In 1924, a mob surrounded the home of Piedmont’s first Black homeowners and demanded they leave town. Over a century later, their great-granddaughter is suing the wealthy city, alleging that officials used violence, intimidation and a false public-works claim to force the family out of a property now worth over $2 million.

Jordana Ackerman filed the complaint on Feb. 2 in Alameda County Superior Court against the the city of Piedmont, according to Ackerman’s attorney. The suit accuses Piedmont of fraudulently condemning her great-grandfather Sidney Dearing’s home under the pretense of building a public road that was never constructed. It also alleges violations of the California Constitution’s equal protection clause, arguing that the city forced Dearing to give up his home “solely for the reason” that he and his family were Black. The legal team is arguing that the statute of limitations should not bar the case.

Ackerman is seeking compensation that “at minimum” reflects the value of the home today, currently estimated to be over $2 million, according to the complaint. Her attorney Leah Aden, a senior attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, told SFGATE that one reason the suit was filed this year is that key documentation surrounding the city’s eminent domain action was not uncovered by Ackerman until 2025. 

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A view of Dearing Park from the corner of Magnolia Avenue and Wildwood Avenue in Piedmont, Calif.

“This history has been largely hidden,” Aden said. “It’s no small thing that people, for buying a home, were threatened to be lynched, had a 500-person mob come to their door and threaten their existence.” 

Sidney Dearing, a successful Black businessman who owned a popular jazz club in West Oakland called the Creole Cafe, purchased a two-story house at 67 Wildwood Ave. in January 1924. According to the lawsuit, he became the first Black homeowner in the wealthy East Bay enclave after his mother-in-law purchased the house with his money. She then transferred the home ownership to Dearing and his wife. 

Kid Ory’s Creole Jazz Band, including Baby........

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