Blog Posts

The Black Organizing Project’s Summer Youth Space Internship Program has traditionally been a space to engage our young Black minds within an interactive Black-centered learning environment. Our space kicked off this July 21st right in the heat of summer!  This year, our organizers have the pleasure of working with a group of 19 youth interns

It’s that time of year again! Baby BOP is back and this year’s theme, “Leadership at Any Age,” is our renewed commitment to provide Oakland’s Black youth, ages 6-11, with community organizing and leadership skills. It is our hope that through the creation of educational, supportive, and creative spaces that our Black youth will realize

Since our founding in 2009, BOP has had a strong commitment to develop Black organizers.  Before initiating the project, we had conversations with organizations across the country and heard a consistent challenge in recruiting, hiring and retaining Black organizers.  We found that some of the  contributing factors to the lack, and overall absence of Black

On July 24th-26th five of our BOP members and staff went to the first national convening for the Movement for Black Lives…

When we began the Bettering Our School System (BOSS) campaign, even on the heels of several murders by Oakland policing organizations, there was strong opposition to moving police out of schools. While some people were comfortable addressing Black male achievement and even acknowledging disparities in suspensions, not many people were willing to have critical conversations about criminalization of Black youth and the role of policing in schools…

Over the summer BOP partnered with the YOLO program at McClymonds high school to host our summer youth program themed Liberated Communities.

Learn more about what BOP’s doing this summer!

Wednesday night the Oakland Unified School Board voted unanimously on a policy to end suspensions and involuntary transfers for “willful defiance and disruption” as of July 1, 2016. This is a huge victory, but the fight for better Oakland schools is not over.

[VIDEO] In April, BOP staff, members and StoryBuilder interns traveled to New Orleans to explore the impact that Hurricane Katrina has had on the city. We were particularly interested in hearing from community about the intersection of mass incarceration in education and what the Black community has to say about how things have changed in New Orleans since the hurricane. Watch here!