Black Girls Standing Taller “I wanted to create something for this community, for the girls that walk by my house and see themselves represented in a fierce way, and anytime that happens, it automatically has you stand taller and it has you fortified in a way that can't come from anything else,” said Vest, in the 2022 PBS interview. She invites anyone to submit names of women and girls who were involved with the Panthers to the museum’s website. In the future, she hopes to turn the museum into a community center offering events, classes, and program.
from the South settled there to work in WWII-related industries. It became a thriving community with Black businesses, grocery stores, churches, doctors, lawyers, and homeowners. During the 1960s, Bay Area Rapid Transit used governmental eminent domain power to force some West Oakland homeowners to sell their land to the transportation agency to make way for mass transit for the Bay Area. The construction broke up and dispersed the community, as did the building of a large post office. The percentage of Black residents has dropped in the past few decades as the neighborhood has changed even further with gentrification. Yet some descendants of the original families remain, and Vest says she enjoys being surrounded by elders and children. Taking part in the community around her is incredibly important to Vest, and she asks each tour group she leads through the museum to stop and acknowledge passersby with a nod of respect and a “good morning.”
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“I wanted to create something for this community, for the girls that walk by my house, and see themselves represented in a fierce way, and anytime that happens it automatically has you stand taller and it has you fortified in a way that can’t come from anything else,” said Vest, in the 2022 PBS interview. - JILCHRISTINA VEST
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