#bobchallenge

[arthurobecerra]

The #bobchallenge was created by MASTER CLASS LIVE collective group Of hairstylist from Mexico We are elebrating the "100 years of the BOB HAIRCUT" We invite you to play in a new "trend" Bob festival. Publish one "Bob" haircut everyday for a week and "nominate" any hairstylist friend to do the same thing . My name Is #arthurobecerra and today I nominate to my friend Ross Mar to join the challenge. El RETO BOB: #bobchallenge fue creado por el Colectivo Master Class live de México, celebrando los 100 años de la aparición del corte Bob en el mundo e invitándonos a impulsarlo, participando en Bob Festival, y hacerlo nuevamente tendencia. 👸🏼 Publica un corte Bob de tu autoría 💇🏼‍♀️ Yo Arthuro Becerra, hoy nomino a la gran estilista y amiga @norita8150 a que te unas al #bobchallenge (en ReneWall Beauty & Style) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAG95AJhTitnYq1h9x0j6azhl78cOQQD5WkAwo0/?igshid=1uminvb2yemfz

[bobchallengela2016]

#BoB Challenge: Day 4

LORI: I started my morning off sipping Marley Coffee in order to stay alert through my weekly staff meeting (having learned my lesson the hard way after forgetting it for Tuesday’s brutally early 7AM sitcom table read). I wish I had purchased more at Simply Wholesome, but will be ordering some more in bean-form online.  Breakfast was a bowl of cereal from Simply Wholesome.

TENN: I haven’t much to report from Wednesday. I spent more time thinking about all of the things that I couldn’t have than finding new things that I could.

Driving through LA in 96 degree heat. I want a bottle of water. Where is there a black owned gas station? How do I find one if it isn’t on the lists we’ve compiled. Do I drive to ten different ones? Ask if the owner is black? Should it really be this difficult to support our black community? Is it even beneficial to shop only at BOB’s when I can’t find any close enough to spend money at, or find the things that I need there?

I need hair dye. The closest black owned cosmetics store is C&J Beauty Supply on W Martin Luther King Blvd., but they’re only open until 7pm. I work until 6pm, and don’t want to risk the time (or the gas) it would take to beat rush hour traffic. I also don’t know if they would carry the kind of products I would need for my hair type.

Can we just think about that for a minute? “I don’t know if they even carry the kind of products I need for my hair type.”

Have you ever been shopping in the cosmetics section and noticed the “ethnic” section? If you have, you’ve probably noticed that it’s usually very small. If you haven’t then you may live in an area where there isn’t one…

REBECCA:  I sipped my pre-purchased Ethiopian Yirgacheffe at the office and decided to go down a rabbit trail of black-owned business research. Maybe our BoB research hadn’t been targeted or smart enough, and that’s why we weren’t turning up more than a handful of eateries. 

Someone during our research had mentioned that some Buffalo Wild Wings franchises maybe be black owned so I started there, turning up some really interesting information about Rick Ross and his 9 WingStops, Queen Latifah’s coercive Fatburgers (while she was a spokesperson for Jenny Craig) and the fact that Fatburger itself was started in 1947 by an African-American woman, Lovie Yancey (unfortunately, it was sold to a corporation in the 1990s and is now run by a white dude, a former white-collar convict who did time). 

The only thing I could really nail down for BoB franchise locations in LA were these 3 locations in south LA, run by Karim Webb. This was a really inspiring read and it sounds like he’s totally the type of guy who can help spur change and foster more black-owned business in Los Angeles. I also read this interesting article about black-owned franchises in general: why there aren’t more of them, but why more of them could help narrow the poverty gap between whites and blacks (more on this later).

LORI: For my lunch meeting with two writers from my theater collective, we deliberated about where specifically to meet - they both knew about the challenge in advance but we needed to find whatever was most convenient because our priority was having as much time as possible to work on our outline.  Initially we chose a nearby cafe, but since it wasn’t black-owned, I said I would just opt out of ordering anything.  One of the two writer friends, who is black, jokingly offered to sell me a muffin there. (That counts, right?!)  We ultimately decided to pack lunches (I brought one of my Simply Wholesome pre-packaged meals) and eat lunch my office since none of us remembered to bring a laptop.

