Black Business Month in Birmingham

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INTERVIEWS. WELL, THIS WEEK, THOUSANDS OF REPORTERS, ANCHORS, MEDIA MANAGERS ARE IN TOWN FOR THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS. AS WVTM 13 INTERN JADA DANIELS EXPLAINS, THE CONFERENCE RELIES ON BIRMINGHAM BUSINESSES TO MAKE IT SUCCEED. BLACK BUSINESS OWNERS ARE BUSIER MORE THAN EVER AS AUGUST KICKS OFF BLACK BUSINESS MONTH AND THE NABJ CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD RIGHT HERE IN THE MAGIC CITY JUST THIS WEEK, WE HAD SEVERAL PEOPLE REACH OUT TO US THAT WERE PART OF THE NABJ CONFERENCE. SO WE ACTUALLY HAD SOMETHING EVERY NIGHT THIS WEEK THAT WE’RE ACTUALLY DOING SOME CATERING AND SOME DINNERS FOR THOSE. AND I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT PARTNERSHIP BECAUSE ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HAS TO HAPPEN IN ORDER FOR A BLACK BUSINESS TO BE SUCCESSFUL IS THAT PEOPLE HAVE TO COME. THE OWNER OF YO CHEF SAYS THIS IS AN EMPOWERING TIME FOR BLACK BUSINESSES AND IS EXCITED ABOUT THE EXPOSURE. I JUST THINK IT’S A GREAT THING FOR ALL SMALL BUSINESS, BIG BUSINESS, YOU KNOW, TO BE RECOGNIZED, ESPECIALLY, YOU KNOW, WHEN IT’S BLACK BUSINESS, HAVE A VERY HARD THEY DON’T GET THE RESOURCES THAT EVERY OTHER BUSINESS GET. SO TO BE ABLE TO GET A LITTLE LIGHT SHINE ON YOU FOR ANY TIME IS ALWAYS GOOD BECAUSE CHEF YAMIN REMEMBERS A TIME IT WAS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE FOR BLACK PEOPLE TO OWN A BUSINESS IN BIRMINGHAM, HE REFLECTS. ON THE 16TH STREET BAPTIST CHURCH BOMBING THAT HAPPENED NEARLY 60 YEARS AGO. 60 YEARS AGO, I WAS BORN 63, SO YOU KNOW WHAT I’M SAYING? SO I’M RIDING ON THAT 60, RIGHT? SO WHEN THAT HAPPENED, I WAS AN BABY, RIGHT? SO I WAS AROUND. BUT BEING CARRIED AND RAN, RIGHT. SO TO BE HERE READ TODAY AND TO BE ABLE TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED. RIGHT. YOU KNOW WHAT I’M SAYING? FOR Y’ALL TO BE HERE IS SAYING IN A WHOLE LOT. BERNADINE BIRDSONG SAYS OWNING MICHAEL’S RESTAURANT IS A FULL CIRCLE MOMENT. WHEN I WENT TO THE PROM IN THE 70S, MICHAEL WAS LIKE ONE OF THE PREMIER STEAKHOUSES. AND IT WAS RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE PARLIAMENT HOUSE, WHICH IS JUST A FEW BLOCKS FROM WHERE WE’RE LOCATED NOW. SO TO THINK THAT WE HAVE GONE FROM THAT TO BEING ABLE TO OWN THIS RESTAURANT, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, A NAMESAKE FOR MISTER MICHAEL MADSEN, IT’S IT’S PRETTY BIG PRIVILEGE. I THINK BOTH BUSINESS OWNERS ARE EXTREMELY GRATEFUL FOR THEIR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NABJ AND ASK THAT THE COMMUNITY NOT ONLY SUPPORT THEIR BUSINESSES THROUGHOUT THE MONTH OF AUGUST, BUT YEAR ROU

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