Our Hillside needs more ownership by people of color
I’ll put it plainly: our Duluth Hillside doesn’t contain enough businesses owned by those that contribute to these richly diverse neighborhoods, namely people of color.
How sad it is to say goodbye to a business with great potential in the Duluth Hillside, “Diamonds in the Rough” and owner, Melissa Grimes. Your September article points out cause for sadness very well: strained economics and a lost connectedness for our neighbors of color.
Ownership, whether a business, home or possession, a way of life, education, an idea, heritage, or talent, (the list is endless), is part of what makes us who we are. And I’m not leaving out passion, in this case defined as commitment, enthusiasm, zeal, or drive. This passion led a woman of color, Melissa Grimes, to open a business in Duluth for which there is a market and need.
Duluth, more specifically our Hillside, has people of passion, people responding to potential and possibilities. Passion and dreams are just as real and legitimate as the need for food, and likewise the need for connectedness and ownership.
I believe in possibilities. I may not have the same talents, passions (or dreams) as my neighbor, but I believe that possibilities abound for those wanting to live out their talent, their passion: this includes any person of color.
Sorely lacking are the tools to accomplish this: money, education, and not the least of which are support and encouragement from the community at large.
A small business, a locally owned business, is vital to any community of any size or cultural character. We tell our young people that they can be whatever they want to be. Yet do we really show them a way, help them follow through on a dream, a passion?
Deyona and Jamar Kirk have responded. Their ownership of Ma and Pop’s Fourth Street Market makes my case. Your September article does well to applaud their labor to meet a need. I wholeheartedly support them as the community does -- with my patronage as well as my words.
So, with sadness we say goodbye to Melissa Grimes, and with hope we extend a heartfelt welcome to Deyona and Jamar. And we thank all of these people for modeling a belief in possibilities.
I look forward to reading more about neighbors like Melissa, Deyona, and Jamar in the Hillsider. All are to be respected and emulated, and dare we expect that they mentor other “possibilities” to live out a “passion”?
The fact is: we can all “give back to the community”, to quote Melissa, in so many supportive ways. We can start with a challenging K-12 education and on through institutions of higher learning.
The real challenge is to aid in discovering and promoting possibilities, passions and assist in making these live, most particularly for people of color.
Sincerely, Sarah L Chambers
I’ll put it plainly: our Duluth Hillside doesn’t contain enough businesses owned by those that contribute to these richly diverse neighborhoods, namely people of color.
How sad it is to say goodbye to a business with great potential in the Duluth Hillside, “Diamonds in the Rough” and owner, Melissa Grimes. Your September article points out cause for sadness very well: strained economics and a lost connectedness for our neighbors of color.
Ownership, whether a business, home or possession, a way of life, education, an idea, heritage, or talent, (the list is endless), is part of what makes us who we are. And I’m not leaving out passion, in this case defined as commitment, enthusiasm, zeal, or drive. This passion led a woman of color, Melissa Grimes, to open a business in Duluth for which there is a market and need.
Duluth, more specifically our Hillside, has people of passion, people responding to potential and possibilities. Passion and dreams are just as real and legitimate as the need for food, and likewise the need for connectedness and ownership.
I believe in possibilities. I may not have the same talents, passions (or dreams) as my neighbor, but I believe that possibilities abound for those wanting to live out their talent, their passion: this includes any person of color.
Sorely lacking are the tools to accomplish this: money, education, and not the least of which are support and encouragement from the community at large.
A small business, a locally owned business, is vital to any community of any size or cultural character. We tell our young people that they can be whatever they want to be. Yet do we really show them a way, help them follow through on a dream, a passion?
Deyona and Jamar Kirk have responded. Their ownership of Ma and Pop’s Fourth Street Market makes my case. Your September article does well to applaud their labor to meet a need. I wholeheartedly support them as the community does -- with my patronage as well as my words.
So, with sadness we say goodbye to Melissa Grimes, and with hope we extend a heartfelt welcome to Deyona and Jamar. And we thank all of these people for modeling a belief in possibilities.
I look forward to reading more about neighbors like Melissa, Deyona, and Jamar in the Hillsider. All are to be respected and emulated, and dare we expect that they mentor other “possibilities” to live out a “passion”?
The fact is: we can all “give back to the community”, to quote Melissa, in so many supportive ways. We can start with a challenging K-12 education and on through institutions of higher learning.
The real challenge is to aid in discovering and promoting possibilities, passions and assist in making these live, most particularly for people of color.
Sincerely, Sarah L Chambers
