“The Black Affair,” a Black-owned vendor and business showcase, took place at Evanston Township High School Saturday.
This is the first time “The Black Affair,” sponsored by the school’s Black History Month Committee, has welcomed outside community members, according to the event’s founder, ETHS Administrative Assistant Ebony Redmond.
Last year, Redmond said the event was hosted exclusively for vendors and guests within the ETHS community. But she now plans to make the affair an annual public event, emphasizing the importance of residents helping Black-owned businesses thrive.
Fifth Ward resident Kimberly Frazier said it’s especially important for community members to show up for vendors.
“Some of them do have brick and mortar, but some of them, this is their only income,” Frazier said. “These people aren’t seen every day. You can’t walk into their businesses. That’s why you come to support them.”
Redmond added it’s often difficult for Black community members to get loans to start their businesses.
Even as a member of a well-known business organization, Redmond said her mother was denied a loan.
“Her white counterpart, who made the same amount of money and got no credit, just like her, went to do the same,” Redmond said. “They were able to get that loan, whereas she was not, and so it’s just been something that’s Black history.”
Neticia Waldron, owner and founder of Whole Woman Fitness, said businesses have had to adjust as government loans or grants are revoked from minority and women-owned businesses that promote racial equity.
“You have to make a decision that if you’re going to change your mission or change the wording of your mission to access those grants,” Waldron said. “But I choose to just stay true to the work that we do.”
Redmond said she hopes to see more programs at the local, state and federal levels that offer resources for Black-owned businesses.
“The Black Affair” serves as this kind of support for some newfound businesses, she said.
Lulu Pearson, an independent artist offering prints, crochet art, and paintings, said she “soft launched” her business on Saturday.
“I’m just a big fan of getting back into the community in a literal sense,” Pearson said. “I find local art really imperative.”
While Pearson initially thought she needed capital funding to start her business, she has been able to cut costs by using and upcycling the materials she had on hand.
After visiting the participating vendors and businesses, Redmond hopes attendees will continue being customers.
She said that having a “support system” like the ETHS community for “The Black Affair” puts a “brighter light on the event.”
“My hope is that this is obviously the first annual of it being a public event, but this is something that we can have longevity within the school to move forward with and highlight businesses, and over the years, the vendor list will grow,” Redmond said.
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