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Diaspora Groceries In The News

September 14, 2023 at 8:16:42 PM

Tiffany Haddish floats idea to open Diaspora Grocery Store for ‘brown people’ in Los Angeles

The Emmy Award-winning, self-professed “administrator of joy” has a novel idea about opening up a grocery store in her neighborhood — one that will be much more community-oriented than more popular chains.

Originally posted on New York Daily News, on June 10, 2020

If it’s not another one of her tall tales, Tiffany Haddish may be onto something.

The Emmy Award-winning, self-professed “administrator of joy” has a novel idea about opening up a grocery store in her neighborhood — one that will be much more community-oriented than more popular chains.

On Wednesday’s episode of “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” Haddish stressed the importance of more offerings in what she described as “food deserts.”

“There has to be more community and what I noticed that real communities have their own grocery stores,” the South Central Los Angeles native said.

"So what I would like to do is open up my own grocery store because I've seen Korean grocery
stores, Japanese grocery stores, Spanish grocery stores, [and] Indian grocery stores."
Haddish also shared that the only thing that was available to her community was a butcher shop.

If it becomes a reality, the "Girls Trip" scene-stealer's grocery store would be called "The Diaspora Grocery Store" and would sell "things from all different regions, where they're all kinds of people of brown. Things that are indigenous to our land"

She said that the store would offer weekly cooking classes that would be a necessary utility for customers.

"I know so many millennials right now that don't know how to cook" the 40-year-old Lawry's
seasoning salt spokeswoman said. "And people my age - what am I? Generation X? - that don't
know how to cook... But they've been doing TV dinners and fast food their whole life because
that's affordable, which is ridiculous because it's more affordable to cook your meals."

She even has her eyes on a potential location for the idea.

"There is a place right here down the street from my house off of Buckingham that used to be the first black bank in Los Angeles ever, in California, and a black man designed it. It's empty, there's no bank there, There's nothing there and I'm like, 'I should buy that building and turn into the diaspora grocery store.' "

"And it will actually sell you utensils you can actually cook with," Haddish, who was once
homeless. added. "I think that would be helpful."

She said is so dedicated to opening her business that jokingly admitted she has already put
together " $150 in a business plan."

Haddish, whose full name is Tiffany Sarac Haddish, has become a household name since her
breakthrough role in 2017's "Girls Trip."

Later that year, her memoir "The Last Black Unicorn" became a best seller and she made history
as the first African American female comedian to host "Saturday Night Live," garnering her an
Emmy Award.

The funnywoman currently stars in Tracy Morgan's TBS sitcom "The Last O.G" and appeared in
the dramas "The Kitchen" and Netflix's "Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker."

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