BLAC
vision keepers
Zakiya Harris
Governance Steward
Anyka Howard
Cultural Arts Steward
Carolyn Johnson
Real Estate Steward
Dr. Ayodele Nzinga
Resource Steward
Noni Session
Strategy Steward
Anna Shneiderman
Operations Steward
BLAC
staff members
Adéniké Amin
Mutual Aid Lead
Zakiya Harris
Vision & Leadership Steward
Sadé Shakur
Admin & Infrastructure Lead
Anna Shneiderman
Creative Operations Steward
Shaina Simmons
Storytelling Lead
history
BLAC
In 2020, Culture Bank fellows, Anna Shneiderman and Zakiya Harris, planted the seeds of inquiry:
What would it take to cultivate an ecosystem where Black cultural groups not only survive but thrive?
They gathered a circle of leaders with deep roots in the community, and from this fertile ground, four stewards emerged: Dr. Ayodele Nzinga, Noni Session, Carolyn “CJ” Johnson, and Anyka Howard. Together, they envisioned a thriving network that would nurture Oakland’s Black arts and culture ecosystem.
From this vision, BLACspace Cooperative was born. Like mycelium weaving through fertile soil, BLACspace connects, sustains, and amplifies the vibrant network of Black cultural groups in Oakland. It offers a foundation for collaboration, storytelling, and collective healing, rooted in the principles of mutual aid and shared growth.
"We, as a collective community, recognized that we were at a critical moment, and we could leverage the opportunity of the pandemic and the uprising toward a cultural reset."
– Zakiya Harris, BLACspace Co-Founder, and Cultural Architect