: daily goings on. Um. My parents were small business owners. 146 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:10,240 Speaker 1: My mother ran a board and care home for development 147 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:14,440 Speaker 1: lee disabled adults, and so I was really safe on 148 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:16,920 Speaker 1: the same streets that most people were not safe on. 149 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 1: Nobody bothered this little black kid. I would go to 150 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:22,720 Speaker 1: bookstores and hang out for hours. I would go to 151 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:26,320 Speaker 1: West Oakland Public Library to that like quiet, warm, muted 152 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:29,640 Speaker 1: space and lay on the floor and read book after book, 153 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 1: and then skip down these wide, empty, silent boulevards. It 154 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:37,920 Speaker 1: was open space for me. It was a super quiet, 155 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:45,199 Speaker 1: safe space. And describe your West Oakland today, my poor babies. 156 00:10:45,559 --> 00:10:48,240 Speaker 1: You could call that stretch of road homeless Lane. It's 157 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:50,920 Speaker 1: an encampment that has grown so large you can see 158 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:53,080 Speaker 1: it's spilling out onto the roadway. There are hundreds of 159 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:56,720 Speaker 1: similar tense cities across Silicon Valley, all within a few 160 00:10:56,760 --> 00:11:00,320 Speaker 1: miles of the world's most profitable tech companies. All of 161 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:05,640 Speaker 1: those wide open boulevards. They're stacked neck high with tents 162 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:11,120 Speaker 1: and lots of discarded hoarded goods. But it's sporadic. Right. 163 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:15,440 Speaker 1: If you don't know West Oakland, Google with its racialized 164 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:19,440 Speaker 1: and class algorithms, will direct you right around those hot 165 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:23,720 Speaker 1: spots of neglect. The funny thing is the boulevards are 166 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:27,440 Speaker 1: still wide open, the skies are still huge, so there's 167 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:32,959 Speaker 1: still this hopefulness. Um, while we stand next to start poverty. 168 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:38,360 Speaker 1: How do you explain the change in the West Oakland 169 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:41,360 Speaker 1: of your youth versus your description of the West Oakland 170 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 1: of today. What happened? You know? It was it was 171 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:46,080 Speaker 1: a ghost town when I was growing up because it 172 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: was in the middle of of the Reagan years and 173 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:53,760 Speaker 1: benign neglect. For decades, we have piled deficit upon deficit, 174 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:57,960 Speaker 1: mortgaging our future and our children's future for the temporary 175 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:01,440 Speaker 1: convenience of the present. When what is benign neglect? That 176 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:05,120 Speaker 1: was an economic policy of the Reagan years. That was 177 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:07,600 Speaker 1: when you started to see a lot of money and 178 00:12:07,679 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 1: resources pulled out of urban cities. And that is really 179 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:15,559 Speaker 1: what accelerated urban decline and the loss of value in 180 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:20,240 Speaker 1: urban communities which could then be preyed on by speculators. Right, um, 181 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: folks had a plan for Oakland that most of us 182 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:26,920 Speaker 1: were not privy to. It's a hot market, and um, 183 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:32,439 Speaker 1: there's very little care and forethought in planning for lives 184 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:35,760 Speaker 1: that have been led here for generations. So it's a fearful, 185 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:39,400 Speaker 1: insecure place under the surface of these bride white boulevards. 186 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:44,640 Speaker 1: What's a hot market? What does that mean? That means 187 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:48,280 Speaker 1: that after I watched my neighbors across the street be 188 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:52,200 Speaker 1: removed by the share of the house with two tiny 189 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:54,760 Speaker 1: eight by eight bedrooms, the house immediately sold for one 190 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:59,360 Speaker 1: point four million. That's a hot market. So what's what's 191 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:03,640 Speaker 1: your home ownership situation? Are you renting? Are you owning 192 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:06,960 Speaker 1: in this home that you're living in yourself? Well? Interesting enough, 193 00:13:07,559 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 1: in the subprime lending of the late eighties and early nineties, 194 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:18,200 Speaker 1: my mother also lost this house. My amazing maternal uncle 195 00:13:18,559 --> 00:13:21,720 Speaker 1: bought it to keep it from going back on the 196 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:25,840 Speaker 1: speculative market, and we paid all the expenses, but he 197 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:29,920 Speaker 1: maintained it as the owner of record until someone could 198 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:34,400 Speaker 1: get another mortgage, and that has just been recently. Me 199 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:38,520 Speaker 1: and I closed escrow on my childhood home September three 200 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:43,240 Speaker 1: of twenty The whole family breathed a sigh of relief. 