We have always found each other.
It started in small rooms.
For years, members of our community have been finding each other – in borrowed spaces, living rooms, and corners of warehouses. We build art together. We write code side by side. We cook, listen to music, organize, and show up for each other in public spaces and private ones.
We build large art projects and march together. We teach each other things that no school had ever offered us. And through all of it, we keep asking the same question: what if we had a real home?
After years of gathering and dreaming, we are uniting under a single roof. The Fertile Soil is that home – a 10,000 sq ft community space in Oakland, California that is free and open to all.
We are not one thing.
We are Black and brown. We are gender fluid. Some of us hold multiple degrees; many of us hold none. Some of us are Oakland born and raised. Others came from across California, across the country, or across the world. Among us are naturalized citizens of the United States and citizens of other nations entirely.
We are makers and artists, musicians and coders, cooks and builders. What unites us is not where we come from – it is what we believe. That knowledge should be free. That creation belongs to everyone. That community is built by showing up.
Rooted in Oakland
Oakland is where we gather to build. This city is not a backdrop – it is the reason. Everything we do is in the spirit of the movements that came before us, particularly the Black Panther Party and their Ten-Point Program vision of community care and self-determination.
We are a modern expression of that spirit. We do not carry weapons or engage in electoral politics. We carry knowledge and we give it away freely. We build things and share the plans. We teach and we learn in the same breath.
Open to the World
Our physical home is in Oakland. But everything we make here – every project, every curriculum, every tool and tutorial – is documented and shared with the world under open licenses.
If you are in Oakland, come through the door. If you are anywhere else on earth, everything we know is yours.
The need is immediate.
We are actively seeking funding to sign our lease and begin construction. Once funded, we move fast. The spaces are designed. The community is ready. We are building this now.
If you want to help make this happen – through funding, skills, or simply showing up – we want to hear from you.
The Fertile Soil is a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. EIN: 42-3224244. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.