All Black Everything

Buy Black Program

Liston says the Buy Black program promotes more than just supporting local black-owned businesses. She says residents need to understand their relationship to the rest of the community. “It’s more than just shopping at black stores,” says Liston. “It’s understanding black stores that have been in existence, where we can build black stores, how do we connect them, how do we show people to make sure they work with them, all those type of things.”

Bradley Thurman, the owner of Coffee Makes You Black on Teutonia Avenue, says minority-owned businesses definitely need community support. “I feel that the failure rate is due to not having adequate working capital and not having a community with a conscious to buy into black businesses, to go out of their way and watch where and how they spend their dollar,” says Thurman. “That’s the real challenge of black businesses in Milwaukee.”

A recent study by the UW-Milwaukee Employment & Training Institute found the total annual household income of African Americans in Milwaukee County is $3.6 billion.  For Biddle, a big goal is to circulate more of those black dollars within the local community, to use that massive purchasing power to create more black-owned businesses.

Executive director of Local Initiatives Support Corporation Leo Ries agrees that people need to take ownership. “The answer is not going to come from elsewhere,” says Ries. “People have to take the initiative. I really believe in the importance of people coming together.”

Ries came to LISC 14 years ago to network and be a supporter in neighborhood development efforts. He says groups such as ABE are important for neighborhoods. “That whole process of getting people engaged, helping them believe that change is possible and then working with them to implement that change — those are exactly the types of groups we love to work with… because they’re groups that have a certain passion and a vision and so then we can work with them and say, how can we help you implement that vision?”

As things stand now, many black businesses are dying, says Lucky Anderson, owner of Anderson Income Tax Services on Center Street. He has seen many “black-owned corner stores” die, he says. “Everyone is going. We are not going to own anything. We owned businesses, but now I’m not so sure about that. It’s going the other way.”

Anderson says some black businesspeople are dishonest. “I think with the black businesses, I hate to say this, but quite often they’re not truthful. Okay, it’s a shame to say. They cheat. People don’t trust them.”

Anderson says there are black businesspeople that only do it for the dollar, and not because they like what they are doing. He says that if African Americans work together they can become one of the strongest ethnic groups in America.

Feed the People Program

All Black Everything’s “Feed the People” program is designed to promote healthy eating options. The group is currently in the process of creating a local co-op. “Right now we are really in the planning stage of understanding what do we want it to look like,” says Liston. “But the interest is very high.” Every week, he says, more people say they want to get involved. “And they are adding their skills and talents so then we keep changing and try to reform what we actually want to do with that.” Biddle says ABE is already doing certifications for food trainers because they want to cultivate their own community gardens.

ABE is also creating summer youth programs including a Sankofa Saturday School that will focus on projects to develop the cultural awareness of youth. Freedom Camp will be a five-day camp that focuses on freedom movements throughout the United States, the Caribbean, and Africa. Selected students will have the opportunity to showcase what they have learned at the citywide Underground Railroad celebration with the Johnsons Park Neighborhood Association.

There will also be a Sankofa camp that focuses on reading and writing skills. The students will learn about African dance, poetry, and art. At the end of the camp, a showcase will allow students to perform in front of students, parents, and the community.

The last program is the P.R.E.P. school (People Ready for Excellence), a back-to-school camp. This five-day camp will help to prepare students to transition from the lazy days of summer into school mode. The focus will be on reading, math, history, and social skills. ABE’s goal is to raise $5,000 for all of these programs by June 1.

“We need to return back to the traditional set of viewpoints,” says Supreme Allah. “It actually helps many people in this community that are of African descent get back to those roots.”

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