Editor’s Note: Berkeley Social Sciences faculty are turning their research into action, tackling Oakland’s most urgent challenges — from public safety to affordable housing. In this 3-part series, learn how they are partnering with the community to create lasting and meaningful change by addressing concerns from residents.
For a long time, Berkeley’s African American Studies department had a vision of increasing the scope of the department’s work outside of the classroom and into local communities.
The Department’s Black Studies Collaboratory (BSC) was developed as a way to bring that vision to life. The BSC was launched in 2021 and allowed African American Studies to reimagine its relationship with surrounding Black communities, including Oakland.
“The African American Studies department seeded the relationship [between UC Berkeley and Oakland], but the Black Studies Collaboratory really allowed it to grow, and harvested some culturally magnificent things out of it,” said Daphne Muse, who served as the BSC’s elder-in-residence fellow from 2021–2023.
The BSC was a three-year project made possible by a $2.8 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and led by African American Studies professors Leigh Raiford and Tianna Paschel. Building on the African American tradition of community engagement, the BSC brought together artists, activists, scholars and community members to amplify the work of Black Studies.
With community engagement as one of the central pillars of the BSC, it had frequent involvement with Oakland residents through cultural events, programs and partnerships related to a wide variety of topics.
“The BSC proved what an asset it was engaging with community partners around health, around food, around the arts,” Muse said.
Mo' Betta' School
Muse, who has a long history of activism and leadership at UC Berkeley, developed her idea for the Mo’ Betta’ School during her time as elder-in-residence at the BSC. Seeing the importance of intergenerational conversations regarding topics like cultural heritage, traditions and social issues, she said the project’s name came to her “like a lightbulb was turned on”: Old School + New School = Mo’ Betta’ School.
The Mo’ Betta’ School set out to join together artists, scholars, activists and cultural workers from different generations to participate in conversations and events surrounding various Black Studies topics, combining the creativity of youth with the wisdom of the older generation.
The Mo’ Betta’ School’s inaugural event was held in Oakland at Eternal Now, a bookstore and record shop, in April 2023. The event featured a conversation between Muse and Berkeley African American Studies and Rhetoric alumnus Grant Williams-Yackel about the cultural significance of bookstores as gathering places for radical idea and thought.
Muse, who lived in East Oakland for 39 years, said it was essential for the Mo’ Betta’ School’s first event to be held in the city.
“I have witnessed and been involved in the dynamics of intergenerational work in Oakland as a cultural broker, bringing people there and doing cultural events in the community,” she said. “Doing these things helped me gain a better sense of how to engage across the generations, how to listen to the frustrations of these young people, and in some instances, to have an impact on their lives that also impacted my own life.”
The Mo’ Betta’ School has also supported Oakland-based artists such as Sadie Barnette through the study of their exhibitions and analysis of the formal and cultural context of their art in Black history.
Muse continues to hold Mo’ Betta’ events in Oakland and other Bay Area cities related to topics like politics, democracy and culture.
What's Next
Looking to the future, Muse said she wants the Mo' Betta' School to bring together Bay Area students to create a digital map of Oakland. The interactive map would showcase historical Oakland landmarks and events, such as the African American Museum and Library, the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame Archives Collection and footage of demonstrations made by the Black Panther Party. The map would be a way to redefine Oakland’s image as something other than a model for crime, Muse said.