201 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:46,479 Speaker 1: I'm breathing it for you. I can feel the stability 202 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:48,720 Speaker 1: under your feet. What do you mean when you say 203 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:52,800 Speaker 1: speculative market? You were able to keep your family home 204 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:57,960 Speaker 1: out of the speculative market. Well, you know, we're currently 205 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:01,800 Speaker 1: living under a financial game that's been in development for 206 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:06,520 Speaker 1: a long time but is really accelerated, and that everything 207 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:10,120 Speaker 1: around you is a commodity, the air you breathe, the 208 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:14,520 Speaker 1: water you drink, and so how currency is currently traded 209 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:19,480 Speaker 1: is on a speculative basis of its future value. It 210 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:23,880 Speaker 1: is a gamble or a bet on the future price 211 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:28,480 Speaker 1: of a commodity item. It's actually meant to drive up 212 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:32,800 Speaker 1: the value. It's the artificial creation of scarcity in order 213 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:37,800 Speaker 1: to create excess capital. And so when you speculate on housing, 214 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:43,480 Speaker 1: you're buying something, you're holding it in reserve from the market, right, 215 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:48,480 Speaker 1: Meaning you're keeping housing away from people often empty and 216 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:53,680 Speaker 1: wait for the rise in its value to create excess 217 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:58,200 Speaker 1: profit for yourself. And through that speculation, you're raising the 218 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:01,920 Speaker 1: costs and making it inaccessible. Um, it sounds to me 219 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:06,480 Speaker 1: like what's happened in your area, and it's not limited 220 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:08,720 Speaker 1: to West Oakland for sure. I'm from d C. I 221 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:11,520 Speaker 1: used to live in Brooklyn, Boston, like everywhere you look 222 00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:14,960 Speaker 1: in many parts of the world, housing is not being 223 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:18,160 Speaker 1: treated as a place for people to live, but rather 224 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:21,000 Speaker 1: as a place for people to park their money and 225 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,240 Speaker 1: make the money grow, raising money rather than kids inside 226 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:26,720 Speaker 1: of these homes. Uh Is that is that a fair 227 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:29,280 Speaker 1: rephrasing of what you just said? Yes you could. You 228 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:32,040 Speaker 1: could name them bread and Chad and it would really 229 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:36,880 Speaker 1: be reflective of what's going on. So, so what is 230 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:41,680 Speaker 1: the impact on people when housing is withheld from the 231 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:43,200 Speaker 1: market for those who want to live in it to 232 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:46,080 Speaker 1: those who want to profit from the value of the 233 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:49,640 Speaker 1: increasing you know, financial worth of that housing. Well, I 234 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:54,040 Speaker 1: mean you circled us back around to accelerated racialized displacement, 235 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:59,160 Speaker 1: because not only does speculation become this increasingly tight loop 236 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:03,040 Speaker 1: of accelerating the cost of land and housing, but it 237 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:06,120 Speaker 1: means that a very specific class and group of people 238 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:09,560 Speaker 1: are not only going to be pushed out of their 239 00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:12,960 Speaker 1: current housing and access to future housing, they then have 240 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:16,360 Speaker 1: to lay on the sidewalk as they watch that housing 241 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:20,680 Speaker 1: being either held in reserve or in some manner developed 242 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:25,400 Speaker 1: for new populations that are the demand of the current 243 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: labor market, which focuses in on tech. So as seven 244 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:32,520 Speaker 1: thousand people scrape and scrabble for a living, they watch 245 00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:36,520 Speaker 1: new folks have fifty dollar branches right outside of where 246 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:41,160 Speaker 1: their children used to play and eat their meals with 247 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:45,760 Speaker 1: the landscape of affordable housing right now