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Ohun Ashe Seeks To Uplift Black Businesses Even As She Protests For Black Lives

Ohun Ashe is the founder of For the Culture, a directory of black-owned businesses and events in the St. Louis area.
Ohun Ashe
Ohun Ashe is the founder of For the Culture, a directory of black-owned businesses and events in the St. Louis area.

The death of George Floyd has not just sparked action to protest police brutality, it’s led to more conversations about how to support and uplift black Americans.

Anti-racism books are selling out and topping bestseller lists, while infographics about how to best support local black-owned businesses are filling social media feeds.

LaShell Eikerenkoetter, better known as Ohun Ashe, advocates for black lives in the streets as a frontline protester — and she does the same advocacy online for black entrepreneurs. She created For the Culture STL, a directory of black-owned businesses and events in the St. Louis area. She said support for the initiative has skyrocketed over the past couple of weeks.

On Thursday’s St. Louis on the Air, she joined host Sarah Fenske to talk about these two parallel efforts.

Listen to the full conversation: 

St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is hosted by Sarah Fenske and produced by Alex Heuer, Emily Woodbury, Evie Hemphill, and Lara Hamdan. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.

Send questions and comments about this story to feedback@stlpublicradio.org.

Send questions and comments about this story to feedback@stlpublicradio.org.

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Lara is the Engagement Editor at St. Louis Public Radio.