Black Business Creates School Items Celebrating Black Culture

A mother is using her aspiring business to showcase black art by black artists, that are inspired by elements of black culture from the past and present.

Nneka, a 27-year-old who hopes to become a history teacher in her local area, is the founder of Innovative Supplies, a black-owned, online retail store that offers an assortment of school supplies that are both original and cool.

Scrolling through the store's website you'll see that Innovative Supplies has a number of different notebooks that reference different moments and people a part of black culture: the infamous "Crying Jordan" meme; the legendary West Coast rapper 2Pac wearing a shirt that says "I Am Sandra Bland"; and Beyoncé sipping a Slurpee.

But some of the best ones utilize a social media aesthetic as a means of offering something that you wouldn't commonly see on a notebook. A text conversation with President Obama responding to "Black Lives Matter" with the black fist emoji; and imagining one of the many iconic pictures that exist of Martin Luther King Jr. as a Snapchat selfie — there's both history and representation being offered on these supplies, teaching black kids of their culture in ways that they can relate to.

Prior to starting Innovative Supplies Nneka served nine years in the U.S. military. Now, aside from being a mother and creating this website, she'll be attending college in the fall.

Innovative Supplies already seems to be off to a good start. Nneka recently posted on the website's Instagram account that the company was getting ready to ship out over 8,550 orders.

But, most importantly, Innovative Supplies serves as a network of investing in black businesses and encouraging (and protecting) black economy. Nneka plans on opening and depositing profits into an account with Citizens Trust Bank, a historical black-owned bank in Atlanta, as well as hiring local minority youth and supporting other small businesses.

If you're a parent trying to find some cool school supplies and support a small online business, you should probably check out Innovative Supplies.