2,334
Followers
6,139
Following
500
Posts
N/A
Reels
1
Highlights
4/8
Photos/Videos in last 12
Bio
I am because WE are. @kingmakersofoakland
-
Avg likes
-
Avg comments
-
Engagement
0.1/wk
Posting
Likes and comments are still being collected for this account. Check back shortly.
#kingmakersofoakland#townbusiness#unmaskingmaleeducators#blackboyjoy#oaklandyouth#malevulnerability#goldenstatemusicandtech#dubnation#oaklandstyleweek#inspiredontherunway
Recent posts
(no caption)
04 Mar 2023
Baba C recently sat down to reflect on KOO’s mission, his sacred purpose, and why we center community responsibility over individualism. But the real story here is the village behind the camera.
Massive shoutout to our partners at Posterchild.AI for producing this video and providing the platform that helps us capture the heartbeat of our work. We want to give a special salute to their founder, Bro Leandrew. He isn’t just an incredible storyteller and partner—he is a dedicated KOO volunteer and a vital advisor for our newest program, Sankofa Kings.
Thank you, Bro Leandrew, for leveraging your platform to amplify our impact and for consistently pouring your genius into the next generation!
03 Nov 2026
We are proud to announce the Golden State Music & Technology Program, presented by @NBA2K. We built it with the Golden State Warriors, Golden State Entertainment and NBA 2K to develop the next generation of creative leaders in Oakland. 🎤🎧
We’re looking for 30 young creatives from Oakland, ages [14–24], who love music and technology and have a story to tell. Over 12 weeks they’ll learn Song Writing & Performance, Music Production and DJing from experienced music instructors, guest artists and specialized facilitators, working in professional recording studios with industry-standard equipment. The curriculum is grounded in youth development and narrative change, and the cohort ends with live showcases for the community.
Sessions run Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:00 to 6:00 PM at KOO Labs Design Center & Production house.
Space is limited. If you know a young person who is ready to elevate their craft, share this post. Apply now: [https://bit.ly/4zzwzsS]
#GoldenStateMusicAndTech #KingmakersOfOakland #dubnation
01 Jan 1970
Oakland Style Week was an absolute movie! 🎬✨
On Thursday, October 8th at The Atrium at Uptown Station, we had the honor of celebrating local designers at the beautifully produced "Inspired on the Runway" fashion show—and our young Kings absolutely showed out!
Big props to King Senay for his incredible leadership, and a massive shout-out to our young Black designers who officially debuted original, upcycled looks from their fashion academy! Let's give it up for our Runway Fashion Designers and their lines:
👕 Xavier Harris | Xplicit
👕 Elijah-Amir Richardson | Life Before Death
👕 Ronald Singleton | Ronald Archive
🌺This extraordinary convening wouldn't have been possible without the brilliant leadership behind the scenes. Huge thank you to the event producers, Visit Oakland for your vision and support
🔥📸 Swipe through to see our Kings shining!#KingmakersOfOakland #OaklandStyleWeek #InspiredOnTheRunway #TownBusiness #BlackBoyJoy #YouthInFashion #SocialArchitects #OaklandYouth #TakeYourCrownOutYourPocket
16 Oct 2026
Showing What’s Behind the Mask
Young people often see the success, the leadership, the confidence, and the polished version of the adults around them.
They do not always see what it took to get there.
In this conversation, @babachris speaks openly about grief, family struggles, addiction, boundaries, doubt, and the emotional weight that can exist behind the image of a strong Black man and leader.
Chris says:
“A lot of times they have this kind of myth of who we are.”
Because young people may see “all the polished, the house, the car, these things,” without knowing what is happening “on the other side of the mask.”
For Chris, vulnerability is not weakness. It is something young people need to witness so they understand that struggle, grief, uncertainty, and difficult seasons are also part of being human.
“I really believe our children need to see us more often being vulnerable.”
🎧 Listen to the full conversation with Chris Chatmon on UnMASKing with Male Educators.
youtube.com/@branchspeaks & creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/branch-speaks/
#MaleVulnerability #BlackMen #EmotionalWellness #AuthenticLeadership #UnMASKingMaleEducators
16 Oct 2026
Engage. Encourage. Empower.
Young people do not always need to be fixed.
Sometimes they need adults willing to get close enough to understand them.
Chris Chatmon @babachris has spent years working with young Black men through Kingmakers of Oakland, helping create spaces where identity, belonging, culture, creativity, and leadership are centered.
His message to educators is clear:
“They don’t need fixing. But we have to engage, encourage, empower.”
