New bakery and economic development headed to Northside

This episode sponsored by She's Birdie. Every woman knows that feeling, and She's Birdie knows it too. The just-in-case feeling. Just in case I hear something. Just in case someone tries the door. Just in case I need to wake up fast. It's not fear, it's awareness. And Birdie Box from She's Birdie was made for exactly that. Birdie Box is a portable travel door alarm designed by She's Bertie for hotels, dorms, Airbnbs, and anywhere you're staying away from home. It installs in seconds on the doorframe. And if the door is opened, it activates a loud siren and flashing strobe to help draw attention instantly. She's Birdie, because peace of mind should check in with you. Birdie Box by She's Birdie. Visit she's birdie.com. That's S-H-E-B-I-R-D-I-E.com. And order your Bertie box before your next day away from home. Big news on the north side. There is a new bakery and cafe opening, but also some great economic development for a neighborhood. Bakari Olatungi is joining me right now. And tell us a little bit about what's happening tomorrow, a Saturday. Well, we're having a grand opening event. It's entitled Garvey to O'Huru. It's going to be a celebration of our people, our culture, our resilience, and our future. It's the opening of the O'Huru Bakery Cafe on the corner of John and West Florison. And the program will be from 12 to 5 p.m. And we hope that everybody will come and support. There's a victory for the people. It is a victory for economic development on the north side, which is looked upon as a food desert, which we sum up from the who are moving to say it's a power desert. And we're just looking forward to provide economic development, provide jobs for people. It's going to be a cultural landing spot for people. And, of course, offer great. wholesome healthy food as well. That's the major difference on that corner today than it was. just a few years ago. Can you explain a little bit in a nutshell the Ahura movement? Oh, Hulu means freedom in Swahili. And what we're about is for African self-determination, similar to what we saw with the new NIA and Marcus Garvey's movement 100 years ago. It is mainly where we're about feeding, housing, and clothing ourselves and not dependent on those who made us to where we have to be dependent upon them.

It's self-determination movement. So the Ahura Bakery and Cafe, I'm just looking at some of what the offerings might be, and it sounds delicious. Most of the venue is both classic and vegan. We have bowls, we have wraps, we have sandwiches, we have herb season home fries. We're going to have cornbread. We have our famous jerk chicken, black bean, chili, and soups. And, of course, our famous sweet potato pie, which is our signature pie. We got mixed Bari Weiss pies, strawberry rhubarb pie, and strawberry rhubarb pie, and it's chocolate, bourbon, pecan, and on and on and on. And we also are selling our own O'Huru coffee blend. It's a great dark roast. It comes in bean as well as ground. Now, before the opening of this bakery, though, I understand that Ahuro did sell pies at Sulard Farmer's Market, so people may be familiar with some of the baked goods, right? Absolutely. We've had great success at Sulard, with great support from the community. We've sold out almost every weekend that we've been there. And we really want to thank the community for that support, and hopefully they will continue to support us at 3719. West Florison. You mentioned it's not just the grand opening, but there is a program or a celebration tomorrow going on from noon to five. What will people experience who come out? Well, we're going to have great culture. We have local people like Matita Baraka, who's a prominent St. Louis African poet. We're going to have other poets. We're going to have the speakers, the leaders of the O'Hurl Movement, Chairman Amalia Shatela, owner Yashatela, who is also the architect of everything out here on West Florissant. We're going to have marching bands from a local high school here. And I'm going to have some, I think Anthony Bale is supposed to speak with Sheen Aldrich, Megan Green, people from the city government. It is going to be a power-packed five-hour agenda. And what is your hope moving forward for not just your corner, but the rest of the neighborhood? Well, the neighborhood has already started to transform. We have a project and initiative going on here, but we have a farm. We have a community garden. We have an event center. We got a community center. We have a basketball court. We have a workforce independence program all along this corridor here. People are calling it the O'Huru District. And what it is, is when we say bringing power to the people, it is the people's institutions that we are building here. And it's an empowerment project to not only have a bakery, but it's actually a cultural spot where people can come. talk, exchange ideas, and people are developing right now. You will see other properties where people are cleaning them up and putting gardens in the area. And you can see a marked difference than what it was maybe five years ago in this very community.

Well, we love to see it. And if you want some sweet treats and to celebrate, it's going on tomorrow, Ahura Bakery and Cafe. That's 3719 West Florison Avenue. Bakery, Olatungi, thank you so much and have an incredible event. Thank you so much. This episode sponsored by She's Birdie. Every woman knows that feeling, and She's Birdie knows it too. The just-in-case feeling. Just in case I hear something. Just in case someone tries the door. Just in case I need to wake up fast. It's not fear, it's awareness. And Birdie Box from She's Birdie was made for exactly that. Birdie Box is a portable travel door alarm designed by She's Bertie for hotels, dorms, Airbnbs, and anywhere you're staying away from home. It installs in seconds on the doorframe. And if the door is opened, it activates a loud siren and flashing strobe to help draw attention instantly. She's Birdie, because peace of mind should check in with you. Birdie Box by She's Birdie. Visit she's birdie.com. That's S-H-E-B-I-R-D-I-E.com. And order your Bertie box before your next day away from home. I'm Jenna Fisher. And I'm Angela Kinsey. And together we have the podcast Office Ladies. Just because we finish rewatching the Office does not mean we're going anywhere. Every Wednesday we'll be sharing even more exclusive stories from the Office and our friendship with brand new guests. Plus, you can revisit all the Office Ladies rewatch episodes every Monday with new bonus tidbits before every episode. So follow and listen to Office Ladies on the free Odyssey app and wherever you get your podcast.