Arts and Culture
Crumble and Whisk Patisserie, a Black-Owned Bakery and Café, Opens in Laurel District
Crumble and Whisk Patisserie, opened in December near the corner of 39th and MacArthur in East Oakland. Owned and operated by popular chef Charles Farrier, who has garnered a huge following at Bay Area farmers’ markets, the location speaks to Farrier’s roots as a native of Oakland

By Carla Thomas
A new Black-owned business, Crumble and Whisk Patisserie, opened in December near the corner of 39th and MacArthur in East Oakland.
With its colorfully painted exterior, the cafe along the Laurel district’s popular corridor on MacArthur Boulevard is an artistic addition to the neighborhood.
The shop’s desserts are just as aesthetically pleasing, featuring signature cheesecakes in a variety of flavors. From lemon to berry to chocolate, patrons have a variety of treats to choose from including, savory pot pies and hot cinnamon buns.
Owned and operated by popular chef Charles Farrier, who has garnered a huge following at Bay Area farmers’ markets, the location speaks to Farrier’s roots as a native of Oakland.
Farrier said it was important to open a business in the community and a place where he grew up. Inspired by his father who cooked meals for the family, Farrier knew he always wanted cooking to be a big part of his future, but an unconventional path led him to where he is today.
At his corporate job, Farrier was challenged to bring dessert. His homemade cheesecake was such a hit with his co-workers that a colleague proposed a challenge: With every slice of his bourbon-vanilla cheesecake sold, Farrier had to consider taking his talents to the next level.
“Every slice sold for $2.75,” said Farrier.
Partnering with a paralegal friend with financial knowledge, Farrier was able to focus on developing the company concept and menu. From the San Francisco Farmers’ Market at the Ferry Building to Livermore Farmers’ Market, Farrier gained traction, but it was his hometown that initially supported him. “I started off by selling to the barbershops and small businesses right here on MacArthur,” said Farrier.
As the seasons change, so does the café’s menu. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, Farrier’s offerings will include a red wine raspberry cheesecake and roasted sweet potato and bourbon cheesecake. With such a wide range of choices, the cheesecake box is sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.
“Our cheesecake boxes feature four different mini cheesecakes,” he said. “We’re accepting pre-orders now.”
Like so many businesses that closed during the pandemic, Crumble and Whisk felt the impact when its lucrative catering business slowed down.
“We lost so many accounts. During the pandemic we had to pivot the business and that’s when we started offering cinnamon rolls, cookies, brownies, and chicken pot pies,” he said.
While readapting his catering business to fit the cafe business model, Farrier transformed menu items from frittatas to quiche; made house made turkey patties the star of breakfast sandwiches, and even added a Japanese-style egg salad sandwich.
Farrier has also utilized LaCocina’s small business incubator, which, according to their website, has the mission to “cultivate low-income food entrepreneurs as they formalize and grow their businesses.”
“LaCocina has really been an advocate and helped us sustain our success,” said Farrier.
Farrier finds it a privilege to follow his passion in not just baking, but community building. “Food brings the community together, families together, and it’s so universal. I’m glad to have a shop right where it all began,” he says.
Farrier’s message to aspiring entrepreneurs is simply, “Strive for your dreams, but do your research so you save time and money.”
For more information visit: CrumbleAndWhisk.com
Activism
New Oakland Moving Forward
This week, several socially enterprising members of this group visited Oakland to explore ways to collaborate with local stakeholders at Youth Empowerment Partnership, the Port of Oakland, Private Industry Council, Oakland, Mayor-elect Barbara Lee, the Oakland Ballers ownership group, and the oversight thought leaders in the Alameda County Probation Department.

By Post Staff
Since the African American Sports and Entertainment Group purchased the City of Oakland’s share of the Alameda County Coliseum Complex, we have been documenting the positive outcomes that are starting to occur here in Oakland.
Some of the articles in the past have touched on actor Blair Underwood’s mission to breathe new energy into the social fabric of Oakland. He has joined the past efforts of Steph and Ayesha Curry, Mistah Fab, Green Day, Too Short, and the Oakland Ballers.
This week, several socially enterprising members of this group visited Oakland to explore ways to collaborate with local stakeholders at Youth Empowerment Partnership, the Port of Oakland, Private Industry Council, Oakland, Mayor-Elect Barbara Lee, the Oakland Ballers ownership group, and the oversight thought leaders in the Alameda County Probation Department.
These visits represent a healthy exchange of ideas and plans to resuscitate Oakland’s image. All parties felt that the potential to impact Oakland is right in front of us. Most recently, on the back side of these visits, the Oakland Ballers and Blair Underwood committed to a 10-year lease agreement to support community programs and a community build-out.
So, upward and onward with the movement of New Oakland.
Arts and Culture
BOOK REVIEW: Love, Rita: An American Story of Sisterhood, Joy, Loss, and Legacy
When Bridgett M. Davis was in college, her sister Rita was diagnosed with lupus, a disease of the immune system that often left her constantly tired and sore. Davis was a bit unfazed, but sympathetic to Rita’s suffering and also annoyed that the disease sometimes came between them. By that time, they needed one another more than ever.

