Category Archives: Black History Month

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I Am Black History

The month of February was amazing! I flew out to Texas to celebrate my granddaughter’s first birthday. I was a part of Black Owned Business Expo at Hanes Mall in Winston Salem, NC. I got my first FBA (Filled By Amazon) order and all three items available have been selling very well.

When I think about all that I’ve accomplished through my handcrafted women’s fashion accessory brand Accented Glory, I realize the legacy I’m building for my children and grandchildren. I Am Black History and will continue to celebrate everyday.

Photo of Tonya Cross visionary of Accented Glory with her husband, daughter, and granddaughter at her granddaughter's first birthday party.

Creating content that connects!

Tonya – Strategypreneur™ Coach

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Marketing Strategies For Solo Entrepreneurs – The Kim Jacobs Show

I was interviewed by Kim Jacobs last month for launch of Affirmations for a Woman on a Mission Journal I co-authored. The conversation quickly shifted to importance of having a marketing strategy and what that looks like for someone without a team!

Take a listen below. If you’re short on time start at 21:31!

Tonya Cross, Strategypreneur™ Coach

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Congrats To K’s Kicks!

K's_KicksThe winner of our Salisbury-Rowan Black Business Pitch Contest was Kari Johnson of K’s Kicks! Our winner received a monetary, service, and media package that was provided by local black owned businesses and organizations. Because of our community’s generosity, we were able to provide a service package for all contestants! Our other contestants were Sierra Watkins of SieBration Bar and Destiny Stone and Daniel King of The Music House Inc..

Kari is a lover of all things creative. Music, writing, and art are passions of hers. She is a 2007 graduate of Livingstone College with a Bachelor’s degree in English. She hopes to continue growing her business K’s Kicks as well as writing her Children’s book series Dallas Does based on her 6 year old daughter.

Kari began K’s Kicks in 2018 after personal projects she shared online were praised and people began to inquire about her work. She realized that everyone has a pair of shoes they aren’t ready to part with that she is able to bring back to life. Over the course of a year through social media and word of mouth, a buzz has began in the Rowan community as well as other places about her work. Her ultimate goal is to be able to focus 100% on her business and partner with schools in the community to provide shoes to students each year.

Tonya Cross – Visionary of The Vine Event Planning

Black Business Pitch Contestants – SieBrations Bar, K’s Kicks, and The Music House
Pitch Winner Kari Johnson with Pitch Judges
Pitch Winner Kari Johnson with Pitch Committee

 

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My Sister’s Keeper

We’re celebrating Black History Month! Join us for “My Sister’s Keeper” on Saturday, February 25th at 4pm at Westridge Place Apartments Clubhouse, 100 Donner Dr, Salisbury NC. We will have a panel discussion about financial literacy, group economics, and community development. Also there will be local female business owners vending their products at the event so, bring your dollars to circulate!  Photo Source: Createher Stock

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Dunbar Center Commemorative Event

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Join Renaissance Arts Program (RAP) as we commemorate the Dunbar Center. RAP is a grassroots collective initiative recently started by local artists and community organizers. Our goal is to expose local African American youth to their culture and heritage through the arts.

We felt that it was important that someone respond to the burning of Dunbar Center. We have accepted this task and have planned an event for Black History Month. The event is Saturday February 21st from 12noon-3pm at Southern City Tabernacle AME Zion Church, 940 South Long Street, East Spencer, NC. The purpose of this event is two fold. 1) Commemorate historical significance of Dunbar Center 2) Introduce RAP’s vision to community.

Vendors interested in being a part of this event should contact Tonya Cross at cross.tonya@gmail.com. **There is NO VENDING FEE; we ask that vendors donate 10% of sales to arts program.**

Never Forget: You Can’t Burn Down History

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Our specialty is informative events such as, Q&A parties, screening dialogues, interpersonal workshops, and community forums. We offer both face-to-face and online event designs. Contact us today for a “free” consultation for your next meeting/event.

