With support from the California Arts Council, SWFCenter will secure an office in a downtown location (OakStop as an example) that provides workspace for interns, an administrative assistant, can house board and crew meetings, where we occasionally conduct interviews and in which we edit.
SWFCenter engages Black folks in arts based community building projects. We are responsive to the needs of our surroundings and we identify areas of Black life that we feel require illumination. SWFCenter has produced 3 feature length documentaries “Evolutionary Blues… West Oakland’s Music Legacy” and “East Oakland Counter Narratives,” and “A Rising Tide,” in addition to short films and other art based programs. We worked with 13 East Oakland community based organizations and the CIty of Oakland to coordinate the writing of “Better Neighborhoods, Same Neighbors! EONI Community Plan.” SWFCenter collaborates with Black Culture Zone, we incubate projects, (Hummingbirds Urban Farming Collective) and individual artists, and until 2021 we were the fiscal sponsor for Abundant Beginnings, an outdoor children’s school. Our flagship engagement is with creative media, independent documentary film production. We use film screenings not only as entertainment but also as organizing tools. Frequently we provide artist talks and lectures. SWFCenter cherishes the flexibility which allows us to stay in arts programming for the long haul but responding in the moment to the direct needs of our community and sometimes of the diasporic African/African American community. Our work can be summarized as a showcase, for building community, producing art and lifting up the expressions and voices in our urban Black world.