By Terri Schlichenmeyer
Author: Bridgett M. Davis, c.2025, Harper, $29.99, 367 Pages
Take care.
Do it because you want to stay well, upright, and away from illness. Eat right, swallow your vitamins and hydrate, keep good habits and hygiene, and cross your fingers. Take care as much as you can because, as in the new book, “Love, Rita” by Bridgett M. Davis, your well-being is sometimes out of your hands.
It was a family story told often: when Davis was born, her sister, Rita, then four years old, stormed up to her crying newborn sibling and said, ‘Shut your … mouth!’
Rita, says Davis, didn’t want a little sister then. She already had two big sisters and a neighbor who was somewhat of a “sister,” and this baby was an irritation. As Davis grew, the feeling was mutual, although she always knew that Rita loved her.
Over the years, the sisters tried many times not to fight — on their own and at the urging of their mother — and though division was ever present, it eased when Rita went to college. Davis was still in high school then, and she admired her big sister.
She eagerly devoured frequent letters sent to her in the mail, signed, “Love, Rita.”
When Davis was in college herself, Rita was diagnosed with lupus, a disease of the immune system that often left her constantly tired and sore. Davis was a bit unfazed, but sympathetic to Rita’s suffering and also annoyed that the disease sometimes came between them. By that time, they needed one another more than ever.
First, they lost their father. Drugs then invaded the family and addiction stole two siblings. A sister and a young nephew were murdered in a domestic violence incident. Their mother was devastated; Rita’s lupus was an “added weight of her sorrow.”
After their mother died of colon cancer, Rita’s lupus took a turn for the worse.
“Did she even stand a chance?” Davis wrote in her journal.
“It just didn’t seem possible that she, someone so full of life, could die.”
Let’s start here: once you get past the prologue in “Love, Rita,” you may lose interest. Maybe.
Most of the stories that author Bridgett M. Davis shares are mildly interesting, nothing rare, mostly commonplace tales of growing up in the 1960s and ’70s with a sibling. There are a lot of these kinds of stories, and they tend to generally melt together. After about fifty pages of them, you might start to think about putting the book aside.
But don’t. Not quite yet.
In between those everyday tales, Davis occasionally writes about being an ailing Black woman in America, the incorrect assumptions made by doctors, the history of medical treatment for Black people (women in particular), attitudes, and mythologies. Those passages are now and then, interspersed, but worth scanning for.
This book is perhaps best for anyone with the patience for a slow-paced memoir, or anyone who loves a Black woman who’s ill or might be ill someday. If that’s you and you can read between the lines, then “Love, Rita” is a book to take in carefully.
Activism
Faces Around the Bay: Author Karen Lewis Took the ‘Detour to Straight Street’
“My life has been a roller-coaster with an unlimited ride wristband! I was raised in Berkeley during the time of Ron Dellums, the Black Panthers, and People’s Park. I was a Hippie kid, my Auntie cut off all our hair so we could wear the natural styles like her and Angela Davis.

By Barbara Fluhrer
I met Karen Lewis on a park bench in Berkeley. She wrote her story on the spot.
“My life has been a roller-coaster with an unlimited ride wristband! I was raised in Berkeley during the time of Ron Dellums, the Black Panthers, and People’s Park. I was a Hippie kid, my Auntie cut off all our hair so we could wear the natural styles like her and Angela Davis.
I got married young, then ended up getting divorced, raising two boys into men. After my divorce, I had a stroke that left me blind and paralyzed. I was homeless, lost in a fog with blurred vision.
Jesus healed me! I now have two beautiful grandkids. At 61, this age and this stage, I am finally free indeed. Our Lord Jesus Christ saved my soul. I now know how to be still. I lay at his feet. I surrender and just rest. My life and every step on my path have already been ordered. So, I have learned in this life…it’s nice to be nice. No stressing, just blessings. Pray for the best and deal with the rest.
Nobody is perfect, so forgive quickly and love easily!”
Lewis’ book “Detour to Straight Street” is available on Amazon.
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