Black Entrepreneurship
ABOUT
ABOUT BLACK ENTREPRENEURSHIP
For over 20 years, a cornerstone of Citizen Film’s work has been engaging marginalized San Franciscans as community storytellers. Entrepreneurs create spaces that keep dollars inside their neighborhood, contribute to its culture, and engender self-sufficiency. We help entrepreneurs –especially those from the Black community of San Francisco’s Western Addition– tell their own authentic stories. Harnessing the power of a story is an essential component of successful entrepreneurship, allowing our collaborators to become agents of their own stories that might otherwise be overlooked or misrepresented.
Chris Renfro doesn’t just grow grapes on a hillside above 280 for wine. He reclaims the land as part of an African-American tradition of building power through agriculture.
Tyrone Mullins saw his neighborhood, plagued by joblessness and drugs and turf conflicts, was in need of uplifting. His response: creating Green Streets, an organization that for over 10 years has revolutionized waste management in SF multi-unit affordable housing and provided employment opportunities for his neighbors.
David Denson co-founded Green Streets in 2010 and has worked in waste diversion in innovative ways as an entrepreneur. Now he leads his own company, Mayday Hauling, in efforts to help SF reach its goal of Zero Waste.
Brandi Porter lovingly provides free haircuts and hair braiding services to young Black children to help raise their self-esteem and feel good about their “crowning glory.” Her desire to “give back” is an inspiration for others to serve the community through micro-enterprises.
Ian James, laid off due to COVID, turned his hobby of making one-of-a-kind high quality leather goods into a boutique fashion brand.
Afatasi The Artist uses her artwork boldly ask “Past injustices have shaped present-day realities, so what does this mean for our futures?” As a mixed-media conceptual artist and futurist, her artwork is a continuous exploration of the intersectionality of race, culture, gender, class, and geopolitics.
Project Team
Director: Sophie Constantinou
Producer: Tamara Walker
Producer / Editor: Caron Creighton
Cinematographer / Editor: Sadiq Norris
Documentary Apprentice: Omari Scott
