Black business owners say multiracial makeup of protests could bring a breakthrough
Valencia Mitchell and Paula Tromp were hard at work Monday at their respective businesses, Sugar Cubed Pastry Lab, and Happy Soul Delights, which share space at 531 13th St. W., in downtown Bradenton.
Not lost on the two black business owners was the fact that just one block to the north there was a Black Lives Matters protest in front of the Manatee County Government Administration Building.
The most encouraging thing about the protest was that it fully represented the ethnic diversity of Bradenton in all of its black, brown and white shades.
“We aren’t saying that all lives don’t matter. We are saying that black lives are in trouble,” Tromp said. “We need to be taken care of. We really need to be taken care of. Don’t judge a person by the color of their skin.”
The video of the agonizing death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25 — captured on a bystander’s smart phone — showed a white police officer with his knee on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. The video galvanized first a nation, and then the world.
“It was a human life. I can’t stress enough that if he committed a crime, please let him make it to the police station alive,” Tromp said. “I have two black sons, my brother, my cousins. I worry about them.”
With the way that people from all walks of life have rallied to Black Lives Matter, Tromp says she hopes that the cause of equal treatment, based on one’s actions and what’s in their heart, and not the color of their skin, may be moving forward.
“I know that God will fix it. I live with that promise every day,” she said.
Mitchell, 48, said that when she was growing up things were different, not as hopeful as today.
“Honestly, this generation is amazing me,” Mitchell said. “Now, because of technology, because everyone is connected, there is more involvement, not just from black people, but by people of all races. That makes me proud and hopeful that things will be different.
“My kids have a sense of power that I didn’t have when I was their age,” Mitchell said.
Toni Coleman has been in business 29 years and is the co-owner of T&T Beauty and Barber Salon, 557 17th St. W., Palmetto.
Monday, she was tending to customers, but on Sunday, she was among those taking part in the “One Love” march, over the Green Bridge. At the top of the bridge, the procession came to a stop and knelt in silence in memory of Floyd.
“Everyone got it that we were sharing love. It was an awesome feeling. At the top of the bridge we knelt for eight minutes and 46 seconds. It was heart-felt, and it was like, ‘Oh, my God, the eight minutes, 46 seconds seemed to go on forever.’”
“I hope that we as black people will be treated fairly and with respect. There are so many opportunities in this city that black people don’t get a chance to apply for,” she said.
Coleman said she hopes the power of the Black Lives Matter protests will produce a breakthrough where people are not judged by the color of their skin.
As Coleman worked with her socially distanced customers, all wearing face masks in their salon chairs, she turned to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many small businesses were unable to receive assistance through the Payroll Protection Program, money that in, too many cases went to bigger businesses, she said.
“Black businesses are struggling, but we will bounce back, our customers will come back to us,” Coleman said.
This story was originally published June 9, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
