By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
Black Coffee Northwest, a Black-owned coffee shop in the greater King County area, is more than just your average coffee shop. As a Black-owned business, Black Coffee Northwest serves as a hub for local Black business owners, community leaders, activists, and educators to come together in an effort to foster community empowerment and growth.
“As a Black woman, there are not many of us in the coffee world, so we are here to show up and serve great coffee at the same time,” says DarNesha Bowman, CEO & Owner of Black Coffee Northwest.
According to Bowman, the mission of Black Coffee Northwest is not just about serving quality coffee, it is about serving the Black community and helping people come together to foster community empowerment and growth.
“We have hosted so many events, we do community outreach programs consistently every single week. We host a community meeting with artists and some other key people in the area,” says Bowman.
Since first opening its doors in 2020, Bowman has used her business platform and non-profit organization, called “Grounded,” to empower local youth and young adults through employment, training opportunities, after-school enrichment activities, and mental health support.
One of Black Coffee Northwest’s standout programs is an 8-week internship program to youth and young adults, ages 10 through 22, to give them the chance to gain valuable experience through weekly skills training classes, on-site barista training, and job internships with local businesses. Those who participate in the internship program, can choose to serve as barista interns, learning the art of coffee-making, or as social justice interns, focusing on advocacy and community initiatives.
In addition, Black Coffee Northwest’s The coffee shop runs an annual fundraiser called Reparations Latte, where customers can pay any price for the drink. Bowman says that all profits made from the Reparations latte campaign, and everyday sales are reinvested back into the business to continue to support not only the business by many of their community-based initiatives.
“Reparations Latte is a pay-what-you-want donation, so we see it as a gift to our non-profit,” says Bowman. “Whether it is $1 or $100, every contribution helps create jobs, foster education, promote cultural enrichment, and encourage entrepreneurship in the Black community.”
“100% of profit goes right back into our business and that has been proven since we first opened in 2020,” continued Bowman. “We use the financials to support different groups, community organizations, and then our youth programs like the step team program we have and the 8-week internship program.”
According to Bowman, Black-owned businesses need more access to funding than ever before, and the ongoing funding issues that Black business owners continue to face today, points to a larger issue that many may not be aware of.
“The majority of Black businesses don’t have access to funding,” says Bowman. “Lacking access to resources and funding are the number one reasons why most of our businesses here are closing their doors, and we just need the capital to keep the doors open.”
Determined to address the scarcity of Black-owned businesses and inspire other aspiring Black entrepreneurs in the community, Bowman has not let any entrepreneurial challenges stop her overall mission in supporting economic growth and stability within the Black community.
“We speak out loud with what we are faced against, so when we have a barrier I don’t look at it as something that is going to stop us,” says Bowman. “A lot of Black-owned businesses go through what we go through, and I know that for a fact because I work with a lot of other small businesses, and we are loud about helping those folks get access to resources because I truly want all businesses and our competitors to be successful.”
Last year, after three years of operation and enduring multiple acts of racist vandalism, Black Coffee Northwest’s previous location in Shoreline closed following troubles with the landlord of the building. Despite current and previous challenges, Bowman is hoping to open their new location in Central District of Seattle by Fall 2024.
“Right now, we are hopeful that we will be opening before the fall, but we have run into construction delays, permitting delays, and then working with a fraudulent contractor who abandoned the job and took the money, which has been a huge setback for me in opening the new CD location,” says Bowman.
“I keep telling people that I am just one person, I am a mom just trying to live out my entrepreneurial dreams. So, I did run into those issues, but we are working through it and have remained hopeful, but it has cost us a lot of money and tears but that is what owning a business takes sometimes,” she continued.
