At the Sherman Phoenix, Black Businesses Rise

<p>The holidays should be the busiest time of the year, but small businesses everywhere have been crushed by the pandemic and its restrictions. The picture is especially grim for Black-owned small businesses, which closed at twice the rate of white-owned small businesses this spring. </p><p>But in the city of Milwaukee, there’s a bright spot. A collective of mostly Black-owned businesses is not only surviving, it's thriving. </p><p>For entrepreneurs JoAnne and Maanaan Sabir, envisioning a place where that could be possible began in 2016, following the police shooting of a young Black man that set off days of protests. Two years later, the Sabirs opened the Sherman Phoenix, a community healing space and hub of more than two dozen small businesses. </p><p>Business owners within the Sherman Phoenix have been able to stave off closures and financial hardship tied to COVID-19. Trymaine Lee talks to Adija Smith, a Phoenix tenant about her journey from home baker to storefront owner, and how she’s relied on and supported her fellow Black business owners within the collective. </p><p>And Trymaine sits down with JoAnne and Maanaan to talk about how the Sherman Phoenix could provide a model for other Black community spaces, especially during tough times. </p><p>For a transcript, please visit <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica" target="_blank">https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica</a>. </p><p><br /></p><p><strong>Further Reading and Listening: </strong> </p><ul><li><a href="https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/business/black-owned-businesses-nearly-twice-as-likely-to-close-for-good-amid-pandemic-ny-fed/2551215/" target="_blank">Black-Owned Businesses Nearly Twice as Likely to Close for Good Amid Pandemic: NY Fed</a> </li><li><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/11/what-hasnt-changed-for-black-small-business-owners-since-george-floyd.html" target="_blank">What Hasn’t Changed for Black Small Business Owners Since George Floyd</a> </li><li><a href="https://www.msnbc.com/podcast/survival-main-street-n1196966" target="_blank">I