- 9 hours ago
Todd Barnes (Equity News Network), Tabota Seyon (Infused Life Plant Based Emporium), Sam Nadeli (Gravity Consulting Co.), Houston White (The Get Down Coffee Co.).
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00We are back. How's everybody feeling?
00:04Excellent. That's what I like to hear.
00:05I hope all of y'all are feeling good watching the live stream at home today as well.
00:09I am Bridget Todd. I am so honored and excited to be here in community with all of you today.
00:15One of my guests, Todd, said that this feels like a big black family reunion, and that's what I love to hear.
00:21So next up, we have a really important conversation about entrepreneurship
00:25and how we can really keep revitalizing our own communities through entrepreneurship
00:30and specifically through keeping money and resources in our own communities.
00:35And that is something that our amazing panelists knows a thing or two about.
00:38I'm going to kick it to all of you to introduce yourselves. Todd, let's start with you.
00:42Hi. Good afternoon, North Minneapolis. It's great to be with you.
00:46I'm Todd Barnes, the founder and president of Equity News Network.
00:55Hello, everyone.
01:00Can you guys hear me okay?
01:03Okay, fantastic. Sorry about that.
01:05My name is Taboda Sian, and I'm the owner and the founder of Infused Life Plant-Based Emporium
01:11and Black Mamba Collective, which is a cooperative for women plant-based business owners.
01:21Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Sam Nadelli.
01:24I'm the co-founder of Gravity and also a co-founder of Gravity Consulting Company,
01:30which is a recently formed advocacy and consulting firm for entrepreneurs of color looking
01:35and breaking into emerging industries like technology or help them innovate in existing industries.
01:41I also am an executive board member for the Minnesota Black Chamber of Commerce
01:44and the membership chair.
01:49Good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to Camden Town, man.
01:53Give it up for Afropunk for showing up to Camden Town, Minneapolis.
01:57Big deal.
01:58My name is Houston White, the proprietor of this place here.
02:03I'm a social entrepreneur, designer, multi-hyphenate, and just proud Northside kid,
02:09originally from Jackson, Mississippi.
02:11So glad to be here with you all day.
02:14Yes.
02:16Houston, let's start with you.
02:17How did you know that you wanted to be an entrepreneur?
02:20Is it something that was always in you or is it something that you came to find through a journey?
02:26That's a great question.
02:30I feel like I was born an entrepreneur, to be honest with you.
02:35I've never had a W-2 job in my life.
02:37I don't...
02:39Everybody in my village from Mississippi works for themselves.
02:42My grandmother was a milliner.
02:44She made hats.
02:46One of the reasons why I'm wearing this today is to pay homage to my grandfather,
02:50who was a small engine repairman,
02:52and my father and uncle, who were drywall contractors.
02:56And so I just grew up around people who were self-sufficient,
03:00and they allowed me to dream and be proximate to them doing business.
03:06And I've just always had a thing about just doing for self and being creative.
03:10I think creativity is freedom.
03:12I think, as my uncle once told me,
03:15I want your name to be on the front of the check, not the back of it.
03:18And so I've just always wanted to be fiercely independent and do for self.
03:22So it's nothing like making your own money.
03:25Amen.
03:26Amen.
03:27Is this something that you all can relate to in your own journeys?
03:32Absolutely.
03:33I can definitely attest to that.
03:35I've been an entrepreneur since I was a kid.
03:38I do have a few W-2s that I can actually have a part of the record.
03:44But, yes, I've actually had my own business since I was a kid,
03:47between selling watchtowers in her wakes to selling jewelry,
03:50and now I'm selling plant-based food and body care products.
03:53So it's been really fun.
03:56Yeah, and for me, so I'm a first-generation Cameroonian American.
04:01So my father and my uncle came to the United States from Cameroon,
04:05as well as my mother as well, too.
04:07And my uncle's an entrepreneur.
04:09He's actually my namesake, so I'm named after him.
04:12I'm Samuel Nambalindeli II.
