Activism

Sojourner Truth Manor Tenants Meet Face-to-Face with Landlords

Published

2 years ago

November 4, 2023

Tenants at Sojourner Truth Manor in North Oakland met with their owners and management on Oct. 13. Photo by Ken Epstein.

Tenants want 4 residents added to the housing complex’s board of directors

By Ken Epstein

About 100 tenants of Sojourner Truth Manor, joined by community supporters and local political leaders, packed into the lobby of one of the buildings of the nonprofit senior citizens’ complex in North Oakland last Friday to meet with their landlords to seek solutions to residents’ concerns about deteriorating living conditions, lack of communication on the part of management and ongoing bullying and intimidation.

“Sojourner Truth was founded in 1974 by 15 strong, Black community-minded women, who would be raising hell about the conditions that currently exist here at Sojourner Truth Manor,” said Beverly Colston, chairperson of the tenants’ association, who chaired the meeting.

Among those who attended the meeting of the 85-unit, three-building housing complex at 6015 Martin Luther King Jr. Way were Dan Kalb, District 1 Oakland City Councilmember and candidate for State Senate; Lisa Williams, senior field representative of Assemblymember Mia Bonta; Romario Conrado, representative of State Senator Nancy Skinner; and Breeanna Decker, representative of Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson.

Also at the meeting were members of the Berkeley branch of the NAACP; Friends of Adeline, a community organization that has been supporting the tenants; Oakland Post publisher Paul Cobb; and residents of a nearby Berkeley senior residence, Harriet Tubman Terrace, who came to show solidarity with their neighbors.

One of the tenants’ major concerns, said Colston, was the closing and demolition of the community room nearly a decade ago, a central place where residents and their families could come together, learn about each other’s cultures and “exchange laughter and joy: cooking, playing games, knitting and crocheting, dancing and exercising.”

Colston asked management a question: “What is the timeline to start, and what is the timeline to finish construction on building our Community Room?”

HumanGood, the property management company hired by the board of directors that owns the complex, was brought in a year ago to revitalize Sojourner Truth after years of neglect under the past property managers.

The new company said it has been trying to renovate the community room for the past year but told tenants it was unable to obtain city building permits. However, during last week’s meeting, it appeared that HumanGood had not yet applied for permits.

Human Good is the sixth-largest nonprofit senior living provider in the country, operating nearly 100 affordable housing communities, serving about 8,880 residents.

Another major tenant concern was the elimination almost a year ago of the position of Social Services Coordinator, who used to help organize social events, providing counseling, and help tenants prepare for the annual recertification of Medicare, Medi-Cal, and housing requirements as well as help with their phones, tablets and other issues.

Colston also said communications between the board and the tenants would improve if four of their residents were added to the board of directors.

Tenants have said that the former social services coordinator helped alleviate stressful situations. “Since she’s been gone, mental and emotional stress have had an adverse effect on all aspects of our lives,” said resident Nancy Delaney.

Another tenant, Joyce Rodriquez, also voiced tenant concerns.

“We need security and safety,” she said. “Our residents are feeling unsafe in our own apartments.”

Communication is minimal or nonexistent, she said. Information from management arrives on tenants’ doors written only in English and often not comprehensible, though there are six different languages spoken at Sojourner Truth. “Tenants need translation in all their languages,” she said.

Not all entrances and exits are wheelchair accessible to the residents, Rodriguez continued.

There is also a lack of pest control. “We have infestation problems in the buildings: rodents, roaches, and bedbugs, and they’re not being addressed properly.”

Walter Johnson, president of the Sojourner Truth board, criticized tenants for not communicating with him or telling him about Friday’s meeting, which the tenants denied.

“I’m insulted,” he said. “No one has contacted me to see the status of the things that were going on here. I never stopped trying to work for Sojourner Truth.”

Johnson, who worked for many years as an administrator for the City of Oakland, said he was committed to improving conditions at Sojourner Truth.

But the way forward is not to blame anyone or hold large meetings with outsiders with lots of shouting. What is needed is a small group of tenants who will work with board to see solutions and ensure “the correct information gets in the newspapers.”

“I want to work with Beverly (Colston) and whoever else she wants to put in the group, but we’re not going to solve this with 100 people in the room,” Johnson said. (We need) a committee that’s committed to do what needs to be done.”