REBECCA: After quite a bit of reading but no success I finally searched “African restaurants”, then “Jamaican.” These still count as BoBs, but I’d been trying my best to focus on more African-American businesses, because to me African is a completely different thing. I did find a Ghanaian restaurant and a Ugandan restaurant in Van Nuys that actually both look amazing, but didn’t have time to leave that long for lunch. But then, oh joy! I found a new-ish Jamaican bakery/restaurant near those African spots that said they serve the Jamaican empañadas (like a cross between a Latin empañada and a British pasty, maybe even a calzone), among other things. The reviews were a bit sub-par compared to the other places, but I liked that the owner, Edith, was very engaged with reviewers on the Yelp page. It proved they were paying attention to feedback, and also totally fit the BoB profile, no question. Plus, a hand-pie (what a weird term) would be the perfect evening snack since I’d be on the go! I calculated how much time it would take for a thirty-minute detour en route from work to a live-Nerdist podcast taping I was attending of female showrunners at the CBS Radford studios (what a dope panel!). 

Re-energized by my Internet find, I finished my work quickly and weaved my way through rush hour traffic to get to Starlight Bakery Cafe. Unfortunately, they were out of vegetarian pies, but I ordered a Jamaican meat pie and Ghana chicken pie warmed up to go. This is a family-run operation, to be sure: the cute late teens/early twenties son, Davis, served me at the counter as the grandma sat and observed, dad and buddies put up some shelving, and mom and older sister cooked in the kitchen. Only one couple was eating in the restaurant. Davis told me the place has only been open about three months. As I waited, I noticed a fridge with a big variety of really different-looking, authentic Jamaican juices and malt beverages. So rad! I got two juices and a ginger beer to take home with my pies. My total for three drinks and two hefty pies was about $14 before tip, and I was soooo happy to have found the perfect snack to tide me over for the evening. The pies were very crust-heavy and I would have liked more filling - thankfully I’m a bread person, but if you’re one of those weirdos who cuts off your PBnJ crusts and leaves your crusts lying stale on a plate, these aren’t the pies for you. If I had to choose, though, I preferred the Ghana empañada. 

LORI: Post-work, I came home and ate another pre-packaged meal from Simply Wholesome for dinner.  Unfortunately, Wednesday didn’t include any new BoB adventures but tomorrow I’ve plotted two black-owned restaurants.

TENN: As I think about my own struggle with this challenge, I can’t help but become blatantly aware of the struggle our black neighbors go through everyday. There shouldn’t be a bias against minority communities. I’m not saying that black owned businesses should carry more white hair care products. They would take up shelf space, and the black community already has a lack of the products they need, and locations that sell them.

It is the responsibility of major stores to carry more products for black customers, and help promote minority product research and product expansion. They should also hire people from the black community to lead these projects, offering more jobs and opportunities to lift up the community from within.

REBECCA: After the panel, some friends were heading to a local diner. I could have gone to hang out, and who knows - the diner might have even been BoB, who knows. But I told them about it and bowed out instead: they loved the idea of the challenge and were very encouraging.

Finishing this day’s reflection, I want to circle back to more reading I did about black-owned franchises.

“Scholars who study the wealth gap say that efforts to bring minorities into franchising are well-intentioned, but fail to acknowledge a Catch-22: in order to create wealth, a person must already have some.

‘Existing racial differences in wealth go the full distance in explaining racial differences in self-employment,’ says William Darity, a professor of African-American studies, public policy and economics at Duke University. ‘If we’re really concerned about the self-employment gap in the United States, or the franchise participation gap more narrowly, we have to address racial differences in wealth.’”

Um, yes. But at least to me at this point that’s kind of obvious: we’ve certainly become very sensitive to this during our challenge this week. So what exactly is the practical solution? At it’s most basic level, it means hiring more blacks and minorities, but also training them in professional and managerial skills and enabling them to move up in ranks and even branch out into their own franchise ownership or business startups. There’s no shame in being a host or a server as a career path, but in order to move up you have to be trained in higher-level work and different skillsets: working hard and smart. I’m glad that it seems like Karim Webb is making moves to foster that kind of environment for his employees, and make black business leadership/ownership more accessible in his community.

