2020 has allowed us many opportunities to innovate, and one way we tested our strengths is by pivoting to virtual pitch nights not once but twice. Our 2nd Life's A P!tch Graduation and Pitch Night took place on November 23rd, with "Entrepreneurial Kings & Queens" battling "Ladies and the Lad" for the title.
If you missed our Virtual Pitch Night, click the image above to check out the live stream on our Facebook page.
"Entrepreneurs Are Essential"
November 27th & 28th
This Black Friday and Small Business Saturday will be unlike any "post-Thanksgiving scramble to buy the latest deal" that we've ever seen - pretty much like the rest of 2020, right?
We are making it SUPER EASY for you to Shop Small this year with our curated list of Alumni Businesses that you can support this holiday season. Let us know about your favorite finds! Tweet us or tag us in your purchase on IG - @WeAreMORTAR.
Washington Park Winter Market
November 27th - December 20th
We are delighted to be partnering with 3CDC and Washington Park to provide our alumni with an opportunity to serve as vendors during the annual Winter Market. The Market officially opens November 27th and will run through December 20th. The MORTAR Winter Market will run December 5th and 6th - so please be sure to stop by and support our incredible alumni who have worked so hard to bring quality products and services to our community.
Back for the Holidays!
December 1st - January 1st
Chi Chi Luxx Boutique returns to our Pop Up shop December 1st - January 1st. You can find them at 1329 Vine Street with the latest in Ladies fashion and a heart to give back: from December 1st - 21st, you can donate a new kid's hat or glove and get 20% off one item.
Be sure to stop by, make a purchase, and be a blessing to someone in need this holiday season.
Shop Small December Challenge
December 1st - 31st
Shop Small with the MORTAR #ShopSmall Challenge this holiday season!
Grab a Passport Punch Card at one of our participating MORTAR Alumni businesses (or download online) and fill it up as you shop at each location. You can increase your impact by making a holiday gift to MORTAR, supporting even more minority entrepreneurs in our city.
Echoing Green, with a mission to discover emerging social entrepreneurs and invest deeply in the growth of their ideas and leadership, will host "BLACK INNOVATOR TALKS: For Us, By Us" on December 8th featuring MORTAR's very own Co-Founder and Executive Director Allen Woods.
For over 30 years, Echoing Green has built a broad, dynamic ecosystem to support these leaders as they solve the world’s biggest problems. Allen and fellow Co-Founder Derrick Braziel were named Echoing Green "Black Male Achievement" Fellows in 2017.
BLACK INNOVATOR TALKS: For Us, By Us will take place virtually on December 8th at 5pm. Click the image to register.
I don't need to tell you that 2020 has been a challenging year. Chances are, over the course of the last 9 months, your life has looked a lot different than you expected.
It’s crazy to think that I’ve gone almost an entire year without hugging my mom, even though I saw her several times during our socially distant family driveway meetups. I also had to curb a lot of other lofty plans for this year... plans of doing a gallery show to finally share decades of my photography with the world have been postponed indefinitely, as well as trips and… well pretty much everything else.
This is just a different world. It's a world that seems to be awakening (while others willfully remain asleep); a world that has become more connected and empathetic to the split-pathed journeys that others are walking - even if these walks were while holding signs and chanting displeasure with thecontrasts of a system that has ensured the death of melanated skin and protections of those who cover theirs with azul tapestries. This year has been painful. It hurts to know that buried next to the bodies that have been stolen by a pandemic are the dreams of small business owners who can’t sustain.
Small businesses need your support right now. More specifically, Black businesses & Women owned businesses AND Black Women owned businesses need your support right now.
We started MORTAR in 2014 because we understood that it’s really hard to start and sustain a business. It’s even harder when you come from a marginalized demographic - and that was even before the pandemic. Once you add COVID-19 to the equation, you have a recipe for Black business closures… Unless we do something about it. Let’s redefine Black Friday.
I'm encouraging you to make a commitment to spend money with Black Owned Businesses every Friday. That amount could be $20 a week, it could be $2,000. Do whatever works for you. As you pursue this challenge, please share the product, service, or meal that you purchased on social media so that others in your network can see, and use the hashtag #52BlackFridays.
We will get through this - but if we work together, we can all make it out better on the other side.