Chris believes the work starts with proximity—knowing who young people are, understanding where they come from, creating a sense of belonging, and recognizing the greatness they already possess.
As he says:
“We just have to be proximate. We gotta lead with love.”
🎧 Listen to the full conversation with Chris Chatmon on UnMASKing with Male Educators.
youtube.com/@branchspeaks & creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/branch-speaks/
#BlackBoys #MaleMentorship #StudentBelonging #LeadWithLove #UnMASKingMaleEducators
15 Oct 2026
A new episode of SCRIBE just dropped on our YouTube! 🎙️👑
This week, host Jordon Chatmon sits down with the legendary Dr. Grace Carroll (Mama Grace) for a powerful, intergenerational build on Black literacy.
They get into the vital need for Black male mentors in our classrooms, the power of seeing brown skin in early reading books, and how we protect our children's critical thinking in a digital world.
The ultimate takeaway? Our children are already born with inherent genius. Reading is just the tool to unlock it.
👉 Tap in and watch the full build now! (Link in bio)
#KingmakersOfOakland #ScribePodcast #BlackLiteracy #MamaGrace #TownBusiness #BlackBoyJoy #YouthEmpowerment #TheVillage
14 Oct 2026
Schedule Your Mindfulness First
Sometimes the body tells us what the mind has been trying to ignore.
Chris Chatmon @babachris is the founder and CEO of Kingmakers of Oakland, a longtime educator and leader whose work centers on helping young Black men understand their identity, purpose, and greatness. In this conversation, he opens up about a major health scare that forced him to rethink how he was carrying stress.
After experiencing a heart attack, Chris realized that purpose alone is not enough if the way we pursue it is unsustainable.
One piece of advice stayed with him:
“Schedule your mindfulness first and then schedule these other things.”
For Chris, that has meant becoming more intentional about rest, walking, mindfulness, and creating a healthier balance between spirit, mind, body, family, and community.
You can stay committed to the work without sacrificing yourself in the process.
🎧 Listen to the full conversation with Chris Chatmon on UnMASKing with Male Educators.
youtube.com/@branchspeaks & creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/branch-speaks/
#EducatorWellness #MensMentalHealth #Mindfulness #MaleEducators #UnMASKingMaleEducators
14 Oct 2026
“They don’t need fixing. But we have to engage, encourage, empower.
That being said... Chris Chatmon @babachris is speaking the truth.
Through his work with Kingmakers of Oakland, Chris reminds us that young people already possess greatness. The work is not about fixing them. It is about getting close enough to know them, creating belonging, and helping draw out what is already within them.
As Chris says, “We just have to be proximate. We gotta lead with love.”
❗Check out the full conversation with Chris Chatmon, founder and CEO of Kingmakers of Oakland: UnMASKing with Male Educators is on @applepodcasts @spotify, and @youtube
youtube.com/@branchspeaks & link in BIO
—-
#unmaskingwithmaleeducators #millionmaskmovement #takingoffthemask #totm #doace #UNWME #diaryofaconfusededucator #youarenotalone #podcast #schoolcommunity #classroomcommunity #podcasts #teachersofinstagram #teacherlife #education #malevulnerability #classroommanagement #mentalhealthawareness #classroomideas #socialemotionallearning #blackmaleeducator #mentalhealth #classroomculture #schoolculture #schoolclimate #classroomtips #teachingtips #teachertips #mentorship #blackmaleachievement
13 Oct 2026
Friendly reminder: Applications are still open for KOO Labs Academies! 🎨🎬🎧🧵
If you’re an Oakland student looking to level up your skills in filmmaking, animation, fashion design, or music production, now is the time to tap in. Our after-school academies give you the space, tools, and mentorship to turn your creative passions into reality.
Don't miss out—spots are filling up!
👉 Hit the link in our bio to apply today!
#KingmakersOfOakland #KOOLabsAcademies #OaklandYouth #Filmmaking #FashionDesign #MusicProduction #Animation #TownBusiness #FutureArchitects
09 Oct 2026
Paper sketches at 9 AM. Playable video games by noon. 🎮👑
This past Saturday, Kingmakers of Oakland hosted our 31st BiAnnual Kings in the Making: Architects of the Arcade at @metwesthighschool as part of @oaklandtechweek @kaporcenter @oaklandfund @rowena.brownoakland @carrollforcouncil @nuoakland @blacspace.coop
Young Kings, Queens and Non-Binary royalty, ages 5 to 18, sat side by side with high school leads, Opportunity Age mentors, elders and community builders. Together they designed, built and published retro 8-bit games from scratch, all in a single morning.
