West Oakland Greenhouse An Oasis Of Serenity For Local Residents
By Justin Andrews, KPIX
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- An area in West Oakland near the intersection of 17th and Peralta Streets, is typically known for being a light industrial neighborhood, but there's something new sprouting there.
A quick look across the community, there are not many green spaces, so two women decided it was the perfect place to plant Black Girl's Green House.
"When everything else around you kind of have the same look and feel and you know historically it hasn't been a place that hosted a space like this," said co-owner J'Maica Thomas. "To kind of be the first to do that and to be able to do that in a way that resonated in the people who lives in this community."
Kalkidan Gebreyohannes and Thomas opened Black Girl's Green House in August 2020. It's Oakland's only Black-women owned plant nursery.
The two friends were home trying to figure out how Black America can heal. They would watched the pandemic strike the United States, disproportionally more in African Americans. The same year, Gebreyohannes says African Americans had to deal with a second pandemic: the racial reckoning illustrated in the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and many other questionable Black murders at the hands of police officers. Gebreyohannes and Thomas knew they had to do something.
"Black Girls Green House is a very intentional space," said Gebreyohannes. "Which for us it was a celebration, it was a healing, and it was economic stability."
During the mornings on days their plant nursery is open, the two women can begin cutting the dead leaves to make room for new sprouts.
"It's really personal to us again, 80% of our shelf space is reserved for Black women makers. And as Black women we feel grateful to have to opportunity to prioritize," Thomas said.
Inside, their 1,500-square-foot space is more than a plant nursey, it's a healing hub.
According to a 2018 study, more Black men and women started finding comfort in their homes with plants and green spaces. The study reveal that planting and gardening helps them deal with mental and physical health issues.
"This is space that we created and it's only successful because obviously people needed it," said Gebreyohannes. "We wanted it to feel like that nostalgic feeling of being in your grandmother's arms ... or sitting on your father's lap. What would that feel like if we could put that in the form of a greenhouse?"
For the last year and a half, the two have been innovative in planting seeds to heal, by hosting musical artists, painters and other Black-made products in their nursery. Since opening, the two partnered with Blythe Coffee Oakland. It's a Black-woman owned Pop-Up coffee shop inside the greenhouse.
For More Information:
For the 2018 study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6334070/
BGGH Website: https://bggh.shop/pages/about