in Oakland? What 248 00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:49,960 Speaker 1: is the landscape of affordable housing? Well, it's the I 249 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:55,800 Speaker 1: It eats me inside out when people use the language 250 00:16:55,800 --> 00:17:00,440 Speaker 1: of affordable housing, tell me why you made. As of 251 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:06,040 Speaker 1: two thousand and seventeen, the average Black Oaklanders salary was 252 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:09,760 Speaker 1: thirty six thousand dollars. That same year, the average White 253 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:14,919 Speaker 1: Oaklanders salary as eighty thousand dollars. Almost all affordable housing 254 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:18,520 Speaker 1: as it exists right now is not for the very 255 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:23,080 Speaker 1: folks who are rent burdened or on the actual sidewalk 256 00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:27,960 Speaker 1: sleeping every night. And those affordable housing developers who are 257 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:34,400 Speaker 1: trying to produce affordable housing that serves those at that 258 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:39,240 Speaker 1: median income of thirty six thousand dollars are finding that 259 00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:45,040 Speaker 1: they are hog tied in terms of leveraging state and 260 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:48,960 Speaker 1: federal subsidies and bond money, and so all of that 261 00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:53,000 Speaker 1: capital that comes from state, federal money bonds still gets 262 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:57,120 Speaker 1: cloistered among those who are not from the very populations 263 00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:02,280 Speaker 1: affected by rent burden and rent blight. It's a game. 264 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:06,160 Speaker 1: It's a game. It's a game. It's a shell game, 265 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:10,480 Speaker 1: if you will. My understanding of shell game is there's 266 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:14,960 Speaker 1: some trickery involved, that you're covering up the fact that 267 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:19,000 Speaker 1: something's not really under those shells. There's some deception of 268 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:22,080 Speaker 1: So bring me to the moment, because I can. I 269 00:18:22,119 --> 00:18:24,639 Speaker 1: can feel the energy. You got me all fired up. 270 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:27,280 Speaker 1: I'm like, yo, they're not telling this story the right way, 271 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:31,080 Speaker 1: but it's emotional. This has had significant impacts on people's 272 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:36,120 Speaker 1: lives and their ability to live, and you took some 273 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:42,520 Speaker 1: steps to end that game. So what does the East 274 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:46,840 Speaker 1: Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative do around housing? The East 275 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:50,800 Speaker 1: Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative is a democratically lad people 276 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:58,320 Speaker 1: of color, multi stakeholder cooperative that supports Black, Brown and 277 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:07,320 Speaker 1: Indigenous Oaklanders in collectively organizing, financing, stewarding long term land 278 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:10,679 Speaker 1: and housing in Oakland in the East Bay. Although we 279 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:15,439 Speaker 1: are not an affordable housing developer, we develop permanent and 280 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:20,960 Speaker 1: affordable land and housing for people to live in dip 281 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:24,240 Speaker 1: back into generation after generation, and through our by laws, 282 00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:28,560 Speaker 1: we restrict ourselves from ever selling it or using it exploitatively. 283 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:31,600 Speaker 1: So there's a guarantee of permanence and the future for 284 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:37,760 Speaker 1: people who invest in our revision. So you have created 285 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:44,359 Speaker 1: a different way for people in a community two own 286 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:49,439 Speaker 1: land and buildings and housing in their community. And the 287 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:57,440 Speaker 1: results is what what's different? The result is the rebuilding 288 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:04,160 Speaker 1: of a community. What is happening in Oakland and cities 289 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:08,600 Speaker 1: like it is unchecked speculation, where the city is allowing 290 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:13,679 Speaker 1: folks who actually don't understand community development to stick buildings 291 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:18,439 Speaker 1: in arbitrary open spaces and then sell off the fractions 292 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:21,960 Speaker 1: to people who are unconnected to the outcome of the 293 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:25,720 Speaker 1: place in which they buy the item, the idea even 294 00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:31,439 Speaker 1: and so there is a weird disconnection between where and 295 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:34,679 Speaker 1: how you build what and who and what it's built for. 296 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:40,280 Speaker 1: After the break, what happens when instead of a corporate 297 00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:43,280 