Fernay McPherson is the chef and owner of Minnie Bell’s Soul Movement in Emeryville, California. In this episode, she shows me around the Fillmore District of San Francisco - her home and the place her family has lived for three generations. She’s been trying for years, with the help of the business incubator La Cocina, to open a restaurant in the neighborhood that was once a cultural hub for African Americans, but she's run up against so many barriers. 

Fernay is a graduate of La Cocina, a nonprofit in San Francisco whose mission is to cultivate low-income food entrepreneurs as they formalize and grow their businesses. Learn more about their program here. 

There are over 30 brick-and-mortar restaurants and cafes in the Bay Area that are graduates of the La Cocina program. If you ever need a place to eat, check out their business map to support excellent business owned by women and people of color!

The LEE Initiative is still accepting applications for their awards until February 1st! More information and application is here. 

We are so grateful for our first ever season sponsors: Pared! They find vetted hospitality professionals to fill your shifts. Copper & Heat listeners get 30% off their first gig. Use the code COPPER when booking. 

An upcoming episode is about staging and we want to hear some of your stories! Send them (and another other thoughts you may have) to hello@copperandheat.com. We can’t wait to hear from you. 

Some Other Resources: 

• Minnie Bell’s Soul Movement video
• How Urban Renewal Destroyed The Fillmore In Order to Save It
• The Fillmore from PBS
• chapter-in-Western-Addition-history-ending-3203302.php">Sad chapter in Western Addition history ending
• Gorgeous photos from the ‘Harlem of the West’ show the glory days of the San Francisco jazz scene
• Francisco-continues-destruction-of-its-black-7382364.php#photo-9911612">San Francisco continues destruction of its black community