ABOUT US • THE 3 Rs • OUR MISSION • COMMUNITY EVENTS • WALKING TOUR • JOIN US • FAQs
• REMEMBERING •
Oakland’s
Black Legacy
Walking Tour
– PART 1 : NORTH OAKLAND –
This self-guided tour takes you to places that are or once were pillars of the community, threatened or displaced by the redevelopment efforts of government initiatives.
The Locations
〰️
The Locations 〰️
Marcus Books
-
Drs. Raye and Julian Richardson, the founders of Marcus Books, met while attending Tuskegee University. In 1946, Julian opened Success Printing Co. in San Francisco’s Fillmore District, a vibrant center of Black culture at the time. In 1960, the couple founded Marcus Books—named in honor of Marcus Garvey—as a bookstore and publishing house dedicated to Black history, knowledge of self, and cultural empowerment.
Over the decades, Marcus Books has become a beloved literary and cultural institution, hosting legendary figures such as Toni Morrison, Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, Muhammad Ali, Angela Davis, Walter Mosley, Nikki Giovanni, and many others. Just as meaningful are the book clubs, intimate poetry readings, and everyday conversations that unfold within its walls—making Marcus not just a bookstore, but a community hub.
In 1976, as redevelopment efforts displaced Black communities from San Francisco, many families—including the Richardsons—moved to the East Bay. That same year, they opened a second Marcus Books location at 3900 Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Oakland. As daughter Blanche Richardson recalls, “When the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency began ‘redeveloping’ Blacks out of San Francisco... my parents opened a second store in Oakland.”
As the Richardsons grew older, Raye earned her doctorate from UC Berkeley and led the Black Studies department at San Francisco State. After Julian’s passing in 2000, Raye continued to operate the store until the Johnson family—Karen, Gregory, and Tamiko—took the reins, carrying forward its enduring legacy.
It’s All Good Bakery
-
It's All Good Bakery in Oakland holds significant historical importance in the Black liberation movement. The bakery has been family owned and operated since 1996 by Kim Cloud, who was born and raised in Oakland and opened it after ending his rap career.
Today, KimCloud honors this legacy by operating his family bakery in this historically significant location. The bakery displays posters acknowledging the history, with one stating "The Black Panther Party for Self Defense Opened the Party's first office at this location."
The transformation from revolutionary headquarters to community bakery represents the evolution of Oakland's Black liberation spaces, maintaining community presence while honoring the radical history that began there.The building's connection to Black liberation runs much deeper than the current bakery. On January 2, 1967, the site where the bakery now sits became the first official office of the Black Panthers, when Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton opened their revolutionary organization's first headquarters in the storefront at what is now 5622 Martin Luther King Jr. Way.
David Hilliard, the former chief of staff of the Black Panthers, designed the bakery's tribute wall. The owner of It's All Good, Kim Cloud, participated in the Black Panther's free breakfast program as a child. Many of the desserts at the bakery are madefrom his family's heirloom recipes.
Original Merritt College
-
The original Merritt College was located in North Oakland at 5714 Martin Luther King Jr. Way (then Grove Street). Established as part of the Peralta Community College District, Merritt became a hotbed of political education and activism during the 1960s. It played a critical role in the Black Power movement, most notably as the college where Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale—co-founders of the Black Panther Party—met and began organizing. The campus became known for its social activism spirit, culturally responsive curriculum, and its role in fostering a generation of socially conscious leaders in the Bay Area.
Lois the Pie Queen
-
Lois the Pie Queen was founded by Lois Davis, a talented Louisiana cook, and her husband Roland Davis.
The restaurant's origin story has some conflicting dates in different sources, but it appears the couple opened their first location in 1951 in Berkeley at Ashby and Sacramento, though some sources suggest it may have been as early as 1949 or 1953. After graduating from high school and working as a cook in a San Francisco restaurant, they opened their first restaurant on Sacramento Street in Berkeley, California. The restaurant got its distinctive name when due to the notoriety of her pies within the church community, her husband named her, and the restaurant, "Lois the Pie Queen".
The restaurant changed locations a few times, albeit staying in the same general neighborhood; it has been in its current location on 60th and Adeline in Oakland for 48 years and counting. More specifically, the restaurant has been in its current location since the early 1970s. The current location at 851 60th Street sits fittingly on a pie-shaped corner in North Oakland, serving a slice of nostalgia in Oakland.
Your Black Muslim Bakery
-
Your Black Muslim Bakery was founded by Yusuf Bey in 1968, initially opening in Santa Barbara, California before relocating to Oakland in 1971. The business name was suggested by Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad, Bey's spiritual guide. At its height in the mid-1990s, YBMB had eight bakery outlets.
The bakery sold baked goods in accordance with Islamic dietary laws and became more than just a business - it served as a key support hub and example of enterprise success for the Black community. Bey reached out to "lost black men -- ex-cons as part of his outreach efforts and gave them jobs at the bakery. After Bey's death in 2003, YBMB fell into debt and declared in October 2006. In August 2007, in connection with investigations into the murder of Oakland Post journalist Chauncey Bailey and a number of other crimes, police conducted a massive raid on the company's San Pablo Avenue bakery. A concurrent health inspection resulted in its closure. Later that day, a court ordered the pending reorganization converted into a liquidation bankruptcy.
Mable Howard Apartments
-
Mable Howard was called “Mama” Howard in part because she politically nurtured many prominent civic leaders. She was was a humanitarian, political activist, union activist, and civic leader. Her home became an open meeting place for the socially active and politically inclined in the area. She continued with her social and community activities her entire life and believed she could save the world. Mable is quoted as saying: "If I could put my arms around the whole world I would!"
One of her major efforts was to push for the undergrounding of the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) tracks in Berkeley’s South side to avoid dividing and harming the community. Her lawsuit ultimately led BART to move the rail line underground. The Mable Howard Apartments were named to commemorate her efforts.
Sculpture : “Delivered, Mable’s Promissory Note”
-
“Delivered, Mable’s Promissory Note,” was unveiled outside the Ashby BART station on the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Adeline Street in 2024.
The sculpture pays homage to her mother, the activist Mable Howard, who led the 1960s movement to underground the BART line in order to avoid dividing the largely Black neighborhood in South Berkeley. The monument is inspired by traditional West African metalwork — which served as currency and jewelry — and is meant to highlight the contributions of Berkeley’s African American community as it faces gentrification, racism and oppression, according to the artwork signage.
Mildred Howard shared that the title for the piece was inspired by the fact that efforts to name the BART station after her mother were dismissed with the explanation that “stations aren’t named after people,” despite there being one named MacArthur station. Mildred Howard, who grew up in South Berkeley and lived there for most of her life, moved to West Oakland in 2017 after her rent was doubled. Howard isn’t alone in being priced out of Berkeley as housing costs have climbed; the city has lost two-thirds of its Black residents over the last half century. (source: berkelyside.org)
The documentary film, “Welcome to the Neighborhood,” tells the story of Mildred Howard. Directed by Pam Uzzell, an independent filmmaker and part-time instructor at the Academy of Art University’s Schools of Communications & Media Technologies (COM) and Motion Pictures & Television (MPT).
REMEMBERING
RESISTING
RECLAIMING
Join us
Sign up to receive invites to R3 Collaborative community activations & events. See you there!