At a small brick building near 90th Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard, where tire marks line the intersection and a liquor store operates next door, the Homies Empowerment team is working to create an “oasis” for young people in East Oakland.
In the fall, the grassroots organization is planning to open a small independent high school at the site, which was previously occupied by other community groups like the Black Organizing Project and Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency. The building will serve as the school’s headquarters, but many of the classes will take place off campus at locations that Homies Empowerment co-founder César Cruz describes as “jewels of East Oakland.”
Students at the Homies Empowerment Freedom School, he said, will travel to Chabot Space and Science Center once a…
