Black Her-Story Matters

Artist Emma Craigen designed the "Black Her-Story Matters" t-shirt currently sold at Overflow Coffee Bar. The t-shirt is actually a screen printing of a piece of Emma's original artwork titled, "Grow from Your Roots, " a combination Black History Month/Women's History Month art piece critiquing and satirizing what is, or rather, what is not, taught in schools. This piece specifically highlights the history of Black women in America, which is even more overlooked, and therefore what Emma wanted to celebrate and emphasize. 

"The past few years of middle school, my adopted black sister has lamented and been frustrated by a lack of recognition, relevance, and realism in schools when it comes to Black History and current events. A group of multiracial middle schoolers don't just want to learn about the old white guys who wrote the constitution, they want to know the stories about people that look like them, too. It's time that curriculum was changed to reflect a full and diverse reality.

Black History Matters. Black Women Matter. Representation Matters. Especially in schools.

Model: my beautifully ferocious and ferociously beautiful budding social justice princess warrior little sister: Trinity"

~Emma Craigen

INSPIRING ENTREPRENEURS

Entrenuity's Angela Jackson lives an inspiring life and lives her life to inspire. Incorporating her love for business and community, Angela is currently utilizing her expertise as a business consultant/coach to develop and empower marginalized communities throughout Nairobi, Kenya. As a Certified StartingUp Now Facilitator, Angela is teaching the SUN curriculum to service and support startup organizations and entrepreneurs in multiple social enterprise efforts:

• Angela is currently teaching business classes at IJM--an organization that specializes in social services and recovery for victims of police brutality, unjust imprisonment, and survivors of sexual exploitation. IJM developed an aftercare plan that supports survivors with economic empowerment along with a fund to kick-start small enterprises. Angela assists IJM’s staff in providing practical business training to help these small businesses become self-sustainable. Angela works with the IJM staff so they can assist their clients in creating excellent business plans and equips them with the proper tools to coach their clients for success.

• Alongside an organization like IJM, Angela is passionate about working with HAART, an organization that raises awareness against human trafficking. Kenyans are trafficked as a result of child labor and exploitation. Men, women, and children are all subject to such heinous crimes. Angela equips and coaches survivors, supported by HAART, to recover and start their own businesses in the midsts of adversity and emotional trauma.

• Between her time teaching business classes to the staff of these organizations and helping in the recovery process of sex trafficking survivors, Angela volunteers her time at Christ Hope International, serving children and orphans affected by aids. Angela recognizes the importance of strengthening families and teaches business classes to both children and their parents. Angela uses simple life illustrations to teach children the importance of recognizing problems in their community and coming up with lasting solutions.

• As a strong and empowered women herself, Angela uses her business skillset to partner with Woman’s Hope, a community that provides the women of Kenya with relevant social-economic information to uplift their society. Angela helps nurture and cultivate a culture of strong female leaders, assisting them in developing strong and stable social enterprises.

Barista on a Mission

A job becomes more than just a job when you approach it as a mission. For Barista Camellia Edwards, her mission is adding a little extra love to everything she does. Cam's mission made an impression on a customer one day who chose to give Overflow another try after previously deciding it wasn't a good fit. But after meeting and connecting with Cam, she kept coming back. She came back on busy mornings before work and let Cam brighten her day with a smile and some caffeine to keep her going. She came back after her mother died and let Cam be a bright spot during the dark season of grief. And she came back after the holidays to thank Cam with a hug and a gift. Cam was moved to tears by the lovely wrapped present and had to be talked into opening it, only to find herself shaken at the sight of two crisp, new 100 dollar bills and a handwritten thank you card. "Thank you for being such an incredible person and for being such a bright and shiny light."

Cam took her customer service to the next level. It was about more than just doing her job, it was about intentionally doing good, and it made a difference. That's the Overflow difference--and it came with an exceptional cup of coffee.

Black History Month 2018

Black History Month, initiated by Carter G. Woodson as Negro History Week in 1926, was federally recognized by President Gerald Ford in 1976 and has been designated by every American president since as Black History Month and endorsed with a specific theme. It is observed in February to honor the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and President Abraham Lincoln, who were important in black American history. February is also significant for February 3, 1870 when black men were granted the right to vote by the passing of the 15th Amendment.

In Partnership: Curriculum Collaboration

The Male Mogul Initiative, led by former NFL football player Walter Mendenhall, in partnership with Entrenuity, completed its second cohort with high school students from the Austin Community, located on the Westside of Chicago, using the StartingUp Now curriculum. Students gained practical and applicable knowledge about business creation that can lead to success and productivity in their businesses, schools, and community. We accomplished our task by helping students develop and enhance their personal philosophy of leadership that included an understanding of self, groups and how they can be positive change agents in their communities. Students had a chance to visit Northwestern’s Kellogg Business School and present their business plans at the conclusion of the six-week program. The Male Mogul Initiative was rated After Schools Matters' highest rated summer program for the summer of 2017.

Returning Citizens

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