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Diverse Artists Elevate Charlotte’s Cultural Scene

By Angela Haigler Curtis King Curtis King burst into the national spotlight when he and his family were featured on ABC’s “Extreme Home Makeover” in 2008. The program blessed the family with a beautiful new home that included an art studio for King and an expanded community daycare center for his wife Alisha.…
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Bitty & Beau’s Serves More Than Just Coffee

They also offer hope to employees By Anders J. Hare Roughly one in four Americans currently live with a disability, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in 2018. Among those with disabilities, nearly 80 percent are unemployed. This staggering statistic was the fuel Ben and Amy Wright needed to open Bitty & Beau’s Coffee, a once-small-town business that employs people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.…
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Charlotte Nonprofit Teaches Children Around the World

By William Carter, Jr. Nonprofits that help people and give back to communities represent the best of our country. They give people a way to work together for the good of all, putting their shared aspirations and ideologies into practice. They shape our biggest dreams, highest ideals and most important causes.…
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Nonprofit Helps Minority and Women-Owned Businesses Thrive

By Sonja Whitemon                                                  The hurdles that face minority business owners are countless: operating costs, raising capital, attracting customers. Throw in a worldwide pandemic and what’s an entrepreneur to do? Where there are challenges, there are also opportunities. The National Institute of Minority Economic Development is helping minority and women-owned businesses to weather traditional business challenges and survive and recover from the economic impact of the pandemic.…
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Cochrane Students
Begin Their Investment Journey with PEEP

Some of you still may not know that Pride Magazine has a nonprofit arm called PEEP. Founded in 2007, PEEP has relaunched as the Pride Educational Empowerment Program with three foundational pillars: career mentoring, entrepreneurship and wealth creation. The fundamental goal of PEEP is to tackle the wealth gap by eliminating future socio-economic disparities within the African American community.…
Business

NC IDEA – Elevating Black Entrepreneurship

By Sonja Whitemon Three Charlotte startup companies were selected to receive grants from NC IDEA, a private foundation committed to supporting entrepreneurial ambition and economic empowerment in North Carolina. The foundation awarded $75,000 grants to seven companies in North Carolina. The recipients of the awards were all companies founded by Black entrepreneurs.…
Business

A Full Plate: Chef Lisa Brooks Cooks Up Faith

Photo by Amanda Richardson Photography Story by: Sasha Manley Chef Lisa Brooks, a Charlotte native, is an example of what it means to step out on faith and bet on yourself. Brooks decided to leave corporate life at the age of 40 and get back to doing what she ultimately loved.…
Business

Real Men Get Manicures and Pedicures

By John Burton Jr. Imagine being in a nail salon, receiving your normal service, and two strapping construction workers venture in. They’re not there to meet their significant others but proceed to plop down in chairs at the pedicure station. Subsequently, they peel off their dirt-caked construction boots, then place their feet in the awaiting bubbling foot water bath.…
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The Write Brothers Inspire the Next Generation of Leaders

By Anders J. Hare These four Black men — Rev. Reggie Tuggle, Dr. Augustus Parker III, Patrick Diamond and Ron Ancrum — didn’t form their writing collective just to tell their individual stories. They wanted to teach readers that no matter where they come from or what their circumstances are, they have the power to accomplish their goals.…