Making Black History
During Black History Month, we celebrate and honor Black Americans and the many ways, past and present, they have made St. Louis and the country stronger.
These stories profile the work of innovative and inspiring Black entrepreneurs, artists, and community change makers who are helping to grow and push the St. Louis metro in new directions, from two pastors transforming lives at a community development hub in Dellwood to a startup founder bringing equity to college admissions tests.
True Colors
Michelle Robinson has found success with her vegan, cruelty-free, and vibrant nail-care company, DEMIblue Natural Nails, and entrepreneurial support from St. Louis investors and innovators.
The Heart of the Arts
For four decades, the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis has invested more than $115 million to shape and support the region’s vibrant arts community.
Love Your Neighbor
With long-term tornado recovery now part of its mission, LOVEtheLOU continues to work from within to help North City flourish.
Success in the Making
Through its St. Louis Internship Program, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis, along with partner companies and institutions, are investing in students and the future…
If You Can Dream It
With a new headquarters, retail store, tornado cleanup and reconstruction, and its successful internship program, Dream Builders 4 Equity has been busy. Catch up with co-founder Michael Woods.
Go With the Flow
Whether she’s spinning records in the top local clubs or leading a yoga class in the studio or online, DJ and yogi Nico Marie gets St. Louis moving.
Caring for the Caregivers
The St. Louis Early Childhood Tornado Response Team is raising money, collecting donations, supporting families, and helping childcare providers rebuild after a devastating tornado.
Rooted in Style
Coming out of law school roughly three decades ago, Kimberly Franks could never have imagined that she would one day be running a sustainably focused boutique and lifestyle…
Good to Grow
With her line of self-watering planters, Posie Pots founder Kay Wells uses 3D printing technology to make good plant care easier.
Connecting Care
With Rezilient Health, founders Danish Nagda and Jeff Gamble are hoping to improve health care experiences and outcomes for patients in the St. Louis metro and across the…
Friendship, Faith and Futures
Pastors Ken and Beverly Jenkins opened community development hub R&R Marketplace in Dellwood with the aim to change lives.
In the Key of Collaboration
With his bootcamp, Mvstercamp, St. Louis artist, producer, and songwriter Mvstermind is elevating creativity and collaboration — and the city’s music scene.
Building Blocks
With the Economic Mobility Program at Annie Malone Children and Family Services, Keisha Lee is empowering and elevating young men in St. Louis.
Home Run
Exploring St. Louis by foot, Ricky Hughes helps locals and transplants alike connect with the city in a new way through St. Louis Run Crew.
Generation
Geospatial
At Harris-Stowe State University, Dr. Freddie E. Wills, Jr., Ph.D., is training students from historically Black colleges and universities across the U.S. for futures in geospatial science.
Foundational
Fathers
A new St. Louis-based program, Dads to Doulas, seeks to empower Black men in all aspects of fatherhood — both to enrich their parenting journeys and to advocate…
A Latte of Love
With three successful cafes opened in four years, Latte Lounge owner and entrepreneur Nyshaun Harvey is bringing coffee and community to the St. Louis metro. And that’s only…
A Different Ball Game
At True Success Basketball & Fitness Academy in St. Charles, Thurlester Robinson, Jr. uses basketball as a vehicle to teach kids lessons in teamwork, self-esteem, and leadership.
A World of Possibilities
Founded at Vashon High School, Show Me the World Project provides transformative education in entrepreneurship, leadership, and STEM to students in under-resourced communities in St. Louis.
Community Fabric
At Profield Reserve on Cherokee Street, Christopher Loss designs vintage sportswear-inspired clothing — and offers a community hub for all.
All Around Art
Artist, teacher, and St. Louis native Marley Billie D creates boldly colorful, mixed-media artworks that borrow inspiration from her upbringing in several local youth programs.
Steps Ahead
Artistic powerhouses Kirven and Antonio Douthit-Boyd are broadening and elevating the dance community at the Center of Creative Arts and in the St. Louis metro.
Prep Work
With Top Tutors For Us, founder Angelica Harris is helping Black high school students build academic skills and improve college admissions test scores in St. Louis and across…
Mother of Invention
With Bask & Bloom Essentials, Candera Thompson has created hair-care products that empower women and help with postpartum hair health.
Highly Rated
With Rated Test Kitchen, chef Juwan Rice is bringing a new kind of fine-dining restaurant to Downtown St. Louis.
Mapping
Tomorrow
Through her nonprofit workforce development organization, Gateway Global, Zekita Armstrong Asuquo is training under-resourced high school students for entry-level jobs in the geospatial field.
Singing Her Own Tune
Girl Conductor founder Maria A. Ellis uses a unique blend of gospel, R&B, and hip-hop to make music education more approachable and accessible for young people.
Harnessing Talent
Entrepreneur and talent recruiter Anjie Sanford has launched a new program through BioSTL that offers minority college students internships at St. Louis bioscience companies and helps them thrive…
Outdoor
Enthusiast
With Ope Outdoors, Juno Musonda is spreading love for the Midwest’s parks and natural attractions through merchandise, park cleanups and hikes.
Creating Space
At Heydays HQ, Keisha Mabry Haymore provides the space and support for women and founders of color to create, collaborate and grow their businesses.
A Promising
Prescription
Educator-turned-entrepreneur Marcus Howard is raising the standard of pharmacy care with the launch of GreaterHealth Pharmacy & Wellness in the Delmar DivINe.
Hair Care
Rebundle’s CEO Ciara Imani May is revolutionizing the hair extension industry with the first U.S.-made, plant-based hair braiding brand.
