MILWAUKEE — The second annual Blackity Black Holiday Market, hosted by HYFIN Radio Milwaukee on Saturday, aimed to connect shoppers with locally owned Black businesses.
“We’re really trying to create a whole unique experience celebrating the Black culture in Milwaukee in a city that’s kind of been known as the worst city for African Americans,” said HYFIN Program Director Tarik Moody. “We want to try to change that narrative the best way we can.”
With 50 vendors and a thousand attendees this year, Moody emphasized the positive impact on the Black community.
“We know the data when it comes to Black-owned businesses,” said Moody. “It’s tougher for Black-owned businesses to grow, and a lot of them don’t have the marketing dollars. We want to use our platform to help them.”
It’s helping young entrepreneurs, such as 10-year-old Lyric Collins, who started her business when she was just 4 years old.
“This is my business, Little Lady,” Collins said. “My mom got me started. I was just selling nail polishes at a stand, asking anybody that passed by, ‘Hi, would you like to buy some nail polish?’”
A food court was a new addition to the market this year. It also highlighted Black businesses, including Mobay Cafe and their Caribbean delights.
“Caribbean restaurant where people don’t have to go to the Caribbean to necessarily have Caribbean food, so we bring all the flavors and spice to you here in Milwaukee,” said Alex Feeling, an employee at Mobay Cafe.
Local business owner Jessica Goodwin, who was selling candles for her business, Blossoms, said she appreciated the event as a platform to discover and connect with other Black-owned businesses in the community.
“We all can kind of know what’s around here and what’s in the community,” said Goodwin. “I may not know about other entities and other organizations or other products, so this is a great way for other vendors to learn about other businesses in Milwaukee that are Black-owned.”
The event wasn’t just for shopping. It also featured financial resources, fitness tips and academic resources available with help from partners such as the African American Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin, Historic King Drive BID and We Got Soul MKE.
“You don’t have to be Black to come down,” said Moody. “We just want to amplify these businesses that have a little more harder time than most businesses. We just want to showcase what they’re doing. Hopefully, they get to know them beyond Small Business Saturday.”