Speaker 1: developer owning the real estate and the community, it's owned 298 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:55,800 Speaker 1: by the people. What actually changes? Hi, I'm no need 299 00:20:56,359 --> 00:20:59,840 Speaker 1: and I'm Greg. We're part of b B pre Per 300 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:04,800 Speaker 1: real Estate Cooperative. First, we get local residents, You me, Greg, 301 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:08,000 Speaker 1: your mom, your neighbor, to invest a thousand dollars apiece 302 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:11,240 Speaker 1: into our collective fund with a lot of people that's 303 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:14,119 Speaker 1: a lot of money. Then EB prec uses that money 304 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:16,480 Speaker 1: to buy up properties in Oakland and the East Bay. 305 00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:19,359 Speaker 1: We've already picked out properties where long term tenants are 306 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:21,600 Speaker 1: in danger of being pushed out, and once we buy 307 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:23,920 Speaker 1: the property, the people who are already live and work 308 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:28,000 Speaker 1: there get to stay. I think I understand how your 309 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:32,159 Speaker 1: approach is different. It is grounded in the community. It 310 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:35,920 Speaker 1: is collective with the community. The ownership sounds like it's 311 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:39,440 Speaker 1: distributed among the community, not just in the single hand 312 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:43,359 Speaker 1: of one rich corporation or maybe even one very wealthy individual, 313 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:45,440 Speaker 1: as is the case with many a building. Why did 314 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:49,720 Speaker 1: you choose the co op model not the nonprofit model 315 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:55,119 Speaker 1: for this land and housing need. Well, well, there's a 316 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:57,639 Speaker 1: couple of reasons. One is sort of a core underlying 317 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:01,920 Speaker 1: philosophical and political reason. Folks like W. E. B. Dubois, 318 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:05,440 Speaker 1: Fanny lew Hammer, we just thought, you know, if we 319 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:08,640 Speaker 1: had land to grow some stuff, only then it would 320 00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:11,960 Speaker 1: be a help too. They were not civil rights activists 321 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:16,200 Speaker 1: first and then coopers. They were co operas first and 322 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:21,080 Speaker 1: then became civil rights activists. So we founded Freedom Bombs 323 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:26,280 Speaker 1: in nineteen nine. The plan of the thing is that 324 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:32,240 Speaker 1: it didn't grow to produce enough. The people just won't 325 00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:35,760 Speaker 1: know what. From the date the change dropped off of 326 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:40,280 Speaker 1: us after emancipation, we knew that cooperative and collective economics 327 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:45,160 Speaker 1: for our answer. On the North Carolina Coast, we had 328 00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:51,480 Speaker 1: over a hundred hectares of cooperative land for which over 329 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:55,680 Speaker 1: the next hundred years we were judicially an extra judicially 330 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:59,720 Speaker 1: dispossessed of that land. But we've always known the solution. 331 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:02,520 Speaker 1: And what I try to communicate to people is that 332 00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:05,680 Speaker 1: we work on this sort of individualistic rhetoric. But even 333 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:09,240 Speaker 1: if you look at hedge funds, you look at speculative development, 334 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:15,480 Speaker 1: those are collectives of people combining their economic and political 335 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:19,520 Speaker 1: power to create an outcome. So that's number one. Collective 336 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:22,359 Speaker 1: economics is the way of the world. Just those of 337 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:26,000 Speaker 1: us who are on the ground scrabbling don't understand that. 338 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:28,720 Speaker 1: That's an important point because I think a lot of 339 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:35,160 Speaker 1: folks here collective economics, cooperative economics, that's communist MAO with socialist, leftist. 340 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:40,639 Speaker 1: But a corporation is a collection of people's interests, aligned 341 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:45,399 Speaker 1: boards of directors, shareholders. So we're all operating as a 342 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:48,480 Speaker 1: part of some collective, whether we name it that or 343 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:52,479 Speaker 1: not exactly exactly, So tell me what it looks like 344 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:55,960 Speaker 1: on the ground. What have you accomplished, what have you done? 345 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:01,240 Speaker 1: So we're very new and we're have a grand vision. 