Activism

On Heels of AASEG’s Success, a Proposal for a ‘New Oakland’

The top priorities for New Oakland are to bring action and collaborative strategies to the prior commitments made by Jaylen Brown, Jason Kidd, Steph Curry and others that have shown deep sentiment to uplifting the cultural vibrations of our under-resourced zip codes, and the broken spirits of those residents that reside in them.

Published

3 months ago

January 18, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Paul Cobb

Part 1

On the eve of celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday and as we prepare to honor Black History next month, we send our congratulations to the African American Sports and Entertainment Group (AASEG) for organizing the East Oakland community to get the City of Oakland and Alameda County to approve their redevelopment vision for jobs, affordable housing and businesses and attracting the necessary investment capital to acquire the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

When I authored the front page editorial urging AASEG to buy the Coliseum, many residents doubted their ability to purchase the complex.

The prodigious effort by AASEG and the optimism generated amongst former and current professional athletes, entertainers and business owners has caused us to start sharing a vision for a 15-year plan for a New Oakland to improve the socio-economic conditions of the local residents that reside in the City of Oakland.

Our leadership group consists of local community “trust agents” and thought leaders like Former Golden State Warriors spiritual advisor and Emmy Award-winning television producer Gary Reeves, Marcus King ( entertainment producer), Cardiac Kids ( Golden State Warriors 1975 World Champions) En Vogue vocalist Terry Ellis, NBA legend Ralph Sampson, Paul Cobb (Post News Group publisher) and Blair Underwood (award-winning actor and philanthropist). We will lead the mobilizing efforts to promote these concerns.

The top priorities for New Oakland are to bring action and collaborative strategies to the prior commitments made by Jaylen Brown, Jason Kidd, Steph Curry, and others who have shown deep sentiment to uplift the cultural vibrations of our under-resourced zip codes and the broken spirits of those residents that reside in them.

In addition, we want to secure plans to create affordable housing for all income levels, vocational programming for job creation, family-safe spaces, non-intrusive public safety AI and advanced tech applications, climate-sensitive development practices, youth sports training facilities, live entertainment, professional sports franchising considerations, gaming destinations, appealing hospitality offerings and local small business development engagement.

In addition, the New Oakland initiative committee will assertively seek support from socially impactful third-party investment partners to improve the public-private partnership options and help subsidize the city’s fiscal responsibilities.

We hope to bring fresh ideas and forward-thinking business leaders to establish sustainable economic models that will reinvigorate the pride of Oakland. We want to support AASEG’s agenda with non-competitve developments that can improve auto row the corridor from High Street to Hegenberger. We are meeting with potential hotel investors to preserve the Hilton site. Most of all, we are urging private development capital to help salvage the closed fire stations.

Please contact Paul Cobb or Gary Reeves for further details on the planning for New Oakland initiative. To reach Cobb or Reeves, send information to social@postnewsgroup.com or call 510-287-8200. For additional information, see page 4 of the Jan. 15 edition of the Post for Cobb’s Genesis speech.