Westside Story Newspaper – Online The News of The Empire – Sharing the Quest for Excellence
A celebration of global culture and community
(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK—ENN)— LOS ANGELES, CA—- On September 28, 2019 from 11am to 6pm nearly four thousand women congregated at Grand Park in Downtown, Los Angeles for the fourth annual Head Wraps in the Park Festival made possible by Red Bay Coffee Roasters. The event is a celebration of culture and the brainchild of Fatima Dodson, a local business owner in Los Angeles. The concept for the festival originated from the desire and need to create a safe space for women of all ethnicities to celebrate wearing head wraps. Head wraps, also known as “goddess wraps”, are a garment of choice associated with the natural hair movement in the African-American community. Goddess head wrapping is a global tradition ranging from South Asia to Africa. It is an art form that bridges cultures and also wonderfully displays creativity in textile arts & crafts. Originating in Sub-Saharan Africa, head wraps are an African beauty statement. Worn on the head and symbolizing a crown, the head wrap either covers hair completely or ties as a headband around the forehead to reveal the hair. There are many ways that someone can tie a head wrap, making it versatile enough to fit most personal styles.
Photo Credit: B W Banks 
Photo Credit: B W Banks 
Photo Credit: B W Banks
The annual event draws women from around the world. “The event is appreciated by the community and provides the opportunity to celebrate African culture and beauty,” says Fatima Dodson.
Red Bay Coffee, the black-owned sustainable specialty coffee company with headquarters in Oakland, California, is a proud sponsor of the Head Wraps in the Park festival. Since its founding in 2014, Red Bay has been at the forefront of the fourth wave of coffee—a firm commitment to ensure coffee production is not only high quality and sustainable, but also a vehicle for social unity and economic empowerment. Red Bay Coffee’s Public Roasteries serve as hubs for building community and bringing Beautiful Coffee to the People.
“People are in need of a sense of courage and positivity. When Fatima invited us to support Head Wraps In The Park, we were happy to help. We source our coffee beans directly from countries such as Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Mexico, and Colombia–all with a rich history of creativity and expression. Celebrating culture truly resonates with us,” says Keba Konte Founder and CEO at Red Bay Coffee.
The arts and culture festival will included experiences for all ages. Event highlights included panel discussions, heading wrapping bars, live DJ, food and beverage trucks, photo and art exhibits and so much more. Red Bay Coffee and Head Wraps in the Park also supported a social media head wrap contest with cash prizes given to winners. A special moment was captured when attendees gathered and organized for a photos in the shape of the continent of Africa.
ABOUT RED BAY COFFEE ROASTERS
Since 2014 Red Bay Coffee Roasters has been building a global community through a commitment to bringing Beautiful Coffee to the People and ensuring economic opportunity with a team that values diversity and inclusion. Red Bay Coffee envisions a world in which specialty coffee is a vehicle for social restoration and environmental sustainability. Red Bay Coffee’s commitment to producing the best and most beautiful coffee starts by building and maintaining real relationships with the farmers and cooperatives that harvest, process, and prepare some of the best green coffee in the world. Red Bay Coffee believes in fair relations and prides itself on creating value streams that emphasize experience and ethics, not just supply and demand.
In 2016, Red Bay Coffee established its first public roastery and production headquarters in the Fruitvale District of Oakland, California. Since then, Red Bay Coffee continues to spread its footprint throughout the United States through several locations and directly to customer’s doorsteps nationwide. Red Bay Coffee Roasters was founded by Keba Konte, a renowned local artist and successful food entrepreneur with deep roots in the San Francisco Bay area’s specialty coffee and hospitality industry. Konte continues to foster his vision of using Red Bay Coffee as a platform to create a culture of equity, where all people are celebrated, in addition to bringing greater opportunities for those historically marginalized and/or left out of the specialty coffee industry, particularly people of color, the formerly incarcerated, women and people with disabilities. www.redbaycoffee.com