Cooking Up
Propel Kitchens is building health and wealth within the historically under-resourced community of the St. Louis Promise Zone by providing its members with hands-on training in food preparation…
Sew Crafty
First through a youth academy and now with a new online portal, Olivia Rae Davis wants to get more people into sewing.
Raised on Glazed
Syeeda Aziz-Morris is carrying on the family tradition of donut-making at Pharaoh's Donuts in Downtown and the Central West End.
Notes of Community
Soul artist turned community facilitator Brian Owens helps lift up young creatives in St. Louis.
Freedom Through Food
Urban farmer Tyrean “Heru” Lewis brings fresh produce to underserved communities and advocates for more equitable growing practices across St. Louis and the nation.
A Powerful Lift
As the executive director of Paralympic operations at Logan University, Kelley Humphries-Mascoll is advancing the Paralympic movement in St. Louis and beyond.
Space for STEM
With Black Girls Do STEM, chemist Cynthia Chapple and her team are carving out an inclusive space for young Black girls to engage with science, technology, engineering and…
More Than Skin Deep
Tiffany Wesley creates health and wellness products with the greater aim of cultivating community through her worker-owned co-op, Pure Vibes.
Branching Out
Forest ReLeaf’s Rebecca Hankins is leading the way in getting trees to the communities that need them.
Rewriting the Narrative
At EyeSeeMe Bookstore in University City, Jeffrey and Pamela Blair are fulfilling their calling to provide people with positive stories of African Americans.
Drawing Outside the Lines
Steenz Stewart has blazed their own trail in the comics industry to become one of the few Black cartoonists at the helm of a nationally syndicated strip.
A Wider Net
St. Louis’ storied soccer tradition will take a leap forward in 2023 with an MLS team of its own, St. Louis CITY SC, whose goal is to include…
Empowering
Women
In Fox Park, nonprofit Rung for Women helps women take their personal and professional lives to the next level.
Homegrown
Market
Local farmers and entrepreneurs build their businesses and a strong community through the support of St. Louisans at the Tower Grove Farmers Market.
Flavor Full
Charlene Lopez Young and Darren Young are bringing Filipino flavors to the region with their barbecue and smoked meats business, The Fattened Caf.
Shaping the Soundtrack of St. Louis
Hometown hip hop legend DJ Kut reflects on the role he's played in the region's music scene.
Natural Wonders
St. Louisans find peace and purpose in parks and on trails throughout the region.
Flipping the Script
Akeem Shannon is on a gravity-defying entrepreneurial rise with his creation, Flipstik.
Building Bridges
Natissia Small, Ed.D., reduces barriers for St. Louis youth to pursue and succeed in higher education.
Time for a Revolution
Saint Louis Story Stitchers brings young people together to express themselves through art and create social change.
Building the Future
Dream Builders 4 Equity aims not only to transform Hyde Park in the next five years, but also to serve as a model for closing the racial wealth…
The Courage to Dream
Dream Builders 4 Equity empowers young St. Louisans to achieve their goals.
Dreaming Big
Michael Woods and Neal Richardson knew a new approach was needed for real estate investment to make lasting change in disinvested neighborhoods. They created Dream Builders 4 Equity…
Ready, Set, Launch
Je'Nell McCrary transitioned from radio to tech thanks to skills she gained through LaunchCode's CoderGirl program.
What’s Possible
Marian Middle School students find inspiration for their future in the history-making election of the first Black female vice president, Kamala Harris.
Mapping Inequities
Kemba Noel-London used geospatial data in her doctoral research to discover disparities in access to youth sports throughout the St. Louis region.
Flying High
Entrepreneur Bronwyn Morgan brings drones and geospatial tech together with her company, XEO Air.
Community Game Changer
Entrepreneur Julian Keaton aims to foster community engagement and move St. Louis forward through “Dimensions,” a new interactive geolocation mobile game.
Bridging the Gap
The Foodshed.io app links small family farms to grocery stores so consumers can buy more local produce and farmers can do what they do best: grow food.
Full Circle
Okunsola M. Amadou is improving health outcomes for Black women with a wraparound model of care at Missouri's first equal access midwifery clinic.
Empowering the Community
For 20 years, Diversity Gallery owner Leslie Christian Wilson has connected with St. Louisans through art, jewelry and natural hair.
Changing the Conversation
Local start-up We Stories is teaching the next generation to be anti-racist.
Opening Doors
We Hear You makes spaces more accessible for people with disabilities — and with its Hero device, it’s literally opening doors across St. Louis and the U.S.
Fresh From the Vine
Tony White’s locally grown tomatoes are the not-so-secret ingredients in many St. Louis chefs’ acclaimed dishes.
Urban Oasis
Theo Smith thought he’d become an urban planner, but Kennedy Forest in Forest Park beckoned.
Sweet Dreams
La Patisserie Chouquette co-owner and executive pastry chef Simone Faure has become the maven of macarons in St. Louis.
All That Jazz
Lauren Parks and Jas Gary Pearson have turned the childhood home of music legend Miles Davis into a community catalyst.
Education for All
Through EdHub STL, Sherita Love helps educators shake up their classrooms and eliminate barriers for students.
Planting Seeds
Angi Taylor found meaningful work in St. Louis’s growing agriculture industry.
Keys to the Community
Kayia Baker and Pianos for People are changing lives one note at a time.
Game On
With dozens of studios, courses and events, St. Louis is becoming the nation’s next video game development hot spot.
Art in Motion
Through the Justice Fleet, Amber Johnson empowers people to heal.
Cooking with Love
Through food, ‘MamaCat’ Cathy Daniels nurtures and respects St. Louis’s unhoused residents.