THE GHANA EMPAÑADA (DETAIL).

THE DRANKS. (Jamaican empañada in the background. Jamaican Ginger Beer, June Plum, and Guava Carrot).

SHAMELESS SELFIE BECAUSE SO EXCITED. SO HUNGRY.

[bobchallengela2016]

BoB Challenge - DAY #3

TENN: Tuesday was rough. I planned to stay in and have a can of soup that I purchased at Simply Wholesome earlier in the week, but when I got home after work my wonderful girlfriend Megan was restless from being at home all day and wanted to get out of the house. In a crunch, and seeing as how I was completely exhausted, we had to compromise for something quick and close by. I heard that Buffalo Wild Wings was black owned so in an effort to support me in my challenge, Megan who is vegetarian agreed to find something on the menu that she could eat. So, we stepped out the door and headed down Hollywood Blvd to B-Dubs for some din-din…

Sadly, while researching more about the franchise for my blog post this morning, I learned that Buffalo Wild Wings is not a BOB. To say that I am disappointed is an understatement. I did learn that there is at least one BOB Buffalo Wild Wings franchise location in Los Angeles, but I can’t seem to figure out which one it is. I’m crossing my fingers, hoping it’s the one we stumbled into, because I can't figure out who owns that one either. Grrr. What I learned from this is how truly difficult it is to find out who owns what businesses, and franchises, and how long of a process it is to do the research.

REBECCA: I don’t know why - I kind of feel trapped today. The mere knowledge that I can’t escape the office for a coffee or meet up with anyone for lunch is constricting, claustrophobic. Perhaps it’s also the amount of time I’ve spent researching, and seemingly fruitlessly, black-owned businesses in the area. They’re all far away and they’re all lunch or dinner spots that close early - nothing I can take advantage of this week. I don’t feel like a minority per se - my daily ritual of long commutes and small-office days remains the same as before I started BOB. It’s just the feeling of not having accessibility that is really challenging.  

LORI: Tuesday’s breakfast was a bowl of cereal and lunch was a pre-packaged meal - both of which I bought at Simply Wholesome.  Dinner was more of a challenge.  I had scheduled drinks with a former colleague who just started a fancy new gig in Beverly Hills.  Last week, I planned in advance for us to go to House of Music and Entertainment (H.O.M.E.) a restaurant/live jazz club in Beverly Hills; I had been there once before for a murder mystery dinner I found on Groupon.  However, when I went to make a reservation, the phone number was no longer in service.  Upon further research, I learned the place had closed.  Unfortunately, this is something I’ve noticed with lots of the black-owned businesses that I’ve gotten myself excited about - they have already shuttered. I asked my friend if she would be willing to meet in Little Ethiopia instead, and she was game to try something new.

REBECCA: Tuesday night after work I went to Korean class downtown, then came home and finished up some work. My girlfriend was home, and another friend had come over to spend the night while her home was being fumigated. They wanted to go to our favorite local bar for a beer and a bite, but I patiently reminded Woo/informed Annie that I’m observing BOB. They got into the spirit of it and since it was too late to drive to any BoBs, we made a dinner out of leftovers and beer that I’d already purchased...although I’ll admit Woo had shopped at Target that morning and we supplemented the beers with those. Not my fault ;) But it was cool to visit with Annie, because she had a suggestion to follow up with BJ’s, the brewery/pizzza chain - she’d heard a segment on NPR about the lack of African-American craft brewers and encouraged me to research it (turns out, there is an African-American former craft brewer who is now director of operations for BJ’s, but BJ’s itself doesn’t qualify as BoB and his own small operation is now defunct). But it was cool to see my two friends abandon their plans to go out in order to help honor my challenge. Even though we weren’t necessarily supporting a black business, we were consciously making a decision to not spend money at a non-BoB.

LORI: My dinner ended up being at Rahel Ethiopian Vegan Cuisine, located in Little Ethiopia on Fairfax and Pico - quite a drive from the Valley, but I was in a pinch with H.O.M.E. falling through last minute.  I arrived a smidge early, and the place was pretty empty.  I snagged us the table in the window, and I overheard the server tell the two women next to me that the restaurant is BYOB and that there is a 7-11 a few blocks down.  Thrilled at the idea of a glass of wine, I leapt out of my seat and skipped over to 7-11, only to stop myself: 7-11 is not black-owned.  Wah wah.  I trudged back to the restaurant, returned to my seat, explained to the hostess that I changed my mind about the wine, and awaited my friend.