04:13And he owns his own business, his own insurance company,
04:16Cultural Group's Benefits.
04:18And I also have other cousins that are entrepreneurs.
04:21And, really, I've grown up just with entrepreneurship all in my family.
04:25But my career has led me to be more of a consultant
04:28and finding ways to advocate and support entrepreneurs,
04:31specifically black and brown entrepreneurs,
04:33just because of all of the different systemic barriers
04:35that have been put in place to prevent our communities
04:38from being able to advance our wealth through entrepreneurship.
04:41But, you know, it's beautiful to see this going on today
04:44and Houston just being that example, you know,
04:46of being able to create that space for us,
04:48especially in a city like Minneapolis that has a lot of history
04:52that we will probably unpack in this conversation today.
04:55But, yeah, I'm just any way I can always help
04:58and support entrepreneurs is really that's who I am
05:01and that's how people know me.
05:03So, Todd, I know that you are the only person of color
05:06in the Twin Cities to have owned your own television station.
05:09First of all, that is such an amazing achievement.
05:14What has that meant for you personally?
05:18Well, really, I don't have a television station.
05:24What I had was, first of all, I owned my own show on Care 11.
05:29So I'm the only person of color who has owned their own for-profit show
05:33on a network affiliate in the Twin Cities area.
05:39So that was 2006.
05:43And I think that title still holds today.
05:45And that's disgusting.
05:47That's sad.
05:48The reason it's sad is we've got CCO, KSTP, KMSP,
05:52and Care 11 and Fox 9, KMSP, their call letters,
05:56and they control billions of dollars of advertising money in this community.
06:01And they have since the inception of television for 70 years.
06:04And they have the lock on the entire advertising revenue.
06:10And so we're being left out of that whole stream of revenue.
06:15And so it's exciting for me to be an entrepreneur to, A, not be a slave,
06:20B, when I'm taking a break, the break's over when my cigarette's done,
06:24not when you tell me the break is over,
06:26and C, so I can go in the grocery store and buy what I want,
06:30when I want, where I want.
06:32I was adopted into a white community,
06:34and I moved through the black community.
06:37And I see how folks are living differently, and it's unacceptable.
06:41Absolutely.
06:42Oh, sorry.
06:43So all of you have sort of alluded to the particulars
06:48of being a black entrepreneur in a place like Minneapolis.
06:51What is that experience like?
06:52What is unique to that experience?
06:58What is that experience like?
07:01A whole lot of no's.
07:03A whole lot of unbelief.
07:05The truth is, most of the things that we support
07:09and most of the businesses that we respect
07:12and people that we respect outside of this state are entrepreneurial.
07:16But there is an assimilation issue, I guess,
07:23this association with, if you're going to be prominent
07:27in the state of Minnesota, you've got to work for somebody,
07:29and you've got to work at a big corporation.
07:31When the truth is, right, like, all the innovation comes from entrepreneurs
07:35and artists and creatives.
07:38And so I don't know that we necessarily have as much support as we should.
07:43And the realization that this is where the next Fortune 5 in this state
07:47is going to come from.
07:48Some kind of creative or entrepreneur, and how do we support that?
07:51So I think it's tough because there's a whole lot of, like, eh, whatever, right?
07:55Go get a job.
07:56When the reality is, like, nah, go actually spend time working on your craft
08:01so you can build jobs.
08:03That's right.
08:03That's right.
08:04I mean, and Houston alluded to this.
08:07This is the land of the Fortune 500 companies.
08:09We have about 16 Fortune 500 headquarters here.
08:13Why can't the next one be a black or brown-led organization?
08:17So there's definitely opportunity.
08:19A lot of people move to the Twin Cities to work at these jobs.
08:23Do they stay?
08:23Not often, right?
08:25And really, because of the challenges that entrepreneurs have,
08:29it prevents us from being able to build community where we have ownership.
08:32And this is what this conversation is all about.
