By Laura Nwogu | The Atlanta Voice
The Black Coffee Company, an Atlanta-based coffee shop brand, has opened its second location on the campus of Morehouse College at 830 Westview Dr. SW. Students, family, and friends attended the ribbon cutting Friday morning as music blasted and customers grabbed cups of specialty coffees with creative names that pay homage to Atlanta such as “Cash Money,” “Killer Mike,” and “The Dirty South.”
For the owners Christopher Bolden, Jamin Butler, Branden Cole, Gino Jones, and Leonard Lightfoot, opening a coffee shop on Morehouse’s campus is a dream that began with the ending of the movie “Boyz n the Hood” when Cuba Gooding Jr. and Nia Long’s characters go to Morehouse and Spelman College respectively. Bolden shared that a majority of the owners are California natives and the movie was their first introduction to the HBCU, so when Morehouse reached out with the opportunity to open a new location on its campus, they couldn’t pass up the full-circle moment.
Photo by Laura Nwogu/The Atlanta Voice
“The five of us graduated from Xavier University, so HBCUs are close to our heart,” Bolden said. “To be able to open it at the prestigious Morehouse College just fills our hearts.”
The group of friends launched The Black Coffee Company brand in 2018 and their flagship coffee shop Black Coffee ATL opened at the end of 2021. Since its inception, entrepreneurship, financial freedom, community empowerment, and education have been its core values. With the opening of a Black Coffee ATL on the HBCU campus, they hope to advance those values and create a safe space for students where they can study, listen to music, and congregate, continuing to foster the community hubs that Black-owned coffee shops provide.
“We’re only 2% represented in the coffee industry, so it was really important for us to capture the coffee business and the coffee industry, and then to be able to share it with the people that look like us.
“It’s just been amazing. We want to be a staple for the Morehouse campus. We want to employ the students here and then also allow expansion to other universities and colleges across the country.”