LORI: We ended up splitting the Millenium Special which was a sampling combination of split lentil stew, split-pea stew, string beans mixed with carrots, greens, sunflower mixed with injera, potatoes mixed with carrots and cabbage, pumpkin stew, tomato mixed with injera, salad with house dressing and baklava.  We also split a YEMITIN SHIRO WOT, which is powdered peas in red pepper sauce, seasoned with assorted spices.  We each ordered a traditional Ethiopian drink - mine was the 3D: a combination of SUFF (sunflower), TELBA (flax) and BESSO (barley) drinks mixed with agave.  If you like to slurp up the milk leftover after eating a bowl of high fiber cereal, this beverage is for you. 

LORI: There is no silverware with Ethiopian food, so to eat, you tear off pieces of the spongey Ethiopian flat bread (injera) and use it to pinch up the food.  I found it fun to share the giant plate with my colleague and sample the various foods together, and we wondered why the place wasn’t packed considering they won Los Angeles Magazine’s award for Best Ethnic Vegan Cuisine.  I wish I took a picture of our actual meal, but forgot - sorry!  Eating the baklava without silverware was a really silly, messy experience.  Although full, we still ordered the vegan cheesecake which tasted more like key lime pie, and at that point, they thankfully brought us forks to dive in. Our server and the hostess were very sweet and took the time to explain the foods to us. Towards the end of the evening, when they were helping the staff in the back with the dishes and clean up, it took a bit of an effort for us to get our dessert, track someone down for our check and then to pay the bill.  They accidentally gave us the wrong table’s check and then had some computer problems which took about 15 minutes to fix.  Overall, though, I would go back in millisecond for the food.  Highly recommend.  I also found a little sidewalk art on my walk back to my car in Little Ethiopia:    

REBECCA: Most week nights I have random activities after work, more work to finish up, and hopefully end up chilling for an hour or two at home by the end of the night. But there is always a night or two that I’ll swing by the grocery store for supplies to make a rad dinner, or a night that a friend wants to grab a couple beers at a bar. At the risk of sounding overly-dramatic: those things aren’t so easy for me now during BOB, and although it’s self-inflicted, it does give me pause to think that in some place of the world, having no accessibility to groceries or pubs is actually an involuntary problem.

LORI: When I got home from dinner, I was super excited to see a box on my doorstep that contained my SWEET POTATO PIE and PEACH COBBLER that I had ordered last Thursday from the 27th Street Bakery!!!  I’m holding onto the pie to share with Tenn, Rebecca, Emily and a few others at our dinner on Thursday night, but I have zero self-control and dove into the peach cobbler immediately, making it my third dessert of the evening. I’ve never had a doughier, flakier, more delicious crust in my life. And I’ve had a lot of pie (ask anyone who has attended my annual Battle of the Pie - I take pie seriously).  I’ll definitely be ordering more of this cobbler for Thanksgiving this year.

REBECCA: I’m getting a little stir-crazy, so even though I don’t necessarily eat out most nights of the week, I think I will try to eat out a few more times this week so that I can be proactively supporting BOBs. I’m looking forward to a group dinner with the girls on Thursday, so we can bounce more ideas, share soul food, and support more BOBs.

TENN: I guess some may say that I’ve already failed this challenge, but my mistake has honestly encouraged me to work harder, and plan more in advance for the remainder of the week. After all, challenges can’t always be won…but we can still choose to accept them anyway.

[bobchallengela2016]

#BoB Challenge: Day 1

Where did you go on Day 1?

LORI: I had two breakfast prep meetings before my 11:30AM theater collective’s weekly meeting.  At 8:30 AM, I met up with my writer friend at the closest black-owned restaurant to the theater collective, which is on Gower and Sunset: Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles.  Being a vegetarian, there were limited options for me, so I had scrambled cheesy eggs and toast with a coffee.

