March 10, 2019

If you are in the Charleston area or were here for the weekend, we hope that you were able to attend either one of these events that took place. But if you didn’t, here is a recap of what you missed out on…

Black Violin in Concert

This classically trained violin duo definitely proved to their audience how string instruments should not be ruled out when it comes to creating dynamic sound that will have you bopping your head or out of your seat grooving to the music.

Black Violin graced the stage at the Gaillard Center on Friday, March 8th playing a variety of hits that ranged from tunes on their albums Sterotypes and Classically Trained, to popular hits from Cardi B and Ed Sheeran. Then there was the classical moment when they paid a tribute to the late Notorious B.IG. in honor of the anniversary of his death by playing a melody of his greatest hits. Let’s just say they had the crowd off of their feet and hands in the air for a large part of the show. Just as we thought the concert was over, Black Violin came back on stage to introduce the Charleston Symphony Youth Orchestra who had the privilege of playing alongside the duo to close out the show. We could only describe this as an awesome experience that fully engaged people of all ages and all types. We only wished that this sold out event could have lasted longer!

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Taste of Black Charleston

While Black Violin was over at the Gaillard stringing along the crowd – in a good way, just a few blocks down the street at the Charleston Aquarium was the 8th Annual Taste of Black Charleston. This event brings out the delicious, flavorful foods and treats from several Black owned restaurants, Black chefs and catering companies in the Charleston and surrounding areas.

There were lots and lots of people who came to indulge in all of the wonderful cuisine being offered. We tried a variety of foods from Cajun seafood macaroni and cheese, Caribbean jerk pulled pork and loaded pimento cheese Geechie boy grits. Most of the food we had was very tasty although there were some dishes our taste buds did not care for. All of the desserts we tried were amazing however. And the Ma Gloria’s Tropical Punch made by Ma Gloria’s Trinidad Catering was so absolutely delicious, we kept going back for more. We are thrilled that Ma Gloria will be setting up shop in downtown Charleston in the very near future. Some of the other vendors that we endorsed for the evening and will continue to recommend after trying their treats include: Simply Homemade, Citrus Catering Co, Daily Professionals, LLC , Sweet Treats by Rainee , and Mani & Maya’s Fruity Treats.

Also very observable was the portion sizes of the food samples we were given by each vendor. We were quite pleased that no one seemed to have to stretch their food by giving out bite size amounts. There was plenty of food to be eaten, as well as alcoholic beverages to drink. Although there seemed to be hundreds of people, and a little congestion, we never had to stay in the tasting lines very long.

As we walked around enjoying the live music, and sampling the different foods and drinks, we began to fill up very quickly. As the first time attending the Taste of Black Charleston, we would say that the $75.00 per ticket we paid to attend was well worth it especially since it was a classy all that you can eat affair!

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Charleston Black Expo

In its 20th year of being hosted in the city, for the first time ever we attended the Charleston Black Expo which took place on Saturday, March 9th. And we were enlightened by all of the valuable information we were able to gather walking from booth to booth and attending the speaking sessions.

We arrived at the expo early to attend the Budgetnista’s Workshop with America’s favorite financial educator Tiffany Aliche. She provided some amazing teachings on how to create a budget, build your wealth and raise your credit score. All who attended this session left with some homework to do, and for us, we will be sure to apply a lot of what we learned to assist with our individual financial growth. We will be sure to share more of the helpful notes we took in a separate blog coming soon.

After being empowered by the Budgetnista’s Workshop, we took some time to scroll around learning about the missions of the different organizations who were represented at the expo. As it’s website states, the Black Expo
serves to promote economic development through increased exposure for minority-owned businesses and it is a great opportunity for Black-owned businesses to showcase their products and services to the community.

Not all of the vendor booths who were present were Black-owned businesses however, which actually may be a huge misconception of what the Black Expo entails if you have never attended before, but all of the vendors did seem to be relevant to the local Black community. There were actually a mixture of businesses, organizations, colleges, as well as city and county agencies.

It was a great place to be to learn about some of the services and products that are actually right at our fingertip that we may have otherwise never known about. The speaking sessions were also a great opportunity to hear some dynamic speakers including founder of the Carol’s Daughter beauty brand, Lisa Price, and speak directly with them. We were able to ask Lisa her advice on how to break through the beauty industry in today’s world where it seems that the market is saturated with everyone trying to build a beauty brand. Her reply was simply to, “Be authentic!”

Presidential hopeful Senator Kamala Harris was also among the few others who spoke to the participants of the Black Expo. Senator Harris answered a few questions related to her platform’s impact on such matters as education, healthcare, and economic growth.

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We really enjoyed spending the day learning and being empowered at the Black Expo and plan to return again next year.