ABOUT
THE BUSINESS
Welcome to Black Licorice. We are a greeting card company dedicated to lifting, uniting, and connecting with the world through various forms of heartfelt communications. Black Licorice was founded with my late grandmother in mind who absolutely loved black licorice. When we were growing up, we would always wonder why she ate all of the undesirable black jellybeans out of the candy dish, but I didn’t know until after she passed away that her love for “black” licorice actually spoke to who she was as a person. (She didn’t judge a book by its cover and she gave everyone a fair chance.)
The name Black Licorice is very significant to who we are as a black community. Rarely do we choose “black” as a favorite flavor in the jellybean jar because there are so many other colors that would seem to be more satisfying. (This is the same way black people have been treated for many years.) We have been ignored, silenced, falsely accused and not given a fair chance for far too long and this business allows us to choose us by giving us a voice to share more of our stories.
After many nights of binge watching the Hallmark channel, I was desirous of seeing more movies about black family life so I decided to write greeting cards that catered to the black experience. Some of the situations I chose to write about are very heavy, but I believe a lot of people can relate to these experiences. (Such things like divorce, single parenting, and lifestyles out of the norm are still worthy of acknowledging.) Many of us didn’t have it made growing up, but these unfortunate events made us into who we are today and we are not ashamed. The business gives voice to our culture, our creativity, our stories, and our experiences through greeting cards, coffee mugs, T-shirts, and other means of communication and acknowledgment. There are several stories that are yet to be told and we want to continue to lift our voice by any means necessary until we are seen, heard, and recognized for who we truly are as a black community.
THE LOGO
The color BLACK represents melanin and our shared identity, YELLOW is for sun and prosperity, GREEN represents Mother Nature, and RED is for the bloodshed by African Americans while fighting for freedom.
We are kings and queens within our own right and the crowns on their heads represent black royalty, power, leadership, and greatness.
The man is a picture of my son, Romero and the woman is my daughter, Janaya. Our children are truly our future and their generation will determine what this world will look like in years to come. Seeing their pictures as the face of my business is an inspiration and a constant reminder of why I’m doing what I’m doing. I couldn’t be more proud of them and I want to continue to honor them for the rest of my life and make them more proud of me as well.
The slogan “whatever it takes to be heard” is really self-explanatory. We have been ignored, neglected, misrepresented, mistreated, and misunderstood for far too long and this business will use its voice through greeting cards, tee-shirts, and hopefully film and media one day in the near future to acknowledge our culture, to communicate our thoughts, to tell our stories, and to continue to share our experiences with the world.
FOUNDER & CEO
My name is Kandi Turner and I was born and raised in Cleveland Ohio. Growing up in a depressed neighborhood and attending Cleveland Public Schools was my humble and not so easy beginnings. I became pregnant at the age of 16, graduated high school and had my son at age 17. I wound up getting a career job at the Postal Service when I turned 18, got married 6 months later, and had my daughter at age 19. (I worked at the Post Office for 15 years.)
Being a teen parent used to be embarrassing for me because I thought I was a disappointment to myself and also to my family. I felt like my world was over and my chances of being successful would never happen. People would always look down on me because they thought I was a failure so I kind of adopted that same mentality… until I didn’t.
I didn’t know back then that I was giving birth to two college graduates. My son has a Bachelors in Finance and Master’s in International Economics and my daughter has her Bachelors in Human Services. (She will also be starting grad school in January of 2022.) After my son went away to college, I went back to school and got an Associates in Communications. I continued my education and also received my Bachelors and Master’s from ASU in Film and Media.
I stand before you today, a very proud mother of two beautiful, bright, and multi-talented children. I created this business to communicate to the black community the importance of not being ashamed of who you are or where you come from. You are beautiful and your journey does not have to be your destination. My vision is bigger than selling greeting cards and T-shirts. I have a lot of written work (books, TV shows, and movies) that I’d like to one day share with the world and just as Hallmark did, I want to eventually expand this business to having its own television channel. I believe your vision is bigger too so let’s dream big and do bigger together as a community!