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Elaine Brown's nonprofit is developing a 79-unit, affordable housing complex in Oakland.

Former Black Panther Elaine Brown’s economic development org gets millions

A project to help the low income and the formerly incarcerated in #Oakland receives a $1 million donation from #blacklivesmatter. It is the work of a former #BlackPantherParty leader: Elaine Brown. She tells me how the money will be used.
And the building to house tenants and businesses is near completion.

Elaine Brown receives the District 18 Woman of the Year Award from Mia Bonta

Soul on a Roll is a food truck people in Oakland may soon be seeing all over town. And the three formerly-incarcerated people who own the truck, and do all the cooking are also on a roll.

In urban areas, “revitalization” all too often means “gentrification.” But Elaine Brown, CEO of Oakland & the World Enterprises (OWE) and former Black Panther Party member, has a very different vision for the 7th & Campbell project in Oakland. And this time, the State of California is on board.

Seventh Street, called the “Harlem of the West” back in the day, was where Black business and cultural life thrived, resounding in the sounds of Billie Holiday and B. B. King and Al Green, who might play at Slim Jenkins Supper Club or some other spot there, like Esther’s Orbit Room, owned by the beautiful Esther Mabry. Seventh Street was where there had been a Black bank and pharmacy and movie theater—the Lincoln Theatre—most in the very same block as the new development. Appropriately, the groundbreaking revealed the new housing complex would be named “The Black Panther.”

A new residential project has begun construction at 1666 7th Street in West Oakland. The project proposal includes the development of a five-story apartment complex offering affordable housing, retail space, business space, onsite amenities, and parking.

Oakland & the World Enterprises is the project sponsor, led by OAW’s CEO and former Black Panther Party chairwoman, Elaine Brown. MWA Architects is responsible for the design.

A former leader of the Black Panther Party has put the panther spirit behind an affordable housing project that broke ground Friday in West Oakland.

Community leaders, including former Black Panther Party leader Elaine Brown, turned the first dirt to symbolically break ground on an $80 million project consisting of 79 units at Seventh and Campbell streets.

7th and Campbell Project Part of 27 Tier 1 Projects Awarded Total of $923 Million in February SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) today participated in the groundbreaking ceremony for the 7th and Campbell affordable housing project – the first project in the state to break ground with the help of the California Housing Accelerator.

When GaQuayla LaGrone was released from federal prison in Southern California in 2014, she struggled to find a job to support herself and her young son. The only employer willing to hire her was Target, and only part-time during the holiday season. It was difficult to find housing and open a bank account because of her record, she said.

OAKLAND (BCN) -- Four Black chefs, including three who were formerly incarcerated, kicked off their food truck business with free food and music in West Oakland Friday morning.

Three days a week, at the corner of Seventh and Campbell streets in West Oakland, a small team of farmers prunes collard greens, weighs just-picked corn and waters redwood-framed beds that have exploded in yellow flowers. Just a few feet from the shadow of the BART train, Gaquayla Lagrone, the group’s established tomato whisperer, gently collects a dozen varieties of heirloom fruits.

A 100 percent affordable housing project will break ground in West Oakland in November with the help of a former Black Panther Party leader.

In 2014, former Black Panther Party leader Elaine Brown bought the land at Seventh and Campbell streets where the new housing will take shape.

Both Oakland and Alameda County plan to apply for the expected next round of funds through Homekey, which lets local governments buy hotels and apartment buildings.

Oakland & the World Enterprises (OAW) is a nonprofit organization founded by former Black Panther leader Elaine Brown and Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson, aimed at creating for-profit businesses owned and operated by former inmates.

Elaine Brown brings jobs to former prison inmates and fresh produce to West Oakland. Ray Kidd was incarcerated for violent crimes from the ages of 16 to 23. Both of his parents are currently in federal prison. Now, Kidd wants to break the cycle, and he’s doing it through farming.

Pull up to the corner of Seventh and Campbell streets in West Oakland and you'll find a vacant lot, overgrown with weeds and strewn with trash, broken glass, empty spray-paint cans, a tire. Graffiti covers the fences and walls that border the lot, and every few minutes, a BART train rumbles overhead.