Arts & Entertainment All the Magic You Can Stand

By Savannah Evanoff

thing that you want in one event for four quick hours on Sunday."

The event will feature music from DJ Hale and three speakers.

"We have Marcus Washington, who is speaking on generational freedom," Knight said. "We have Chief Iyanifa Monife, who is a spiritual priestess from Nigeria who is going to speak on spiritual freedom. And we have Barbara Tyson, who is the founder of Black Business Pensacola, who is going to be speaking on financial freedom. It's chock-full of really, really great people who are doing good work in the community."

Knight hopes their Juneteenth Block Takeover and Focus on Freedom will focus on

"Juneteenth, to me, it's just a reminder that we as a diaspora of people will always prevail," and I was like, 'Because you know when queens link up, magic happens,'" Knight said. And it has.

Freedom is an ongoing process, she said.

WQLU holds its quarterly social marketplace at the Pensacola Improv Event Center with shopping, music, food and speakers who discuss everything from mental health to economics to relationships and spirituality.

"Really just feeding people, because a lot of times as businesses, we don't get an opportunity to engage in the fun," Knight said. "It's really a fun event, even if you're a vendor, because we just want to have a good time."

While the marketplace has grown in size to more than 20 vendors, Knight loves how it's helped those businesses grow individually too. The women have branched out into their own destinies, she said.

If you need to gather a group of Black female-owned businesses, Tuesday Knight is the woman for the job.

The founder of When Queens Link Up (WQLU), which hosts a quarterly social marketplace for Black female-owned businesses, was the perfect person to connect with when planning events for Pensacola's Journey to Juneteenth series. In addition to its quarterly marketplace event this weekend, WQLU will host a Block Takeover as part of the next Gallery Night happening downtown Friday, June 16.

"What we are going to do is make a visual impression," Knight said. "You will definitely see us at the corner of Palafox and Government right in front of the Plaza Ferdinand—we'll have that entire one-block area, and that will be our vendors. It is gonna be Black girl magic world. That's it. All the magic you can stand."

City Councilwoman Teniadé Broughton and City of Pensacola Cultural Affairs Coordinator Sydney Robinson generated the idea.

"They definitely wanted to come up with something that could bring a positive, strong female presence, especially out for Juneteenth," Knight said. "It was something everybody was in agreement with…they see the impact of our presence, and I think that's very important as the city is changing—soon our political leaders are changing—so it's important to make sure we continue to be present."

"We have to be able to understand how to continue to free ourselves from spiritual change, generational blockages, financial issues that continue on," Knight said. "It's just a continued conversation, so people understand, 'Yeah, we're free, but there's certain things that we put in ourselves that almost mislead, block us.' So it just nudges to remind people, don't block your own blessings, because sometimes it's us, not everything around you."

Knight started WQLU five years ago after noticing a lack of diversity and options in the community for women entrepreneurs to sell their products. She, too, is a businesswoman, selling waistbeads and other spiritual tools.

"It was really just birthed out of necessity, because I was looking for an audience," Knight said. "And then I was like, 'OK well, all of my friends have products, so let's just see.'"

"I don't really worry about the longevity or what it looks like from the outside; I look at how everybody has grown," Knight said. "I don't really take a lot of credit, because I understand these women work really, really hard to even be able to continue to support what it is that makes my vision work…So it's just amazing. It really is. And I have high hopes for it. I really think we're going to get permission where we're going to travel and host in other cities and show other women how to do what we do."

While WQLU won't host any events this summer, they are currently looking for vendors for an event done in conjunction with the First City Natural Hair and Health Expo in November at the Pensacola Fairgrounds. {in}

WHEN QUEENS LINK UP: FOCUSED ON FREEDOM

WHAT: A social marketplace with food, music, shopping and speakers

WHEN: 4-9 p.m. Sunday, June 11

WHERE: Pensacola Improv Event Center, 375 N. Pace Blvd.

DETAILS: wqlu9.eventbrite.com

WHEN QUEENS LINK UP: GALLERY NIGHT TAKEOVER

Before Gallery Night, WQLU will host its quarterly event with a Juneteenth theme, Focus on Freedom. Knight calls it a "four-hour day party."

"Girlfriends meets brunch meets a little bit of conversation—and then we shop," Knight said. "It's literally like an amalgamation of every -

The group started meeting in January of 2018 at Henny Penny's Patisserie, a nowclosed Black-owned bakery in Warrington. The name, When Queens Link Up, popped into Knight's head when she was visiting a friend in Tallahassee.

"I was just talking and rambling one day,

WHAT: A Black-owned, female-led marketplace happening during Gallery Night’s June event

WHEN: 5-9 p.m. Friday, June 16

WHERE: The corner of Government and S. Palafox St.

DETAILS: gallerynightpensacola.org