Black Lives—and Businesses—Matter
It doesn’t take more than a glance at the news—and at the streets—to know that our country is suffering a crisis in racial and ethnic relations, especially with regard to the African American community. Recent incidents have pressed the point, and have opened the door to a long-overdue discussion that, we hope, will defang racism and bring about a new, better day.
Meanwhile, African Americans are suffering unduly from the many-pronged crisis that marks our time, with disproportionate casualties to the COVID–19 pandemic and disproportionate losses in what now appears to be a profound economic recession, perhaps the worst in nearly a century.
It’s against that backdrop that Tucson entrepreneur, event planner, and networker Ashley La Russa has assembled a database of Black-owned businesses here in Tucson. Working with artists, businesspeople, and activists Seanloui Dumas (Black Renaissance), Khailill Knight (KPMADMAN/BLAX), Shannoah Green (Curated Colour), Terrell Henry (Creative Collabs), and Cruiz (Cruiz Photos), she has developed an online directory to highlight those businesses, one that will be updated regularly.
The directory project is just a beginning. Says La Russa, “We’re working on having businesspeople develop a one-minute pitch about what they do and why people should seek them out.” On Friday, June 26, an inaugural event will be staged online at the BlaxFriday website. The website, launched today, will stream these presentations, and will be followed by regular events to encourage Tucsonans to buy local and support Black-owned businesses and venues, from the Downtown Clifton Hotel to Smokey Mo restaurant to Zo Carroll’s health-coaching enterprise, Dr. Sharon Lister-Green’s dental practice, and Barbea Williams’s legendary dance company.
To follow #BlaxFriday as these events unfold, find the group at Instagram (@blaxfriday). Visit the website of Black-owned businesses at BlaxFriday.com
“I hope we’ll help the Tucson community to realize that these businesses deserve our support,” says La Russa. We here at Zócalo share that hope.
Category: The Scoop
