Equity Lab: What is Sac City Stems? + Afro Latinos + Submit your Juneteenth celebrations
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It’s Thursday, June 10, 2021, and I am Alex Yoon-Hendricks.
Like many other lonely zillennials seeking some form of positive energy last spring, I swerved hard into the plant trend.
I devoured YouTube videos on propagation, bought finicky flora at Green Acres I was not mature enough to handle, and delicately wiped the dust off the leaves of my little baby pothos each week.
So, when I saw a new online plant shop pop up on my Instagram feed — one that was local and Black woman-owned, with glossy photos of Monsteras and Philodendrons placed against dark backdrops — I knew I had to check it out.
Sac City Stems now is a full-blown retail store, operating on weekends at 5635 H Street Unit F (though plants can be purchased through their website at any time). I spoke with owner Mikaela Baker to learn more about the inception of the business, and ask how things are going. (Look out for a longer story from me later this week about other businesses that opened during the pandemic, which will also feature more from Baker!)
See our chat below, edited for length and clarity.
Can you tell me why you decided to start Sac City Stems?
I’m born and raised in Sacramento, grew up in south Sac off Florin and Franklin. I was excited because there are not that many shops in Sacramento that are owned by Black women, for one, but two, women that are native to Sacramento.
I’m a flight attendant, that’s my day job, and we were all laid off last year. But finally that meant I could keep plants in the house. When I was flying full time, I couldn’t keep plants in my home like I wanted to, but every woman in my family had plants growing up. It was something missing in my life.
One thing led to another, and I’m propagating for friends. Once I realized how excited people were about breathing life into their homes, and how therapeutic it is, I just said, “Let me try to make this into a thing.”
What was the reaction when you first started posting clippings?
I posted my first actual post from the Sac City Stems account in November, and opened the online shop in January. We made $3,000 in sales the first week, but we only had 300 or 400 followers at the time. We started getting traffic all over the country.
In April, I thought, “We have to get this into another space.” The plants started taking over my home at an extreme rate. Everything came about organically, it’s been the most beautiful thing. Working from home or just being inside, realizing there was no life to care for, was difficult for people. People tell us all the time we helped them get through the pandemic.
How are you feeling now as a new business owner, given the economic climate right now post-Covid?
Starting a business after working full time, there’s a fear of, “Am I doing this right? If this goes wrong, how am I going to feed myself?” But at the same time, it didn’t feel risky to try something new because I was laid off. I don’t imagine myself being brave enough to step out on a limb like that if everything was our old normal.
I can’t even front, it’s almost every day there are doubts. You have nothing to do but sit with these doubts. There’s a certain power to say, I did this in spite of that. What keeps me going is saying, “You started a business in the pandemic, and people are liking it.”
Here’s what else you need to know this week:
Must-Read Stories
AFRO LATINOS:
“We are here and we are also invisible,” said Alejandro Gutierrez-Duncan, 36, of Elk Grove, who identifies as Afro-Bolivian. “Sometimes (we) just get lost in the conversation”
Gutierrez-Duncan, a high school Spanish teacher, launched a podcast four years ago that focused on Afro-Latino issues. His podcast, which spanned dozens of episodes, touched on topics like media representation, African communities in Colombia and colorism, the discrimination of people with dark skin tones that is often perpetuated by people in the same ethnic or racial group.
LGBTQ PRIDE FLAG BURNED:
Police are investigating a possible hate crime after the leader of a midtown Sacramento cathedral said he found his church’s LGBTQ pride flag burned to pieces.
SACRAMENTO COUNCILWOMAN HIRES ACTIVIST:
Sacramento City Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela’s decision to hire podcast host Skyler Henry has gained national attention.
National conservative outlet Fox News published an article about Valenzuela’s hiring of Henry, who gave controversial comments on the progressive podcast “VOICES: River City” in March.
“You should be terrified for the rest of your life,” Henry said of Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s performative ‘thumbs down’ vote against the $15 minimum wage in the coronavirus relief package. “You should never be able to leave your house if that is how you’re going to use your position to govern.
Sacramento, how are you celebrating Juneteenth? The Equity Lab wants to feature your event
Juneteenth falls on the same week California Gov. Gavin Newsom will lift social distancing restrictions, allowing businesses to fully reopen for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We want to know where you’ll be celebrating this year. What organizations are hosting a Juneteenth event?
Your submissions may be shared in an upcoming story for The Sacramento Bee’s Equity Lab. We can be reached at equitylab@sacbee.com.
More Interesting Reads
Homeless activists, medical students urge officials not to clear Sacramento homeless camps | The Sacramento Bee
Masks? Social distancing? We answer your questions on California’s new COVID workplace rules | The Sacramento Bee
California teen: I’m marching 266 miles, from Paradise to San Francisco, for climate justice | The Sacramento Bee
‘Love isn’t that easily defeated.’ Church’s LGBTQ flag burned as Pride Month events begin | The Sacramento Bee
“It Feels Like We’re Profiting Off Of Black Death”: Tulsa Residents See Civil Rights Tourism But No Reparations | BuzzFeed News
What we’re watching (and you should, too!)
Some days I wake up, scroll through Twitter, and am overwhelmed by just how absurd everything is.
So I started watching the equally absurd and weird Netflix sketch comedy show “I Think You Should Leave.” Created by Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin, the show isn’t ha ha funny so much as heh heh funny, if that makes sense?
Other entertainment outlets have described the show better than I could (Vulture this year published an article on the show titled “Stupid Times Call for Stupid Jokes,” to get a sense of the vibe).
Some of the sketches start out seemingly benign — a birthday party get-together, on an airplane headed to a honeymoon, date night at a club with a magician (OK, maybe that’s less normal) — then completely warp and fray by the end. The characters are mean, petty, silly and hilarious. And seeing such a frank embodiment of the general unmoored-ness I feel some days makes me feel a little more connected to this increasingly absurd world we live in.
Where to find us
❗ We want to hear from you! Please send us your story tips and thoughts to equitylab@sacbee.com.
➡️ You can also follow us on Instagram and Twitter, and like us on Facebook at @EquityLabSac.
Thank you for reading, and we will see you again next week!
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This story was originally published June 9, 2021 at 10:04 AM.