Loyola University Maryland will premier the short film series, “Stories, Context, and Lived Experience of the Black Entrepreneur,” on Monday, Oct. 3, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Loyola’s McManus Theater. Created by Loyola faculty on location in Baltimore, the five short films capture the personal stories and experiences of Black entrepreneurs in Baltimore.
The films feature interviews with entrepreneurs alongside footage of their businesses and surrounding communities that have been subject to long-term anti-Black structural inequities. The series is a culmination of an interdisciplinary project between Loyola’s innovation and entrepreneurship minor and the African and African American studies minor.
The first season of the series features the entrepreneurs:
Bill Romani, Ph.D., entrepreneur in residence at the Simon Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, and Raenita Fenner, Ph.D., associate professor of engineering and director of the African and African American studies minor, produced the films and will host the series premier.
The films — complemented by readings, news accounts, and archival footage that document the political, social, and economic causes of historically racist policies in Baltimore — will form the open-access curriculum of a new interdisciplinary course, Investing in Black and Women Entrepreneurs. In a subsequent course, students will apply what they learned to identify and recommend Black and women-owned companies for investment from the new Loyola Angels Fund.
The Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities provided a grant to support the film and curriculum project.
An informal reception will follow the film series premier, which is free and open to the public. Attendees can register online.
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