Community Market in Winooski showcases BIPOC artists, chefs, business-owners

Marlena Fishman sells CBD, stickers and merch in front of Caledonia Cannabis’ ‘cannaboose.’ The stand is a collaboration between the two companies. Photo by Tyler Lederer.

Creators of color took center stage at the Black Perspective’s BIPOC Community Market, held Nov. 8 behind Winooski’s O’Brien Community Center.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., BIPOC Vermont vendors showed their wares while attendees shopped, played basketball and listened to music. Lunch was provided free by the People’s Kitchen, a catering organization founded by the VT Workers’ Center. 

The event was hosted by the Black Perspective, a social justice non-profit aimed at uplifting minority Vermonters. Co-founder Madey Madey was one of the event’s main organizers.

“We were thinking, how do we get community businesses, or local BIPOC businesses out there and supporting their own businesses as well,” Madey said.

“What we thought at first was a farmer’s market but we don’t want to just limit it to farmers. We want to expand to crafters as well, expand to the general community around here,” he said.

The Community

The Black Perspective put out a notice to potential vendors through their Instagram and Facebook accounts, said Madey. But some were people the group had previously worked with, such as poet, MC and teaching artist Rajnii Eddins.

“I’ve known them some time before they formed this organization,” Eddins said. “I’ve been in constant contact with them over the course of the summer, responding to the need to confront police brutality and white supremacy.”

At the market, Eddins sold copies of his book, “Their Names are Mine,” a collection of his previous work, written to combat white supremacy. The market, he said, was a way of sharing what he has to offer to the community, while also furthering this goal.

“I think as often as possible [of] the opportunity to engage in that endeavor,” he said.

Others like Arantha Farrow, owner of Caledonia Cannabis, were more business-focused. Since the pandemic started, Farrow had been selling CBP and Zimbabwean art out of her “Cannaboose,” a trolley she bought on Craigslist. Since then, she’s been on the hunt for places to take it.

“I’m looking for things like that to do all the time,” Farrow said. “It just seemed like a really good idea. And it was so good.”

For both vendors and buyers, the event was a success. Both Eddins and Farrow were impressed by the turnout, they said. The weather was also a plus. 

“It was one of the best days that we've had actually,” said Farrow.

“I feel really grateful to have had the opportunity to participate. With the weather change, outdoor markets are going to be fewer and farther between.”

On the other side, attendees like 27 year-old Sarah McIlvennie were happy to get to know any of the vendors at all.

“It’s super nice to be able to come out to this spot and see all the vendors that I feel like I personally would have struggled to find,” she said.

Activist and organizer Ashley Laporte attended the market to support the Black Perspective and plans to attend similar events, she said.
“We spend a lot of time fighting for justice and banding together through difficult stuff,” Laporte said. “But it’s fun to be in community together and be able to support each other and celebrate.”

Fighting the good fight

The BIPOC Community Market event occurred the day after Joe Biden was declared the projected winner of the 2020 Presidential Election by every major media organization. He beat incumbent Donald Trump, who’s tacitly supported white supremacist and far-right extremist groups such as the Proud Boys.

The election loomed large over both organizers and attendees. As Madey made clear, their win will shift their strategy but it will not be the be-all end-all for their activism.

“It was like the start of a better fight but we’re still fighting at the end of the day,” he said.

Madey hopes that Biden will listen to BIPOC voters while in office. But he’s not going to trust him right away.

“Most politicians try to go for the Black vote and say stuff they’re not really going to do,” he said. 

“That’s where Kamala [Harris] comes in,” Madey said half-jokingly, referring to the half-Black Vice President-Elect.

This distrust was not unique to Madey. Laporte made it clear that despite the change in administration, more work will need to be done.

“I get worried,” she said, “that all of this momentum might be used for other adjacent issues, but not actually for Black Americans and indigenous Americans who have been historically the most marginalized.”

“There’s a lot of work to do,” Laporte said, “and if you look at how tight this race was with Biden and Harris, it shows you that.”

The Black Perspective is working on getting Burlington and Winooski’s citizens engaged politically and locally, says Madey. 

What he hopes events like these will do is make people aware of what BIPOC community members have to offer. As well, he said, the market is a community-building event.

“Vermont itself, Winooski are very small places. You see the same people almost on a daily basis. Might as well get to know them,” Madey said.

A second BIPOC Community Market was set for Sunday, Nov. 22, but has been cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns. More information can be found on the Black Perspective’s Facebook page. 

A list of the state of Vermont’s Black-owned businesses can be found on The Black Perspective’s website.

The Community News Service is a collaboration with the University of Vermont’s Reporting & Documentary Storytelling program.