The Black Arts Movement Business District Community Development Corporation, (BAMBD, CDC) was formed in July 2016, in response to Resolution #85958 by the Oakland City Council on January 19, 2016, establishing the Black Arts Movement Business District, (BAMBD). BAMBD, CDC is a grassroots community development corporation, invested in immediate, self-directed proactive solutions to systemic issues faced by Oakland’s Black community, and direct community service and advocacy in cultural work to concretize equity in Oakland. Our purpose is to advocate, organize, create, develop, implement, foster, and ensure the thriving of the Black Arts Movement Business District (BAMBD), Oakland, CA through vigilant organizing, development of infrastructure, and the creation of mechanisms for stewardship and advocacy.
Our mission is to create, in the tradition of the Black Arts Movement, a Black culture-driven space dedicated to the growth, cultivation, and sustaining of Black livity (good strong life). To facilitate and amplify the value of the continued development of Oakland’s culture-driven ecosystem. We are dedicated to the creation and stewardship of the BAMBD. In this role we help to sustain anchor institutions, advocate for their interest, create new institutions and broaden opportunity through the devolvement of strategies that comprehensively serve our most impacted populations.