346 00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:05,280 Speaker 1: So right now we are the owners of two land 347 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:08,280 Speaker 1: and housing acquisitions. So our first is a multi unit 348 00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:14,480 Speaker 1: building that has teachers and lawyers and activists and gardeners 349 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:18,880 Speaker 1: who live there. Multiple gardeners. You have multiple gardeners. Gardeners. Yeah, yeah, 350 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:21,600 Speaker 1: we're in Oakland, Like urban gardening is the deal right now, 351 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:27,120 Speaker 1: don't play um. And they're very busy, active people. One 352 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:30,080 Speaker 1: of them is the founder of Community Democracy Project, which 353 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:32,800 Speaker 1: is working to change the city charter in Oakland so 354 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:36,320 Speaker 1: that Oaklanders can participate in defining the city budget. Another 355 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:38,919 Speaker 1: is a founder of the first People of Color Cooperative 356 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:42,400 Speaker 1: coffee roaster in Berkeley. Right, these are folks who are 357 00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:46,520 Speaker 1: working in and for our community, and now they pay 358 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:49,760 Speaker 1: rent at about eight hundred and twenty bucks when most 359 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:53,520 Speaker 1: people are paying fifteen hundred to twenty hundred for the 360 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:58,920 Speaker 1: same square footage. Our second acquisition is a single family 361 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:03,119 Speaker 1: home in Berkeley, League, California that has a detached dance 362 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:07,440 Speaker 1: studio and there were housing two black women artists, one 363 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:11,960 Speaker 1: who's formerly homeless with a daughter, and the interview was 364 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:15,560 Speaker 1: really about their vision as opposed to them being able 365 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:18,240 Speaker 1: to pass the credit check and show us that they 366 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:22,440 Speaker 1: hadn't been a victim of other predatory housing situations which 367 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:25,800 Speaker 1: often result in evictions. Right. And in addition, those two 368 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:29,120 Speaker 1: women who are now living in this amazing, beautiful shingled 369 00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:32,119 Speaker 1: house in Berkeley, they are now launching a business out 370 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:35,760 Speaker 1: of the dance studio for an additional stream of income 371 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:39,320 Speaker 1: because they are active members of the arts community. Right, 372 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:45,359 Speaker 1: this is transforming people's futures. And so our current acquisition 373 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:47,600 Speaker 1: and this is this is our biggest one yet, and 374 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:50,720 Speaker 1: we're we're really going out on a lamb to really 375 00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:53,840 Speaker 1: show the proof of concept for this motto. It's on 376 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:57,760 Speaker 1: historic Seventh Street, which has been the heart of the 377 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:00,719 Speaker 1: gutting of Oakland. And so we're take in this historic 378 00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:03,760 Speaker 1: corridor that used to be called the Harlem of the West, right, 379 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:06,840 Speaker 1: some of the greatest acts in Black history, and it 380 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:10,119 Speaker 1: was a bustling black business district. It's been a ghost 381 00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:13,359 Speaker 1: town for thirty years and people have tried over and 382 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:17,200 Speaker 1: over again to restart that corridor. And so we're acquiring 383 00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:21,360 Speaker 1: Esther's Orbit Room Jazz and supper club, and we're creating 384 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:26,480 Speaker 1: three footprints of commercial ground floor space for a co 385 00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:29,760 Speaker 1: op where one part is intended to be a performance 386 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:32,800 Speaker 1: venue and a bar, the middle part is a cafe 387 00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:35,160 Speaker 1: and coffee shop where the young can come do spoken 388 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:39,280 Speaker 1: word and open mic and open jam. And the far 389 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:43,119 Speaker 1: right spaces of fine arts and movement arts gallery. Above it, 390 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:45,600 Speaker 1: there are three units of cooperative co housing where we 391 00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:49,680 Speaker 1: will be grounding black arts housing cooperatives in to start 392 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:53,119 Speaker 1: to ground the community back into the actual physical space 393 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:55,600 Speaker 1: of the street. And we have a back parking lot 394 00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:58,040 Speaker 1: that's part of this acquisition and really wide, like a 395 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:00,280 Speaker 1: seven ft wide sidewalks were going to be grounding the 396 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:03,040 Speaker 1: Freedom Farmers Market, which is a black farmers market. It's 397 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:07,200 Speaker 1: been displaced again and again over the last like nine years. 