When life gives you lemons, you should build a lemonade stand, and Issa Rae knows that when life gives you beans, you invest in a coffee shop.
This year, Issa has been the master of making moves in silence, and her latest venture alongside Inglewood entrepreneurs Ajay Relan and Yonnie Hagos, creators of Find Your Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen, is no exception.
Earlier this week, the 34-year-old creative revealed the surprise partnership on her Instagram. In the video, Issa explained that she's always "wanted a coffee shop in my neighborhood," and her most recent business deal was a way to make that dream a reality for dozens of other creatives like herself that are looking for space to unapologetically create. She explained:
"Coffee shops facilitate productivity in so many ways, they facilitate collaboration. I personally have done all of my writing in coffee shops. So it always disappointed me that there weren't any that were Black-owned, people of color-owned in my neighborhood."
Find Your Hilltop hails itself as a "community-driven business" that seeks to hire locally and pay employees above minimum wage. The company currently has two locations that can be found in Viewpark and Inglewood and feature all-day dining, live performances, and of course, coffee.
If you're over Starbucks and in the mood for a non-ethnically oppressive cup of coffee, scroll below for a brief directory of black-owned coffee shops you can visit in city near you:
Urban Grind (Atlanta, GA)
Georgia.org
Urban Vintage (Brooklyn, NY)
MySpace NYC
Did you know that xoNecole has a podcast? Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to join us for weekly convos over cocktails (without the early morning hangover.)
Featured image by Rich Fury/Getty Images for Teen Vogue.
