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About a hundred guests will be treated to music by DJ Supaken on Feb. 25 at the Yeager Experience, 2800 Yeager St.
In one corner of the building, black coffee was being dripped for guests, while Dow Boy Donuts and Angie’s Louisiana Kitchen were selling food. At the raffle, guests took selfies with the words “Black Business Impact” in front of a photo background.
Everyone gathered for the east corner of the building – a wall with portraits of black business leaders appeared.
Commissioned by the non-profit Community Front, the mural aims to preserve the legacy and impact of black business in Fort Worth, both historically and now. Also, organizers hope it will create a place for the community to come together and learn about history and remember the contributions of black businesses.
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The “Black Business Impact” mural was unveiled to the public on February 25 at the Yeager Experience. The mural features past black business leaders and current black business owners. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | The Fort Worth Report)
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Community Front’s “Black Business Impact” mural depicts a black coffee shop with black coffee and a black-owned hotel dress. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | The Fort Worth Report)
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A guest Feb. 25 at the Community Frontline Library, 2800 Yeager St. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) They look at books written by black authors.
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Roy Brooks, District 1 County Commissioner, speaks to guests at Community Front “The Impact of Black Business” on February 25 at the Yeager Experience Building, 2800 Yeager St. (Cristian Argueta Soto | Fort Worth Report)
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Fort Worth Councilman Chris Nettles and Ricky Clark, Executive Director of the My Brother’s Keeper Program, talk on “The Impact of Black Business” on the Community Front, Feb. 25 at the Yeager Experience Building, 2800 Yeager St. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report)
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Smoke-A-Holics BBQ owners Derek Walker, 44, and his wife, Kesha Walker, pose in front of a mural dedicated to the community’s “Black Business Impact” during a Feb. 25 feast at the Yeager Experience. ” Building, 2800 Yeager St. (Cristian Argueta Soto | Fort Worth Report)
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Community Front founders Dante Williams, right, Quinton “Q” Phillips, center, and Franklin Moss, owner of tailoring business Franklin & Anthony, talk to guests about black business at Community Front’s “Black Business Impact” mural in Fort Worth. He unveiled the party on February 25 at the Yeager Experience building at 2800 Yeager St. (Cristian Argueta Soto | Fort Worth Report)
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Artist Armando Castellan on Community Front “Impact of Black Business” Feb. 25 Yeager Experience Building, 2800 Yeager St. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) Signed the mural on the “Impact of Black Business” on Community Front.
“Gooseneck shouldn’t be the only millionaire to come out of Fort Worth. We’re supposed to be creating millionaires because entrepreneurs deliver with punches, right? They’re everywhere, but they’re just looking for opportunities,” said Dante Williams, owner of Dig Contracting and founder of Community Front. “They want the wealth, they need someone to walk beside them. What this does is show that it can and has been done in their community.
The organization’s founders are Williams, Quinton “Q” Phillips, a Fort Worth ISD school board trustee; Franklin Moss, owner of sewing business Franklin & Anthony, and other community leaders began planning the project four years ago, Williams said. at 2800 Yeager St. Each business in the building created the “Yeager Experience,” an independent black-owned business complex.
Pictured on Armando Castel’s wall are Texas’ first black millionaire, William “Gooseneck” McDonald, Joseph Breedlove, Amanda Davis, Dr. Marie “Doc” Holliday, Lucille B. Smith and existing businesses such as Black Coffee, Smoke-A- Hollix BBQ, Hotel Dryce and The Dock Bookshop.
Dr. Marie “Doc” Holliday thanked organizers for the “amazing honor” of painting her on the wall.
Holliday, owner of a Sundance Square dentist, grew up on East Terrell Street and carried with her a first-hand experience of the impact of black business.
“This amazing mural will impact the lives of this community immediately and for generations to come,” Holliday said. “I learned to set high goals, never to give up, but to find a goal, one must strive for excellence.”
She established her dental practice in 1991 in Sundance Square. Holliday is just one example of the business leaders featured on the mural.
“Blacks were part of that economic impact. And when we think about the growth and expansion of Fort Worth, we often feel like those stories are left out and those people are left behind,” Phillips said. “Nowadays, the impact of black business is happening.”
As part of its educational component, the Community Front aims to cure ignorance.
“We talked about alleviating the suffering in our city. One of the sufferings we often see, unfortunately, is ignorance. And through our education department, we try to educate our people and educate the city,” Williams said.
The founders of Community Front want the mural to be a place where the community can come together to learn and remember.
“If we can develop businesses, we can develop the workforce and provide jobs,” Williams said. “We show that the economy of the city and the workforce of the city can grow in small or large black businesses to create jobs and build the community without having to go outside the community.”
Cristian ArguetaSoto is a community engagement reporter at The Fort Worth Report. Talk to him email or through Twitter. At The Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and funders. Read more about our editorial independence policy over here.
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