In my research, I learned that the 27th Street Bakery is the largest manufacturer of sweet potato pies on the west coast, and has been black-family-owned for three generations.  The place has been around since the 1930′s and drawing in customers for its famous sweet potato pies since 1956.  I really wanted to bring a sweet potato pie to my theater collective’s meeting in order to entice others to jump aboard this challenge.  Because they aren’t open on Sundays, I ordered a pie and a cobbler for delivery on Saturday, but they didn’t arrive in time.  Instead, I bought an entire sweet potato pie at Roscoe’s so that I wouldn’t show up empty-handed.  I'm still determined to try the pies at 27th Street Bakery, but this one didn’t disappoint.

My second meeting was at a coffee shop, but I didn’t spend money there (my friend did) because it wasn’t black-owned.  We have yet to find a black-owned coffee shop.  Hive mind - send suggestions our way!

REBECCA: We drove all the way down to Compton to Hooper’s Shell, the only #BOB gas station in California that we could find online - about a 35 minute drive in minimal traffic from Los Feliz. (If there are others, let us know! We’d love to check them out). The store itself was closed, no attendants present, but there was a clear sign on the window stating that this was very specifically Hooper’s Shell. There were a couple vehicles trying to get gas: A girl in fro and sweatpants tried a few different pumps and was about to drive off as I pulled in: she kindly told me not to waste my time, but I pulled over anyway to wait for Tenn and Lori. An old green pickup truck with an elderly black couple inside who drove painstakingly to every single pump to try to pay with cash. Two middle-aged dudes filling up on opposite sides of the pump and swapping general chit-chat while they waited. A trio of boys who sauntered through and reminded me of my own brothers - presumably looking for Gatorades and candy, at least that’s what my brothers would be doing at a gas station, along with buying scratch-off lotto tickets - and sauntered right on by when they saw the closed sign on the door.

TENN: It was empty, and the office was closed. Probably for Sunday Service. Only one pump was working, and it didn’t take my credit card, but thankfully Rebecca offered to let me use hers. I encourage people to try to do this challenge with friends or a support group. It helps!

There was a steady stream of people stopping by the station. Most of them asked us if the pumps worked, which implied that maybe they were new to the business or area.

REBECCA: Through the next thirty minutes that it took the three of us to wait in line, gas up one at a time, and figure out which credit cards would work, quite a few cars pulled over to the Shell for gas. At one point, almost every pump had at least one vehicle trying to run debit and credit cards and calling it out, sharing info. One pump worked on both sides for credit cards only, so I got in line to fill up my half-tank. In the meantime, several cars left without even bothering to wait. And even when my credit cards worked for me, Tenn’s and Lori’s wouldn’t, and mine wouldn’t swipe twice. Thankfully we scrounged up enough working cards, saluted #BLM, and drove across town to the black-owned grocery store for a snack and some supplies.

LORI: Then, we drove to Simply Wholesome.  When investigating black-owned grocery stores, SImply Wholesome was the only one we could find, so we planned our Sunday around stocking up on food for the week.  I want to mention a black-owned food co-op in the works called SoLA Food Co-op.  We couldn’t find an address and, after reaching out and quickly hearing back, we learned that’s because they need some more member-owners in order to get a brick-and-mortar going:

We are working hard to open a co-op, but we don't have the store yet! The area where you are looking is our ideal target area. Please subscribe to our email list on our website by clicking on the pop-up that says "Get Hip", that way you'll be informed of our progress. Then, please join the co-op! We need 300 member-owners to take it to the capitalization phase, where we actually begin the site selection process. Right now we're 99 member-owners strong. Thanks for your support.

Back to Simply Wholesome.  The place was right up my alley - they sold books, health and beauty supplies, crystals and pre-packaged vegetarian food on one side of the retro 60′s-looking building, and on the other side featured a full patio and outdoor cafe.  Lots of windows gave it a sunny atmosphere and the place was hopping with a friendly, happy, laid back energy.  We were very comfortable because of the welcoming, inclusive environment. The service at Simply Wholesome was excellent - the employees came around to check on us, deliver our food, make sure we were satisfied, clear plates, etc. multiple times. 

