KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City, Missouri, entrepreneur Patricia Mitchell is launching a magazine called All Black Everything to help struggling Black businesses and be a community voice for the Black Lives Matter Movement, the arts, entertainment and health.
Black-owned businesses, according to Mitchell, are "failing at an alarming rate" compared to other businesses.
"African-American businesses suffer at the hands of underdevelopment, and racial and socioeconomic issues already," Mitchell said. "And so this pandemic just exacerbates that problem."
A2019 Lending Tree Study that analyzed Black-owned businesses in 50 U.S. metropolitan cities ranked Kansas City near the bottom at No. 49 ahead of only St. Louis at No. 50.
The study revealed that more than half of African American-owned businesses in Kansas City, Missouri, never reach the five-year mark.
"And so I thought, All Black Everything magazine can shed some light on some of the Black-owned businesses in our community and what they're doing," Mitchell said.
Businesses will not have to pay to be in the magazine. Mitchell said she doesn't want to be a financial burden; she wants to help businesses increase capital and succeed.
Sha'Fawn Morrison, who owns Our Scrub Boutique, in Overland Park, will see her business featured in the magazine's first edition.
"I think that it's a really good idea," Morrison said, "like she gave us another platform to be able to promote our business."
Mitchell also owns a vision wear company called Ish Eyewear and a clothing line called Go Baby Go Active Wear. She also writes and produces musicals and plays. Like the many hats she wears, her magazine also will focus on many subjects, including social justice.
"We have such short attention spans," Mitchell said, "and I want to make sure to keep a lot of the victims of police brutality out in the forefront."
There also will be articles on Black artists and entertainers and health information that's vital to the Black community.
The first issue of All Black Everything will be online on Jan. 15. Printed copies will be available at an additional cost. For more information about how to have a business, profession, event or cause highlighted in an upcoming issue, visit the All Black Everything website.
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