This week's Black History Month Spotlight is on Shane and Amy La Beet.  Owners of Pepper Pot Island Cafe.
Here are some questions we asked them.

​In the late 1700’s, African Americans experienced racism and discrimination attending Christian church services at primarily white congregations. In 1794, the African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in Philadelphia by Richard Allen, a former slave from Delaware, who sought a safe space for African Methodists to worship. During the Reconstruction period after the Civil War, clergy of the AME recruited many newly freed slaves into the church. As a result, AME spread across the United States.
 
The Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Key West has been a staple of the African American community in the Bahama Village neighborhood since 1887. Originally built on Duval Street, the location was moved in 1923 to its present location on Truman Avenue after damages from the Hurricane of 1909, and a fire that some speculate were possibly the actions of the Ku Klux Klan in 1922. 

This week's Black History Month Spotlight is on Chef Clive Thompson,  Owner of One Love Food Truck.
Here are some questions we asked Chef Clive Thompson:

​Whether you are a business or a nonprofit, operating in the public sector or the private one, serving businesses and organizations or serving individuals, established in your sector or just starting out, running an empire or “lone wolfing” it, your audience wants to get to know you better.
 
In fact, they expect it.
 
So, what does that look like and how does that benefit you?
 
It depends on your ideal demographic, but most of the things we’ll cover in this article, will work for everyone. Good content creates loyal, engaged followers. In turn, a loyal audience (eventually) will create content for you. Best of all, that type of content, known as referral marketing or word of mouth marketing, is not only one of the strongest in converting new followers and creating an army of people willing to give you money, it is also free, minus the time it takes to nurture that type of follower.
 

​In 1860, three American owned ships were intercepted by the United States Navy as they were bound for Cuba with the intent of selling the 1,432 Africans on board into slave labor. The Navy brought the Africans to the safe-haven of Key West, where a barracks and hospital were built within a confined compound.

​This week's Black History Month Spotlight is on Commissioner Clayton Lopez with the City of Key West, District VI.
Here are some questions we ask Commissioner Lopez:

Should business owners share their personal opinions in public spaces? Are there times where the need for speaking up outweighs business caution? Is it possible that speaking up on a topic you feel passionately about will cost you customers?
 
While the answer to all of these questions is “yes” it is up to your business to decide when the issue and need for action is larger than your business. Only you can decide the price of the issue at hand.
 
But sometimes it's not even a question of refusing or agreeing to do business in support of a cause you feel passionately about. Sometimes it's about lending your voice to the movement. By becoming a vocal advocate for a cause you may alienate customers and that might be fine with you because the cause is more important. But there are a few questions you should consider first:

​Businesses join the chamber of commerce for several reasons. Years ago, it may have been expected; just something you did when you opened a business and wanted to be in good standing in the community.
 
But these days it’s more likely a business joins because there is a direct advantage to them personally. Maybe they wanted a ribbon cutting or need the advocacy or wanted a marketing opportunity that membership allowed them.
 
Yes, there are many reasons to join the chamber and tons of benefits your business can receive from membership. But aside from simply writing a check and receiving a set of benefits, there are reasons why you should become personally involved with the local chamber of commerce.
 
Plus, the chamber extends its benefits to all of your employees so you can use chamber membership benefits as employee benefits. Share this with them as well.

​Despite being the Southernmost city in the United States, during the American Civil War, Key West’s strong Navy and Army presence allowed the area to remain controlled by the Union. This gave the North an advantage in blockading the Gulf of Mexico, and many slave refugees and free Blacks found Key West to be a southern safe haven of freedom.
 
 In 1863, after the Emancipation Proclamation, Colonel James Montgomery of Kansas was sent to Key West to recruit a regiment of only Black soldiers. Black men in the island city between the ages of 15 and 50 deemed to be physically fit were ordered to report for duty in Hilton Head, South Carolina to fight on behalf of the Union in the 2nd South Carolina Regiment.
 
The names of the Black men from Key West who fought - at least 18 of whom were killed in combat - were sadly not well preserved, and many have been lost to time. In February of 2016, on the same date those men were called to duty in 1863, the City of Key West honored these individuals with a statue of a Black Union soldier presented at a ceremony in Bayview Park, poignantly titled “The Forgotten Soldier”. The statue was donated by local businessman Ed Knight, who hoped to bring awareness to the sacrifice of these men so they would no longer be forgotten.