REBECCA: The shop/café combination sports a really nice patio, big windows overlooking a busy corner of Slausen, and an overall vibe of happy comfort - a variety of people eating, talking, laughing. We ordered smoothies - people rave about them online but they were really more like those super sugar-laden 711 slurpees - be forewarned that anything “blueberry” comes out electric blue, which can’t possibly be natural unless they’re using those cochineal bugs used in blue dye. The shake list is long and delightful and there’s a pretty big vegetarian selection. I personally loved the mac n cheese and the almost nutty cornbread. The peas and tofu were also good - I didn’t slather them in mayonnaise so according to Tenn I was missing out a little. But the banana pudding that Lori ordered was just as legit as promised: a hearty graham-style cracker on top of a creamy pudding on top of diced banana wedges. It came together really well. 

LORI: I ordered the Caribbean tacos with tofu (which came with rice and a salad), a strawberry smoothie (#8 on the menu) that the friendly employee suggested to me, and vegan banana pudding for dessert.  The vegan banana pudding was SO GOOD.  I love that they have an expansive vegetarian menu, but meat options, as well.

TENN: THEY HAD BLACK EYED PEAS, FRIED OKRA, AND SWEET TEA (in a bottle, but still.)

LORI: There was a huge crowd in the cafe area - as three white gals, we were clearly in the minority which is an important thing to note. I take for granted what it feels like to exist in the majority, and noticed myself feeling self-conscious because we stood out as different.  It made me wonder...what if every white person in America could somehow experience the feeling of being at the mercy of the people in the majority - the distinct feeling of not speaking the language or being outnumbered or designated as “other”?  Would there be more understanding and empathy?  

REBECCA: After we ate, we shopped in the grocery for lunch supplies for the week. Unfortunately they carry no produce, which makes up 85% of my weekly shopping, but I did snag some hemp milk (my first), some Heritage cereal, some GF pasta, and a few specialty Lara bars that Lassen’s and TJ’s don’t carry.

LORI: I stocked up on food for the week - as a vegetarian, I was in heaven.  I’ve never seen so many freezers full of vegetarian and fake-meat products.  Seriously, if you don’t eat meat, you need to visit this place.  I saw so many vegetarian brands I had never seen before.  I do wish they carried fresh vegetables, but I was able to buy some pre-packaged meals to get me through the week.  The cashier also threw in a free Simply Wholesome burlap bag (for those who don’t live in Los Angeles, we have to buy our bags or bring our own re-usable ones, so this was a total score).  If I didn’t have to drive 40 minutes away to Inglewood, I would definitely visit Simply Wholesome on the regular.

TENN: I bought groceries to prepare pasta that will last me for most of me at home dinners during the week, but the grocery store we visited didn’t have produce. For me, that was fresh vegetables. Mushrooms. Zucchini.  I’m making do with a can of whole tomatoes, and adding flavor with spices from the collection in my cabinet.

What did you like the most?

REBECCA:  Getting to go on a mini adventure and break bread with some really great girls. Also, so many people were so friendly - these are parts of town where I rarely find myself but I found myself exchanging lovely smiles and hellos with people in the parking lots that I don’t normally experience in my normal haunts.

LORI: The vibe of Simply Wholesome, exploring parts of Los Angeles that were new to me, and the vegan banana pudding.

TENN: I loved the food at Simply Wholesome. It was everything that had been missing in my life. I also liked checking out new areas and businesses, and doing something meaningful with my friends.

What was the most challenging aspect of Day 1?

REBECCA: Having to drive across town for basic necessities, and not being able to buy any fresh produce.

LORI: So. Much. Driving. 

Do you think that BOB will challenge your work/week day compared to the weekends?

REBECCA: It’s going to be a challenge not being able to step out of my Encino office for lunch and particularly coffee this week. I’ll have to bring my own coffee in the mornings (a great Ethiopian, preexisting bag I have from Trystero) It’s also a challenge not being able to purchase fresh raw foods from a BOB. I wouldn’t be able to sustain this challenge fully unless I found at least a farmer’s market vendor or something. The shop did have coffee ground, but I was unfamiliar with it, they don’t carry beans, and I’m not sure it’s technically a BOB company. These are challenges for me that I’ll be able to adjust to this week, but would be harder to sustain long-term.

