BLACspace Cooperative connects and cultivates an ecosystem
of creative businesses and organizations that promote Black arts and culture.

[1] Ruth-Marion Baruch. Free Huey Rally, Bobby Hutton Memorial Park. Oakland, CA, August 25, 1968. In Black Panthers 1968, by Ruth-Marion Baruck and Pirkle Jones, 92. Greybull Press, 2002. Accessed at Community Archival Resource Project, Oakland, CA.

[1] Ruth-Marion Baruch. Free Huey Rally, Bobby Hutton Memorial Park. Oakland, CA, August 25, 1968. In Black Panthers 1968, by Ruth-Marion Baruck and Pirkle Jones, 92. Greybull Press, 2002. Accessed at Community Archival Resource Project, Oakland, CA. — [2] Joyce Xi Photography, EastSide Arts Alliance’s Malcolm X Jazz Arts Festival, San Antonio Park, Oakland, CA, 2024.

[3] Photo by Kamau Amen Ra, early 2000's. From the Black Arts Movement collection. Courtesy of CARP / Community Archival Resource Project at EastSide Arts Alliance. — [4] Openi, ‘Brass band outside Omiiroo on 14th & Franklin St.,’ Downtown Oaklan

[3] Photo by Kamau Amen Ra, early 2000's. From the Black Arts Movement collection. Courtesy of CARP / Community Archival Resource Project at EastSide Arts Alliance. — [4] Openi, ‘Brass band outside Omiiroo on 14th & Franklin St.,’ Downtown Oakland, CA. 2012.

[7] Casper Banjo. The Bay Area Black Artists group (BABA). Oakland, CA, 1971. In Black Artists in Oakland, by Jerry Thompson and Duane Deterville, 77. Arcadia Publishing. Accessed at Community Archival Resource Project, Oakland, CA. — [8] 7000 C

[7] Casper Banjo. The Bay Area Black Artists group (BABA). Oakland, CA, 1971. In Black Artists in Oakland, by Jerry Thompson and Duane Deterville, 77. Arcadia Publishing. Accessed at Community Archival Resource Project, Oakland, CA. — [8] 7000 Coils, Sasha Kelley, 2025, Blaqyard, Oakland, CA.

[5] Stephen Shames. Black Panther party member teaches at the Intercommunal youth institute. Oakland, CA, 1972. In Comrade Sisters: Women of the Black Panther Party, by Stephen Shames and Ericka Huggins, 53. ACC Art Books, 2022. Accessed at Community

[5] Stephen Shames. Black Panther party member teaches at the Intercommunal youth institute. Oakland, CA, 1972. In Comrade Sisters: Women of the Black Panther Party, by Stephen Shames and Ericka Huggins, 53. ACC Art Books, 2022. Accessed at Community Archival Resource Project, Oakland, CA. — [6] Zakiya at the BLACspace Design Sprint, 2023.

We offer holistic business coaching for members, a consultancy for values-aligned clients, and advocate for the sustainability and permanence of cultural spaces.

We are a self-governed cooperative that moves our members beyond the traditional nonprofit model.

Join BLACspace

Openi, ‘Meeting of Mirrored Souls,’ January 22nd, 2012, Private Collection, 400 14th St. Oakland, CA, Featured in ‘The Discourse’ (2013).

By encouraging a cooperative strategy that owns spaces, shares stewardship, and embraces community trust as its soil, we take root in cultural permanence in Oakland and beyond for the next 100 years. We are focused on:

People & Systems

We build healthy teams and strengthen backend infrastructure. We offer holistic business coaching, consulting, professional matchmaking, and staffing support.

1

Mutual Aid

Facilitating members to share offers and resources to meet one anothers' needs.

2

Storytelling

We produce learning labs and office hours that strengthen members’ content creation and expand their reach. 

3

Funding

We pool funds so everyone benefits throughout the ecosystem.

4

Space

We unite BLACspace members, partners, and space-holders to acquire, share, and co-steward spaces that strengthen Black arts and culture in Oakland and beyond.

5

Learn more about our Vision

African American Museum and Library at Oakland. Esther’s Orbit Room. Oakland,  CA, 1987. In Black Artists in Oakland, by Jerry Thompson and Duane Deterville, 22. Arcadia Publishing. Accessed at Community Archival Resource Project, Oakland, CA.

BLAC         

FAQs

  • BLACspace is a revolutionary, holistic business coaching and consulting cooperative that offers membership to Black-led creative businesses and organizations. We coach and consult on their most critical pain points, offering strategy, operations, digital storytelling support, and mutual aid.

  • Anyone promoting and/or engaging in Black-centered arts and culture in Oakland and beyond. We welcome anyone who is aligned with BLACspace’s mission and values to apply for membership.

  • Members gain access to quarterly 1:1 coaching with industry experts and monthly group coaching pods, a competitive digital toolkit, quarterly wellness assessments, creative learning labs, and a coveted ecosystem of culturally aligned partners and a mutual aid network. Members also participate in BLACspace events for free, merch discounts, and have a say in cooperative governance after a year of active membership.

  • Unlike traditional consulting, BLACspace merges business expertise with cultural permanence and community trust. We focus on the holistic needs of our community and emphasize cooperation, accountability, and transformative justice.

    We don’t just focus on the back-end operation of organizations. We champion the holistic needs of our community by inviting arts and culture entities into our Mutual Aid Membership, where they can connect, share, and access resources within our expansive ecosystem.

  • Cultural reforestation is the collective process of repairing, replenishing, rooting, and promoting Black arts and culture where it has been historically displaced: through a cooperative strategy that owns spaces, shares stewardship, and embraces community trust as the soil for cultural permanence. We do this by nurturing the people, spaces, and stories that form cultural roots in our community.

  • Unlike traditional consulting firms, which seek corporate profit over people, BLACspace is revolutionizing the industry by being relational rather than transactional. We don’t just focus on the successful back-end operation of organizations and businesses. We champion a holistic, living cultural ecosystem and cooperative community where people build alongside one another over time.

Howard L. Bingham. Black Panthers reading the Little Red Book, Oakland, CA, 1968. In Black Panthers 1968, by Howard L. Bingham, 12–13. AMMO Books, 2009. Accessed at Community Archival Resource Project, Oakland, CA.