This Girl is On Fire

By Laila Muhammad | Last updated: Jan 15, 2013 - 1:29:54 PM

(FinalCall.com) - “She’s got both feet on the ground and she’s burning it down, she got her head in the clouds, and she’s not coming down.” Alicia Keys latest album, Girl on Fire, sums up the power, determination, and zeal of the Black woman. Those qualities continue to be manifested in many fields of endeavor from business and communications to public service.

According to the National Women’s Business Council, as of 2007, there were nearly 7.8 million women-owned firms in the U.S., nearly 912,000 were owned by Black women. New York had the largest number of Black-owned firms at 204,032. Georgia and Florida were next with 183,874 and 181,437 businesses. Cook County, Ill., had the largest number of Black-owned firms of any county.

According to a U.S. Census Bureau survey, nearly half of all firms owned by Blacks are owned by women.

When you support a Black-owned business or entity, you are supporting Black families, you are helping to put children through school, helping a family out of poverty, giving women the freedom to tap into the creative minds Almighty God has blessed them with, and ultimately showing We Love Black People! Love is duty. Isn’t it our duty to back one another? Here are some powerful Black women making things happen in our communities. As Black women, whatever we put our minds to we can accomplish! All we have to say is kun faya kun—“be and it is!” Then go out and work our plan.

Tanya Durr is the owner of Graffiti Pizza in Chicago.

Tanya Durr is the owner of Graffiti Pizza in Chicago. She can be reached at [email protected] 773-633-2004. On October 28, 2012, Graffiti Pizza at 700 E. 47th Street celebrated its two-year anniversary with special deals and prizes. Two years in business is worthy of celebration.

About one in four restaurant start-ups close in the first year.

Graffiti Pizza’s success is especially notable because it borders one of Chicago’s food deserts.

In Chicago neighborhoods with mostly Black residents and 30 percent or more poor residents, there are only 21 restaurants per 1,000 people, while other neighborhoods in Chicago have 10 times as many eateries.

Tanya founded Graffiti Pizza with a unique twist on a classic formula: Great atmosphere, great ingredients, and great customer service. The family-friendly restaurant has walls covered in colorful graffiti with a pizza theme and chalkboards for children to make their own art. Pizzas have unlimited vegetables, and nutritious salads and wraps are also available. Customers appreciate the rare opportunity to get fresh veggies fast in the neighborhood.

Graffiti Pizza is hoping to grow in the years to come. For help in reaching its goals, it just started to work with the IJ Clinic on Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago Law School. The IJ Clinic provides free legal assistance and advocacy for lower-income entrepreneurs in Chicago.

Jenise Shelby Jonah, aka Lady J, was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago. Follow her on Twitter via @ladyj4546 or Facebook through the Lady J Fan Page or Chicago’s WCSU Promotions Team on Facebook.

Jenise Shelby Jonah, aka Lady J, was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago.

Jenise grew up hosting talent shows in elementary school. At 14, Jenise realized she loved music and hosting shows. As a senior in high school she got involved in community events and was a panelist at discussions like “Stop the Violence Among Youth” forums sponsored by the Millions More Movement at the Nation of Islam’s Mosque Maryam. She also hosted a “Chicago Idol” talent showcase.

After graduating high school in 2006, Jenise attended Rust College in Holly Springs, Miss., for a year and then transferred to Chicago State University. She decided to study Mass Communications.

Things were tough as a sophomore, but not tough enough to curb her ambition to be an on-air personality. She accepted an offer by WATC Internet radio as her night job and worked as a lifeguard during the day.

“I wasn’t worried about getting compensated for my time; I was more concerned if there were listeners hearing my voice,” she says.

Two years of dedication and hard work led to her being ranked as WATC artist and personality of the month. In 2009 she auditioned for WYAM JAMM Chicago (www.jammchicago.com). She didn’t make the cut, but she did earn a WYAM internship.

After the internship, she got a call from Troi Tyler, a longtime Chicago radio personality, and station manager for WCSU radio at Chicago State University. In the fall of 2010, Jenise became music director at CSU’s radio station. “Lady J is a very talented personality and artist. She is destined for greatness and I am grateful to have her as WCSU Radio music director,” Tyler says.

Now a proud graduate of Chicago State University with Bachelors in Arts Degree in Communications, Lady J has a strong support system of family and friends, especially Janice A. Muhammad, her grandmother.

Lady J’s goal in 2013 is to continue on the path God has given her, which she believes is speaking over radio airwaves and online. Catch her Wednesdays, 6-8 p.m. at http://www.iheart.com/#/live/WCSU-Chicago-State-University-6067/.

Youth Creation Community Outreach (Y.C.C.O.) was founded by Sudan Muhammad in 1999 in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

Youth Creation Community Outreach (Y.C.C.O.) was founded by Sudan Muhammad in 1999 in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The group enjoys helping those in need. It helps people living in shelters or who are homeless and provides home cooked meals, drinks, donated shoes and clothing. In 2004, Bedside Harp was added, which allows girls to play at hospitals and nursing homes for those that are sick and in need of healing. The group’s Youth Creation Community Outreach magazine was created to bring focus to positive things done to better their community.

Youth Creation started as a group of siblings from three to 20. In 1998 before Youth Creation officially started, Sudan Muhammad and husband Reamer Muhammad took in children of crack addicted parents. Sudan began teaching these children basic subjects like Math, Science, English and Islamic Studies. The children began calling Mr. and Mrs. Muhammad “Mom and Dad” and once they went back to public school, they were skipped one to three grades. Neighborhood children visited the Muhammad’s for comfort, encouragement and words of wisdom. Their visits led to effort to feed the homeless. Sis. Sudan can be found on Facebook.

Just say be and it is whether in business, media or service!

(Laila Muhammad is a Chicago-based writer and videographer.)

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