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Upcoming Event – Negros With Guns Screening Dialogue

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We’re highlighting North Carolina African American History for Black History Month! Join us for screening of Negros With Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power on Sunday, February 22nd at 4pm at Westridge Place Apartments Clubhouse, 100 Donner Drive, Salisbury NC. A discussion will follow the screening. (Clubhouse is located directly behind former Salisbury Mall)

“Credited with inspiring the Black Power Movement, Robert Williams led his North Carolina hometown to defend itself against the Ku Klux Klan and challenge repressive Jim Crow laws. NEGROES WITH GUNS: Rob Williams and Black Power follows Williams’s journey from southern community leader to exile in Cuba and China, a journey that brought the issue of armed self-defense to the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement.” – PBS.org

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Our specialty is informative events such as, Q&A parties, screening dialogues, interpersonal workshops, and community forums. We offer both face-to-face and online event designs. Contact us today for a “free” consultation for your next meeting/event.

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African American History Begins In Africa

Continent of AfricaWe are excited about February! We will be hosting a screening dialogue of the film “Prince Among Slaves” in honor of Black History Month. This documentary reveals the fact that African American History does not begin with slavery; African American History begins in Africa. The film is based on a true story about a Prince from West Africa named Abdul Rahman Sori, who was captured and sold to English slavers.

Our awareness campaign this month on our social media sites will highlight African History. We will dispel the myth that African slaves were uneducated and uncultured people. The United States was built and sustain by a people who possessed skills and knowledge that they acquired in Africa, not through slave owners.  Our campaign will affirm that African History is the foundation of African American History.

We invite you to join us on this journey as we learn about the African roots and legacy of a great people who forever changed America.

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Our specialty is informative events such as, Q&A parties, screening dialogues, interpersonal workshops, and community forums. We offer both face-to-face and online event designs. Contact us today for a “free” consultation for your next meeting/event.

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We Continue To Move Forward

TVEPLogo1-originalsize (2)Happy New Year! 2013 was a great year for The Vine Events and we plan to continue with our theme “Moving Forward”. Our focus will remain on community development and we will address issues that hinder us from “moving forward”. The community forums we have scheduled for 2014 will provide an opportunity for our guest to speak and most importantly listen to others, so that we can establish some resolve for progression. Below is a schedule of our events up to April. Follow us on WordPress, Facebook, and Twitter to stay updated on dates, times, and locations.

January – Moving Forward: Don’t Believe The Hype – We will host a community dialogue about consumerism on Saturday, January 25th at 5pm at Westridge Place Clubhouse, 100 Donner Drive, Salisbury, NC. We will discuss media’s manipulation of consumers and importance of financial literacy.

February – Prince Among Slaves – We will host a screening of “Prince Among Slaves” for Black History Month.  It is a true story about an African prince, Abdul Rahman, enslaved in the American South. This documentary introduces the fact that African American History does not begin with slavery, but expands beyond to the great continent of Africa.

March – African Presence in the Bible – We’ll continue our celebration of Black History Month with reading of Bishop J.W. Hood book “The Centennial of African Methodism”.  Bishop Hood was one of the founders of Livingstone College and Hood Theological Seminary was named after him. (Both institutions are located in Salisbury, NC.) Our reading will focus on chapter two of his book. Click here to read.

April – Holy Lockdown: Does the Church Limit Black Progress – We will host a book reading of Jeremiah Camara’s book, “Holy Lockdown”.  The book explores the impact of the Black church on the Black psyche. We’ll openly address how the Black church can use it’s influence in progressing community and economic development. This will be an online weekly discussion via video starting April 15th at 9pm EST.  Visit here to purchase the book.

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Our specialty is informative events such as, Q&A parties, screening dialogues, interpersonal workshops, and community forums. We offer both face-to-face and online event designs. Contact us today for a “free” consultation for your next meeting/event.

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Shadeism Screening Dialogue

The Vine Events Chat CafeJoin us for dinner and a movie on Saturday, February 16th at 6:30pm in Salisbury, NC.  The Vine Events Chat Cafe will be hosting a screening dialogue of “Shadeism”.

“Shadeism” is a documentary short film that introduces the issue of shadeism (also known as colorism); discrimination based on skin tones among members of the same community. The documentary explores shadeism origins and its affects within various cultures around the globe.  It also introduces how we can foster collective and personal healing through dialogue and discussion.

