Honest Black Business Reviews (Mostly) & Bits of Personal Randomness
Not once in 2020 did I darken the door of this black-owned grocery store. I think living in the Age of COVID-19 just threw me off-track, but I’m ready to refocus, and poppin’ into one of my favorite stores was a good way to start.
A week or so before my birthday, I’d decided to frame the lone piece of art I’d owned so that I could hang it on the wall. The piece is just a lithograph, but it’s my lithograph, and I didn’t want it rolled-up in the cardboard tube in which it had been shipped. I wanted to look at it, everyday, but I wanted to make sure it’d be protected. In comes Captured Images Custom Framing.
In the age of COVID-19, all manner of service is being offered online, including yoga classes. Am I a yogi? Not really. Did I need a good stretchin’ out? Yes, really. I’ve been a member of Black to Yoga for two years, at least, and I had yet to attend a single session, until last Friday. This is how it went:
As had been my custom for about a year, I stopped at the Red Bay cart to get a sweet fix. Instead of getting my usual muffin, peanut butter cookie, or kugle-whatever, I decided to try one of the packages of cookies that I’d always seen posted up near the ordering window, callin’ to me like Darius’ you-know-what was callin’ to Nina. I’m glad I listened.
For as long as I’ve been in Oakland, D’Angelo–owner of Dr. Lemmon’s Guud Stuff–has been engaged in several entrepreneurial efforts and in activities related to preserving the economic viability of Black folks. Some years ago, he started a pop-up market, where he sells more than just Black-made products. Socks, toothpaste, incense, peroxide, toilet paper, dish soap, lotion: you need, he’s got it. Luckily, for me, he sells Black soap.
