Black stories take centre stage at The Mall

When Olumide Ojo moved to New Brunswick from West Africa, he noticed that something was missing. So he set out to correct it.

He started The Mall, a magazineto share positive stories fromthe Black community, working out of his Dieppe home.

"Malls are a one stop shop for anything, so The Mall magazine is a one stop resource centre for all things Black people," he said.

"It's just to promote Blacks here. We have a lot of Blacks here who are doing well," said Ojo, who owned a brand communication firmin Nigeria before relocating to Canada.

"This mentality that Blacks are all bad gave me the push."

In 2019, Ojo's wife started studying at Crandall University in Moncton, and theymoved with their two children from the West African city of Lagos.

Coming from a big city like that, aneconomic and entertainment hub of more than 20 million people, heexperienced culture shock when he arrived in New Brunswick.

Ojoworkedas a delivery man to support his family at first, but his dream was to use his experience as a graphic designer, event managerand entertainment writer to start a magazine to bringBlack stories to light.

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Olumide Ojo, originally from Lagos, is passionate about telling the stories of Black innovators making a difference in their communities.

He said he encountered financial challenges and limited support from community members when he started the magazine, but his wife believed in the venture and a friend helped him out financially.

When Ojo started working on the magazine, he said he encountered many rejections.

"I had to practically start begging people to give me their story," he said, because many didn't believe a magazine would help change the negative stereotypes.

The first edition of The Mall, which is freeonline, was published in January 2022.

It is self-funded and produced, with some hard copies printed which hesends to selected Black-owned businesses.

Due to limited funds, he said does not have a full team yet, but he gets help from contributors and an assistant editor. He often plays the role ofgraphic designer, writer, editor andproofreader.

The magazine does profiles of Black-owned businesses and people who are making a significant impact, such asMary Louise McCarthy-Brandt, an educator and historian who, among other things, has been tracking down forgotten gravesites of New Brunswick's Black families.

Gary Weekes, a well-known and respected photographer based in Fredericton and a memberof theNew Brunswick Black Alliance, said telling Black stories is important.

"It's very important to tell stories from the Black community because they're so often overlooked by everybody," he said.

"The Black community is like every community. They're here to help one another," he said, "and be full participants in the Canadian story and not just the marginalized by the negativity that's often reported."

Ronald Sharpe, founder of the Atlantic Equity and Research Alliance, a group based in Miramichi,says Black entrepreneurs struggle with funding.

"We look for funding to help support us, but if we were doing it right, we would be doing it within our own communities to fund ourselves," he said.

"It's not the government's job to try to figure out where to send the funding. [It's]for us to provide ourselves with the platform."

Sharpe said The Mall's focusis essential to people understanding one another and taking control of the narrative.

"It is very important for us to showcase ourselves.If we don't, others will showcase it for us," said Sharpe.

"That is what history has revealed over and over again."