TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — In honor of Black History Month, more than 30 local Black-owned businesses and Black-led organizations participated in the second annual Merchant & Mission-Focused Marketplace Wednesday night at Dunbar Pavilion.
It’s put on by the nonprofit organization, A Better Community (ABC), which is dedicated to fostering connections and collaboration among residents in the Tucson area.
Trehon and Carmishun Cockrell-Coleman founded the organization in May, 2023.
“We came to the Dunbar, and we just wanted to come together and say, 'Hey, how can people who are looking and longing for community arrive at community?' So we did a three-month pilot from May to July, and the community said 'We wanted to keep it going.' This is what you see from May, 2023, to now,” Trehon Cockrell-Coleman said.
This event grew from about 25 participants in 2023 to 38 this year.
Attendance also increased from 450 to 500.
Trehon says this event is not only to showcase and spotlight Black-owned businesses, but it has an even bigger purpose.
“If you do it the right way, you leave knowing people right here in your community. You sometimes hear, 'I don’t know what my community is' or 'How do I arrive at it?' So, this is supposed to be the hub so you can do that. Believe it or not, you leave here knowing more people because that’s what it’s all about,” Trehon Cockrell-Coleman said.
Artist Shanta Jordan was one of the new vendors at the marketplace.
“I’m like a freelance artist. Like I’m more of a Basquiat type of person, but at the same time I like to do pictures of people. But I’ll throw something on there and see what happens,” said Jordan.
Jordan said she learned from her dad who painted houses.
“I ended up not just making it a hobby but a career. Outside of this, I’m an aircraft coated painter,” Jordan said.
She adds that the event was a blast and loved everything about it.
“I love the culture. I love that people are interacting with each other and exchanging numbers and cards and trying to network outside of this. I like the relationships that I’m building just by seeing people I already know because it’s my first time here,” continued Jordan.
It was also an event where they honored their past and celebrated the bright future ahead.
There were performances, singing and music throughout the night that kept the energy up high.
Because the event was sponsored by Automated Presort Services and Digital Print, all the participating businesses and vendors got to keep 100% of their profits.
Trehon says this is just one of the free events ABC puts on.
“We have big and small events. This is the biggest event in our calendar year, but we still have intimate, small settings, because we have people who say, 'you know Trehon, we're happy to see 500 people, but we like the 70, 80 people gatherings as well.' So we have a hybrid model,” said Cockrell-Coleman.
To learn more about ABC and future events, visit their website.
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