The battle for equal ground: North Bay Black business owners hope for permanent change

After the Memorial Day murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man whose killing by a police officer in Minneapolis was caught on video, the Black Lives Matter movement moved front and center of peoples’ consciousness, sparking outrage and protests on an international level.

But can the movement lead to permanent change?

Four local business owners — three Black, one white — recently shared their experiences and perspectives during this historic time.

Black Lives Matter

One of the fallouts from the Black Lives Matter movement is a response that’s been heard across the nation that “All Lives Matter.” That phrase has proved troublesome because it can be seen as minimizing the oppression Black people have felt for centuries.

That became painfully clear on a local level last month when the now-former president of the Sonoma County Alliance aired his grievances over protests and vandalism on a since-deleted post to the organization’s website. In his letter, he stated, “All Lives Matter.”

Stepping up

“People like to combat Black Lives Matter with All Lives Matter, and I always like people to know that is the most offensive thing you can do because it’s taking away from what the Black community is going through right now,” said Letitia Hanke, CEO of ARS Roofing, Gutters & Solar, a Santa Rosa-based business she founded in 2004 that serves Sonoma, Napa and Marin counties.

“We’re not saying that all lives don’t matter because it’s obvious that all lives matter,” Hanke said. "But the truth is, right now Black Lives Matter, and we need people who want to be a part of that and help us finally achieve equality.”

Hanke, who said she was bullied as one of few Black children growing up in Lake County, was studying music at Sonoma State University and looking for one job to replace the three she had at the time. She landed work as a receptionist at a roofing company.

“I proved myself over and over again, and I went from receptionist to the office manager to the manager,” Hanke said. “When my boss wanted to retire, that's when he first started training me in roofing so that way I could get my own license.”

Hanke said her boss wanted her to buy his company, but she opted instead to start her own business — a journey that came with significant pain as she rose to success, including losing a reroofing job when the potential client, an older couple, saw her in person. Until then, she used only her first initial and last name in her business, and kept her face hidden. Hanke didn’t want potential clients to know she was female and Black.

But that changed after the couple rejected her in cruel fashion, informing her their house had an alarm system that would go off “really loud” if anyone tried to break in, she said.

“I walked to my car, pulled around the corner and I completely bawled my eyes out,” Hanke said. “It broke my heart is what it did.”

She went back to the office, put the bid through the shredder, and vowed from that day forward to put her face and full name on everything concerning her company. Hanke said it was a turning point, one that “catapulted” her business.

Don’t be a ‘Karen’

“Letitia is so well-spoken and so willing to educate,” said Karen Kilian, who runs Marin Women at Work, a networking group made up of 50 members. Hanke is the only Black woman in the group.

Kilian and Hanke recently did a podcast together to talk about Black Lives Matter and how white women can better support Black women.

“I reached out to Leticia because we are friends; I feel safe with her,” Kilian said. “And I felt like I could ask all those questions others want to know but were too afraid to ask.”

The 37-minute podcast reveals an easy flow between the two women as they tackle a tough subject. The podcast, available on YouTube, is titled “A Karen and a Black Business Woman.”

A “Karen” is a reference to entitled women who have been caught on video across social media belittling people and inciting racism. Kilian made clear she is not a “Karen.”

“The whole podcast was to educate people like me that don't consider ourselves racist, but maybe say things that are hurtful or insensitive,” Kilian said. “I don't consider Letitia my Black friend. I didn't feel like I needed to be educated on that part.”

Kilian bought a couple of books that Hanke suggested to help Kilian gain a clearer understanding of how certain words matter in the Black community, such as why “All Lives Matter” is hurtful.

“When I say something, or I learn why that's insensitive,” Kilian said, “I'll have a better understanding of where that is coming from.”

Raise your glass

Dallas-native James Moss started selling wines in the mid-1990s from his hometown of Dallas. His work frequently required travel to Napa, where over the years he became acquainted with a variety of winemakers and met his future wife, Janet. In 1998, Moss moved to Napa and became more ensconced in the industry, working for worked for several wineries over the years, and learning under the tutelage of Mark Jessup and Gustavo Brambila, owner of Gustavo Wine.

In 2001, Moss started making his own wine out of Brambila’s facility. In 2011, he Moss moved J. Moss Winery to his own facility in Napa, where he specializes in cabernet. Moss, Janet and their son, Westley, run the business.

“I’ve had some really good breaks because of the fact that I was in the wine industry and was selling other people's wine in Dallas and then also started selling people's wine here in California,” Moss said.

Even so, Moss said, being a Black person in the business world is difficult.

“A lot of Black people, not only me, feel that we have to work twice as hard to get the same results, and that's just the fact of the matter,” Moss said, without a hint of bitterness in his voice. “The big thing that I noticed is just that sometimes people don't take you seriously. That’s the problem. All I ask is people try our wines and evaluate them evenly and fairly.”

Moss said that as more people have tasted J. Moss wines over the years and spread the word, the family business has grown and gotten respect. Now he’s looking to hire another person at the winery. He specifically wants to bring on a Black woman.

“We want to give someone else an opportunity who maybe hasn't had an opportunity because of either their color are because they haven't had a chance to really shine,” Moss said.

Moss said he’s glad to see the Black Lives Matter movement back front and center.

Ultimately, Moss wants to see permanent change.

“What I hope will come out of this is that people don't forget. Don't just say, ‘Well, I need to support him one time,” Moss said. “My hope is that if you like the wines, then you continue to keep us on your docket. Don't just go back to buying somebody else's wine. Buy their wine and our wine.”

Personal style

Malia Anderson has consulted, styled plus-size women and produced fashion shows during her 20-year career in the fashion industry. In 2001, she left her native San Francisco to move to Santa Rosa, where in 2009 she founded Style by Malia.

Anderson, who studied fashion merchandising and small-business management at City College of San Francisco, said it’s been difficult trying to find equality in the business world.

“Access to capital in Black business in general is hard,” Anderson said. “As a Black woman, it’s harder. As a service-based business when you don't make a widget, it’s even worse.”

Anderson, who is vocal and determined, has built her business in spite of the racism and inequalities she has experienced.

In 2016, Style by Malia crossed six figures — her biggest year so far, she said. Revenues subsequently fell after the 2017 fires, but began to improve again in late 2018.

She continues the fight for fairness across the North Bay’s business community, and that drive won’t be stopping any time soon.

Last month, Anderson organized and posed for a photo shoot featuring 17 Black women on the steps of the Museum of Sonoma County in Santa Rosa.

“I did this photo of these women out of a space of anger,” Anderson said. “Once the anger subsided, I knew that what I was doing was part of a movement.”

Staff Writer Cheryl Sarfaty covers tourism, hospitality, health care and education. Reach her at cheryl.sarfaty@ busjrnl.com or 707-521-4259.