month a Kansas City family owned Black Inner-City
Groceries, Grill & Pizza Parlor.
The Wilson's Neighborhood Groceries & Grill.
What a novelty. While certain community leaders was
screaming racism because National Chain Pizza Parlors
(for safety reasons), refused to deliver to our inner-city
Black neighborhoods. Gary and Jacqueline Wilson put
their business wit together and instead of screaming or
following the lead of others, they came up with what has
proved to be the perfect solution.
It reminded us of General Hannibal during his war with
neighboring Rome ( When Rome refused to come over the
mountains to fight with Hannibal and his Army on elephants,
General Hannibal decided to take the war to Rome).
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HANNIBAL
decided not to let Rome dictate
how the battle would be fought,
and took control himself.
When Gary and Jacqueline saw
what was going on, they decided
their inner-city neighborhood did
not need a National Chain to
service the community, just so
their neighbors and friends could
have pizza.
So in 1994 they added what has
now become known as the best
pizza in the inner-city, to their
already Neighborhood Corner
Store.
have concentrated our effort on
introducing the local Art Community in the
Kansas City Area. It has truly been an
interesting experience. We really hope
they all succeed in their efforts to be
heard. The Spoken word is an ideal way
for a community to identify its' culture, and
from what we discovered, several groups
in Kansas City are trying to do just that.
But after meeting Gary and later his wife
(Jacqueline), and their 5 (I repeat) 5
children. We have decided to maintain our
effort to reach out to parents and
grand-parents with our Art appreciation.
But instead of using our web site to
showcase artists, we would start
showcasing the positive relationships that
exist between inner-city black businesses,
and the inner-city black community.
eliminate crime riddled, violent prone, Black inner-city neighborhoods from our lives.
And yes, we can all understand the reason a person would or should react that way.
But because of the inner-city exodus, anyone who has had the tenacity to stay,
survive the somewhat war like conditions, and establish a for profit neighborhood
business. In more ways that we can every imagine, have had more to do with
motivating both children and adults, than any of the non-profit government
sponsored services and/or programs.
While our screaming leaders was creating midnight-basketball, inner-city Black
businesses like our Wilson's Neighborhood Grill, was working to find ways to not
only make a living, but to do so while also creating jobs for other neighborhood
residents. Because of that "The African Art Shop" is honored to introduce such a
business.
As usual we hope you enjoy our presentation. It has truly been a pleasure and a
learning experience. Just wait until you see the pictures we have included. For
those of us who grew up in inner-city neighborhoods, this will be like a walk down
memory lane.