Bringing Our Voices: East Oakland Community Listening Session

​FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 11, 2016
 
MEDIA CONTACT
Candice Elder, Founder
The East Oakland Collective
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 510-394-2903
 
Bringing Our Voices
 
A listening session bringing together underserved residents of color residing in East Oakland to talk challenges, issues and changes they want to see in their communities.
 
Oakland (December 5, 2016) - The East Oakland Collective has been awarded grants from All In Alameda County and Akonadi Foundation and is pleased to host “Bringing Our Voices,” a community listening session bringing together underserved residents of color from East Oakland to voice their opinions and concerns about the issues impacting their daily lives. “Bringing Our Voices” takes place on Monday, December 5, 5-6:30 pm at Youth Uprising located at 8711 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA. Dinner will be provided and the event is free to the public.
 
Native Oakland resident Candice Elder, founded The East Oakland Collective in January of 2016 after witnessing the looming possibility of gentrification in her neighborhood and how many communities and populations of people of color in East Oakland are still underserved. “How information gets to communities of color and who from our community is invited to sit at the table to discuss issues has always been problematic. This listening session will bridge that gap by giving underserved populations, especially communities of color residing in deep East Oakland, a chance to have their voices heard,” stated Candice Elder.
 
The outcome of the listening session is to learn what’s working well in the community, and what community residents would like to see changed.  By documenting community voices, The East Oakland Collective along with its partners and community members, will continue to push the City of Oakland to create policy and ignite change around issues such as poverty, access to resources, education, policing, mass incarceration and more, that deeply affect people of color in Oakland, especially in East Oakland.
 
The East Oakland Collective is proud to partner with Youth Uprising on the listening session as "Youth Uprising has been an institution in East Oakland for over 11 years,” stated Aida Mariam, Director of Community Leadership. Aida further adds that Youth Uprising is “committed to transforming our community while building power and capacity in our leaders. We are very excited to join The East Oakland Collective in this listening session, particularly because we are committed to learning and listening from our young people and neighbors."
 
To RSVP for “Bringing Our Voices” listening session visit, https://bringingourvoices.eventbrite.com.
 
About The East Oakland Collective
 
The East Oakland Collective is a cohort of millennials invested in working towards a better future for the underserved populations and communities of color in East Oakland.
Our mission is to be engagers in the community and leaders in civic engagement through service and involvement in the landscape, politics and economic climate of East Oakland. To learn more about The East Oakland Collective, visit www.eastoaklandcollective.com
 
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