Have we Blossomed? [A reflection on Carvd N Stone's first documentary "Blossom"]

Have we Blossomed?

The question is one I would like you to ponder as you continue to read this reflection.

CopyWrite Magazine was recently invited to see Carvd N Stones first documentary project "Blossom". The journalistic piece previewed at Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, with the help of Alderwoman Milele Coggs on December 14th, 2021. The project featured Mikel McGee, the owner of 414loral, a florist shop in the heart of Milwaukee's Bronzeville Culture & Entertainment District.

The documentary was a micro-capture of how Black entrepreneurship in Milwaukee is possible, though the idea of the project was to show business elevation despite pandemic impact. As it showed McGee's recollection of her story [a very positive one indeed], and small anecdotes from her staff, it also triggered questions [for me] about community we don't often ask publicly.

Questions like:

When an individual in our community has a craft that brings joy, how is it celebrated?

What defines Black Entrepreneurship in Milwaukee, and who does it have to benefit to be acknowledged?

What is the media's role in expanding what stories should be told? Or, What is the community's role in supporting their local [no-conglomerate] media?

Is being seen more important than creating systemic impact?

Are wins, wins without communal validation?

Is quality a prerequisite for success? Or can that be negotiated?

What is a local media maker's responsibility to another local media maker? 

Blossom may be a niche story but the fact that it exists adds to a larger narrative. It's a community story. A community story of how one Black Journalist [Stone], received a grant, and used it to tell a Black business owners story [McGee], and asked a public official to help with its showing [Coggs], then in turn invited their community [Me, a Black Journalists? Us? Ours?] to see it. 

The narrative was even further pushed forward with a talk back panel discussion with Mikel McGee (star of the film), Tonda Thompson (owner of She Slangs Wood) and Corey Fells (co-founder of Black Space), that unfortunately I couldn't stay for, but am sure had nuances of hope and rhetoric of change we strive to suggest.

So to return to my initial question, "Have we blossomed?", is to suggest we think about how we pour into each other as a city and a people. Have we grown out of the idea that we can not build community or businesses alone? Have we cultivated enough relationships to suggest that the foundations we have made may have been watered by many? That when we break ground it gives seeds a chance to grow. 

It's nice to see that there are flowers being given [all puns intended] to those who are just at the start of their journey's and I hope that pushes more flowers to be given [maybe more documentaries?] to those who tilled the soil.

Lexi S. Brunson

Editor-in-Chief /CW