organization . What prompted the creation of the Black Boys Recycle ( BBR ) brand ?
Black Boys Recycle , or more so its organization , came about during the pandemic . We had a company called Grow Your Brand . We organized many small businesses together to show the community the circulation of the black dollar and how fast it circulates . It was the rise of everything from the George Floyd and Breonna Taylor murders that prompted me and my partners to give a little more of a leadership role to people like ourselves in our communities . We wanted to change the narrative about what young Black men are doing in the Black and Brown communities . We want to be seen as the brand new Captain Planet and make recycling literally and figuratively cool . We need to start taking care of and cleaning up our community the same way , and that ’ s my number one initiative .
Can you talk more about the projects Black Boys Recycle has organized and that are in the works ?
L . A . has a large homeless population , and there are people left with no homes who have mental health issues , and they also have families and things like that . So we put together an organization activation called “ Big Love ,” where there were barbers and nail technicians , we had some yoga , we had different things just to bring some smiles . It was more so for the kids , and the moms were involved a little as well . We wanted to reverse the trauma and relieve some of the emotional scars .
Blax Scents is a company under Black Boys Recycle . How do the two organizations interact ?
ENSPIRE MAGAZINE
Young brothers , like me and my friends , often have a good time . We may go to clubs and spend money on bottles . When everybody has to leave the club , everyone forgets what happens with those bottles . It started with my partners and I getting together , and we were just like , man , we need to do something different with more initiative and intention . And we started upcycling these luxury champagne and tequila bottles to make candles out of them with soy and coconut wax . When we ’ re doing these activations in these communities , these are things we ’ re going to celebrate , and we might bring bottles . That ’ s how we kind of transition and keep the ball rolling from something that we ’ re enjoying .
Are there any future projects that you want to pursue with Black Boys Recycle ? And what would be considered the ultimate success for BBR ?
We ’ re looking to collaborate with clothing brands in the future , especially with brands that would like to upcycle recycled garments . The clothes that we ’ re giving away will not be raggedy clothes , like shirts with holes or stuff that is old or smelly . We will encourage people to give out the good stuff that you just don ’ t wear anymore . The purpose of us doing this is to uplift . Human Races , Pharrell Williams ’ brand , is one I ’ m looking into and like a lot . I would like to collaborate with them just because of what he ( Pharrell Williams ) stands for . Jaden Smith and what he is doing in Skidrow is something we ’ re looking to collaborate with . We are working on opening up a space in downtown Los Angeles , where people can come and shop from small businesses . Our little marketplace ecosystem for growing your brand has many small
64