08:34Again, this particular situation happening is because we have ownership, right?
08:39Houston owns this building.
08:40He owns, he's in the community.
08:42We need more of that, right?
08:44We need more communities that can allow black places to be here
08:47and the music can be playing and there's nobody calling the police.
08:51Like, we just, we need that here in our communities, like other communities have.
08:55And, but, you know, it's TEPPS.
08:58And we'll be able to get there at some point.
09:00But I think it's also opportunities for more collaboration.
09:04You know, sitting on the Black Chamber Board,
09:05one of the missions that we have is just to create authentic relationships
09:09amongst black entrepreneurs and also allowing for networking opportunities
09:13to happen more naturally.
09:15Because oftentimes, our communities are fragmented, right?
09:17We have a lot of different parts of the diaspora in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
09:21When you talk about African immigrants,
09:23you talk about black Americans and East and West African immigrants as well, too.
09:27And everybody has their little pockets.
09:29But we need to have more of a central place where we can come together and build
09:33and actually operate in a way where we're growing our wealth
09:36and even able to create more spaces like this.
09:41I would like to kind of give a little context of why I feel it's extremely important
09:46for us to have our own businesses.
09:48I come from a nonprofit world outside of an entrepreneurial world.
09:52A lot of what these gentlemen have talked about, I echo a lot of my family members
09:58have all been entrepreneurs.
10:01But I, at some point, I used to work for Summit Academy, OIC,
10:06and Minneapolis Urban League, and Women Venture.
10:10And in my experience in working in each of those nonprofit organizations,
10:16I dealt with a lot of men and women who are often marginalized
10:20when it comes to employment.
10:23A lot of these people had longstanding careers.
10:27And unfortunately, they were oftentimes moved out of those positions
10:31for computers or for someone that might have been in another country.
10:37And so it made it very difficult for them to land other opportunities
10:42due to maybe a lack of experiences or lack of maybe education
10:48or perhaps even a felony.
10:51And so I don't know about the rest of you,
10:54but a lot of us have that experience where one family member or another
10:58has a felony where they have little opportunity to be able to have access
11:03to getting a job.
11:05And so oftentimes in those roles that I had as a career counselor
11:09and a career developer is I encouraged people to continue to educate themselves
11:16but to also, like, look into possibilities of owning their own business
11:20because then they can hire whoever they want,
11:23create whatever rules that they want within that institution.
11:27Just like what he had alluded earlier,
11:29we can do wonderful, beautiful things like this as often as we want
11:33and have as many people of color or not of color working for us
11:38or being entertained with us.
11:41So it's important that we really look at the system that's happening around us
11:45and figure out whether or not it's really built for us.
11:48And oftentimes we recognize that we have been kind of built outside of the system.
11:53And so now we have to start creating more structures and foundations
11:57for our own community so that we can continue to build on that generational wealth.
12:01Because as you can see, a lot of our counterparts,
12:06they're building their wealth without a problem,
12:08and that's because they don't have nearly as many barriers as we do.
12:11And so it's so important that we continue to capitalize on the opportunities
12:16that we have available right now, especially during this day and age
12:19where women can pretty much open up a business on any storefront corner for the most part.
12:25But the thing is that we still have to work very closely with each other
12:29to start to gather our finances together
12:33and creating a system where we can all work collectively
12:37so that we can really create a stable foundation with each other.
12:42Absolutely.
12:45Sure.
12:47To me, being an entrepreneur is an attitude.
12:51It's an intentional decision to move through life a certain way.
12:57It is waking up with joy.
13:00It's seeing possibilities.
13:02It's embracing words like victim, or excuse me, like dream,
13:05and discarding words like victim.
13:08It's about seeing the glass half full and not half empty.
13:12It's about taking discrimination and shit and microaggressions and crap
13:18and putting it where it belongs, in the rearview mirror,
13:22and looking to what is possible.
13:25I just got done writing a book with my godson, Louis Blaise, here.
13:30And so, thank you.
