Arts and Culture
‘Faith You Can See’ Playing at The Empress Theater in Vallejo
The play “Faith You Can See,” written by Cindy Isaac and produced by Charisma City Productions (CCP), will be playing at the Empress Theater in Vallejo on Saturday, Aug.10 at 5 p.m. The Empress Theater is located at 330 Virginia St. near Marin Street. Tickets for “Faith You Can See” can be purchased online at Eventbrite. For more information, call (707) 933-7714.

By Godfrey Lee
The play “Faith You Can See,” written by Cindy Isaac and produced by Charisma City Productions (CCP), will be playing at the Empress Theater in Vallejo on Saturday, Aug.10 at 5 p.m. The Empress Theater is located at 330 Virginia St. near Marin Street.
Tickets for “Faith You Can See” can be purchased online at Eventbrite. For more information, call (707) 933-7714.
“Faith You Can See” features local talented performers from Marin City. A musical ‘dra-medy’ about the perils of Sammy, a faithful and kind family man who is struck with blood cancer. Paralleling “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, Sammy must figure out how to face his past, present and future before it’s too late. His tight-knit, faith-based community shows up in full force and in song in the strangest places.
Cindy M. L. Isaac was born and raised in Ohio. She followed God very early in her journey, sang in her church choir, taught K-8th grade as a Christian school educator, served as interim principal, wrote school plays and produced TV specials.
Issac also pursued her love for Christian theatre. She believed that God had charted her path, so she accepted her calling and began to dream of one day creating a theatre company to minister in churches and bring glory to God in places like the Paramount Theatre and on BET.
Cindy earned her B.A. in TV and Radio Production, and her Master of Arts degree at Regent University in Theatre (Directing) in 2018.
In 2008, she founded Charisma Kids Inc. in Atlanta where she wrote, directed, and designed character-building plays for young actors. Through this grassroots, after-school ministry, Isaac reached underserved and underrepresented communities by sponsoring youth and teaching the fundamentals of “Doing, Being, and Believing.”
From 2009-2019, while residing in Marin County, Issac produced and wrote theatrical documentaries and Black History Month portrayals in and around Marin County.
With the collaborative efforts of countless cast and crew members, Isaac has written, directed, produced, and/or designed about 50 plays and family-friendly events in Georgia, Virginia, Northern California, and Marin City.
The following plays were performed at the First Missionary Baptist Church in Marin City: “More Than a Conqueror” (2005); The Harringtons “Go Tell It on the Mountain” (2013); “Faith You Can See” (2013 and 2014); “I Am Black History” (2014); “I Need A Little Mo’ Jesus” (2014); “Jesus is Alive” (2014); “Ain’t That Good News” (2014); “Queen Mother’s Last Dance” (2014); “Take Me to The Water” (2014); “Center of My Joy” (2015); “Take Me to The King” (2015); “Very Nearly Broken” (2014); “The Lord Strong and Mighty” (2015); and “Zoom Christmas Special” (2020).
In spite of COVID-19, over the last five years Isaac co-produced COVID-19 PSAs, taught remotely and in the classroom, and worked behind the scenes in theater productions to include the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, California Expo, Vallejo City Unified School District, and Women Helping All People.
In late 2023, while residing in Vacaville, CA, Isaac founded Charisma City Productions Inc. (CCP) 501c3, a Black-owned and operated Christian theatre corporation. In April of this year her company sponsored more than 25 youth and first-time theater-goers at the CCP East Bay Gospel Festival held at the historic Black Repertory Group theater in Berkeley.
This talent extravaganza and worship event introduced their premier gospel musical production of “Faith You Can See,” to share the awesome power of faith, as well as the CCP 2024 Health Initiative to support those touched by leukemia.
Along with the support of the CCP board of directors, it is this power of faith which is rooted in Romans 16:1, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation” that continues to strengthen Isaac’s courage and vision on her journey toward her future.
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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