Culturally Rooted Enterprise is on a mission to create the first Brazos Valley Black-owned open market.
Today they kicked off their Black history month celebrations with their second annual UJAMAA marketplace.
The Lincoln Recreation Center and culturally rooted partnered to host a market for small black-owned businesses to come out and showcase their work.
Bringing life to objects and gifting them to bus drivers was a hobby for Aisha Amos but little did she know it would grow to be her small business.
”I really like making stuff for people and gifting them, so I like to make stuff that people may want to gift to someone else,” said Amos.
For many small businesses, social media is the cost-effective way to do what they love, but Culturally Rooted witnessed the need to provide accessibility to these businesses.
”Similar to this event we try to host as many open marketplaces’s so that these African American businesses can be featured and so provide a venue and a space,” said Eboni Bailey Bonaiti, Culturally Rooted board member.
Helping these business owners create visibility for themselves without having to take on ownership of a storefront.
“I don’t have to worry as much," said Amos. "I can not only promote myself here but promote myself on Esty and just push my business a little more. It gives me an extra push to push a little harder,”
According to the 2021 census, a little over 124 thousand businesses are black or African-American-owned. Giving the next generation more representation of what they can accomplish too.
”It shows my children that you can be versatile and do more than one thing," said Amos. "We’re business owners, we’re caseworkers, we’re CEOS, we have all kinds of different titles,”
Culturally Rooted brings the community together on a bi-monthly basis for their small business open market.
”Within our community, we have a goal of working together and for me, I think everybody achieves more together,” said Dr. Donna Druery, Culturally Rooted board member.
Culturally Rooted is working towards opening a storefront intended to host a more recurring market for small businesses.