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About 80 Black-owned vendors and creators gathered in D.C. on Sunday for the first Black on the Block immersive pop-up festival, a Los Angeles-inspired event to showcase Black-owned businesses that often find limited access to exhibit their work.
“It can be really hard for Black-owned businesses, specifically small Black-owned businesses, to get their foot on the ground,” said Black on the Block CEO Lanie Edwards. “To be able to provide a platform for them to do that consistently, every single month is our goal.”
Edwards, who has a small fashion line in Los Angeles, said she was the only Black-owned business in several pop-ups to which she was invited, so she set out to create a space for and by Black people, not only to showcase their work but also to create a network where customers interested in the work Black creators produce can always find them.
At D.C.’s recently renovated Franklin Park at K…