The cost of this event is $10/person. To reserve your seat click on “Donate” button below. Directions to event location will be emailed to those who RSVP so, please enter your email address on PayPal payment page.  **Note: You don’t need a Paypal Account to make payment.**

We want to hear from you. Have you ever experienced shadeism? What contributes to this aspect within your community/culture? Please leave your reply below. Thanks

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Black History In The Making…

For the month of February, The Vine Events is celebrating Black History Month and we will highlight African American entrepreneurs on our social network pages. Our theme is “Black History In The Making” and our focus is “Community”. We’re kicking off our celebration with an article about high fashion designer Avnah Davis-Long written by guest blogger Desere’ Cross. We chose Mrs. Davis-Long because her life experiences parallel the story of struggle and triumph of African American people.

“Although my whole life was rough, God kept me and brought me out a new person with no limitation. He has instilled in my heart that everything that ever happened to me is my history, not my destiny, and I have seen Him work amazing things out in my life.” – Avnah Davis-Long.

The Vine Event Planning
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Our specialty is informative events such as, Q&A parties, screening dialogues, interpersonal workshops, and community forums. We offer both face-to-face and online event designs. Contact us today for a “free” consultation for your next meeting/event.

Black History In The Making – Avnah Davis-Long, High Fashion Designer

Avnah Davis-Long (center left) at speaking engagement.

Avnah Davis-Long (center left) at speaking engagement.

What does Kelly Rowland, high fashion, and Salisbury, NC all have in common? They have all come into contact with Avnah Davis-Long, a high fashion designer who has humble beginnings in Salisbury, NC.

Davis-Long moved from Ohio to Salisbury at age 12 and attended Knox Middle School, Salisbury High School, and Rowan Cabarrus Community College. At age 20, she moved to Atlanta, GA and opened a hair salon. From there, she grew her salon business. Inside of her salon, she would dress mannequins in her clothing designs. After receiving inquiries from salon clients about where they could buy the clothes draped on the mannequins, Davis-Long began to invest her income from her salon into fabric for her designs. The success of her fashion design business soon exceeded that of her hair salon, and she had to decide which passion to pursue; fashion designer or hair stylist? She chose fashion.

Davis-Long began crocheting when she was young. It was something her mom thought would be good for her to learn. This hobby that Davis-Long describes as something she was “forced” into doing, ended up jump-starting her career. Davis-Long’s first fashion line was a crochet swimwear collection, which resulted in her entering the fashion world as a notable crochet designer. In 2003, she trademarked the fashion line Avnah Couture and incorporated sewing into her line in 2006. In 2012, “Couture” was dropped from the original name, and the line was rebranded as AVNAH. AVNAH has been described as edgy, futuristic, and unique and has been featured at the New York Fashion Week, Atlanta International Fashion Week, and CIAA Fashion Week. Grammy award winner, Kelly Rowland, was the first celebrity to wear AVNAH. The collection is now being sold on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, CA and has been worn by Sasha Pieterse from ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars, Cynthia Bailey from The Real Housewives of Atlanta, and many more.

Being the owner of a high fashion boutique requires wearing many hats, and according to Davis-Long, this is one of many obstacles to being an entrepreneur.
“I do everything, from sewing to administrative tasks,” Davis-Long said. However, during 2013, she plans to have her fashion line mass produced in a manufacturing plant. This will allow her to focus on personal aspects of the design process, such as creativity. When asked if she had any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, Davis-Long said “you have to have thick skin…sometimes, when you take criticism the wrong way, it hinders you.” She also encouraged entrepreneurs to persevere even after being told “no.”

Although Davis-Long moved to Atlanta because it provided her with opportunities for what she wanted to do, she has not forgotten Salisbury. In the past, Davis-Long has had several speaking engagements in Salisbury, including one at Salisbury High School. Ultimately, Davis-Long said she wants her brand to have meaning behind it. By giving back to those in her community who need help and guidance, Davis-Long is able to exemplify philanthropy. In Georgia, she has worked with the Boys and Girls Club on different events and projects, such as sponsoring sewing workshops. She has also provided free demos for cosmetology schools in Georgia.

If you’d like to find out more about AVNAH or shop at their online store visit http://www.avnah.com.

Desere’ S. Cross
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Journalism and Communications Studies Major
Class of 2014

Designs By AVNAH

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