Celebrating 16 years and Growing

Damita Miller-Shanklin, Founder

As I reflect on our past year, I want to discuss our evolution through the pedals of the sunflower. When Ujima was created I wanted it to stand for something strong but bright. I always loved the Sunflower. I loved the way it stands  high, reaching for the sunshine and allowing the beautiful petals to spread out and take in all the sun while allowing its beauty to shine. Ujima has stood tall and reached for the positive sunlight while sharing stories of brightness in our community.

Celebrating our 16th year anniversary, I wanted to reflect on our year and celebrate our  journey. But many of you know our story so I wanted to use the sunflower and its beautiful petals to look back on a good year. 

Ujima’s Foundation-Our Center

When I look at a Sunflower, I consider the brown circle in the middle our foundation. This is our center where I always return for guidance. The middle consists of our mission, our team members, Mary Linnen, Chiquitta Harris,  Eliza Edwards and Madelyn Patterson. Our contributors Jacqueline Johnson, Minister Sonya Hosey, Aubrie Edmond,  Christina Gobert, and Nikkia Scott. The center is where I return when I feel things are not going quite right or when I want to move forward. I look at the mission and rally the team for feedback. The center is where, since 2008, has kept Ujima moving to tell stories of our “everyday heroes” and the people who make a difference in our community. The center is where the ideas grow, where the love for the community grows and where the importance of our black history and legacy lives. 

Mind, Body and Soul Petal

This past year you may have noticed we did work around taking care of yourselves. We saw women were working hard taking care of their children, their parents, partners, and jobs. We notice you were not slowing down to care for your needs. We wanted to touch this topic throughout each issue. We provided feature stories that looked at movement through dance, exercise and healthy eating. The goal was to remind you, each month the importance of taking care of yourself and your loved ones. We did not forget the issue of our Mental Health. This is a priority each month to share a way to improve or look at your mental health through scriptures and everyday actions you can take from journaling, therapy or meditation. We hope this has led you to a better mindset.

Our Collaboration Petal

This petal is a growing development. We want this petal to grow into a big part of how we do business. We have started with a great collaboration. Ujima and Gone Mad Production in the last two years have worked together to grow our presence in the Austin and surrounding communities. Madelyn Patterson is the Founder of Gone Mad Productions. She has worked with CBS We Are Austin daily show to highlight our “everyday heroes” and people working to better our community each month. This has also been a springboard to work with our young people. They have been highlighted through sharing their businesses or community involvement through pageants, the Youthpreneur event, and more. This has been a great opportunity for both businesses and we help our community. Ujima wants to grow this petal with other businesses and agencies.

Our Contributing Writer Petal

This petal provides the opportunity to learn different perspectives and opportunity for expression. This petal has grown from one writer to four. Again our writers Jacqueline, Minister Sonya, Aubrie, and Christina share their unique perspectives on entrepreneurship, women issues, mental health, being young and finding her way and Natural Healing through the Alkaline way of eating and living. This petal is important because they bring a different look at ideas, ways of living and community. This petal will continue to grow and bring different aspects for your growth and thinking.

Our Team Creativity Petal

We hope you have noticed the bold and brighter colors our team is bringing to the magazine. The team was tasked by our Creative Director to provide ideas of what the team liked and what we thought would be good for our layout. This was a team effort and will continue. This petal is the most important because we have to always look at improving the  look and feel of the layout. We will keep our themes relevant and important to the community. The goal is to have not only good content but a fresh look with updates needed to keep our readers interested. As we continue, you will see a change in the colors and layout elements that will keep the digital magazine relevant and beautiful to the eye. 

Our Social Media Petal

If you have a business or a product, you realize the importance of Social Media. This petal is always growing and changing. It is so important to the rest of the petals because it controls who views your product or service. This petal is the way people see your business and your brand. This petal showcases our work and brand in an exciting and challenging way. We really can’t have our magazine without this petal. However, this petal is always in progress because it takes keeping up with trends and keeping your business out there in a way that increases your views and the hope is to transfer into sales and growth. You will see us growing this petal with more visual content such as reels, videos and showing who we are. 

The Petals that 

When you look at a Sunflower, there are other petals that stand behind the first row next to the center. For Ujima, these petals represent our newsletter. If you would like the link to sign up, email me or contact me on IG. There is one petal we always will keep a part of our strong flower. It is our strong black men in our community. We will always support their stories and share them with you.

Our Reflection Petal

This anniversary issue is special because our sunflower petals remain strong. Behind the scenes is our comfort zone of growth and maintaining the sunflower synergy and rhythm. Our petals stretch each day to feel the sunshine and share the positive stories of the people who are everyday heroes. We are celebrating 16 years of hard work, storytelling and the black community.

New Blooms

Our petals will continue to bloom as we move through 2024. We look to 2025 and all it will be. It’s exciting to know that some petals will fall off our flower but new ones will grow and change our journey for the better.

The Sunflower is the bright flower that allows our brand to shine. It represents the reach for collaborations, storytelling and continuing our legacy by highlighting the “everyday heroes” that build our community up and helps it shine. The hope is you will continue to support Ujima and take time to read the digital issue and share the link with others. If you are looking for a way to market your business in an affordable way for your bottom line and reach a different audience, consider advertising with us. 

Thank you Austin and all of you that continue to read our stories, comment on our social media platforms, meet a new person each month and their story and appreciate the work done every evening after working a full time job. 

As one of the petals of the Sunflower, Ujima will continue to reach for the sun and shine bright!!

Embrace Your Community