Former residents remember Russell City after historic passage of reparation fund

For decades Russell City was a place that only existed in the memories of its former residents who fled in the s when the district was annexed by Hayward and razed for an industrial park Related Articles In the modern day in History August deadly Walmart shooting in El Paso In current times in History August verdict in Black Sox trial In the present day in History August America gets its MTV Former Birkenstock site in Marin County sold to Eames Institute for million At present in History July Phelps sets Olympic medal record Now former resident James Knowles recalls those streets while tracing his finger on a Russell City parcel map at the Oakland Museum of California I had an uncle and an aunt living next door an aunt living two blocks behind me another aunt who lived up the street and another aunt two blocks away Easily I had family members within - minutes says Knowles who was a child when the largely Black and Latino residents of the unincorporated area were forced out To have that taken from you with no goodbyes no relocation no therapy Knowles is one of the dwindling number of former residents who is eligible for the Russell City Redress Fund to which Supervisors Elisa Marquez and Nate Miley pledged last month Knowles and fellow Russell City resident Rafeeq Muhammad are touring Black Spaces Reclaim and Remain a new Oakland Museum exhibit examining Russell City s history following the passage of the reparation fund Andrew Johnson and residents of Russell City in front of Johnson's General Store Courtesy photo Review News Russell City was a magnet for the Black society in the s a time when more than African Americans were leaving the South and Midwest to go to the Bay Area Though several Northern California cities used redlining to discriminate against non-white people and prevent them from living in their region about Latinos and Blacks revealed a home in Russell City While it offered Black and Latino residents the opportunity to own property and create generational wealth Russell City had its drawbacks Alameda County denied essential services like sewage or electricity even going so far as to reject a petition to connect Russell City to Hayward s water arrangement following a dysentery outbreak earlier that summer Muhammad noted these actions frustrated his grandfather a plumber who worked on projects across the Bay Area fitting pipes and connecting water to other towns Alameda County would not let his grandfather acquire work permits to improve their own house It was part of the county s strategy working with the city of Hayward to label Russell City a blight In residents were ordered to evacuate and Muhammad s family moved to Oakland Rafeeq Muhammad and James Knowles from left visit the Black Spaces Reclaim Remain Exhibition at the Oakland Museum of California in Oakland Calif on Sunday July Both men lived in Hayward s former Russell City Jane Tyska Bay Area News Group A map of Russell City streets and residences on display in the Black Spaces Reclaim Remain Exhibition at the Oakland Museum of California in Oakland Calif on Sunday July Jane Tyska Bay Area News Group Visitors check out the Black Spaces Reclaim Remain Exhibition at the Oakland Museum of California in Oakland Calif on Sunday July The exhibit featured Hayward s former Russell City and West Oakland Jane Tyska Bay Area News Group Memorabilia from Hayward s former Russell City on display in the Black Spaces Reclaim Remain Exhibition at the Oakland Museum of California in Oakland Calif on Sunday July Jane Tyska Bay Area News Group Rafeeq Muhammad and James Knowles from left visit the Black Spaces Reclaim Remain Exhibition at the Oakland Museum of California in Oakland Calif on Sunday July Both men lived in Hayward s former Russell City Jane Tyska Bay Area News Group Street signs from Hayward s former Russell City on display in the Black Spaces Reclaim Remain Exhibition at the Oakland Museum of California in Oakland Calif on Sunday July Jane Tyska Bay Area News Group Visitors check out the Black Spaces Reclaim Remain Exhibition at the Oakland Museum of California in Oakland Calif on Sunday July The exhibit featured Hayward s former Russell City and West Oakland Jane Tyska Bay Area News Group Visitors check out the Black Spaces Reclaim Remain Exhibition at the Oakland Museum of California in Oakland Calif on Sunday July The exhibit featured Hayward s former Russell City and West Oakland Jane Tyska Bay Area News Group Show Caption of Rafeeq Muhammad and James Knowles from left visit the Black Spaces Reclaim Remain Exhibition at the Oakland Museum of California in Oakland Calif on Sunday July Both men lived in Hayward s former Russell City Jane Tyska Bay Area News Group Expand Born in Knowles remembers his childhood in Russell City and describes a vigilant and self-reliant region His nostalgia for the camaraderie of the area he says is what made him most of excited to visit the exhibit It was a village raising kids Knowles says There was a mindset that We are in this together You talk to folks who ve been gone years that bond still exists Knowles remembers the hardships in his own life that came when the area was lost like going to four different schools in four years They took that from us because they required the land Knowles stated We only got what a lot The median home value of the surrounding area was to When we were forced to leave Russell City we lost a lot of that connectivity Muhammad says Specific of us went to San Francisco specific of us went to Oakland My particular immediate family stayed in Hayward There were a lot of miles between us Children play basketball in a dirt lot in Russell City circa Photo courtesy of the Hayward Area Historical Society But the miles between families could never separate Knowles and Muhammad from their Russell City roots As the pair walk toward an art piece that looks like a Monterey Cypress with boxy TVs attached to its limbs grainy home videos show Russell City family gatherings to the tune of jazz greats who played there like Ray Charles and Big Momma Thompson One video shows a pair of women in flowy white dresses dancing like wildflowers in a breeze The piece s description calls it the Dandelion Dance Knowles and Muhammad remember the family who performed it each year watching it was part of the birthright of growing up in Russell City Muhammad reflects on how the idea of the dandelion has taken on a new meaning since Russell City s demise You know the dandelion is one flower that is so resilient Heat cold it still grows Mohammad says It s an amazing little flower