Do it for the culture

Happy Monday, y’all! I hope everyone had a good weekend, whatever that means for you.

For me, it was closing my laptop at 4 p.m. sharp in order to attend "Do it for the Culture: A Black History Month Celebration," led by the Black Graduate Student Association (BGSA) at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. The event was held at FastForward U on 29th Street and I'd walked over at an earlier invitation from Anthony Watters — the interim director of the Social Innovation Lab at Johns Hopkins University, as well as an alum of the program and the founder of More Watter co. Don’t you just love a promising pipeline from accelerator to leadership within the accelerator? I do.

I walked in just in time to hear Matthew Reeds introducing the panel of speakers that included our newly appointed Deputy Mayor for Equity, Health, and Human Services at the City of Baltimore Faith Leach; B360 founder Brittany  Young; and Alex Aaron, founder of Black Slate. That was my first time hearing about him and his organization, which is why it’s essential to get out there and network: You always chart new territory in Baltimore’s ecosystems.

To make connecting easier, I’ve been using Blinq, a QR code-based business card app. It’s been a breath of fresh air not to carry paper cards, even though I love a good heavy cardstock. I took some time on Saturday to help my DJ homie Daveology set up his Blinq and EPK ahead of a trip to LA for events related to the 54th NAACP Image Awards this week. As the African American proverb says: "Each one teach one." Have you helped a homie lately?

The event on Friday also featured about 20 Black-owned businesses, with some vendors I knew like From Baltimore With Love and Albert Philips Jr., author of "Y'all Hiring?: The Black Teen's Guide to Navigating Employment," as well as some I was excited to learn more about. The whole two-hour immersive experience was the perfect way to celebrate Black History Month.

I plan to continue my celebration this week over at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum for what is being branded as "BLK Ass Night Brunch In The Biggest, Blackest Building in Baltimore," which I love. Hope to see you there, as well as at some of BORTweek's participating restaurants; I started the tour on Sunday at Teavolve in Harbor East, where representatives from some of the week's sponsors kicked things off with a ribbon cutting.

Lastly, it's almost Women’s History Month though. What’s coming up in March?