Shakur Center keeps Black Panthers’ legacy food programs alive in Oak Park
Bobby Seale and Huey Newton formed the Black Panther Party for Self Defense 60 years ago. The founders drafted a 10-Point Program, a list of demands outlining fundamental needs for the community. The tenth states, “we want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace.”
Bread — food — is that most fundamental need of all.
The Black Panthers officially disbanded in 1982, but their ideals carry on locally.
Jordan McGowan is the minister of programs for the Community Movement Builders (CMB) Neighbor Program at the Shakur Center at 3230 Broadway in Oak Park. He oversees a fleet of community-based programs. Among them is offering boxes of free groceries three times a week.
The boxes are available at 11 a.m. at the Shakur Center on Mondays and Fridays, and 9 a.m. Wednesdays at the Alder Grove housing project, formerly known as New Helvetia, in Upper Land Park.
Anyone can show up and ask for a box. No identification is required. No questions are asked other than, “do you need a box?”
On this day, the Shakur Center gave out about 70 boxes. When supplies have been more ample, the program has distributed as many as 100.
The boxes are a lifeline to locals, who live in what has colloquially been called a food desert. McGowan calls it something else.
“Food apartheid is what we call it. We don’t call it a food desert, because deserts are naturally created. There’s a reason that there’s only Smart and Final all the way down here,” he said, pointing toward Curtis Park. “And then Mi Rancho all the way down here.”
McGowan greets everyone warmly, calling out “hey auntie!” to women. As each person approaches, McGowan dips into the center and comes out with a box.
Many are evenly weighed assortments of staple foods — milk, bread, sausage, what have you. Some are specially composed and set aside.
“Because we’re part of the community, we know certain folks don’t eat certain things, or they do eat certain things, or they have a bigger family. So we’re mindful of that,” McGowan said.
The Neighbor Program sources the food through a partnership with Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services, as well as pickups from two Safeway markets, Smart and Final in Rancho Cordova and Compton’s Market.
Until recently, the Neighbor Program also offered free breakfast, a direct descendant of the Black Panthers’ Free Breakfast For School Children program, started in 1969. Neighbor Program’s breakfasts were mainly serving the local unhoused community. Recent political movements disrupted their efforts.
“Our free breakfast program hasn’t been in operation due to the Supreme Court ruling that made it illegal to be unhoused and Governor Newsom banning what he deemed as camping on city streets. A lot of the camps that we had community with were swept,” McGowan said.
Even so, the Neighbor Program will feed the hungry.
“The neighborhood knows us, so they’ll still pull up and they’ll be like, do y’all have food? Can I get a sandwich? So, we don’t go out and do the food, but, like — we still do the food,” he said.
Feeding people is more than simple altruism. Just as the Black Panthers’ free breakfast program helped children perform better in schools, keeping the local community fed keeps people engaged and receptive.
“We feed people because they have a human right to eat. We are attempting to organize the neighborhood. If you’re hungry, you ain’t gonna be able to organize. If you are hungry, you probably don’t even want to listen to what I have to say,” McGowan said.
The Neighbor Program nourishes the minds and souls as well as the stomachs of the community.
“The idea right is that you take care of the person, body, mind and soul, you meet the material needs of the people and give them examples of alternative examples of how we can be living,” he said.
It runs the Malcolm X Academy for African Education, a full-time kindergarten through eighth grade program. They teach mindfulness and self-defense. They operate a health and wellness clinic, as well as a legal clinic.
The Shakur Center launched a “freedom farm” a few different times, with land issues relocating it. McGowan is ultimately working to establish a farm in Arden Grove.
“They’re not allowed right now, unfortunately, to grow food in their own yard,” he said. “So we’re battling that, submitting proposals, trying to have a community farm in New Helvetia.”
What I’m Eating
News of Pangaea’s closure was something of a gut punch, particularly since I was just there a few days ago.
The truth of the matter is that I am not a big hamburger eater, nor a beer drinker, but when we had one of our first sunny, marginally warm days after months of gloom, a burger and brew on their patio area sounded like just the thing.
Pangaea’s burger is a hearty affair, a thick patty with all the accoutrements: lettuce, tomato, red onion, cheddar cheese, bacon, pickles and “special sauce.” (The cut is mine; I can only handle a half at a time.) I paired it with my once-annual Pliny the Elder. Somehow I talked myself into ordering salad instead of fries on the side.
Do I wish the bacon had been cooked a little crisper? Yes. Did I eat it anyway? Also yes.
Watching classic cars cruise up Franklin Blvd. as the sun baked the nape of my neck was a much-needed tonic to the winter doldrums. I hope that Pangaea’s next location will deliver the same spirit of warmth and camaraderie.
Pangaea Bier Cafe
Address: 2743 Franklin Blvd., Curtis Park (until Mar. 19)
Hours: 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; 11:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Sundays
Phone: 916-454-4942
Website: pangaeabiercafe.com
Vegetarian options: Definitely not their strong suit, but aside from some small plates and salads there is a falafel sandwich and veggie nachos.
Noise level: It can get loud inside.
Openings & Closings
Curtis Park craft beer spot Pangaea has announced it will close its doors Mar. 19, after negotiations with its landlord broke down. Rob Archie opened Pangaea with his wife Kindra in 2008, and intends to find a new location in the same area. Archie later went on to co-found Urban Roots Hospitality Group.
The proprietor of the Howe ‘Bout Arden location of Pete’s Restaurant & Brewhouse has filed for bankruptcy, according to the Sacramento Business Journal. CEO and chief financial officer Inderdeep Bassi made the filing on February 4. The location has been listed for lease since 2024.
Jack’s Urban Eats is planning a Feb. 27 grand opening at 11 a.m. in Carmichael, also according to the Sacramento Business Journal. The new location will be at 4005 Manzanita Ave., in the Carmichael Village shopping center. The restaurant chain also lists a location at the Delta Shores retail center as “coming soon.”
