On February 12, the African People’s Education and Defense Fund (APEDF) went before the St. Louis Board of Adjustment to appeal an earlier denial for a permit to renovate and open Uhuru Bakery & Cafe.
In a four-hour quasi-judicial hearing, including extensive sworn community testimony and debate, the Board voted unanimously to overturn the denial and granted the permit.
After nine months of fighting City Hall, we won!
The hearing, held via Zoom, was attended by 116 people, roughly 100 were there in support of the new eatery.
Testimony for the Uhuru Bakery & Cafe permit began with a statement from APEDF’s attorney Dan Emerson. He reminded the Board of the 100+ letters of support from St. Louis residents, over 90 of which live in the immediate area where the Bakery & Cafe is slated to open.
Emerson challenged the standing of the College Hill Neighborhood Association (CHNA), which had been the primary voice for the initial permit denial.
He said that this association “at best, has a loose affiliation with the city” and that APEDF “made diligent efforts to get (their) support.”
He reported that the CHNA was unresponsive and at times openly hostile to those efforts and said they have no track record of revitalization in the neighborhood.
Letters of support were also submitted from three elected officials representing the area where the new restaurant is slated to open.
Ward 14 Alderman Rasheen Aldridge wrote, “This property has historically been a restaurant. It is on the West Florissant corridor where there are no options for healthy prepared food. Our community can come together over pastries, lunch, or coffee.”
State Representative Marlon Anderson, District 76, concurred. “I support new businesses in my district that help bring our community together. I believe that the Uhuru Bakery & Cafe is one such business.”
Anthony Bell, Committeeman for Ward 14, vouched for the nonprofit group: “The owner of the property and applicant for permits, the African People’s Education & Defense Fund, has a track record of improving properties in this area.”
During the hearing, twenty-five people spoke in favor of the project, beginning with APEDF President Ona Zene Yeshitela.
She explained that the mission of APEDF is to create programs that speak to the disparities in health, education, and economic development:
“We have invested two million dollars to purchase and renovate properties and buildings on the Northside. We created an event space and the Gary Brooks Community Garden.
“We built the One Africa One Nation Farmers Market where 30 vendors participate and 7 urban farmers bring food.
“We created a state-of-the-art basketball court and are in the development stages for Uhuru Wa Kulea (Freedom to Nurture) Women’s Center as well as the Uhuru Bakery & Cafe.
“Uhuru Foods & Pies has been operating successfully for the past 40 years in 17 different locations.”
Maureen Wagener, director of Uhuru Foods & Pies, which has worked with APEDF since 1994, spoke on the long and successful track record of Uhuru Foods & Pies, which bakes and sells 5,000 pies each year just during the fall holidays.
She testified, “Uhuru Bakery & Cafe has plans to serve breakfast sandwiches, lunch sandwiches including vegetarian and vegan options, crab cakes, delicious dishes using their special homemade jerk sauce, and veggie burgers from scratch. Plans also include welcoming volunteers from nearby universities and having an open view for customers to watch their food being prepared.”
Local author Angelika Mueller-Rowry bore witness: “I lived in the area 50 years ago when it was still vibrant. I’ve seen the decay. It’s so important to have economic development come back into this area.”
Tom Walk, a real estate professional with long family roots in St. Louis where his grandfather was a police officer, said he became aware of the Uhuru Bakery & Cafe through Veterans for Peace. He argued that, “Freedom and independence are for all if they’re for any of us. This is important for development in this area.”
Sheila Pargo, who lives near the APEDF development projects, stated, “I’m totally in support of their developments. ALL of them. My experience has been nothing but positive with the APEDF.”
In the middle of Uhuru Bakery & Cafe supporters’ testimony, the Zoom call was overtaken by a series of pornographic videos, commonly known as Zoom bombing. The Board of Adjustment Zoom operators appeared unable to block it, despite it being a well-known tactic by white nationalists to cause disruptions.
They eventually stopped and restarted the Zoom meeting and continued the hearing. This act of sabotage was ultimately unsuccessful in undermining this important struggle.
The APEDF had also submitted a letter of support from the Northside Independent Neighborhood Association (NINA), whose President, Christopher Gladney, declared, “The goal of NINA is to bring together College Hill and neighboring North Side communities to build unity for prosperity, commerce, neighborhood collaboration, and revitalization.”
Following the testimony of 25 supporters, a few people spoke in opposition to the Uhuru Bakery & Cafe.
Devante Saunders, a neo-colonialist representing the long-dormant College Hill Neighborhood Association, reiterated the group’s “strong opposition” to the Uhuru Bakery & Cafe. Ignoring the obvious positive impact of APEDF projects that are transforming the Florissant corridor, he blatantly lied that, “the basketball court sees very little use” and that APEDF does not maintain its properties.
In fact, APEDF does such a beautiful job of renovating dilapidated vacant sites that families are returning to the area and dedicating themselves to building and strengthening this historic African area.
Despite the long and proud history of the Uhuru Movement in making reparations a household word, fighting for black community control of the police, and building African community economic institutions for 50 years, Saunders said he is “troubled by the history of the Uhuru Movement.”
He repeated the FBI slander against the Uhuru Movement, saying its message is “Russian propaganda” designed to “sow discord.” He said, “We don’t want the Uhuru group in our neighborhood.”
A white property owner in the majority-black neighborhood, Teri Rose, who made vicious anti-black statements in the August hearing for the bakery permit, opposed the cafe permit and was allowed extra time by Chair Robinson to defend the sketchy history and background of the College Hill Neighborhood Association.
Rose personally owns seven properties in College Hill, many of which she has left vacant for 30 years or more. Other College Hill Neighborhood Association members, including its president, Devante Saunders, also personally own three or more properties. Unlike APEDF, which develops properties for the betterment of the community, these properties do not benefit the community at large, only the individuals who own them.
Members of the Board of Adjustment took note of the broad community support and verified that more than 90 petition signatures were submitted from College Hill residents.
Board member Mel Desemone, a Vice President with Gundaker Commercial Group, said that he had looked at all the addresses on the petitions and noted that there was no question that many neighbors in the blocks right near the Uhuru Bakery & Cafe had signed the petitions.
He observed that, in fact, the neighborhood is overall generally supportive of the bakery and concluded that “a bakery would be a good idea.”
Chair Robinson and board member George Hitt concurred. Hitt argued that people in the neighborhood should have the biggest say.
Chair Robinson countered the opposition of the College Hill Neighborhood Association to the right of APEDF to apply later for an alcohol license to serve beer and wine with meals, saying, “I understand that a lot of establishments can’t make things work without it. But, I also view a bakery cafe differently than I would a convenience store or gas station selling alcohol.”
The board took a vote. All were in favor of issuing the conditional use permit, and the denial was overturned!
