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By : Shakenna Appleberry
2 min read
M.O.B. stands for Melanin Owned Businesses and vendors flea market. The purpose of this event is to create a platform for the melanin race. It is not discriminatory and all are welcome, however it is the Melanin race that has a hard time supporting one another. M.O.B. is a platform for people of hue to come together, build relations, support each other, pitch products, increase revenue sales, and meet potential investors.
M.O.B. was established in 2019. 2020 put a pause on the M.O.B. until February 2021 when the Dorchester Art Project opened their doors to allow the M.O.B. to create this magnificent platform for the community. On December 31, 2021, DAP was unable to renew their downstairs lease, so the M.O.B. was forced to relocate. The transition has been extremely overwhelming, however the show must still continue and is now located at 1125 Blue Hill Ave, Boston. The next step is to purchase space at a location that will provide office spaces for small businesses and a storefront inside of M.O.B. for small businesses in the community to shelf merchandise and provide event space not only for the M.O.B. to happen but also other community events. Communities of all races will be allowed to rent out the space for this purpose. DAP came through once again by becoming the fiscal sponsor for M.O.B. in order to receive federal funding for building space. The goal is for people to understand that this is a support base within our community. M.O.B will continue to grow with consistency as we all know that consistency wins at the end.
—Shakenna Appleberry, creator of M.O.B. and owner of 2Fruits Wellness
Follow @m.o.b_vendors21 or check our Happenings page for weekly events
* Originally published in-print in Boston Compass Newspaper #144 March 2022
Check out all the art and columns of March's Boston Compass at www.issuu.com/bostoncccompass