$15,000 / 2015
1035 W.Grand Avenue
Oakland, CA 94607
Jackie Byers, Executive Director
Website: www.blackorganizingproject.org
The Black Organizing Project (BOP) was started in the fall of 2009, as result of conversations among organizers of color, concerned about the dwindling state of Black leadership and organizing infrastructure in Oakland and has quickly grown to be an important racial justice organization in the Bay Area. BOSS is an intergenerational campaign which seeks to redirect the school to prison pipeline toward investments in alternatives that limit school push out while providing a supportive environment for learning, success and well-being of students. Last year BOP developed an approved school board complaint policy for the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) School police and security guards and successfully passed a Memo of Understanding between the OUSD and OPD which defines and limits the role of Oakland Police on school campuses. A one year $15,000 Hazen Trustees grant will help BOP to make sure that these policies are being adequately implemented and is working to eliminate willful defiance suspensions. BOP is part of the Oakland Allies Coalition and Dignity in Schools Bay Area chapter.