Kendra Roberts, who oversees operations for 100 senior communities for HumanGood, said the first time she walked through Sojourner Truth Manor, “our hearts were broken,” seeing a construction project that had begun years ago was never completed.

Along with the Community Room, “a total of five apartments have been off-line for five years, which has had “a tremendous financial impact to the community,” meaning that there is not sufficient income to pay the salary of a social services coordinator.

However, tenants said they spoke with a HUD supervisor in April, and he said to tell HumanGood to hire a social services coordinator and pay for the position from the money paid to HUD. However, tenants were told the board had to make the decision, and nothing more was said about the matter.

Wrapping up the meeting, Colston said she was pleased with what had been accomplished.

“We have the city, we have the state, we have the county, we have the federal government – all here in one room,” she said.

“I have accomplished what I wanted to do. We live here, and we have been here. Let’s have communication,” Colston said.

“Now let’s move forward. Let’s get this building back where it should be.”

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Oakland Post: Week of November 5 – 11, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 5 – 11, 2025

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1 week ago

November 7, 2025

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Oakland Post: Week of October 29 – November 4, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of October 29 – November 4, 2025

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2 weeks ago

November 3, 2025

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Past, Present, Possible! Oakland Residents Invited to Reimagine the 980 Freeway

Organizers ask attendees coming to 1233 Preservation Park Way to think of the event as a “time portal”—a walkable journey through the Past (harm and flourishing), Present (community conditions and resilience), and Future (collective visioning).

Published

3 weeks ago

October 27, 2025

Oakland Post

Hundreds of residents in West Oakland were forced out by eminent domain before construction began on the 980 freeway in 1968. Courtesy photo.

By Randolph Belle
Special to The Post

Join EVOAK!, a nonprofit addressing the historical harm to West Oakland since construction of the 980 freeway began in 1968, will hold a block party on Oct. 25 at Preservation Park for a day of imagination and community-building from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Organizers ask attendees coming to 1233 Preservation Park Way to think of the event as a “time portal”—a walkable journey through the Past (harm and flourishing), Present (community conditions and resilience), and Future (collective visioning).

Activities include:

Interactive Visioning: Site mapping, 3-D/digital modeling, and design activities to reimagine housing, parks, culture, enterprise, and mobility.
Story & Memory: Oral history circles capturing life before the freeway, the rupture it caused, and visions for repair.
Data & Policy: Exhibits on health, environment, wealth impacts, and policy discussions.
Culture & Reflection: Films, installations, and performances honoring Oakland’s creativity and civic power.

The site of the party – Preservation Park – itself tells part of the story of the impact on the community. Its stately Victorians were uprooted and relocated to the site decades ago to make way for the I-980 freeway, which displaced hundreds of Black families and severed the heart of West Oakland. Now, in that same space, attendees will gather to reckon with past harms, honor the resilience that carried the community forward, and co-create an equitable and inclusive future.

A Legacy of Resistance

In 1979, Paul Cobb, publisher of the Post News Group and then a 36-year-old civil-rights organizer, defiantly planted himself in front of a bulldozer on Brush Street to prevent another historic Victorian home from being flattened for the long-delayed I-980 Freeway. Refusing to move, Cobb was arrested and hauled off in handcuffs—a moment that landed him on the front page of the Oakland Tribune.

Cobb and his family had a long history of fighting for their community, particularly around infrastructure projects in West Oakland. In 1954, his family was part of an NAACP lawsuit challenging the U.S. Post Office’s decision to place its main facility in the neighborhood, which wiped out an entire community of Black residents.

In 1964, they opposed the BART line down Seventh Street—the “Harlem of the West.” Later, Cobb was deeply involved in successfully rerouting the Cypress Freeway out of the neighborhood after the Loma Prieta earthquake.

The 980 Freeway, a 1.6-mile stretch, created an ominous barrier severing West Oakland from Downtown. Opposition stemmed from its very existence and the national practice of plowing freeways through Black communities with little input from residents and no regard for health, economic, or social impacts. By the time Cobb stood before the bulldozer, construction was inevitable, and his fight shifted toward jobs and economic opportunity.

Fast-forward 45 years: Cobb recalled the story at a convening of “Super OGs” organized to gather input from legacy residents on reimagining the corridor. He quickly retrieved his framed Tribune front page, adding a new dimension to the conversation about the dedication required to make change. Themes of harm repair and restoration surfaced again and again, grounded in memories of a thriving, cohesive Black neighborhood before the freeway.

