‘A mural that celebrates Black joy’: Oakland home honors women of the Black Panther party

A two-story mural on the side of Jilchristina Vest's house is dedicated to a piece of history that isn't often told

Jilchristina Vest always wanted people to look up to Black women. Now, thanks to a two-story mural on the side of her Oakland home, they literally do.

The mural, dedicated to the women of the Black Panther party, was unveiled earlier this month. Vest's house sits at Center and 9th streets, in the heart of the West Oakland neighborhood where the Black Panther party began, once known as the Harlem of the west. The mural looks down on the corner where Huey Newton, one of the party's founders, was killed.