Event curator Alexis Brown creates space for Black Miami. ‘We deserve to be here.’
During the Friday of Art Basel, a large crowd mingled and moved around Overtown’s The Urban event complex for B.A.E. Basel, a collaboration with entertainment company Paramount designed to be inclusive of Black people that combined thumping music with visual art.
For SocialXChange Miami founder Alexis Brown, making sure guests at the events she plans and promotes like B.A.E. Basel — Black Art Experience Basel — can unwind is personal.
“It is a very personal journey because this work not only impacts me personally but my community at large that looks like me,” Brown, 36, said. “It’s like my love letter to Black Miami. My work is to let them know they are welcome and that we deserve to be here, have that space and have fun places to go and be entertained.”
Growing up in Cutler Ridge, Brown learned the importance of taking pride in her identity as a Black person at a young age. After graduating from Coral Reef High School’s magnet program, she attended historically Black Hampton University and graduated in 2010. Upon returning to Miami and working different jobs a few years later, she sought a space meant for people like her.
“I wanted somewhere to go,” she remembered, referring to social and community events and spaces. “I was a person that didn’t have somewhere to go. I thought if I want this, there have to be other Black people that want it. It’s about community.”
Brown launched SocialXchange Miami in 2013 as a part-time project outside of her day job in human resources. She was scared the first time she sold tickets to her events because she wasn’t sure if guests would pay to attend them. Once she saw that the demand was there for her events, she never looked back.
The success of Brown’s events in the City of Miami have not been without their challenges. She has noticed the rise of Miami housing prices and how they are pushing residents out of the city altogether. The trend prompted her to spend the last six months trying to assess in which local cities she should be planning future events.
Despite the success of her events, Miami nightlife still has many of the same issues it had 10 years ago, she said.
“That will determine what I will do next in regards to events and programming,” she said. “I think Black curators in Miami are going to have to be very creative. We’re going to have to see more collaboration among promoters and DJs. People aren’t open to programming that will bring out too many Black people. Unfortunately, non-Black owned venues wait to let Black people do events.”
For Brown, August’s Black Pepper Food Festival affirmed the need for her work as an event curator. The daylong event was held at The Urban and featured 200 Black-owned food vendors handling food demonstrations and served 5,000 people who visited the venue throughout the day.
Miami Gardens native Daren Reid was one of the vendors at Black Pepper Food Festival and appreciated the opportunity to build his brand. His jerk oysters were a hit with guests, but he almost didn’t reach out to Brown via Instagram.
“When I reached out to her, I was reluctant,” he said. “I appreciate her because she said this would be a great opportunity. When I got there, I saw she was right. She really put confidence in me. It made me dream bigger. She gave me reassurance, and I feel like you need people like that in the Black community.”
Since the event, Reid has been invited to the Jamaican Jerk Festival and the South Beach Food and Wine Festival, one of the largest food events in America.
Small businesses like Brown’s and Reid’s are a vital part of Miami-Dade County’s culture. Citing Local Initiatives Support Corporation research, Miami-Dade Beacon Council President and CEO Rodrick T. Miller said that Miami-Dade County is home to nearly 100,000 small businesses and over one in three entrepreneurs in South Florida is African American, Hispanic or female.
“Not only do these businesses impact our economy and greatly influence our pro-business culture, but they provide important services to our residents and engage with our larger businesses as vendors and partners,” he said. “Small businesses are an important engine behind our growth, fueling jobs, commerce and adding to the vibrancy of our community.”
Brown is focused on her next two goals. She noticed that while there are more Black-owned spaces than previously existed in Miami, she wants to own a venue that can be used for events ranging from panel conversations and banquets to baby showers and dinner parties. She also wants to work with more corporate clients aiming to connect with Miami’s Black community.
Within an hour of the B.A.E. Basel event’s beginning, The Urban was packed with a crowd of almost all Black people dancing, taking selfies and being joyful. As Brown moved around the art exhibits and hugged more people who wanted to say hello, it was clear that her goal of building communal space for Black Miami was working.
“There are a lot of people that are doctors, attorneys, engineers and regular working-class people that have a space they want to go to and hear the music they want to hear,” she said. “It’s something I’m passionate about. It’s challenging, but I feel like God put me on this earth to make Miami a more inclusive place.”
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