Celebrating Black History and Black Futures with Cxffeeblack

Coffee history is Black history. Coffee’s future should be a Black future. 

We’re excited to honor Black History Month this year through a month-long collaboration with Cxffeeblack. You may remember when we featured their coffee on pour over back in 2020, but this month will be something like we’ve never done before – a full coffee bar takeover featuring their Guji Mane coffee on drip and espresso!  Guji Mane is Cxffeeblack’s signature coffee, a natural process coffee from the Guji Zone of Oromia in Ethiopia, brought to you by an all Black supply chain from crop to roast. 

Founded by Bartholomew Jones and Renata Henderson in Memphis, TN, Cxffeeblack is a social enterprise on a mission to reclaim the black history of coffee and reimagine its black future. 

The coffee crop and the rituals and community that accompany it all originated in Africa, specifically Ethiopia and Sudan. Yet, the industry has largely been whitewashed for centuries - especially in the United States. 

Cxffeeblack was born when Jones started wondering: “What would happen if cxffeeculture loved people of color as much as it loved their cash crops?” “What if we cared for and celebrated single-origin people as much as we celebrated single-origin coffee?” 

As he describes it, “Cxffeeblack is a social experiment interested in exploring the impact people can have when they are empowered to live with no sugar and no cream. It’s a hip-hop cypher over a cup of probably overpriced coffee between the people who grew it, the people who roasted it, and the people who consume it daily.” 

Through their all-Black coffee supply chain, events and trainings at the Anti-Gentrification Cxffee Club, Black to Africa documentary film, music, products, and more, Cxffeeblack is creating a cultural shift toward an industry that honors the rich Black history of coffee and creates space to celebrate and empower Black coffee producers, professionals, and enthusiasts in America and beyond.

We are excited to help share their vision in Charleston.  Stay tuned throughout the month of February for how you can experience Cxffeeblack at Sightsee, and be sure to follow their work on Instagram.