This is the FCB Podcast Network. This is The Laws Extra. Welcome to the Outlaws Extra. This is Darvo to Kingpin Marl. Don't forget too Like us on Facebook at facebook dot com slash the Outlaws Radio. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at the Outlaws Radio. We have a very special guest with us this week. She's been on the show before, doctor Gina Merritt. She's one of the few black female developers in these United States. She's talking about in an incredible project that she's working on, and I want to bring that to you all. Want you all to learn more about what she has going on right now so you know how this goal. Stay tuned. We'll take a right now and there the interview and its entirety. You're listening to The Outlaws Extra. These days, it seems like everybody's talking, but no one is actually listening to the things they're saying. Critical thinking isn't dead, but it's definitely low on oxygen. Join me Kira Davis on Jeff. Listen to yourself every week as we reason through issues big and small, critique our own ideas, and learn to draw our talking points all the way out to their logical conclusions. Subscribe to just listen to yourself with Kira Davis an FCB Radio podcasts on Apple, on Spotify, iHeart, or wherever you get your podcasts. Fuck True, sir, Welcome back, Welcome back, and listen to the Outlaws extra. Make sure that you subscribe to the show on Apple, podcast, Spotify, iHeart, or wherever you get your podcasts. And if you listen to this show on Apple, make sure you leave us a five star review and a comment is very important for the algorithm and for the of you. We've already done, so thank you, oh so very much. And now let's get to our interview with doctor Gina Merritt. We have a very special guest on the show today. She has been on this show before. I am so impressed with everything that she has going on. She's doing some amazing work here in our home city as well as around the country from Northern Real Estate Urban Adventures. Doctor Gena Merritt, Welcome back. How are you. I'm great? How are you doing. I'm good. I'm good. I saw this story come out this week and I was so excited. When I saw that, I was like, I gotta get doctor Ja. I gotta get doctor jaas So we're gonna talk about what was announced this week that you have purchased the MLK Plaza. For people who don't know, um and Ok Plaza is located in the huf neighborhood Cleveland. It has a lot of the plaza and the neighborhood has a lot of historical significance, So it's a it's a pretty big deal, you know, especially if you know the history of huff and the race riots and all those sorts of things. It's a pretty big deal, especially for someone black, a black woman to own that property now and with plans to restore it and make it a jewel of the community. So talk a little bit about your purchase of MLK Plaza and what your plans are for. Well, thank you for highlighting this important acquisition and the fact that you just said a black woman owner. I mean, yeah, that's me, but still it freaks me out that I'm the person who actually bought this plaza. We really want to honor the history of this site in this neighborhood, and our plans include bringing both affordable mixed income housing along with mixed use development. And when we say mixed use, part of what we're going to focus on here is black businesses. We plan to build a seventy five hundred square foot building that will be the home to black businesses hopefully that will sell their products, both food products and beauty products, anything really that black businesses sell in that neighborhood. And we've actually met several individuals in the neighborhood who have their own businesses and sell products we love. We're trying to invite them to participate. And then a larger picture for this specific building is that we are going to base it on a community ownership model. So our goal is to create an entity where the community can purchase or earn in shares and become owners along with my company in this development. Because we felt like if we're going to encourage black people to one have their businesses here and for the community to spend their money here, then they ought to benefit economically. And I think, you know, my whole platform is based on economic opportunity, right, So we provide support when it comes to employment, small businesses, and entrepreneurship. But for this historic neighborhood and the site, we wanted to take it to the next level by you know, getting the community engaged in both having businesses here as well as owning the building. Wow. Wow, that's that's incredible. That's powerful stuff. So there's so much to to unpack here. We have so little time I have to bring you back. But one of the things I definitely wanted to touch on. You mentioned about incorporating black businesses into the development, and you know, it's something that I kind of preach about a lot because I don't believe there is no you know, equality or equity, whatever words you use, without access. Access is the most important thing. That's the only way you get that you that you get equality in my opinion, So what you're doing by providing access to these black businesses is extremely important. But I want to hear from your perspective why it was important for you, you know, to people who may not quite