Our most recent release, Support The Community, is a well designed, coded cry for help to garner assistance that could benefit cities developmentally instead of through gentrification. We aren’t the type to focus on the negative, so instead of talking about what is missing from places like New Orleans and Atlanta, we are writing about individuals and businesses that are supporting communities through their actions and their possibility to inspire others around them. While this could be through food, clothing, experiences and even cars, the following entities lead their community through example and hard work(the best kind of leadership).
Kenneth Temple
Chef Kenneth Temple is not an anomaly within the New Orleans culinary culture, and that is something that he strives for in his entrepreneurial mission. Temple started his career as a personal chef, then later became a Chopped Champion, and while achieving this he also decided to teach others how to make wonderful meals and desserts for themselves. First hosting a weekly Facebook cooking show, and later releasing his own cookbook “Southern Creole.” He followed this up by releasing multiple ebooks, his own Savory Seasoning and online cooking courses.
Temple’s focus on education and demystifying cooking is a breath of fresh air in a world full of Hell Kitchens and Iron Chefs. Take it from a former self proclaimed foodie who could not cook a meal to save his life, the only limitations are your own(and possibly the tools necessary). Chef Kenneth takes an approach that eases people into cooking, and helps them conquer their fear of messing up by presenting lessons casually and smoothly. Also with this focus on education, the Chef also helps build the New Orleans culture in a genuine way by increasing the number of people who have learned these recipes from an actual native and lover of the culture. Cooking is similar to language in terms of having longevity. Without practitioners and people learning how to do it, either one can be lost to time. Thanks to Kenneth Temple and others like him, genuine Creole cuisine will last far into the future.
Gregoire Tillery and We Dats
We Dats is similar to Chef Temple’s story in that it follows the path of exceptional eats from New Orleans, but it is We Dats’ owner and creator Gregoire Tillery and his fortitude that inspires his community. Tillery led by example from taking inspiration from Food Truck Wars, utilizing his life savings and preserving through tough times to create a multi-location, self-made business in New Orleans. Starting from a food truck, then one location on Canal Street followed by New Orleans East, the Westbank and Oakwood Mall. We Dats has become a hometown favorite, as well as a representative in Los Angeles with a new food truck to serve the West Coast, and their own line of seasoning and sauces in grocery stores and online.
Tillery is not only providing his community with amazing food and opportunities, but also inspiring others with his entrepreneurial spirit. We Dats is a success story in a city that could always use more success stories. New Orleans may not be the hardest city in the world to live, grow and thrive in, but it is a place where the youth can easily fall into a bad path. Tillery offers a different approach by not only being a successful entrepreneur, but also Tuskegee graduate that blazed his own path outside of simply working in the marketing field. Therefore he not only inspires those looking for a better, crime free life, but also those who wish to escape an unfulfilling corporate world as well.
Residence
Residence is a sustainable luxury brand & social club established in 2017 that specializes in fine handcrafted goods and personal experiences that reimagine luxury and optimize your life. And they specialize in these talents exceptionally well. Creating unique pre-pandemic events that focused on experiences outside of just clubbing and partying(they also did party though). Events focused on unique flavors of wings, unique nonalcoholic beverages and lifestyle luxury items.
What makes Residence unique is that it is an experience creating business avoiding the cliche experiences of Atlanta, such as strip clubs and usual night clubs, which is easy to fall into when considering the nightlife of Atlanta. Residence is building a community within a city that is uniquely their own, and inspiring others to break out of the box built in that city. Their latest endeavors range from opening “The Study,” a by appointment only glimpse into their vision for luxury retail, and hosting an event for Juneteenth focused on inspiring the children, because Residence is for the children. Be sure to be on the lookout for their post pandemic events, because they are certain to break the mold for nightlife some how once again.
Sneaker Politics
Sneaker Politics is a streetwear and sneaker store that first opened in Lafayette, Louisiana in 2006, and grew to have 3 Louisiana locations, and 2 in Texas as well. While physical retail may seem to be on the decline, these businesses exemplify why brick and mortar stores are beneficial to the community they reside in, especially their locations in New Orleans.
Through their authenticity, creativity and representation of the city, they’ve been able to facilitate a multitude of events that support the growing streetwear culture in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lafayette. They also helped to release an amazing collaboration between Saucony and Cafe du Monde to celebrate the latter’s 157th anniversary. I don’t know for sure, but I think it is safe to say that this may not have happened without Sneaker Politics’ involvement. Their latest act of representation comes in the form of a collab between them and OCD Cleaners. The collection represents both the store’s birthplace, and OCD founder, Isaiah Bond’s roots in Lafayette, LA. As a New Orleans native, it is a pleasant surprise to see Lafayette featured on streetwear blogs across the internet.
Curren$y and Cruise Life Car Club
Curren$y is synonymous with weed, cars, being fresh, making money and making masterful music about all four of those subjects. So it is no surprise that he founded his own car club that consist of car enthusiasts of all types. From lowriders, muscle cars, foreigns and everything in between, if it is clean and maintained, you can bring it out to their meetups. If you ever see a lowrider centipede crawling through New Orleans, there is a good chance the local Underground King may be involved.
While Spitta and Cruise Life may not have been the first lowrider club to shine a light on New Orleans’ car culture, the light Curren$y brings has illuminated the scene on a different level. This also comes from an altruistic origin with the hometown mogul as well by wanting to inspire the restless youth of New Orleans to focus on building cars instead of jacking them. In a recent preview of Cruise Life’s YouTube series “Raps and Lowriders,” Curren$y states that he is following in the footsteps of lowriders from California that used the car culture as a way to escape and survive the gang culture of Los Angeles. With the club’s multiple successes at hosting car events for the city of New Orleans, one can see that Cruise Life is on its way to accomplishing that mission.
