Despite all the violent protesting and rioting that you have seen on TV, there are actually many professional African Americans in Baltimore, Maryland. The city is home to several Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), including Morgan State University and Coppin State University, and there are tons of successful Black-owned businesses there!
Here's a brief profile of just 10 successful Black entrepreneurs from Baltimore:
#1 - Chef Casey Jenkins (Owner of Darker Than Blue Cafe): From Marine cook to highly regarded fine dining chef, Casey Jenkins has distinguished himself as a talented chef with an innate sense for preparing delicious food and for never wasting an ounce of it to higher food costs. His restaurant is a top 10 favorite in the city of Baltimore.
#2 - Chef Gregory Brown, (Owner of Land of Kush Vegetarian Cuisine): After studying the history of the African Diaspora from time to time, he and his friends/ investors (Naijha Wright and Darius Waters) came up with the idea to create a vegetarian restaurant that caters to the Black community in the Baltimore area. The name "Kush" itself is an ancient African civilization.
#3 - Lenora Barbour, (Owner of Lenora Nail Colors): After years of being passionate about painting artwork with acrylic and mixing cool and warm colors, Lenora decided to create her own line of toxic-free highly exclusive and trend-setting nail polish lacquers. She is the only African American entrepreneur in the Baltimore area running a nail polish business.
#4 - Jeffrey Perkins (Owner of J. Perk Productions): An avid photographer and videographer, Jeffrey's company is known throughout the country for specializing in high definition portrait photography, music videos, and short films. Based in Baltimore, a lot of his work is shot in the city and reflects the beauty of the harbor and city areas.
#5 - Douglass Austin (Founder of Urban Policy Development, LLC): Having for more than 20 years of management experience in the public and private sector, Douglass founded the Urban Policy Development, which engages in several large-scale management reform projects for many school systems, non-profit organizations and much more.
#6 - Kendra Randall Jolivet and Yolanda F. Sonnier (Owners of Randall & Sonnier Attorneys at Law): For more than 10 years, their Baltimore-based law firm has provided a wide array of representation in Family Law, Serious Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice, Juvenile Law, Corporate Law, Wills/Estates, Entertainment, and more.
#7 - Dr. Charles T. Canady (Founder of Canady Health Solutions): Based in Baltimore, his consulting company provides a variety of medical services to different organizations for patient care. They provide Locum Tenens services, expertise in Electronic Medical records, legal medical records reviews and Telemedicine.
#8 - Chanelle Washington (Founder of Indigofera Beauty): This Baltimore-based beauty expert produces a variety of all-natural, chemical-free hair care supplies that are made from plant-based ingredients and infused with essential oils. She is known locally and nationally for selling the best products for natural hair, coils, kinks and locs.
#9 - Chere Cofield (Founder of Chere Cofield International, LLC): From the Baltimore area, Chere's company is a health and wellness company that focuses on the total person, from the outward appearance to the inner core of a person with special focus on stress management. She hosts and speaks at various Health/Wellness Seminars, Creative Visualization Exercises, Workshops, and more.
#10 - Anthony Leonard (Founder of Southern Blues Restaurant): Since the year 2000, Anthony and his family have been running Southern Blues Restaurant and are known for serving exceptional soul food in Randallstown and Baltimore County. They are highly noted for bringing southern hospitality to the area.