OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — People made their way downtown for the annual Melanin Market Omaha. The event featured 50-plus vendors, food trucks, music, and much more.
D.M. Whitaker, children's book author and mother has been coming to the Melanin Market Omaha since last year. Whitaker, one of the minority small business owners at Saturday's event says it is near and dear to her heart.
"Living in Nebraska, the diversity can sometimes be a little far and wide. When you have events like this, you're able to network with people and really just build up the community," said Whitaker.
Melanin Market Omaha is no stranger to Millwork Commons, where the event took place. It's their second year in attendance. The market became an idea during the COVID-19 pandemic to connect locally minority-owned businesses. Ty Nared, founder of the market is fortunate to be in such a space because she wants to see more people like her with business opportunities in the Omaha area.
"My husband and I are the small business owners of Meraki Montessori toys. When we would go to vendor markets, on large scales, we didn't see a lot of people who looked like us. We found a need and we wanted to meet that need," Nared said.
That's what inspired Whitaker to write one of her favorite books about potty-training boys and girls. While potty training her son, Whitaker was disappointed that the kids in the books did not look like her son.
"I was potty training my son and my twin sister was potty training my niece. They're two and a half years apart. We couldn't find books that look like them in the store to encourage them, so I said 'I guess it's time for me to write that book,'" she said.
Nared said that a holiday-crafted venue with locally owned minority businesses could be in the near future. For now, she's happy with Saturday's turnout.
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