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I hope everyone had a restful holiday weekend! I, for one, am thankful for my mom’s cooking, pomegranate, ergonomic pillows, extremely wonderful friends, and a spectacular set of student entrepreneurs we’re lucky to work with at Riverside. Here’s some of what we’ve been up to this month!
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Cooperative entrepreneurship program
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We’re in a great rhythm with our student entrepreneurship meetings. It’s great to see our young people grow beyond their shells and stretch their creativity. Most recently, with the help of our friend Elizabeth, Riverside has really upped our social media game through Instagram reels that highlight our work and showcase all the fun we have!
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At our latest student entrepreneurship meeting, we got into explicit entrepreneurship work. Using the “effectual entrepreneurship” framework, we asked our students to think about what resources they were already in possession of and how they could use those resources for socially positive work. For example, the “crazy quilt” principle encourages entrepreneurs to consider who is already a part of their network and how they can collaborate with them to launch an enterprise. It uplifts the virtues of collaboration instead of hyper-focusing on competition as the central feature of business. Students came up with party planning services, consultancies, and athletic coaching programs. Also, everyone should go see “Of Salt and Spirit: Black Quilters in the American South” at the Mississippi Museum of Art. It’s spectacular.
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Speaking of the museum, after our entrepreneurial work, students thought back to our last meeting where bech from MMA talked about qualities of good video design. The students spent some time thinking about narratives they could share about how Riverside can be a good steward of the environment. We’re excited for our next session on December 11th to get started with video making!
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On November 2nd, we had our first official community meeting! Thank you so much to the community members who made time to show up to hear about our work early on a Saturday. Our students got great practice with their public speaking and narrative storytelling skills. They also learned that it’s both difficult and essential to mobilize your networks for what you care about, especially when it comes to a community focused business. We got great insights from community members about how to deepen our connection to South Jackson, and we got to showcase our mural mock-up. Stay tuned for more community events coming soon.
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Paint is on the walls! I repeat, paint is on the walls! After getting the green light from community members, we started painting the mural on the building. Admittedly, we were nervous. But as Justin Ransburg consistently reminded us– if it doesn’t look good, you can paint over it. Good advice for murals, great advice for life. We’ve gotten to talk to so many South Jacksonians on the side of the road asking what we’re up to. It’s heartening to hear people’s excitement. Follow us on social media (@riversidecollective.jxn) to see when our next paint session will be!
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That’s all for now! As always, thank you for being a part of the journey.
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