Hi Sydra, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m Sydra Withers. I’m a Miami native born and raised in the county of Dade. I also happen to be the founder and CEO of an amazing organization that goes by the name of The HUE Collective MIA. The HUE Collective was created during a time in which our country found itself in the midst of yet another highly publicized and senseless killing of an unarmed Black man at the hands of Police and in the middle of a pandemic all at once. I, much like a lot of other folks was working from home and had a lot of extra time on my hands. I had been wanting to work with and through my friends to create something of importance and worthwhile for our communities of color in the South Miami-Dade area. I created a deck and pitched the idea to a few friends of mine just to get their initial thoughts and began to build from there.
Not too long after, The HUE Collective MIA Inc. was born. Our collective is a non-profit organization whose mission is to bring multifaceted individuals together to collaborate, create and to provide opportunities and critical experiences within communities of color throughout South Miami-Dade. By equipping these communities with the resources and spaces needed to become knowledgeable and successful in every aspect imaginable, we hope to establish a movement of fluid advancement for generations to come. We are made up of a group of three, which includes myself, Sydra Withers (Founder and CEO), Frederick Porter (Director of Community Outreach) and Jasmine Anderson (Director of Event Coordination). Our focus as a collective is to really help these communities shine and become more sustainable and attractive. We’ll be providing workshops geared around financial literacy, how to start a business and information needed for first-time home buyers along with other informative workshops that will benefit our local communities.
Keeping with the theme of revitalizing our communities of color, in October, we launched our first market, The Black Market MIA. This market provides local Black entrepreneurs a shared space and opportunity to sell their one-of-a-kind goods and services, reach new customers and enjoy an atmosphere of unity and camaraderie between our local Black communities. The market is held once a month on a Saturday from 11 A.M. to 4 P.M. in the heart of The Richmond Heights community on the vacant lot between Lincoln Blvd. and Dunbar Drive.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
In regards to The HUE Collective MIA, it was probably one of the easiest things for me to make happen and bring to life EVER. In regards to The Black Market MIA, we have a few vendor requirements. Vendors must be registered with the state of Florida on Sunbiz.org and they must also have an EIN with the federal government. We found that a lot of people who identify as an entrepreneur actually weren’t operating legitimately. So a few vendors whom we really wanted at our market weren’t able to attend because on paper they weren’t really a legitimate business. However, our market has pushed a lot of individuals to begin the process of getting their businesses in order and register with the state and federal government so that in itself was a huge win for us.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about The HUE Collective MIA?
We’re in a league of our own. What sets us apart from the others is the fact that we’re the first group of individuals to bring something like this to a predominantly Black area within South Miami-Dade. I’m proud of the fact that we’ve actually been able to create something this grand on this scale and it’s for us by us. We’ve heard a lot of people talk about doing what we’ve done but no one has done it until now. I want the readers to know that this is just the beginning and that the best is yet to come. Our collective is passionate about our communities of color and we won’t stop until we’ve helped them all reach their exponential growth.
What’s next?
I’m looking forward to expanding our non-profit and growing as a collective. I love collaborating and bouncing ideas off of others when it’s time to brainstorm ideas for new projects. It makes the creative process so much more fun. We hope to be able to call the new Larcenia Bullard Plaza our home next year. It’s located in the heart of The Richmond Heights community and will house retail space, office space for non-profit organizations and an exhibit that will include history and artifacts from the surrounding Black communities. We’ll also be working on making our market bigger and better every month. If any Black owned business owners are reading this, we’d love to have you at our monthly market!
Pricing:
- Regular Vendor fee: $100.00
- Food Vendor fee: $150.00
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.thehuecollectivemia.org
- Instagram: instagram.com/thehuecollectivemia?igshid=1igop6pdcnfeu
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thehuecollectivemia
- Other: https://www.classy.org/give/300089/#!/donation/checkout
Image Credits
JBM Production
