Black Joy Parade shows out in Oakland's Black Business District

OAKLAND, Calif. - The Black Joy Parade took to Oakland's Black Business District on Sunday to celebrate Black culture and the end of Black History Month. 

The parade brought out vendors, business owners and artists of all kinds. Oaklanders at the parade said they treasured this chance to come together and revel in their community.

"There's double-dutching, singing, chanting, there's a drum line, there's three or four different car clubs. There's horses, there's everything out here and they're all really excited to bring the energy to Oakland," Elycia Knight, director of Black Joy Parade said. 

From honey to books, to the latest African-made fashions, Bay Area business owners showed up and showed out in support of the parade.

"We're in the coffee and joy business, so Black Joy Parade makes sense for us," Beanka Ashaolu, co-founder of Nirvana Soul said. 

The theme of this year's parade is all about celebrating hard work. 

"So this year's theme for Black Joy Parade is ‘Finding the Joy in the Hustle’. It's really the redefinition of a hustler. So the goal is to bring economic empowerment back into Oakland," Knight told KTVU. 

Oakland's own Kenneth Randolph, owner of African Honey, used to be a registered nurse, but when he learned about the healing properties of Kenyan honey, he changed course.

"I worked in the ER, and we used honey for the road rash, and it really had much better outcomes than many of the things that are on the market nowadays," Randolph said. 

Business owners we spoke to had more than just sales in mind; many focused on social entrepreneurship as they grow.

"It's important for me to represent not only my community but what we're trying to do for the community here by bringing in good healthy products," Randolph said. 

The Black-owned businesses aren't just helping people here in the U.S.

Ifafunke Oladigbolu, owner of Lola's African Apparel, has been in business for over a decade, and she says she feels like she's just getting comfortable with the challenges that come with a new business. 

"It's a social enterprise…In Nigeria we have about 15 seamstresses and tailors... they make the clothes and send it over here. We sell all over the world, and it really helps impoverished communities…And we have beautiful pieces," Oladigbolu told KTVU. 

There were also treats for the kids, including books written by a local author.

"Unfortunately, I noticed that there weren't resources for Black children that talked about body safety, consent and safe boundaries, and I needed to remedy that. So I created my first book ‘Where Hands Go,’ which is the introduction to safe and unsafe touch, to talk about these taboo and hard topics for parents..." said Krystallynne Sanders Diggs, author and owner of Diggs Publishing. 

Nicole Felix-Borders and her husband Reggie Borders founded their company Pound Bizness based on a family recipe that had been treasured for years. Now they aim to give back:

"We've been able to help other entrepreneurs, we've helped our customers get into homes. We've given scholarships to different youth to help start their own businesses…What we do with the resources that we get here at Pound Bizness is put it back into the community..." Felix-Border said. 

The Oakland community came out in full force to support these business owners and their efforts. 

"It's inspiring to be around like-minded people. People put their heart and soul into their businesses. Some people have brick-and-mortar, some people don't. But it's something about being around people that look like you, the hustle, everyone out here grindin', it's like the Super Bowl," Jeronica Macey, co-found Nirvana Soul said.