On Feb. 21. Black Students Union hosted the third annual event of Black Businesses Unite in Danner Hall.
The event highlighted small business products, services and artists in the community. From music, clothing, artwork, sweet treats, financial advice, health, skin care and wellness were featured.
Many businesses and services at this event were centered on creating wealth and prosperity in the black community through products, education, and services.
Valerie Gnassounou said the event was special because of the celebration of the centennial of Black History Month this year. Black Businesses Unite celebrates Black entrepreneurship within the community.
“For the Black Student Union [BSU], it’s important to bring the black community together to show we are prosperous. It’s about promotion, it’s about networking, showing pride and showing creativity among our community. Showing we have a presence,” said Gnassounou.
Gnassounou mentioned the importance of this event being 100 years of black history commemorations.
“It was a wonderful and successful event. I wanna thank BSU because it’s a BSU event. I think it’s important that the education system at Delta college is educating through entrepreneurship shows students there are different avenues to showcase their passion and skills,” said Gnassounou.
Delta Student, Mia Blount, 20, was showcasing her art which she started in high school with inspiration from her mother at a young age.
“To start drawing I started mostly because of my mom. My mom is an artist herself and sometimes in elementary she would come teach us how to draw and paint. That’s what inspired me to keep being creative. I started taking art classes in high school and since then you have been really deep into art,” said Blount.
Blount said the effect of systemic racism in black communities and the impact on business.
“I think it’s important to support black businesses because of systemic racism. Society is built to support white pools instead of people of color. We don’t always have the opportunity to showcase our talents or what we sell.” said Blount.
When asked about Blount’s biggest accomplishment and challenge with her artwork. Blount noted proud moments but also the difficulties of being an artist.
“My biggest accomplishment is like having finished all of these artworks because some of these took me a few years to create. And they took a lot of hard work. I feel like that fact that I go to the point where I actually finished, I feel proud of that.”said Blount. “My biggest challenge I would say as an artist is actually finishing things because I’m a procrastinator and perfectionist so it is really hard for me to be satisfied with pieces I have been working on.”
Janelle Fontenot, 38, is a local business owner. Fontenot has had her business for four years but this was her first pop up event.
“So my whole business is about wellness and mindfulness. It’s about what we put in our body, our temples. And so I create all of my products with the intention to put the body and to help the body and mind be more balanced.” said Fontenot. “Products include sea moss which is my top selling, hair, body oils and body butters. Using natural herbs to reset your body and rejuvenate my body. That’s what Khaya means rejuvenated. That’s how it was founded. I wanted to help others, my family and myself, I want to share that. ”
Fontenot noted the importance of supporting black owned businesses in our community.
“On a scale of 1-10, I think it is a 20 because we are quick to go to Target, Safeway or online but I think when we invest in ourselves it takes away from outsourcing from other companies that don’t really care about our health and wellbeing as a community. I find that when we do that it sparks for the community to work together and be built.” said Fontenot.
Angileena Hayes, 36, who is an educational consultant has a goal to bring healing to the black community through educational teachings of protecting their peace. Her goal is helping black people through their trauma.
“So basically when I was an undergrad I read this article that said that Sacramento has the one of the highest suspension rates for black and brown boys. So that kind of sparked a thing for me. That basically told me that I need to do research about why.” said Hayes. “I think it is because teachers are uneducated about black and brown boys in the educational system. And giving the students tools to deal with teachers who refuse to go through these training sessions. And giving teachers the tools to learn and specifically their cultural competency training.”
Hayes shared her biggest accomplishment or biggest challenge as a black woman small business owner.
“My biggest accomplishment is that I stood in rooms with about 30 white people and I got them to listen as a black woman business owner. They actually believed and understood that I knew what I was talking about. The biggest challenge is honestly believing that I’m good enough, even though I’m confident in what I do I struggle with having faith. That I’m doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing,” said Hayes.
Stephen Omondi, 48, is a financial educator. His goal is to educate people on different strategies to get financial security and protect their wealth.
“Most people work hard for money but don’t know where to put that money. The mission is to educate families on money. At the same time we have a responsibility to pass this on to our future generation. Our children notice how we earn and spend money. Here to break the generational misinformation that is passed down. It’s not about how much you earn but how much you save,” said Omondi. “It’s extremely important because as a community. African Americans we are behind financially. We need to help our business to strengthen and help each other build our businesses so that we can finally bridge the financial gap.”