13:32Oh, what?
13:33Thank you so much.
13:35The book is called Deconstruction Zone.
13:37And it is a book about self-worth.
13:42Entrepreneurialism is an attitude.
13:44It starts with self-worth.
13:46The world is yours if you want it.
13:49Go grab it.
13:49That's what an entrepreneur is to me.
13:51Hell, yeah.
13:54So, this is all very inspiring.
13:56I'm also a creative entrepreneur.
13:58And there was a time in my life where I thought that being an entrepreneur
14:01meant, like, taking a picture of myself in a blazer with my hands poised
14:06and putting it on Instagram, and then, like, captioning it, like,
14:09let's get that paper.
14:10And then I realized that being an entrepreneur was also getting fined because I forgot some
14:17stupid paperwork I needed to submit, and I didn't do it on time, or staying up really
14:21late when I'm really tired.
14:23And so, first of all, I'm wondering, can you all relate that being an entrepreneur is great
14:28and empowering, but also can be frustrating, can be lonely, can be isolating, can be hard.
14:34And then, in those moments, how do you reconnect?
14:36How do you find that motivation when things are hard and it really feels like it's all on you?
14:41How do you keep going?
14:45Entrepreneurship can probably be one of the loneliest professions you can go into.
14:48So, if you don't have either a strong connection to faith, good support system, or a community
14:56of other entrepreneurs to support you along the way, because oftentimes, right, if you're
15:00working for yourself, people can't necessarily relate to the challenges that you have, right?
15:06If you're a solopreneur and it's just you by yourself, you don't have a team, or if you
15:09have employees and you're dealing with people that, you know, you've got to make tough decisions,
15:14you need to have other people you can relate to to kind of bounce ideas off of.
15:18So, it's important to be involved in different opportunities and things that connect you to
15:22other entrepreneurs, specifically entrepreneurs of color.
15:25Again, I'm going to do a shameless plug for the Black Chamber of Commerce, any other chamber,
15:29Latino Chamber, Monk Chamber, Minneapolis, the St. Paul Chamber, those just get you in
15:34proximity with other entrepreneurs that you can connect to as well, too, to make things
15:39happen, to learn from, things like that.
15:42But it's tough.
15:43It's really tough.
15:43And then, as a consultant, working specifically with entrepreneurs, like, you know, oftentimes,
15:48when I was working at a nonprofit called Mita, which is a CDFI here locally, it felt like
15:54I was a firefighter.
15:55I was always pulling out fires for people.
15:57They would come to us when, oh, I signed this lease, and I didn't know that I had to
16:00be here for five years, and I got to leave.
16:02You know, all these different things that happen, you never know.
16:05So, it's like, there's so many things that you have to make sure of, like, make sure you
16:09sign all your paperwork.
16:10Make sure you have an accountant, and you have a lawyer that you can call if you have any
16:14questions, because...
16:16And I would just add, like, there's levels to this.
16:20Yes.
16:20Yes.
16:21You know, entrepreneurship is not like a word that everybody fits.
16:25You're at different places on that entrepreneurial journey, right?
16:28There's, like, novice entrepreneurship.
16:32There's middle level, and then there's, like, next level.
16:34And when you get to the next level, and to get to the next level, you've got to be able
16:39to set boundaries and have ways to unplug, whatever that is.
16:45You know, like, one of my mentors told me about this arc, right, that you've got to have
16:53this in your life.
16:54And if it's not a hell yes, it's a hell no.
16:57And so, it's critical to set those boundaries for yourself, because you will burn out.
17:04You know, hobbies are critically important.
17:07I have three bits of advice for every mentee of mine, right?
17:10It's spend and save wisely.
17:13Find a mentor.
17:16And for me, play golf.
17:18But whatever it is that you can unplug and do where you're not thinking about the grind,
17:23it's okay to take care of yourself, right?
17:26Like, it's all overstated.
17:28Rome wasn't built in a day, but there's a process to this.
