OAKLAND -- Race, bias and systemic inequity will be the themes of the evening Wednesday when the neighborhood group ONiT hosts the "Cracking the Codes" film and discussion at Grand Lake Theater.

It's a conversation that Oakland resident Omar Farmer wants to continue in his neighborhood so neighbors can better understand one another below the surface of their skin.

"I feel like a lot of issues like racial profiling and a lot of fear people have of each other are built on people not knowing each other or having trust in each other," he said. "We're trying to help people overcome the process of their implicit bias."

Farmer is one of the founders of ONiT, Oakland Neighbors Inspiring Trust, which began as a small community group last year after some uneasy discussion on the website Nextdoor.com. A resident of the Grand Lake neighborhood, Farmer chimed in when someone suggested another user was racially profiling their neighbors.

Although the discussion on the website has led to some positive outcomes, he and other neighbors wanted to meet in person and do something more. This led to forming the group and hosting meetings in local churches to discuss racial bias and bigotry. One meeting in May drew 50 neighbors. Others provided guided imagery sessions so people could see in their mind's eye what they perceived about other races.


"ONiT became the engine to keeping the dialogue going in our neighborhood," said lifetime Oakland resident Rachel Hartshorn, a physician. "I call it a neighborhood collective for social justice."

Hartshorn recognizes that many people are attracted to Oakland because of it's urban, immigrant vibe. They want something, she said, that isn't homogeneous, but with that also comes issues in addressing racial differences that people may not recognize they have.

The screening of "Cracking the Codes" will be the fifth ONiT meeting. The film was made by World Trust CEO Shakti Butler.

Along with selling and screening the film, World Trust hosts community forums like the one being held Wednesday to discuss race in a neutral setting.

"Usually when issues about race come up, the context is incendiary and the incident around it is loaded," said Tammy Johnson of World Trust, who will be at Grand Lake Theater that night to facilitate the discussion. "We create a container where people can have a conversation about what they know or don't know about systemic racism."

"Cracking the Codes" is filmed in a discussion-like format and features commentary from educators, activists and artists about race and racism. It has been shown in other Oakland neighborhoods and across the country.

ONiT organized an online fundraising effort, netting $1,000, to rent the Grand Lake Theater space to show the film. Hartshorn said the film is accessible to the larger public and that it's impossible to walk away from seeing it without having any real feelings.

"It's very effective at doing what it was meant to do, and I think that's evoking dialogue," she said. "It does a really good job in engaging the viewers in dialogue about race. It's kind of everything we wanted since we started the group."

For Farmer, the topics that the film covers are huge.

"When you look at all the different things that we need like police reform, a lot of these issues have to do with racial bias and racial profiling," he said.

Farmer, a 10-year Oakland resident and entrepreneur, is also a father and a single parent of a 7-year-old daughter. Racial topics like profiling and the perceived criminalization of people of color have always been an issue for him but he wants change for his daughter.

"I want to make sure that I do the best job that I can to turn over maybe more of a trustworthy and race-friendly world for my daughter," he said. "It's important for the people in Oakland, too. I'd like to see us embrace and celebrate (racial differences) rather than get caught up in the racism we have in the world. I think Oakland can be an example of how to make racial diversity a strength."