Even Prince spoke about it in his song “Uptown”

“Everybody’s going uptown That’s where I want to be Uptown Set your mind free Uptown Got my body hot Get down I don’t want to stop, no” ~Prince

In my spare time, I use to surf the net, following fashion, cuisine, fitness, interior design, art, real estate, car, and travel blogs. I noticed these blogs, and featured brands, had mainly white people representing them. In my experience, media representation of African Americans has not always seen in a positive light and propagates controversial and misconstrued images of what African Americans represent. The media portrayed the urban community as overwhelmingly poor, reliant on welfare, absentee fathers, as criminals as well as dependent and dysfunctional which felt insulting to me. The insult was me being active in the urban community and seeing life totally different than what’s on the computer.

Over time, an influx of African American celebrities, athletes, influencers, and personalities began appearing on these platforms. They wore exotic formal wear, lived in eccentric homes, gave tips on working out, and appeared in foreign destinations while eating exquisite meals. Regardless of increase of African American media exposure, I still heard the rumblings of some in the urban community making statements such as: “I wish I could go there”, “I wish I could wear that”, “I wish I could eat that”, “I wish I could live there” or the infamous “I wish I could afford that”.

As for myself and some others, I saw people who looked like me doing the things that I wanted and liked to do. And with this, I became confident in believing these levels of life are achievable for myself and the African American community. My ephiphany inspired The Uptown Vibe. I want to influence upwardly mobile African Americans by connecting them with brands promoting a fulfilling and prosperous life and also values the urban community.

I’d be lying to myself if I said the images of “black excellence” that I saw all over social media was totally relieving. I feel strongly that a change needs to be cultivated. Especially in the urban community. I believe that the mindset of African American people need to change from a “small town” mentality into an “Uptown” way of thinking. As I’ve traveled over the years, I noticed the Uptown areas of most major cities were the best. Uptown, NY (aka Upper Manhattan), Albuquerque, Chicago, Charlotte, Tampa and Dallas, to name a few. I realized these boroughs embody the same characteristics:

1) Affluence      2) Style       3) Elegance       4) Cutting edge thinking

The purpose of The Uptown Vibe is to persuade African Americans to invoke an Uptown mindset that exudes black excellence. Once this mindset is achieved, aspirations and goals will be backed by continuous action to look within oneself and act/grow in a way that progresses ourselves and our community, without discrediting the effect of forces outside of it. Once our mentality is elevated, horizons will expand, finances will increase, businesses will develop, physical and mental fitness will get stronger, generational wealth will become contagious, and palates will become more sophisticated. With the much anticipated relaunch, The Uptown Vibe’s authentic engagement will be the catalyst that bridges the gap between African Americans and target brands that value them.