Even before last summer’s Millsmont Seminary Block Party, Pastor James Polk of the Greater House of Prayer Church in East Oakland’s Millsmont neighborhood knew a community event could greatly benefit the neighborhood.
But a proof of concept would help get others on board. So, in the summer of 2024, Polk teamed up with Rita Forte, owner of Olive Street Agency, and Jacky Johnson, Urban Peace Movement’s events manager, who told Forte about a grant that the Millsmont Merchants Association could use to put an event together. In July, with help from Northeastern University (formerly Mills College), the two groups organized a one-day, family-friendly block party with food and activities.
“After the block party, it propelled the idea even faster,” Polk said. “Rita and I started collaborating more, and feeding off each other, and we got motivated and very excited.”
The duo built on the idea from the block party and hosted the first Millsmont Mondays in November 2024. The event features a rotating selection of food trucks that set up shop in the parking lot next to the church at the corner of MacArthur Boulevard and Seminary Avenue. Forte and Polk, with help from Northeastern, set up tables, chairs, and speakers to play music so neighbors and other passersby could enjoy the food and mingle. The inaugural series of events ran the first Monday of the month from November through February of this year…