17:31You've got to trust the process, unplug, and take care of yourself on this journey and realize
17:37that just because you are at one place as an entrepreneur, there's a whole long way to
17:42go.
17:43And just take care of yourself and be okay with that.
17:45Can I touch on those subjects?
17:48So, these gentlemen both said a couple things that I definitely have experienced and had
17:55as a discussion with some of the people that I've mentored along the way as well.
17:59Back to what you were saying, your barometer.
18:02You know, having for every yes, there is a no.
18:05So, identifying what that no is in your life and whether or not it's worth it.
18:10You know, I discovered in my younger life and even sometimes in my adult life that, or my
18:17more mature life, I should say.
18:21I'm almost 50 this year, so I sometimes feel like a kid.
18:25Black don't crack.
18:26Get up for that.
18:27Black don't crack.
18:29Black don't crack.
18:30Anywho.
18:31But, you know, I have three kids.
18:33I'm a mother of a 33-year-old daughter, a 29-year-old, and a 15-year-old.
18:40And so, this journey has, as one of my girlfriends says, it's not for the faint of hearts.
18:48Because there's been some times when I've had to say no to my homegirls or no to some
18:53of my guy friends, that if I want to go out somewhere and kick it one night, that if I
18:58want to do a festival at Afropunk tomorrow at 9 a.m., I'm not going to be able to do
19:04that with a smile on my face and probably without a headache.
19:11But, you know, so I didn't, you know, I have to make those kind of choices.
19:14But also, alongside of that, it's kind of to your point, is those contracts are so important,
19:20you guys.
19:20I'm having an experience of my life right now where, you know, I've always wanted to
19:26be a part of a business where I started my business as a catering business.
19:31I had been doing that for almost 20 years in many different spaces and places all over,
19:37all over, I would say, the Twin Cities metro area.
19:41And so, a lot of people have seen me around town and I really enjoyed the stuff that I was
19:46doing.
19:47But I always wanted to, you know, start my business in a brick and mortar space or to
19:51be able to activate it.
19:53And I was able to do that in the Midtown Global Market.
19:57And then I did that literally at the height of the pandemic.
19:59I started in January and then come March, there was a huge, you know, fallout of the pandemic.
20:06So, that's not something that you can plan for in your business plan.
20:10So, those are the things that you have to really think about as you start to put that business
20:13plan together is identifying where the risks are and what you're willing to take.
20:18But then also, those contracts, like he said, was important because I recently got into a
20:23space where I had thought I was signing a five-year lease because that's what I had negotiated
20:29when I first started.
20:30But then they denied me.
20:32I got back on track again with a new, I guess they have like a leasing company.
20:38They gave the opportunity to someone else and then they turned around and gave it to me
20:43again and once they gave it to me again, what I thought I negotiated was the five-year lease
20:48ended up now going to a one-year lease.
20:51And so, I literally built up my whole entire space, put thousands of dollars, y'all.
20:56I mean, almost $100,000 into the space.
20:59And now, I haven't even been open an entire year and I'm being asked to move because of
21:04one late payment during COVID.
21:07And I had COVID myself and my entire family.
21:10And so, my nest egg that I had saved up, I had already spent it all on all kinds of
21:16things to keep the business running.
21:19And so, I found myself in a place where I was kind of living paycheck to paycheck again,
21:26which I didn't think I was going to be anytime soon because I was doing well at one point.
21:31And so, now I'm at a place right now where I'm having to move my business to a new location.
21:36So, back to the question is, is how do you keep a smile on your face and continue on
21:42doing the business?
21:43Because I look at this as God's work, right?
21:46And so, I say to myself, you know, God, I know you put me in this place for a reason.
21:52I'm just going to continue to believe and know that I'm divinely guided and protected through
21:57this entire process and that I got to continue to go to my higher power in prayer and identify
22:06what is the next move.
22:08I'm like, I'm literally moment to moment.
22:10Okay, God, what am I going to say?
22:12Let my words be your words.
