Kinfolx helping revive downtown Oakland with gathering space for Black inclusion
OAKLAND -- With neighborhoods gentrifying in the Bay Area, there's one business in Oakland doing what it can to celebrate the heartbeat of connections for Black and Brown people.
Kinfolx is a coffee and wine shop on Telegraph Ave. in Oakland. The owners call it a gathering space.
"That's what we wanted to create," said Creighton Davis, one of the co-creators of Kinfolx. "A space that was a blank canvas. When you see these empty, open spaces they naturally mean there's a void there. When you think of a void most people think oh there's nothing to fill it. But I know and most people know that there's so much talent, so much beauty and talent so many skills and so many gifts that people in the community have."
Davis says he wanted to create a space that builds relationships and revival in Oakland.
Davis, a San Francisco native, is Black and Czechoslovakian. He's a community catalyst, an attorney and an educator. He says on a random day he was walking in Uptown Oakland, noticed an empty building, and saw a need.
"There are so many vacant buildings and ground floor storefronts and we really wanted to play a part in the revival," said Akintunde Ahmad, Kinfolx co-creator.
Ahmad says when he walks inside there's a sense of belonging, one that Black families once enjoyed. He was born and raised in Oakland and says feeling included is so vital for African Americans.
"Sometimes walking into different businesses, I didn't necessarily know it was for me, but when I walk into Kinfolx, I know it's a space for me," said Ahmad.
When it comes to building this inclusive space, Ahmad and Davis reached out to Black designers and artists to help furnish and create a space for and by Black people.
Even some of the wine producers are Black.
"[Wine] is this ancient beverage that really brings people together," said Swan Dotson, general manager, wine director, and "mom" of Kinfolx. As a former owner of a wine consulting company, she says wine warms conversations and atmospheres.
"This is what I feel Oakland looks like," said Dotson. "When you walk into Kinfolx you see people of all ages, of all races ... or all genders coming in and hanging out being really comfortable and really fellowshipping with each other."
Kinfolx's owners say it doesn't matter why you walk into their shop, whether it's for the wine or the coffee, you'll likely stay for something else.
"It really isn't something you can name, it's an energy it's a feeling," said Davis. "It's comfort that you don't necessarily feel in all spaces."
