"Now, a major event in West Oakland this weekend will help residents understand a few possibilities for how to undo that racial injustice - through a program called Vision 980. Hosted by Evoak!, the Oakland nonprofit dedicated to advancing equity and sustainability, the event will take place at Oakland's Preservation Park this Saturday, Oct. 25, and will feature oral history circles to share stories of the displaced, film screenings, steamroller printmaking, Minecraft-style building games, and hands-on 3D modeling to help participants reimagine the landscape."
"Over the last decade, state officials have engaged in conversations with developers, planners, and residents about whether to remove or radically alter the freeway. The idea is that the large trench where the I-980 is situated, disrupting more than 10 city blocks, could be used for housing and public parks. Changes could more directly connect the people of West Oakland to services and shops downtown in safer ways than the current overpasses and dangerous intersections where people speed."
"The title of the event, "From Freeway to Future: Honoring the Past, Designing the Future," speaks to the project's ambitious goals. On the event website, the hosts say the event, which they call a block party, "builds on West Oakland's cultural legacy with a commitment to policy change around comprehensive creative community development." Vision 980, the program looking into the future of the corridor, is led by the state transportation department, Caltrans - and Randolph Belle was contracted to run the program's community-building and outreach."
About 500 Black families were displaced from West Oakland during construction of the I-980 freeway in the 1960s through the 1980s. Evoak! will host a community block-party event at Preservation Park featuring oral history circles, film screenings, steamroller printmaking, Minecraft-style building activities, and hands-on 3D modeling to help residents reimagine the corridor. State officials and Caltrans have discussed removing or radically altering the trench to create housing and public parks that would reconnect West Oakland to downtown with safer, more direct access. Randolph Belle leads community-building and outreach for Vision 980, and state staff will attend the event to engage residents.
Read at The Oaklandside
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]