22:14Let my actions be your actions.
22:16And that's really how I move through my day, even when it's tough.
22:21That's so important to have those things that reconnect you.
22:24And I guess, to that end, a question for everybody here is, are there things that you wish that
22:29you knew before you got started?
22:31Like, if you could go back and do it all again, what would you do differently?
22:36I'll just say this.
22:38One of the reasons why a lot of entrepreneurs fail is because they think they know everything.
22:44And you don't.
22:45I feel like you're speaking directly to me.
22:47No, no, no.
22:48You're really speaking about my own experience here.
22:50No, my bad.
22:51No, this wasn't directed to anybody here.
22:52But I'm just saying, like, that's one of the number one reasons entrepreneurs fail is
22:55because they think they know everything.
22:56So as Houston alluded to, you have to have mentors in your life that keep you grounded
23:01and have you kind of striving to understand, like, how to not make the same mistakes people
23:05made, right, that are just unnecessary.
23:07Always be a constant learner.
23:09Like, never stop learning.
23:11In life in general, it doesn't matter if you're an entrepreneur or not.
23:13You should always be learning because you're never going to know everything.
23:16And, you know, there's situations that happen, like a pandemic that you cannot put in your
23:22business plan, as you alluded to.
23:23Like, you have to figure out how to innovate and kind of look outside the box.
23:27Because the people that are able, that are still running today, innovate it.
23:30Because there's a lot of businesses that did not make it during the pandemic because
23:34they weren't in a position to be able to survive something like that, which is super
23:37unfortunate.
23:38And there's a number of other reasons for that, too.
23:40But, you know, the pandemic hurt our businesses the most.
23:43Yeah, and you've got to kill the ego, right?
23:45Like, if I could tell my young self something, it would be like, you can't do everything.
23:51You know what I mean?
23:51It's like that can-do attitude and that secrecy of feeling, knowing you're inadequate, right?
23:58Like, if I had somebody look at my P&L when I was 22, it would have been like, what are
24:01you doing?
24:02You make $5.50 an hour, bro.
24:06But, like, the faster you operationalize and find a team, as an entrepreneur, you need a CEO,
24:12a COO, a CMO, a creative team.
24:17And that means killing ego, right?
24:19Like, there's nothing that comes out of anything that I do that at least 20, 30, 40 people haven't
24:26validated.
24:27And that's important, you know, because some stuff is going to be whack.
24:32But I would just tell myself to tamp the ego down, right?
24:36Like, there are people who have been here before.
24:38And a big part of it is, you know, save your money.
24:43You know, like, I know it's cool to buy the whatever, whatever's, but there's something
24:49to having a nest egg when things get tough.
24:53As an entrepreneur, you might not get paid for a whole 12 months.
24:56So, yeah, you might have a couple of really good years.
25:00Keep living like it's still bad, right?
25:03Until you're completely free.
25:05One of my mentors told me, like, what you're trying to do and the ultimate objective of
25:11money and business is to buy your freedom.
25:13And so, for me, I just look at entrepreneurship and my journey about being free.
25:19I don't have to answer to anybody.
25:21And that is critical.
25:22And if that means I've got to wear some old jalopy boots, you know what?
25:26So be it.
25:29Well, I didn't get a chance to answer the last question.
25:32And so, when you write a book about self-worth, then you circle back and give yourself permission
25:36to answer the last question.
25:37There you go.
25:38What do I do to deal with the challenges of being an entrepreneur?
25:48Recently, I did something that kind of stunned myself.
25:51I realized that the loneliness that was talked about here, I was just drowning in it.
25:56I was having so much success and the money was coming in and the victories were there.
26:01And that's why I love to be an entrepreneur.
26:02But I was lonely.
26:05And so, I decided to do something really different.
26:08I used to be an employee at High School for Recording Arts with the Check Yourself Health
26:16and Wellness Program with Mama Shai, who's sitting here in the audience.
