In 2025, Dmae Lo Roberts embarked on a statewide storytelling experience focusing on personal stories from both artists and community members. These stories are a form of living oral history.
When the Budget was released, I was shocked to find out that Prime Minister Carney is cutting $7billion between Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations. They provided $0 to deal with the ongoing genocide of MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+. This is abhorrent. This is callous.
Why do I get to be the runner, and these guys get to be the homeless guys on the corner? Why can't we all be runners? She didn't have an answer. It would've been easy to let that question dissolve with her footsteps. Most people would have. But Mahlum saw something in those men that others had missed.
We felt this was a timely exhibition because we are once again living in a moment when queer and lesbian communities are being asked to survive systems that were not built for us. These histories are not just stories from the past. They are blueprints for how we build, care for one another, and sustain our institutions now.
To Ian Gonzalez, though, it was a testament to three years of hard work. A community built from the ground up. The crowd had come on a cool Sunday morningto celebrate Gonzalez's business - Last Lap Cornerstore - before its temporary closure in April 2023. "It was the saddest joy I've ever felt," Gonzalez said. "For the community to come out and say they see me and show the love, that was beautiful."
For many of its staff, the job is a "side hustle," its owner says. Staff have polished the footwear of thousands of clients, including prime ministers, former premiers, former mayors, and men and women who work in executive suites of banks and law firms, according to the company's president, CEO and owner, Jenny Young. Young said she loves how "old timey" the business is and she doesn't plan on slowing down any time soon.
While entrepreneurship can be challenging, Black founders often face additional barriers in accessing funding, mentorship, and networks, barriers that can also create psychological hurdles. In fact, a 2025 BDC study found that 72% of Black entrepreneurs shared that the fear of racial stereotypes almost stopped them from starting a business. To support founders on every stage of their journey, we've updated our guide to highlight programs, funding, mentorship, and community resources specifically for Black entrepreneurs across Canada!
As U.S. job growth in 2025 reached its lowest point since the pandemic in 2020, Blacks have been hit extra hard. Their discharges stem from rollbacks in the federal government, DEI pullbacks, and large layoffs in areas such as education, health services and social assistance. Now, nearly two-thirds of Blacks in the U.S. are looking for a new job in 2026. Yet, 75% feel unprepared for the job search ahead.
What should be stories about innovation, resilience, market disruption, and leadership have increasingly been flattened into a single, repetitive narrative: DEI. Not the company's business model. Not the founder's vision or entrepreneur journey. Not the problem being solved or the customers being served. Just DEI. And it's often framed through the lens of rollbacks, political backlash, or cultural controversy.
In places where inclusion is part of the infrastructure of their economy-supply chains, procurement processes, capital access, or business ownership-people thrive. Inclusive economies create more resilience by expanding the base of potential business owners who can build, own, innovate, and hire. They allow more opportunities for homeownership and investing in the longevity of communities. As our economy becomes increasingly stratified and volatile, we need as much resiliency as we can get.
In the summer of 2020, I started a directory of Black-owned businesses in Maine. I was looking for a way to support the Black community for people who couldn't attend protests. I also wanted to make a longer-term economic impact. It immediately took off. These were my neighbors and local businesses that I just hadn't heard about. That's the thing: People joke about Maine being the whitest state, but there are actually plenty of Black-owned businesses here.