The Lasting Scar

The 980 Freeway was touted as a road to prosperity—funneling economic opportunity into the City Center, igniting downtown commerce, and creating jobs. Instead, it cut a gash through the city, erasing 503 homes, four churches, 22 businesses, and hundreds of dreams. A promised second approach to the Bay Bridge never materialized.

Planning began in the late 1940s, bulldozers arrived in 1968, and after years of delays and opposition, the freeway opened in 1985. By then, Oakland’s economic engines had shifted, leaving behind a 600-foot-wide wound that resulted in fewer jobs, poorer health outcomes, and a divided neighborhood. The harm of displacement and loss of generational wealth was compounded through redlining, disinvestment, drugs, and the police state. Many residents fled to outlying cities, while those who stayed carried forward the spirit of perseverance.

The Big Picture

At stake now is up to 67 acres of new, buildable land in Downtown West Oakland. This time, we must not repeat the institutional wrongs of the past. Instead, we must be as deliberate in building a collective, equitable vision as planners once were in destroying communities.

EVOAK!’s strategy is rooted in four pillars: health, housing, economic development, and cultural preservation. These were the very foundations stripped away, and they are what they aim to reclaim. West Oakland continues to suffer among the worst social determinants of health in the region, much of it linked to the three freeways cutting through the neighborhood.

The harms of urban planning also decimated cultural life, reinforced oppressive public safety policies, underfunded education, and fueled poverty and blight.

Healing the Wound

West Oakland was once the center of Black culture during the Great Migration—the birthplace of the Black Panther Party and home to the “School of Champions,” the mighty Warriors of McClymonds High. Drawing on that legacy, we must channel the community’s proud past into a bold, community-led future that restores connection, sparks innovation, and uplifts every resident.

Two years ago, Caltrans won a federal Reconnecting Communities grant to fund Vision 980, a community-driven study co-led by local partners. Phase 1 launched in Spring 2024 with surveys and outreach; Phase 2, a feasibility study, begins in 2026. Over 4,000 surveys have already been completed. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity could transform the corridor into a blank slate—making way for accessible housing, open space, cultural facilities, and economic opportunity for West Oakland and the entire region.

Leading with Community

In parallel, EVOAK! is advancing a community-led process to complement Caltrans’ work. EVOAK! is developing a framework for community power-building, quantifying harm, exploring policy and legislative repair strategies, structuring community governance, and hosting arts activations to spark collective imagination. The goal: a spirit of co-creation and true collaboration.

What EVOAK! Learned So Far

Through surveys, interviews, and gatherings, residents have voiced their priorities: a healthy environment, stable housing, and opportunities to thrive. Elders with decades in the neighborhood shared stories of resilience, community bonds, and visions of what repair should look like.

They heard from folks like Ezra Payton, whose family home was destroyed at Eighth and Brush streets; Ernestine Nettles, still a pillar of civic life and activism; Tom Bowden, a blues man who performed on Seventh Street as a child 70 years ago; Queen Thurston, whose family moved to West Oakland in 1942; Leo Bazille who served on the Oakland City Council from 1983 to 1993; Herman Brown, still organizing in the community today; Greg Bridges, whose family’s home was picked up and moved in the construction process; Martha Carpenter Peterson, who has a vivid memory of better times in West Oakland; Sharon Graves, who experienced both the challenges and the triumphs of the neighborhood; Lionel Wilson, Jr., whose family were anchors of pre-freeway North Oakland; Dorothy Lazard, a resident of 13th Street in the ’60s and font of historical knowledge; Bishop Henry Williams, whose simple request is to “tell the truth,” James Moree, affectionately known as “Jimmy”; the Flippin twins, still anchored in the community; and Maxine Ussery, whose father was a business and land owner before redlining.

EVOAK! will continue to capture these stories and invites the public to share theirs as well.

Beyond the Block Party

The 980 Block Party is just the beginning. Beyond this one-day event, EVOAK! Is building a long-term process to ensure West Oakland’s future is shaped by those who lived its past. To succeed, EVOAK! Is seeking partners across the community—residents, neighborhood associations, faith groups, and organizations—to help connect with legacy residents and host conversations.

980 Block Party Event Details
Saturday, Oct. 25
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Preservation Park, 1233 Preservation Park Way, Oakland, CA 94612
980BlockParty.org
info@evoak.org