26:23And to make a long story short, what I recently decided to do was go back and spend a couple
26:29hours a day there as a consultant helping out with the program, which keeps me connected
26:34to my tribe, not there for the money, but it puts me in the epicenter of what's happening
26:40in our black community.
26:41It keeps me connected.
26:43It keeps me connected to my tribe.
26:45And I'd say, that's what's now doing it for me.
26:48The last two weeks since I've been back, I have felt more joy in the world.
26:53So, yes, there's freedom in being an entrepreneur.
26:55But here's what I want to say.
26:56If you remember nothing else, I say, sometimes all freedom ain't good freedom, and sometimes
27:03there can be too much freedom.
27:05Discipline is good.
27:06Regimen is good.
27:07Consistency is good.
27:10Absolutely.
27:11Give it up for our panel.
27:15Now, I want to know what, I'm sure there are so many burning questions in the audience.
27:19We have our lovely mic runner, Bridget, here.
27:22What questions do you have?
27:30Thank you for letting me ask a million questions.
27:32I really appreciate it.
27:34My question is about, like, when you talk about being determined and having discipline,
27:41what are all of your values and how do you embody and live those out to keep you on the
27:46right track as not to become, like, in it for the wrong reasons and not have it just
27:52be about money, but, like, really be about your own personal freedom and the freedom of
27:56your community, the community around you?
27:59I would say very quickly, two words, family, legacy, and the other word is integrity.
28:06We have lost integrity amongst each other and how we deal with each other.
28:10Our word doesn't mean shit, and that's not okay.
28:14We must keep our word, and that's really the name of the game.
28:19And when we talk about values, if you're not representing your family name out here in the
28:25streets and in the workplace, in the church and in the temple, there is a problem.
28:30And so that's how I really deal with it in terms of value is remember that I'm representing
28:35my family every day and to just make sure that if I tell somebody I'll be there at three
28:40o'clock, it means three o'clock, not 3.30, not 3.45, and not anymore in the age of COVID
28:46where we're into this now, hi, I need to reschedule.
28:50Oh, wow.
28:51Stop it.
28:54Can I touch base on some of the things that he said?
28:57Absolutely.
28:57I highly echo all your ways of being, as I like to call them, because integrity is a huge
29:06thing, for me, I found myself, I would say, probably about eight to ten years ago on everybody's
29:15committee.
29:16I was on this board, that board, this board, that board.
29:19And what I recognized is that a whole bunch of people was talking about doing something,
29:24but no one was doing anything.
29:27And so I got tired of that.
29:29And that's where the integrity piece came into me, because I was just like, this is some
29:35BS right here.
29:36I was like, we got all this money going in and out.
29:39All I see is all this money is being paid for lunches and breakfasts and maybe a little
29:45street party here and there, but there's no business actually happening around here.
29:50And I got really effing tired of that, y'all.
29:53And so I said, eff that, you know, I'm going to go ahead, we're an Afropunk, so I can kind
29:59of say a little bit of something, something, without saying something, something.
30:02But I will say that this is, I got tired of it.
30:06I was just like, you know what?
30:08We need to do better.
30:10We need to start activating our spaces.
30:13Quit talking about doing it.
30:14Let's be a part of the solution.
30:16Let's talk about the solution.
30:18There's enough people around here who's got intellectual properties and ideas and skills
30:24and know-how that could create something, which is a lot of the reasons why I started
30:28a cooperative business, because that is where our ancestors started.
30:33As much as we like to believe that that's a white folk thing over at the Wedge or over
30:39at Seward Co-op, no, y'all.
30:41They copied us.
30:43But the problem is, is that what ended up happening is white folks made it, put fear
30:52in us, thinking that if we continue to work together, that they're going to take away
30:56our farms, take away our housing, take away our jobs and opportunities.
31:01So they made us afraid to talk to each other.
31:03They made us afraid to work with each other, because they were putting threats on our lives
31:08and threats on our livelihoods, so that people stop working collectively.