398 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:11,399 Speaker 1: So Esther's Orbit Room Cultural Revival Project is the first 399 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:14,760 Speaker 1: acquisition among many for what we have named the Seventh 400 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:19,119 Speaker 1: Street Cooperative Cultural Corride or revitalization Plan. It is a 401 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:22,520 Speaker 1: site specific plan that thinks about the people and the 402 00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:28,400 Speaker 1: places that exists for which you build the thing the 403 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:35,240 Speaker 1: commodity object. You described people who are living in these 404 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:41,920 Speaker 1: cooperatively owned units as resident owners. Why is ownership important 405 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,840 Speaker 1: to them? Uh, and to you and to West Oakland. 406 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:48,800 Speaker 1: I mean, in the most literal sense, land is the 407 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:53,119 Speaker 1: ground upon which we define our past and our future. 408 00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:01,919 Speaker 1: Without land, without permanence, the past in the future go 409 00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:06,840 Speaker 1: up and smoke, they disappear. There's nothing to connect you 410 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:11,040 Speaker 1: from before, and there's there's very little the ground YouTube after. 411 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:17,439 Speaker 1: So ownership permanence is critical for culture building, identity building, 412 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:22,640 Speaker 1: the building of futures. You ask how Oakland could get 413 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:26,359 Speaker 1: into the condition it's in now. No one has had 414 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:30,040 Speaker 1: a moment to stop and build a future for themselves. 415 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:33,800 Speaker 1: You better believe these hedge funds have hundred and five 416 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:38,960 Speaker 1: hundred year plans for themselves. How long out do you 417 00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:43,240 Speaker 1: think the arcis for Black Oaklanders plan for themselves. So 418 00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:50,440 Speaker 1: this is a model for how to cement ourselves as citizens. Structurally, 419 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:55,880 Speaker 1: identity wise, we are here, we are part but in 420 00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:58,360 Speaker 1: terms of having to pick up our bags and move 421 00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:03,400 Speaker 1: every generation. That is the key to this nation continuing 422 00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:09,560 Speaker 1: to deny our right to the benefits of citizenship. And 423 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:12,480 Speaker 1: it's a losing battle actually, because if you actually look 424 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:15,960 Speaker 1: across nationwide, it's not just black communities that are being 425 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:19,720 Speaker 1: eaten alive by this impermanence. We took a southern trip 426 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:21,360 Speaker 1: and a couple of years ago when we were really 427 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:24,240 Speaker 1: ideating and building out this project, and we looked at 428 00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:27,400 Speaker 1: Midwest cities, we looked at southern cities. There are ghost 429 00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:32,120 Speaker 1: towns Baritune day. No one is thinking about this widening 430 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:36,920 Speaker 1: gap of impermanence and and corporate ownership of people's homes, 431 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:39,960 Speaker 1: of their histories, of their stories, of their cultures. So 432 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:43,080 Speaker 1: this is a model for folks who want to use 433 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:47,120 Speaker 1: their money in a more ethical manner, to divest from 434 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:51,760 Speaker 1: extractive industries, to invest in models that can assure them 435 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:56,560 Speaker 1: their modest return. Our return is only one right, but 436 00:29:56,680 --> 00:30:01,160 Speaker 1: it's enough to build hope and a future for people. 437 00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:06,000 Speaker 1: You shared a bit about what it felt like to 438 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:09,040 Speaker 1: reclaim your family home. For a member of the West 439 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:15,840 Speaker 1: Oakland community, how do they respond with this new possibility 440 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:20,840 Speaker 1: from being unable to afford any living in the community 441 00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:23,400 Speaker 1: they grew up in to now having a chance to 442 00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:28,720 Speaker 1: own and define the future of that community they know 443 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:32,680 Speaker 1: and love. I think there are stages to it, if 444 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:35,520 Speaker 1: you think of like the stages of grief or healing. 445 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:39,760 Speaker 1: So the first response for the most underserved is kind 446 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:43,400 Speaker 1: of like disbelief, right, like you've you've heard it before. 