LORI: It really just requires more planning, and there aren’t many BoB (that I’ve been able to find) in the Valley where I work and live, so I don’t have many options, especially as a vegetarian.

TENN: You don’t register how difficult this challenge is until you’re stuck in the moment needing something that none of the black owned businesses you’ve researched sell. Also, I’ve found that work functions are almost impossible to work black owned businesses into if they’re not super conveniently located. It’s Los Angeles, and no one wants to spend an extra forty-five minutes in the car if they can drive for five minutes instead.

How are you preparing for day 2? 

REBECCA: Packing a lunch, getting up a little early to make coffee.

LORI: I’m bringing two of my pre-packaged vegetarian meals from Simply Wholesome to work.  I have to speak at a college right after work, so I have to consider my dinner in advance.

TENN: Same tactics. Google. Yelp reviews. Clear planning. Keeping my calendar and notes on hand has been really crucial.

Is #BOB coming up in conversation throughout the day? What are people’s reaction when you tell them about it?

REBECCA: So far, so good. My girlfriend is obviously supportive, but not participating. However, she promised to bring me a plate of leftovers from her catering at work so that I could have a lunch tomorrow without spending money at a non-BOB. My mom was nominally supportive on the phone when I mentioned it in passing yesterday. And the coolest one of all, I think, is my lovely friend Victoria wh found herself in the midst of a hating-Trump spiral and wanted to do something more proactive and kind, saw what we were doing through social media and decided to do her own activism. She’s researching one charity/nonprofit org per day from now until the election, sharing her info, and committing to support them in a small financial way. She began today with Doctors Without Borders, an org that I heavily support and promote as well, and gave us a shout out as to part of her inspiration. I’m pumped that people are using social media to activate and share that energy with others!

LORI: Lots of people have said that this is a good thing that we’re doing, and while it is cool to have support, it shouldn’t be an anomaly but rather something I should have already been doing.  And not only with black-owned businesses, but with businesses owned by all people of color (would those challenges be more or less difficult, I wonder?).  I’ve also had a few people express concern for my safety while exploring unfamiliar areas of Los Angeles.  To be honest, I see that as pandering to unfounded fear-based excuses - if we all just stay in our bubble and stick with what we know, then that really just perpetuates the system currently at play, right?  I’m not looking to always be comfortable within my own bubble, that’s not the point; I can’t help but think that comfort feeds apathy and limits growth. 

Overall, I’ve been really happy with the reaction on Facebook - we already have some excellent ideas and suggestions coming in, all of which fuels our fire!  We want this to be a conversation.

TENN: I talked a lot with my mom, and even more so to my girlfriend about what challenge I was participating in throughout the week. I knew that it would become a larger part of my conversation, but I’ve realized that the more I learn – the more I want to share.

[bobchallengela2016]

Welcome to our Black-Owned Business Challenge

We are four creative gals (Lori, Tenn, Emily and Rebecca) living in Los Angeles who want to support the black community. For one week, we are challenging ourselves to spend our money exclusively at black-owned businesses. That includes food, gas, entertainment, laundry - everything. We start on Sunday, October 2nd and will finish at midnight on Saturday, October 8th. We would love to share our experience with you - please follow along on this blog. Our first topic covers the WHY AND HOW of it all. Tune in tomorrow to hear all about the first day of the challenge.

Please send us a message if you want to gush about your favorite black-owned businesses in Los Angeles (or elsewhere!) and we’ll be sure to feature those places on our blog. 

What sort of preparation and research did you do?

LORI: I googled the heck out of “black-owned business Los Angeles” and came up with quite a few lists, directories and articles. I found one grocery store, one gas station, and a ton of restaurants - the majority of which are not in the Valley, where I live. I’ve plotted my meals out in advance to ensure that I try lots of new restaurants that accommodate my budget and my vegetarian diet.  For my work-related lunches and dinners, I gave the other attendees a heads up about my plan. I will have to drive significantly out of the way in order to eat at black-owned restaurants, and I will have to do so on one tank of gas for the week because I don’t think I can manage multiple 40-minute-one-way drives to the only black-owned gas station in town. Pending any unexpected surprises, I am feeling as prepared and excited as possible.

