01-03-2025
Nonprofit organizes first black-owned business crawl
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – A nonprofit in Wichita created an event to support black-owned businesses.
The Phoenix is a sober gym in Wichita. The staff said this was the first time hosting the crawl.
They talked to other community partners and wanted to do this to celebrate Black History Month.
With every step downtown in Wichita, there's a shop to explore. Cody Palmer, a staff member at The Phoenix, helped assemble the black-owned business crawl to introduce people to new places.
'I think we're centrally located downtown. And so we were really surprised to learn about a lot of these local businesses,' said Palmer.
One of those businesses is the Blackprint ICT. Her business collaborates with other black-owned brands.
'We've also worked really hard this last couple weeks to seek those brands that are receiving canceled contracts from big box stores such as Target due to their elimination of their DEI initiatives,' said Tasha Hayes, owner at The Blackprint ICT.
The Blackprint ICT wants to be an open door when one door closes.
'Pink Lips, which is a cosmetic company out of Kansas City. They've been around for seven years and had a brick and mortar there in Kansas City and were welcomed into Target for some time as they were enhancing their DEI initiatives, but recently received the news that their contract will be canceled,' said Hayes.
Now, Pink Lips is on store shelves in Wichita.
The Phoenix wants to celebrate local business owners and inspire the next generation.
'My daughter, I found something really good in a book that might speak to her at Left On Read,' said Palmer.
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