Juneteenth at Wild Cactus
Happy Juneteenth from the Wild Cactus team!
On Juneteenth, the holiday often referred to as the Independence Day for African-Americans, Wild Cactus chooses an organization to donate a percentage of our sales to in efforts to highlight social causes we are passionate about. From Black farming, mental health resources, to local shops just down the street from us, here are a few groups, small businesses and creatives we want to share with our Portland community.
This year we will be fundraising for Black Futures Farm, an organization that works to heal the connection between Black people and the land. Located in the Brentwood-Darlington Neighborhood, on unceded Clackamas and Multnomah First Nations Territory, Black Futures Farm holds 1.15 acres with 17 different fruit trees, vegetables, flowers and medicinal herbs.
From the months of May to the end of October, every Sunday is known as “Black Sunday,” where Black-indentifing folks celebrate, learn and grow by coming together. With their land and resources, Black Futures Farm also provides accessibility around freshly grown produce.
The years previously, we worked with Black & Beyond the Binary Collective, an organization that builds leadership, healing and safety of Black transgender, queer, nonbinary, two-spirit and intersex Oregonians.
Resources Black & Beyond the Binary Collective include B32 Housing Safety Fund, a collaboration between the Multnomah County Joint Office of Homeless Shelters to provide financial assistance to Portland residents experiencing housing-related hardship.
An additional resource, Ubuntu Healing Project, works to provide mental health resources as a collaboration with Radical Rest. This culturally specific program is made for Black - African queer/transgender youth and adults to bridge indigenous and cultural healing practices with Western mental and physical health.
Beyond nonprofits organizations, some of our favorite Black-owned businesses are located just down the street from us. Third Eye, an African centered book, gift and accessory shop is on a mission to become the number one supplier of African Centered books in the Portland Metro Area. For bites, Atlas Pizza makes some of our favorite garlic knots, and slices. For plants to fill our spaces, Ecovibe, located on NE Alberta and SE Hawthorne, has a range of sizes and styles. Lastly, for wine tastings and bottles, head to Abbey Creek for what has been described as a hip hop bumpin' experience.
If you have the means to, we highly encourage anyone a part of the Wild Cactus community to support these organizations and businesses today, and more importantly year-round.