There’s a new Black-owned coffee shop in North Lawndale. It is the fifth location for the coffee franchise, named Momentum Coffee. The company has a power button logo and serves pastries and breakfast sandwiches alongside their teas, lattes, and cold brews. This coffee shop stands as the next step in Black entrepreneurship in the city of Chicago.
Coffee is something that has become completely ubiquitous in the modern world. One can be glad that the dollars spent on coffee are going to a Black-owned business that is trying its best for its community.
Black-owned Business
Black-owned companies are a special thing in America for a couple of different reasons. The first is the fact that Black people in America are simply afforded fewer opportunities because of systemic racism and the impacts of structural racism. This means that Black people are much less likely to start a business in general. So, with that in mind, the existence of Momentum Coffee and its newest North Lawndale location is great for residents to see.
Positive Impacts
Secondly, the impact that Black businesses have on the community cannot be understated. When they appear, it broadens the minds of Black children. Black businesses, like this coffee shop, typically find ways to give back to the community as well.
What happens is companies like Momentum Coffee will team up with nonprofits in the area to help the communities they serve. They themselves do this every day.
“Momentum Coffee and Coworking is a coffee and coworking space powered by Ignite Technology and Innovation. We are an open-to-the- public café that doubles as a fully resourced coworking space available to members on a monthly, weekly, or even daily basis,” according to the Momentum website.
Economic Growth
Beyond their impact on the community, this coffee shop is a successful company in a low-income area. Their North Lawndale location exists in a neighborhood that the city has historically forsaken. Yet, Momentum Coffee set up shop here in North Lawndale, hoping to provide stimulation to what is essentially an economic dead zone. They provide much more than simply a good cup of joe.
“The coffee shops are intentionally located in under-resourced areas to serve as an economic driver in the neighborhoods they serve. The coffee-forward drinks, superior customer service, and cozy shops are designed as places to connect the community,” said Tracy Powell, the founder and CEO of both Ignite and Momentum Coffee.
Momentum Coffee as a Means of Empowerment
Momentum Coffee’s primary goal as a company is to empower the underserved communities of Chicago. Additionally, their secondary goal is to make the best coffee in Chicago. These goals are very much intertwined.
The more coffee they sell, the better they can help the community through the dollars made on said sales. Coffee is one of the most used products in the modern age. Additionally, it helps energize the mind and body.
Meaning, they can use the world’s obsession with coffee to better the marginalized communities of Chicago. Moreover, it seems that momentum coffee seeks to energize and empower the communities in the city.
Energizing the Marginalized
All in all, this coffee shop provides amazing job opportunities and greatly impacts the economic landscape of the communities they serve. They have employed over 25 people in marginalized neighborhoods like Austin and Englewood.
Ultimately, the work that Black-owned businesses like these do is great for the community. Momentum Coffee opening a location in North Lawndale is not only great for the people who like coffee, but it’s great for the residents they will provide jobs for. The more locations in Chicago that they own, the more people they can serve and provide jobs.
Momentum Coffee, powered by Ignite, continues to empower and energize marginalized communities for a better tomorrow. One can only hope that they continue to do their great work.
Written by Kenneth Mazerat
Sources
Block Club Chicago: Black-Owned Momentum Coffee Opens Cafe In North Lawndale — And Austin Location Soon by Trey Arline
Interview: Tracy Powell on 5/25/23
Momentum Coffee: About
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Michael Dales’ Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
First Inset Image Courtesy of Fiona Henderson’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