How it worked:
✏️ Story blueprints drawn by hand
🤖 Brought to life with generative AI (Gemini + Suno)
🕹️ Built in Microsoft MakeCode Arcade
🏆 Test-played by the community at our live Arcade Showcase
This is Sankofa in motion: reaching back for Ancestral Intelligence so we can build forward. Our young people were not on the menu. They were at the table, and they were designing it. They are not just consumers of technology but its architects. This is Afrofuturism happening right now in The Town. ✊🏾
Ubuntu: I am because we are. Every intergenerational tribe on Saturday proved we have all we need within one another.
Shout out to the Young MC, @42k.lil
Deep gratitude to our workshop leads:
👑 Little Kings (Pre-K–3rd): @basicreatesart & @Kevin T Jr.
👑 Kingdom Builders (4th–5th): @zaza.boi
👑 Know Thyself (Middle School): @leandrewr & @William Penn
👑 Prompt to Life (High School): @wordxlife & @calvinwilliams3
👑 Pixel Pioneers (High School): @Tam Dao & @Staphon
To @theohollingsworth , @Damari and the whole KOO Team who set up Friday night and were on deck by 8 AM Saturday: you made the magic possible. To our families, MetWest and the Oakland Tech Week ecosystem: thank you.
💬 What game would YOU have designed at 10 years old? Tell us below 👇🏾
🔁 Share this with a young creator, a parent, an educator or a funder who needs to see what the future of tech looks like in Oakland.
The future isn't happening to our children. They're building it.
In service,
Baba C & the Kingmakers family
06 Oct 2026
When community comes together, possibility becomes practice. ✊🏾👑
Saturday reminded me what becomes possible when we center our children and create the conditions for them to: imagine, create, learn, rejoice, build, and grow together.
For more than 16 years, beginning in 2010, Kingmakers of Oakland has curated ManUp and Kings in the Making as sacred spaces where Black boys and young men are surrounded by community, culture, knowledge, love, and possibility.
From "Your Health Is Your Wealth" and "Hip Hop Heals" to "Redefining What’s Possible", each gathering has asked our Kings to see themselves, and their futures, more expansively.
Saturday, at our 31st BiAnnual ManUp/Kings in the Making, the invitation was:
🎮 Architects of the Arcade.
Not simply to talk about the future. To build it.
Deep gratitude to Dr. @Sharlonda Gregory, Principal of @metwesthighschool, for opening her school and welcoming our village into the space.
Throughout the day, our Kings engaged in interactive workshops, conversations, creative challenges, gaming, and intergenerational experiences designed to build relationships, spark curiosity, share knowledge, and strengthen their capacity to imagine what is possible for themselves, their families, and their communities.
This gathering was especially powerful because Kings in the Making aligned with @oaklandtechweek
Through our Sankofa Kings program, @kingmakersofoakland is creating an entry point for young people into the local, national, and global conversation around responsible AI.
But our starting point is intentional:
Before Artificial Intelligence, we begin with Ancestral Intelligence.
Before asking what technology can do, we ask our Kings:
WHO are you?
WHOSE are you?
We study the algorithms that existed long before computers, the ways our ancestors organized, communicated, created, healed, protected one another, transferred knowledge, built community, practiced sovereignty, and generated prosperity.
Then we ask:
How can today’s technology serve those same human purposes?
Because our Kings cannot only be consumers of the technology shaping their future. They must become creators. Designers. Builders. Owners...
05 Oct 2026
Follower tracking
We have started recording @babachris, but only 1 observation so far — not enough to show a trend yet. Track it weekly →
Download @babachris's data
Everything below is derived from this account, priced on the counts shown. Delivered as CSV by emailed link.
You only pay for rows we deliver. Counts are the maximum available today; if an export comes back smaller, the difference is refunded automatically. Counts as last collected 7 hours, 59 minutes ago.
Tracking
What we have recorded about @babachris over time, and ongoing alerts.
Other reports
Not downloads of this account: they take their own inputs.
Similar accounts
Accounts we track that share hashtags, mentions or bio topics with @babachris.
@kaporfoundation
803 followers
Also mentions @kaporcenter
@oaklandtechweek
1,389 followers
Also uses #kingmakersofoakland
@mrgrandeofficial
1.1M followers
Also mentions @applepodcasts
@realdlhughley
3.3M followers
Also mentions @applepodcasts
@_ohm_audio
34 followers
Also mentions @applepodcasts
@itsanitarani
223.0K followers
Also mentions @applepodcasts
@chetzar
125.5K followers
Also mentions @spotify
@anxietyanddepression_adaa
21.7K followers
Also uses #mensmentalhealth