understand the significance of it. Why was it important to you to make sure that black businesses were able to be participants in this project? Well, it stems from really my decades of experience in building affordable housing, in working in underserved and underresourced community unities, and meeting people both people who are unemployed, underemployed and people who are just trying to make a way and so they create these businesses out of their homes. They figure out how to you know, make ends meet so that they can take care of themselves and their families. And so, you know, along the way, I thought, you know, if I had the opportunity to do something unique and innovative that was sort of a full menu of black empowerment, that I would do that. And so when I got connected with the pastor who was the previous owner, and you know, he was interested in selling, and we talked about all of the ideas I had for this site, he very quickly said, I would love to sell this property to you because you're going to do the right thing. And to me, the right thing is i mean has always been, but is especially now, it is to give back in a meaningful way. Right, So again it's jobs, it's supporting small businesses, it's entrepreneurship. In fact, in one of the buildings, we're also going to have live work spaces on the first floor for like artists, right they can sleep in the back and have their gallery in the front. I mean, it's really about creating communities or helping to really to build communities that have been disinvested in. And there are many, many brilliant, industrious people that live in huff that again just need an opportunity, and so you know that that is definitely my life's work and I'm just so grateful that I have the opportunity to do that. At m r K Plaza. Awesome, Awesome, we're talking with doctor Gina Merritt. And before I let you go, you know you've been in this space, You've been in this industry rather for quite some time. You're one of the few black female developers. Talk a little bit about what that experience is like. I know that there are probably some good times and some bad times as well. Anytime you're a trailblazer, you have to deal with a lot of unnecessary craps. So talk a little bit about what the experience has been like for you in this space for the years that you've been in Well, it's been tough. M It's been tough in so many ways. I mean, you know, being so I have the double whammy, right, I'm female and I'm brown, and so depending on the circumstance, the challenge just might be that I'm female. So I could be in a room, you know, with black men and white men and have challenges around my gender right and executing my work, you know, because of the power structure there. And I have the same situation when I'm in the room with females, and part of that has to do with a different dynamic in terms of my ability to be successful and and the and the perception um that others are not. And so, you know, I hate to use the word hater, because that's what it is, and I don't like to think about that. But you know, I try not to let I've tried not to let in the past two decades those things deter me from what God has brought me here to do. And so although there are always these human dynamics, right, personality challenges, I'm sure everybody experiences that. Uh, you know, I liken this to you know, this is the this has to do with the you know, the oldest old boy network. There is right is land. Right before there was anything, there was land, right, there was a tilling of the land, you know, m crops, there were building buildings right from the beginning of time, at least in this country. That's what it's been about. And so the dynamics there and the power structure, it's it's it's deeply rooted in both um, you know, gender and race, and so I just work very hard in my everyday work to demonstrate my knowledge, my passion, and my compassion, and I hope that at the end of the day, people will really see me for who I am in my heart, which is a person that cares very deeply about the communities I serve. And so, you know, if I can just get people on board with that, and I can get them to connect with me on that level, then I'm hopeful that all of them, all of the challenges I've had over the two decades, will start to melt away. Absolutely absolutely well. You know, I am a doctor, Gina Merritt fan, I am a supporter of other things that you're doing. I am cheering you on. I think this is a great I think this is a great It's a perfect time to have this interview. We're in Black History Month, but you're making black history right now today, so I appreciate you coming on the show and spending time with us. I know you're very busy, but for people who want to find out more information about the project, find more information about the organization, let them know where to go. They can DM me on LinkedIn anytime many people do, or you can find us at NREUV dot com on the Internet. Thank you so much, doctor Jennifer coming on the show. I really appreciate it. Thank you for your time. One more time, thank you to doctor Gina Merritt for coming on the show. We really appreciate it. We are out of here. We'll see you next time. Peace. This has been a presentation of the FCB podcast Network, where real talk lifts. Visit us online at FCB podcasts dot com.
