Two nonprofits team up to share Black business stories in Nashville

BY MAGGIE YOUNGS

In honor of Black History Month, Equally Red is teaming up with Matthews Mission to share the stories of various Black businesses in the Nashville area.

Equally Red was founded by the Campbell family: Curt, Kimmy and their adult children Sydney and Brit. As racial tensions were highlighted during the summer of 2020, their family felt called to respond and believed they were in a unique position to do so as a biracial family. Their desire as a family is to share the stories of people from a variety of backgrounds, believing that there is great power in listening to people’s experiences.

Equally Red is founded on the idea that all people of all races, ethnicities, and abilities, share the same blood — blood that is equally red.

“This is a conversation for anyone who has made a judgement about someone’s appearance or where they came from or something they can’t control,” says Sydney Campbell.

The family desires to normalize and facilitate simply being around and getting to know those who are different from oneself. They share these stories through both video and blog posts. Some of these stories thus far have included conversations with Maria Lopez, who discussed her experience of childhood in Columbia and of adoption, Jackson Dreyer, a pop and soul musician, and Michael Dada, a local business advisor.

Post pandemic, Equally Red hopes to encourage people to learn from others different from them by hosting local events that feature the food, music, and stories of people from various cultures, races and abilities.

NFL wide receiver Jordan Matthews started a nonprofit Matthews Mission in 2016. The mission began as a way to give back to the communities that shaped him: Huntsville, Philadelphia, and Nashville — all major influences in his upbringing and football career. The framework of his mission can be summarized through the acronym FEED (Feed the hungry, Educate the children, Empower the family, and Donate to those in need). Inspired by Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason, Matthews has a strong passion for mentorship and, through Matthews Mission, has developed a mentorship program in Philadelphia. Passionate about the power of long term relationships, he says, “The only way to change the world is through investment.”

Matthews’s wife Cheyna now joins him in the mission. He says Cheyna, “empowers people simply by being herself,” and has greatly contributed to the focus and direction of Matthews Mission alongside Matthews’s mother.

In response to the highlighted racial tensions of the last year and in celebration of Black History Month, both organizations have come together to create the Black Business Awareness Initiative. The purpose of the initiative is to highlight black businesses during the month of February on social media while also engaging with those businesses. Together, the organizations have created a short video series bringing awareness to five different black owned businesses — Shugga Hi Cafe and Bakery, Polish Nails Concierge, Pivot Technology School, AthElite Performance, and Emerson Grace Boutique. In each of these videos, Jordan Matthews and Sydney Campbell give viewers an inside look to a business and hear from the business owners.

“Sometimes, when discussing racism in America, it can be hard to find concrete ways people can step in, but we can not escape the conversation regarding money when it comes to race,” Matthews says. “We can’t escape the tangible numbers of the racial wage gap, and we wanted to promote a practical action step that people can take.”

The goal of the initiative is to encourage viewers and readers to go to these businesses and enjoy the products and services for themselves. Matthews added that there often can be a stigma associated with Black owned businesses, and that the only way someone can break these perceptions is by visiting themselves.

In addition, Equally Red and Matthews Mission have created a GoFundMe with a goal of $25,000 to raise support for the five businesses featured in the video series during the month of February.

“In creating the GoFundMe, we did not want to treat the businesses like charity, but I think that we can all agree that COVID-19 has put people in some hard situations,” Matthews says.

Sydney Campbell says she hopes people will take action and talk to new and different people.

“Educate yourself, but also understand that education alone doesn’t humanize people,” Campbell says. “Identify your bias, even if it’s really uncomfortable, and then go out and find those people who are different from yourself. You don’t feel guilty for how you were born, you feel guilty for not using your privilege.”