Discover Minneapolis’ vibrant black-owned business scene

Minneapolis is celebrating its second annual Black Business Week as a start to August’s National Black Business Month.

Several entrepreneurs opened businesses recently in Minneapolis, adding to a thriving community of Black-owned restaurants, shops and arts organizations.

• Lutunji’s Palate Cafe opened in May in Downtown’s Elliot Park neighborhood after years of success at farmer’s markets and grocery stores. Vegan or regular peach cobbler and other desserts are Lutunji Abraham’s specialties, along with social enterprise efforts through Voices of Effective Change.
• Rosaline’s Candles’ Rosaline Friedrich sells small-batch, soy candles in upcycled glass jars in this earth-friendly gift shop in Northeast Minneapolis.
• HYPE (Help Your People Eat) is a sneaker shop located in Uptown that offers upscale shoes, like rare Air Jordans and Nike AirMax, and apparel from local designers. Sir Curtis Kirby, Abdulkarim Abdulle, Yassir Mohamed and Arif Mohamed began reselling shoes on Instagram a year and a half before expanding to this buy-sell-trade store.
• Mocha Momma’s Coffee opened at the Minneapolis Central Library  to caffeine-fuel the patrons and provide primarily African-American young people a job and life skills via the nonprofit Mobilizing And Releasing Caring Hearts Inc. (MARCH). Owner Melanie Leehy also offers grab-and-go breakfast and lunch.
• Venture North Bikes & Coffee is a North Minneapolis full-service bike shop and café that helps empower disadvantaged youth. New owner Kennis Littleton reopened the business and serves Roastery 7 Coffee.
• Smoke in the Pit reopened at 3733 Lake Street with owners Dwight and Ivy Alexander striving to cultivate community through outreach and nonprofit events while cooking smoked meats and sides with family recipes brought from Little Rock, Arkansas.

These businesses join dozens of other Minneapolis Black businesses where visitors to the city can enjoy entertainment, food and drink and shopping. Here’s a sampling:

Arts and Culture:

• Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery preserves, records and celebrates the history, art and culture of Blacks in Minnesota through exhibitions, programs and community events. New history exhibit, Early African Americans of Southeast Minnesota runs through July 31.
• Somali Museum of Minnesota, the only museum devoted to Somali culture anywhere in the world, is the home of Somali creativity in North America and a global leader in advancing and elevating the work of Somali artists. The collection contains more than 700 pieces of craftwork, paintings and sculptures.
• Paisley Park is one of the best-known tourist spots in Minneapolis, where visitors can tour Prince’s home and studios, and see more than 300 pairs of “the Purple One’s” shoes in The Beautiful Collection.

Food and Drink:

• Soul Bowl is a quick service, build-your-own, reimagined soul food shop at the North Loop’s Graze Provisions + Libations where your choice of base, veggie, meat and sauce yields endless combinations.
• AfroDeli is a fusion restaurant and a social enterprise, offering freshly made African, Mediterranean, and American themed food, prepared Halal.
• Pimento Jamaican Kitchen earned a 2021 James Beard Award with owner Tomme Beevas, who previously won Food Court Wars on the Food Network. Here you’ll find authentic Jamaican Street food using family recipes and rum cocktails on Eat Street.

Shopping and Hip-Hop Yoga

• Lip Esteem’s plant-based, gluten-free and cruelty-free lipsticks, glosses and liners can be found in season at the Minneapolis Farmers Market and Midtown Farmers Market at Moon Palace Books, or their new Midway Saint Paul location.
• Queen Anna House of Fashion is a North Loop-based contemporary women’s retail and lifestyle boutique offering brands from influential fashion houses and independent emerging designers.
• Urban 29 is a premium, luxury streetwear store, at Mall of America, with everything from jeans to joggers, and luxury brands from Paris.