For professional athlete Wilson Chandler, building business ventures in his hometown of Benton Harbor, Michigan, where the average income is near poverty level, is certainly worth celebrating. Not only is the basketball star providing job opportunities through creating a recreational dispensary called Nobody’s Home Provisioning Center, which will be operating within the next 30days, he also launched the opening of the store by organizing a free festival for his community on Saturday, Sept. 4.
“I’m from here and there’s a lot of gentrification going on. I think we need black owned businesses to educate people more,” Chandler said. “Also, we’ve been held back for so long with marijuana laws. A lot of our people have been imprisoned for selling marijuana because of the war on drugs. I feel like it’s important to teach them how to do it from a legal stance.”
The festival, titled Nobody’s Home, drew a crowd of over 200 people from various parts of the city and Midwest. Although some attendees came to see major acts such as Chase B, Freddie Gibbs, G Herbo and Rick Ross, others were anticipating performances from Detroit artists like Babyface Ray and G.T.
“I came here to see Babyface Ray and G.T,” said Victor, who attended the festival for his birthday. “They are on top of the city.”
However, not all residents were in favor of the concert. According to Mayor Marcus Muhammad, who also was present at the festival, there was a lot of backlash from community members to cancel the event
“There were a lot of naysayers saying don’t do it,” he told the concertgoers. [They said] ‘it’ll be violent.’ ”
Nevertheless, the gathering was peaceful and well-organized. Despite brief occurrences of rain, most attendees were well equipped with umbrellas, raincoats and chairs. The crowd danced in the rain to the tunes of DJ Pharris and DJ Nehpets, while ordering food from local vendors like the Eastown Cafe between performances. When the rain started to pick up later in the evening, the anticipation for performances from Freddie Gibbs, G Herbo, and Rick Ross kept the crowd fiery and engaged.
“We are united, and from here on out we will have economic development in this city,” Mayor Muhammad told the crowd near the end of the night.
Check out more pictures in the gallery after the break.