TENN:  Google, Google, Google – and did I mention Google? Thank the stars for the internet, because without it, it would have been really difficult for me to locate the black owned businesses in my area. My friends Lori and Rebecca found a lot of great leads, so that gave me a place to start. I also relied pretty heavily on yelp reviews and researched lists of black owned businesses other people in LA have compiled and shared online.  I was inspired by the comments in a lot of the reviews. Many people who have visited these places recently did so with this challenge in mind. It gave me hope that with enough buzz around it, we really can help sustain the growth and success of the BOB's in our communities.  REBECCA:  Lori’s research inspired me to also Google the heck out of “black-owned businesses in LA” and came up with a list. BoB restaurants weren’t especially hard - I’ve even been to a few, but of them aren’t in my area either or the area in which I work which makes it a challenge to utilize them throughout the week. I also specifically researched “black coffee roasters” and “black-owned coffee brands” - I only came up with a few but most of those are now defunct for various reasons which is already teaching me that a) Maybe this IS a really good thing to intentionally support BoBs and b) Coffee doesn’t seem to be a focal point of the community. It’s much easier, at least from an Internet standpoint, to find natural hair products or good jazz spots or fantastic soul food. I’m hoping that our experiences and conversations this week will lead to learning more, and also perhaps even lead to longevity for these businesses. Also, I might be compromising my BoB coffee with a lot of “fair trade Ethiopian” this week, but I think that’s OK. 

What are you most excited about?

LORI: Eating sweet potato pie - more on that later!

TENN:  I’m excited to contribute to my community in the real world. It’s easy to advocate behind a keyboard, and while it helps start conversations about racism and injustice towards the black community, advocating online is only part of the fight. Spending money at BOB's helps the owners support themselves and fight inequality in their real daily lives. 

I’m also excited to check out some new restaurants in Los Angeles. I’m a foodie, so anytime I can go out to eat at a new place I get pretty amped. A lot of the restaurants I've found are Southern or Creole inspired. Did you hear me? Southern. LIKE FRIED OKRA SOUTHERN.

This challenge is going to be great for me. I’ve been looking for some really good comfort food restaurants since I arrived in LA, and haven't checked out most of them because of how far away they are from my apartment. This challenge gave me the extra push I needed to get in my car and drive. 

REBECCA:  Hopefully meeting some of the BoB employees, and having good conversations/learning about what it means for me as a white person to support my black community.

Why do you want to do this challenge?

LORI: I first learned about the Black-Owned Business Challenge from a fierce and inspiring architect who I met at a creative community fellowship in Vermont. She tried to devote a month to the Black-Owned Business Challenge in her hometown of Detroit but found it extremely difficult, and she expressed the importance of investing in black businesses.  The conversation stuck with me and I realized how little I knew about the black-owned businesses in my own neighborhood - in fact, I didn’t know if there were any black-owned businesses in my own neighborhood!  That alone inspired me to do the legwork to ensure that I support and invest in them.

I am gutted by all of the police shootings, follow the important efforts of BLM on the news, and want to stop sitting on sidelines. This is something active that I can do NOW and ALL THE TIME. I easily enlisted some of my dearest social activist friends and together we decided to document our experiences here on this blog (and to leave reviews on Yelp). By doing this, I hope to generate excitement about the businesses we visit, discover new restaurants, and learn more about the city in which I live. In my dream universe, we might even inspire others in Los Angeles and across the country to seek out and lift up their local black-owned businesses.  (Do it!)

TENN:  Because it is still a challenge. I was actually pretty shocked at how difficult it has been to find businesses that are both black owned and conveniently located to accommodate every need. 

This challenge is about much more than just visiting a few restaurants, gas stations and grocery stores once over the course of a week, but having awareness about racial inequality, familiarizing yourself with the black owned businesses in your community, and actively incorporating them into your life year round.

REBECCA:  I want to put my money where my mouth is when it comes to Black Lives Matter. Mentioning this challenge to a couple people has already led to conversations about what/why/how and I’m eager to learn more this week and share that throughout this week and beyond. Seeing a lot of what seemed to be super chic, but black-owned businesses that have gone under, shuttered up, or just don’t seem to have much of a diverse consumer base makes me think that segregation is just as looming as it ever was and that it really does negatively impact those businesses.