TORONTO — Haviah Mighty is giving 10 Black-owned small businesses a bit of extra cash to help them grow and thrive.
The Canadian rapper has announced the winners of her Black Entrepreneur 10K Giveaway, focused on supporting Black Canadian businesses.
Mighty says she wanted to share the wealth after receiving half the winnings from last year's $20,000 Prism Prize which went to her music video "Thirteen."
She launched a contest in December and narrowed down the entrants to 20 businesses who then made their case on Instagram Live.
The chosen recipients offer an array of Canadian products and services including clothing, braids, black and brown bandages and plush dolls.
Mighty provided $1,000 to each of the 10 winners, and Afro Caribbean Business Network Canada gave $250 to each of the 10 runners-up.
The 2019 Polaris Prize winner said Thursday that the giveaway introduced her to a variety of Black Canadian businesses she didn't know existed.
"I wanted to focus on the people who have those setbacks in the entrepreneurial world and give them a little bit of a leg up, give them a little bit of attention," she said in an interview from her home in Brampton, Ont.
"As a young, Black musician, I'm not the person you'd expect to have a business and the business I have is also not a business you'd expected to flourish. I feel a lot of the things that I'm doing are defying even my own expectations."
Winners of the giveaway include eyewear company Eyerie, purse maker Nurse with the Good Purse, Black plush dollmaker Zuri & Dre and two clothing designers, Pack Animal Company and TYIC.
Rounding out the group is Braids By Dom, Likkle More Oil, Loonyz Balloon Art, Heal In Colour, and thrift and design store Artisanal Design.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2021
David Friend, The Canadian Press
