Sobrante Park, Oakland, California
In the 1980s the neighborhood became a center of crack cocaine dealing. A large gang from the neighborhood gave itself the nickname, "11-5" (or "11-500") which refers to the section of California State's legal code for drug crimes. A memorial to 32 men and six women members of the gang who have been killed since then (as of 2002) was painted on the basketball court in Tyrone Carney Park, a local park named after a young man from the neighborhood who died in the Vietnam War. The city installed a fence around the park in an attempt to reduce the murders and drug dealing that had been taking place in and around the park.
Sobrante Park is a mostly African-American and Latino neighborhood, with African-Americans forming 53.5%, and Latinos forming about 38%[1].
Sobrante Park and the informally named "Ghost Town" have been two of the most crime-ridden areas on Oakland.
Recently, the Alameda County Department of Health, local organizations, and community members established a Time Bank project for the neighborhood in order to facilitate skill sharing among residents, rebuild trust, and revitalize the community of Sobrante Park.
References
- ^ Jim Herron Zamorada (November 9, 2002). "Oakland fences off Tyrone Carney Park, home of brazen drug gang; Election day shooting was the last straw". San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ "Truly lame idea for gun exchange", December 1, 2006, S.F. Chronicle
- ^ Gunman chases down Oakland's 78th homicide victim, SF Chronicle, September 8, 2002
- ^ "How We Survive: The Currency of Giving (encore) Making Contact, produced by National Radio Project. December 21, 2010.