Art Shanks II Fought Violence With Blue-Collar Training

What does the future hold for West Oakland?

As three-dimensional models and digital renderings get created, decisions are being made right now that will dictate the future of the land.

There’s a long list of moving pieces, starting with the proposed redevelopment of the West Oakland BART station, which would bring hundreds of new residents and a shopping center in a giant 5.5-acre project called Mandela Station.

There’s Vision 980, a study and subsequent proposal to remove all or some of the 980 Freeway; in doing so, CalTrans and Oakland could potentially undo the harm it caused when it was constructed, which left the redlined African American neighborhood of West Oakland separated from downtown. There’s discussions about the future of the 16th Street Station, recently added to the National Register of Historic Places, which welcomed scores of African Americans arriving from southern states during the Great Migration.

An initiative called “7th Street Thrives” aims to return vibrancy to an area of West Oakland that was once a thriving Black business district. And there are lingering whispers about the future of Howard Terminal which, though closer to Jack London Square, will undoubtedly impact West Oakland.

As all these pieces move, there are people pushing to ensure that the future of the land honors those who’ve contributed to it in the past.

Rising from disaster

Just after a portion of the Cypress Freeway structure collapsed during the massive Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989, Art Shanks II and the other men in his family sprung to action. Shanks II, his brothers and father, all with backgrounds in construction, were in some ways ready for the unthinkable.

Shanks’ son, Art Shanks III, remembers his family members leaving the house, ladders in tow, and returning with stories about pulling people out of the carnage.

After that horrible day, Shanks II became more deeply involved with the community in the surrounding area, as well as the stretch of road that remained after the rubble was cleared. One of the westernmost main thoroughfares in Oakland, the street was desolate and dark. In the following years, it would be refurbished with a walkable tree-lined median and bike lane, and renamed in honor of the first president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela.

At the same time, realizing that a new generation of workers would be needed to rebuild Oakland’s infrastructure, Shanks II founded an apprenticeship program to usher in the next wave of blue collar workers; he called it the Cypress Mandela Training Center.

Accolades for community commitment

Last summer, the Oakland City Council unanimously voted to mount commemorative placards on Mandela Parkway between 7th Street and West Grand Avenue in honor of Shanks II, who passed in December of 2019.

“A distinguished member of the Oakland community,” reads the City Council resolution, “Mr. Shanks II’s efforts in pioneering pre-apprenticeship green construction training and workforce development concepts have not only elevated Oakland but have had a profound impact beyond our city’s borders, addressing challenges such as violence, poverty and literacy, yielding proven results nationally.”

At the time of the 1989 quake, Oakland was already battling a long list of issues: high unemployment, the crack epidemic and mass incarceration. Over the past four decades, the free apprenticeship program founded by Shanks II has opened career paths for thousands of people, bolstered the local construction industry and helped combat crime in the community.

The program also landed Shanks II numerous accolades. Under the Clinton administration, Shanks II served on the advisory board of the Federal Committee on Registered Apprenticeships. He also received awards from the Department of Transportation, the Federal Housing Authority and the Department of Labor. In 2015, Shanks II received the coveted Jefferson Award for supporting workforce development in Oakland.

In January of 2020, one month after his death, Sen. Nancy Skinner honored Shanks II while addressing the California Senate. “The Cypress Mandela Training Program,” said Sen. Skinner, “was the very first green jobs construction program and brown fields training program ever.”

Continuing the family legacy

When the final votes were tallied and the commemorative plaque resolution became official, Shanks III says he was beyond happy, calling it “a blessing.”

Shanks III says it’s confirmation that people know that by learning a trade and working hard, success is attainable.

But even he had to learn that the hard way.

“I actually had to go to the program,” he says as we sit on the tree-lined median of Mandela Parkway. “I went to jail and I called my dad from jail,” recalls Shanks III. “He hung up on me.”

After a little tough love from his father, Shanks III was released. He enrolled in Cypress Mandela soon after.

He learned a range of skills, from construction to welding. He was also interested in making media, producing videos and short films. That work has now grown to encompass multimedia making, as well as community activism.

Which, in a way, is exactly what his father did.

Shanks III says his father taught intergenerational skill development as a way to create community stability and combat neighborhood violence. To open employment pipelines, Cypress Mandela partnered with PG&E, East Bay MUD and the Oakland Unified School District, as well as established classes in local jails, reentry programs and probation departments.

“If you give people a way to make some money,” says Shanks III, referring to his father’s ideology, “they’re less likely to commit crimes.”

Just like his father, Shanks III works with local organizations, doing everything from recruiting young people for job fairs to visiting the homes of people who’ve recently lost loved ones to gunfire.

As a consultant, he works with the likes of The Mentoring Center and California Justice Leaders, as well as Oakland’s Department of Violence Prevention and the National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse (NCAPDA).

Shanks III, a certified opioid overdose trainer, tells me, “I’ve administered Narcan right here,” as he points to the corner of Mandela Parkway and 14th Street. There, the two-story monument dedicated to the first responders of the ’89 earthquake stands adjacent to a gated area made to prevent people from sleeping in the park.

A lasting impact

Last year Oakland’s homicide count, 81 in total, was lower than years prior. And overall, violent crime in Oakland has dropped since the period when Shanks II founded Cypress Mandela 35 years ago.

While crime waves are reflective of a number of variables, looking at changes over just one one year or even five years doesn’t always provide a clear picture. But decades worth of downward trends are evidence that something is working.

Through the work he does with nonprofits and organizations like Community Ready Corps, HEPPAC, B.O.S.S., Alameda County Care Connect and All Of Us Or None, Shanks III sees incremental shifts. But at the same time, “a lot of people don’t know about these resources in the community… and that leads to violent cycles.”

Instead of “falling into that trap,” Shanks III references his father’s program. “You could actually get a trade underneath your belt,” he adds, “you could actually work hard and actually be successful.”

As Oakland goes through another iteration of development, the city has made it a point to erect street signs commemorating the names of people — Too Short, Tupac and Dr. Huey P. Newton — who helped to build up the Town, culturally.

Currently there is no installation date for the signs honoring Shanks II, but ideally, it would come soon. As someone who created a pipeline for workers to physically build up this community, Shanks III is more than deserving of the honor.