THIS YEAR IN MARIN CITY, the Juneteenth celebration commemorating an end to slavery in the U.S. was kind of bittersweet. The Black population that historically defines the community is shrinking, but its activism and organization amplifies its desire for self-governance.
The unincorporated district just north of Sausalito has around 3,000 residents, according to 2020 census figures, and about 900 are Black. Now, there are fears a public housing redevelopment will lead to more displacement.
“There’s a whole different level of decision making that goes on,” said Ricardo Moncrief, former editor of the Marin City Newspaper, about the difference between local and county governance. “Communities do not know how to create a power dynamic that makes them responsible for what’s taking place down here. Eventually, you’re going to have to have some level of parity.”
Despite its lack of political power, Marin City has no shortage of community leaders. Several grassroots organizations represent the concerns of the neighborhood.
Marin City was created during World War II’s shipbuilding effort, when the Great Migration led tens of thousands of Black Americans to California to escape racial violence.
After the war, new suburbs sprouted in neighboring Mill Valley, Strawberry and Tiburon, but racial covenants and a lack of jobs for Black workers prevented them from investing and building equity and generational wealth.
Many Black baby boomers remained in Marin City’s military housing. In the early 1960s, they moved into a 300-unit public housing development, which sustained the Black community into the 21st century.
The housing project, known as Golden Gate Village, will soon undergo a massive renovation, leaving some residents anxious about losing more members of the Black community.
At Saturday’s Juneteenth event in George “Rocky” Graham Park in Marin City, the community’s African American heritage was celebrated with music, fried fish, African art and handmade djembe drums. Several community groups lined the park with information booths.
Tiawana Bullock, founder and CEO of Hope Housing of Marin, spoke about the most recent effort to establish a land trust and pathway to Black homeownership.
“A community land trust is a group of people that want to take control over their land or property to keep it affordable, so that big development companies won’t come in and take it over,” Bullock said.
The organization is in the process of acquiring its first property and is looking for funders.
Etienne Douglas, director of the Marin City Library, is hoping to attract donors for the expansion of a maker space, which includes a laser cutter and 3D printer, as well as a podcast studio and editing software. He would like to see community members documenting their own history.
The Marin City Historical and Preservation Society houses an archive of oral histories collected by Executive Director Felecia Gaston.
In addition to producing several self-published books, the society has organized touring exhibitions about the history of Marin City in the context of African American history.
Through June 2027, the Maritime Museum of San Diego will include part of the collection in an exhibition about Black mariners, sailors, whalers, dockworkers, and coastal communities who shaped the maritime world of the Pacific from the 16th through the 20th century.
There are no Black-owned businesses to be found in Marin City, nor in the neighboring commercial district of Sausalito, which is more than 80% white.
A newly formed Rotary Club of Marin City is working to restart the town’s popular flea market, which was for many residents the sole source of income in the years after the shipyard closed. The original flea market was demolished to make way for the Gateway Shopping Center around 1997. With rents outpricing the budgets of most residents, the mall instead houses national chains, like Target, Subway and Starbucks.
Black residents have tried to build their own development over the years, but obstacles to entering the trades are steep, the biggest being a lack of personal transportation.
In anticipation of potential jobs arising from the Golden Gate Village renovation, Marin City resident Juanita Douglas, executive director of Tradeswomen Inc, a workforce development nonprofit, has organized pre-apprenticeship course for locals.
In March the first class of 21 students graduated, and two have been hired into full-time apprenticeship positions.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, a local church began inviting people from predominantly white cities in southern Marin County to a monthly dinner to reduce prejudice and promote constructive critical conversations.
Last weekend’s Come to the Table event, hosted by St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, focused on difficult conversations. Marin City resident Everett Brandon read questions from the audience.
“Sometimes our white privilege makes us self-conscious when we interact with people in Marin City, what would you advise?” he said
“How do you have a difficult conversation with someone you do not trust? How do you trust someone who believes things that are just flat untrue?”
To learn more about the Tradeswomen program, and its campaign to raise $100,000 for a second cohort of instructors, visit tradeswomen.org.
To support the preservation of Marin City’s cultural memory, visit the marinlibraryfriends.org.
Marin City Historical and Preservation Society is at preservemarincitylegacy.org
To learn more about anti-racist critical public dialogue in Marin City, visit preservemarincitylegacy.org
The Rotary Club of Marin City can be found at marincityrotary.org