31:15And so we need to do better at trusting one another and creating boundaries is important,
31:22but creating spaces and businesses that we can collectively put our intellectuals, our skill
31:30sets together, to be able to build stronger business and not always rely on our counterparts
31:37as a means in which to finance those things.
31:40I feel like you should drop your mic.
31:42I mean, don't, but...
31:44I don't know.
31:45Great.
31:46Other questions?
31:48Yeah.
31:48So we're talking about buying our freedom.
31:51I really have been about that.
31:52Um, I really, I recently read, I finished, uh, Collective Courage.
31:56That was the book, uh, uh, by Dr. Nemhar that talks about that history.
32:01Yes.
32:01Jessica.
32:02Yes.
32:02She's the bomb.com.
32:04Yes, she is.
32:05I love her.
32:05So I've been kind of like, rewarding back to my resources.
32:08Um, Marcus Garvey.
32:10Yes.
32:10So we're talking about buying back our freedom.
32:12Uh, I know we need to start with our own communities, but what does, can you imagine a
32:16vision of including that buying back freedom with, uh, uh, African American and African
32:21unity?
32:21Is it possible?
32:22Is this, is this the time to go international?
32:25Absolutely.
32:26Why not?
32:27I mean, there's never been a better time to do these types of things.
32:30I mean, I, I don't think there's ever been a time that we couldn't.
32:33We were, I've always been in fear of it, right?
32:36We've been, we've been led to believe that we can't do those things.
32:40Uh, unfortunately, you know, Marcus Garvey did not get a chance to really, um, live out
32:46his legacy to the fullest, but he got pretty dang on close for those who followed, uh,
32:51Garvey.
32:52And I would like to say I'm a Garveyite, even though I wasn't a born in that timeline.
32:57Um, I would highly love to say if I, if he was around, I would be following right along
33:02with him, marching in the streets and jumping on that boat, uh, going to Ghana, wherever
33:06else we got to go.
33:08But yeah, for sure.
33:09I mean, there's no time like the present.
33:12Yeah, I would, I would agree with that.
33:13I mean, there's no, no better time than now, especially considering we're more connected
33:17than we've ever been.
33:18Um, when you talk about being able to, um, move money around the world, um, in, in multiple
33:25ways, you know, you've got cryptocurrency and all these digital forms of currency.
33:28Now there's, there's opportunities there.
33:29Um, and then being able to just put a business on online and being able to get to anybody
33:35around the world.
33:36Um, there's a conference going on right now as well too here in the Twin Cities with Black
33:40Tech Talent.
33:41Um, they're out in St. Paul right now, but they had a virtual version yesterday.
33:44I spoke on a panel, um, with Rachel who's in the crowd here.
33:48Um, and it was on, um, um, black banking and access to capital.
33:52And they had people from Ghana on the conference.
33:54Um, and it was, so there's, there's, there's definitely opportunities to connect with people
33:59from all around the diaspora.
34:01Um, everybody pays attention to what each other's doing.
34:04Um, you think about this, this conference and just music in general, like Afro, Afro beats
34:09is, is big and there's all, you see artists collaborating with each other and that's doing business,
34:13right?
34:14And that's being able to share brands across cultures and whatnot.
34:16So there's definitely, um, space for that and it's definitely moving in that direction.
34:21Um, so just continue to think about ways to continue to be creative and, and support people
34:26when you see things going on.
34:28Yes.
34:29I serve as the writer for an organization called Minnesota Africans United.
34:35It's a collaboration of 62 African immigrant businesses in Minnesota.
34:42And what's on their agenda is different trade missions to different country, uh, countries
34:48on the continent of Africa to develop relationships between businesses here in Minnesota and businesses
34:55on the continent of Africa.
34:57So things are popping and there's no time like the present.
35:00Beautiful.
35:01Let's give it up for our panel and all the incredible stuff they are doing for our communities.
35:06That was so energizing.
35:09Thank you for being here.
35:10Thank you for all of your questions.
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