afro-perspectives: December 2019

Nigel Roberts | THE ROOT

“A lot of the neighborhoods in West Oakland had 20 to 30 liquor stores and an assortment of fast-food restaurants but no full-size grocery stores,” Jeneba Kilgore, a worker-owner at Mandela Grocery Cooperative recalled about her hometown 10 years ago. “You could barely find the stuff to make a salad within walking distance.”

Briana Sidney, another Mandela worker-owner, said back then there was a 99 cents store that sold groceries. It was the only option for many folks in the Northern California community who didn’t have a car. However, the discount store, which is now closed, was never a place to purchase quality food.

“So, yeah, it has been a really crucial food desert,” Sidney added. “It went from people not having access to quality food to people not having access to grocery stores at all.”