447 00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:47,320 Speaker 1: So many organizations, so many nonprofits coming through doing a 448 00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:50,200 Speaker 1: focus group, putting butcher paper on the walls and like 449 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:52,760 Speaker 1: saying like we want your ideas, We're here to support you, 450 00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:54,760 Speaker 1: and you really never hear from them again, or maybe 451 00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:57,280 Speaker 1: you see them sort of in the distance, supporting someone 452 00:30:57,280 --> 00:30:59,640 Speaker 1: who's not you and probably not as brown as you. 453 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:03,120 Speaker 1: And then the next stage, when they see that we're 454 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:05,880 Speaker 1: actually doing the things we say we're doing, it's hope 455 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:10,520 Speaker 1: and excitement and investment. And then the next stage is 456 00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:14,160 Speaker 1: kind of a stage of dismay, because the arc of 457 00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:21,240 Speaker 1: a real estate project is a long, gritty arc, and 458 00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:25,360 Speaker 1: it's slow, and we're moving into the next stage where 459 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:28,400 Speaker 1: we're starting to be able to share why this thing 460 00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:31,120 Speaker 1: takes so long, why it's taken us four years to 461 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:33,600 Speaker 1: get to the place where we can have the capacity 462 00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:37,680 Speaker 1: to raise fifty million dollars of non extractive capital, and 463 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:40,280 Speaker 1: so all of the emotions are there because all of 464 00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:42,720 Speaker 1: us want to stay here. Well, that leads me to 465 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:47,280 Speaker 1: you know, this is not a problem unique to West Oakland. 466 00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:49,560 Speaker 1: Are you in conversations with people in other cities. Is 467 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:51,440 Speaker 1: there a way for them to pick up this model 468 00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:54,200 Speaker 1: and work on it themselves. What is the plan? Absolutely, 469 00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:59,400 Speaker 1: we have UM so far shared in great detail with 470 00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:06,760 Speaker 1: probably were fifteen and thirty nascent organizations UM nationwide, two 471 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:11,080 Speaker 1: or three international. So, for example, an organization called Brick 472 00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:14,000 Speaker 1: by Brick and quebec UM the year before last that 473 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:17,080 Speaker 1: really hit a wall and they flew me out there 474 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:19,160 Speaker 1: and I spent a week with them and sort of 475 00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:22,200 Speaker 1: like took the project apart. And now they're launching their 476 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:27,400 Speaker 1: first project in partnership with the City of Montreal. You're 477 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:29,200 Speaker 1: very busy, a lot of cities depending on you to 478 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:31,560 Speaker 1: save them, including the one you are a part of. However, 479 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:34,000 Speaker 1: I gotta ask you this, how do you define what 480 00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:37,520 Speaker 1: a citizen is? A citizen is one who takes ownership 481 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:41,160 Speaker 1: and responsibility over their space. But I think a better 482 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:44,160 Speaker 1: way to define citizen is how the Quakers define citizen. 483 00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:50,720 Speaker 1: The Quakers are friends. We're a friend to everyone. We're 484 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:53,680 Speaker 1: a friend to our neighbors, We're a friend to our enemies, 485 00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:58,920 Speaker 1: We're a friend to our land. Collective care over a 486 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:02,280 Speaker 1: joint space, pick up trash on your street, and be 487 00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:05,280 Speaker 1: nice to the old lady on the bus, you gotta 488 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:07,280 Speaker 1: be nice, and old lady on the bus. I mean, 489 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:10,200 Speaker 1: who's being mean to the old lady on the bus? 490 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:14,960 Speaker 1: Gotta be um. This has been so wonderful. Thank you. 491 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:25,600 Speaker 1: I appreciate it so much. What's exciting about this to 492 00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:28,520 Speaker 1: me is that I've seen what the world looks like 493 00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:33,280 Speaker 1: when we let money take over our neighborhoods. It looks 494 00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:37,560 Speaker 1: like abandoned apartment buildings that are old and crumbling, or 495 00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:41,240 Speaker 1: empty and abandoned apartment buildings that are new and unaffordable 496 00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:44,840 Speaker 1: to anyone, Or it just looks like the same strip 497 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:49,360 Speaker 1: mall everywhere, or the same furniture shop everywhere, the same 498 00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:55,760 Speaker 