Celebrating Black History Month!
Happy Black History Month! This month at The Neighboring Movement, we’ve been thinking about how honoring this rich part of our heritage and community should not just last a month but take place all year round.
Enjoy these photos of Ruby volunteering for Storytime Village earlier this month! She, along with most of the TNM team, read to 1st - 4th graders about Martin Luther King Jr. Huge shout out to Tasha for organizing this!!
It was truly a gift to get to spend some time at Gordon Parks Elementary! The kids were incredible and our staff had the best time. Happy Black History Month and check out the list below for our recommendations on locally owned Black businesses and organizations.
Here are our staff picks for places you can support ALL YEAR ROUND!
Tasha - Planted Tea Shop: www.plantedteashop.com - A haven for bridging the gap between tea, wellness, and the strength of the community, run by friend and collaborator Naquela Pack!
Ruby - Incredibly Sweet: www.ncrediblysweet.com - An edible, gourmet dessert business owned by community-oriented Nicole Williams.
Adam - The Artichoke: www.artichokesandwichbar.com - A restaurant and bar with great food and a fantastic haven for local music.
Aileen - The Blackprint: www.theblackprintict.com - A business that is a fantastic example of asset-based community development in action, a collective that houses the fantastic works of black-owned Wichita businesses and is owned by our wonderful staff member Tasha Hayes!
Kristopher - Get Ya Color On: www.getyacoloron.com - An amazing, creative space, open to the public, that encourages creativity and expression through coloring and offers all sorts of awesome resources like customized coloring books and coloring parties - all run by another amazing CAN alum, Sontia Levy-Mason!
Marisa - The Expatriates Building: www.facebook.com/ICTExpatriates/ - Sandrine Lisk (a CAN alum!) at The Expatriates Building has created a mixed-use facility not only for immigration and naturalization legal services as well as citizenship classes, but also shares the space with the community by renting it out as an event venue that can accommodate up to 70 guests!
(Some non-local options!)
Ian - Cooperation Jackson: www.cooperationjackson.org - An organization that puts economic power, housing, and local decision-making in the hands of black residents through cooperatives and neighborhood assemblies; the best example of place-based organizing in the US that I know of!
Adam - Black Banjo Reclamation Project: www.blackbanjoreclamationproject.org - An awesome nonprofit that takes instruments of African origin and returns them to the descendants of their original makers.