1: yogurt stand everywhere. That's not culture. That's financially rich, but 499 00:33:56,040 --> 00:34:01,720 Speaker 1: culturally poor. And I'm excited for our neighborhoods to feel 500 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:06,120 Speaker 1: different again, to be rooted not just in money, but 501 00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:10,759 Speaker 1: in people again. I want to live in this world 502 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:14,600 Speaker 1: where we can preserve the culture of a community and 503 00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:17,279 Speaker 1: have it be owned by the people who've lived in 504 00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:20,560 Speaker 1: that community. So how do we protect that and make 505 00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:23,960 Speaker 1: sure that the wealth built there benefits the many and 506 00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:28,239 Speaker 1: doesn't just fall into a few hands or a few corporations. 507 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:33,080 Speaker 1: Next week, I'm talking to someone who's doing just that, 508 00:34:33,640 --> 00:34:37,080 Speaker 1: protecting our communities from big business, and she's taken on 509 00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:40,600 Speaker 1: perhaps the biggest business of them all. We're gonna have 510 00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:43,800 Speaker 1: a real fight on our hands as citizens about whether 511 00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:46,440 Speaker 1: we live in a country that we control, that we 512 00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:50,160 Speaker 1: set the rules for, or a country where Amazon decides 513 00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:54,480 Speaker 1: how our economy works. Next week, my interview with Stacy 514 00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:59,719 Speaker 1: Mitchell and now our Prentice Sam with some actions you 515 00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:10,440 Speaker 1: can do where for you is home? Take a moment 516 00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:13,279 Speaker 1: to reflect on where you live. How did you end 517 00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:17,200 Speaker 1: up there? Was it based on real estate speculation, rental prices, 518 00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:22,120 Speaker 1: family history, relationship ties, or something else. Really consider the 519 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:25,480 Speaker 1: role privilege has played in determining your place of residence. 520 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:31,080 Speaker 1: Learn more about gentrification. Gentrification is a buzzword, but there's 521 00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:33,759 Speaker 1: a lot more to it. To learn more, check out 522 00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:37,880 Speaker 1: the podcast There Goes the Neighborhood, watch the documentary City Rising, 523 00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:42,880 Speaker 1: or read the book The Color of Law. Lastly, invest 524 00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:47,279 Speaker 1: in communities not commodities. Check out eb PreK dot org 525 00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:52,799 Speaker 1: that's e B p R e C dot org to 526 00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:55,880 Speaker 1: find out ways you can invest in community based real estate, 527 00:35:56,280 --> 00:35:58,800 Speaker 1: or start this model where you live. If you're in 528 00:35:58,840 --> 00:36:01,799 Speaker 1: the Oakland area, you could join the cooperative and become 529 00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:05,279 Speaker 1: a community owner for just ten dollars a month. Or 530 00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:07,920 Speaker 1: if you want to make a non extractive but savvy 531 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:10,560 Speaker 1: real estate investment, you could also invest in one of 532 00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:13,359 Speaker 1: e b prex projects. And we know there are more 533 00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:15,800 Speaker 1: new models like this emerging to deal with our housing 534 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:19,080 Speaker 1: and ownership crisis. So if you know any other groups, 535 00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:22,600 Speaker 1: let us know. Email us at comments at how to 536 00:36:22,719 --> 00:36:28,160 Speaker 1: citizen dot com. If you take into these actions, please 537 00:36:28,200 --> 00:36:31,680 Speaker 1: brag about yourself online using the hashtag how to Citizen. 538 00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:35,040 Speaker 1: Visit how to citizen dot com to sign up for 539 00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:38,799 Speaker 1: our newsletter or learn about upcoming events or even more 540 00:36:38,840 --> 00:36:41,520 Speaker 1: stuff than that. And if you like the show, spread 541 00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:45,200 Speaker 1: the word tell somebody. If you don't, definitely just keep 542 00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:50,560 Speaker 1: it to yourself. Appreciate you. How does Citizen with Bartune 543 00:36:50,640 --> 00:36:53,120 Speaker 1: Day is a production of I Heart Radio Podcasts and 544 00:36:53,239 --> 00:36:57,920 Speaker 1: Dust Like Productions. Our executive producers are me barrattun Day, Thursty, 545 00:36:58,200 --> 00:37:02,280 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Stewart, and Misha you Said. Our producers are Stephanie 546 00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:06,560 Speaker 1: Cone and Ali Kilts. Kelly Prime is our editor, Valentino 547 00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:10,239 Speaker 1: Rivera is our engineer, and Sam Paulson is Our Apprentice. 548 00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:15,120 Speaker 1: Original music by Andrew Eaping. This episode was produced and 549 00:37:15,160 --> 00:37:18,640 Speaker 1: sound designed by Stephanie Cone. Special thanks to Joel Smith 550 00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:19,560 Speaker 1: from I Heart Radio.