Black Entrepreneurs - Abantu Audio

The Black entrepreneur who has most inspired me is Luc Cadet. Born in Haiti, Luc came to the United States when he was just a kid, and his earliest memories are of him and his mother being detained in Guantanamo Bay. Raised in Florida and moving to New Mexico and Texas for his schooling, Luc graduated from the University of Texas and bootstrapped his own business, Abantu Audio, with his two friends pictured above, Alejandro and Travis.

Luc inspires me because he has such a unique vision. The first time we spoke, we talked on the phone for two hours. We talked about our schooling, and how our education overlooked African-American and Native American history. We were never taught about the Tulsa Race Riots, the reason why African-Americans have been dispossessed is intrinsically linked to the violence received from the dominant social class. We were never taught about the Black Panthers and the execution of Huey Newton, Fred Hampton, Malcolm X, etc. We were never taught that Thomas Jefferson, the author of "All men are created Equal...with the right to Life, Liberty, and pursuit of Happiness", also owned 600 slaves in his lifetime.

We were never taught in schools that the missions we visited in schools were actually where they enslaved native Californians. We were never taught about the lynchings unleashed onto Mexican-Americans, or the forced deportation of over 1 million legal citizens. We were never taught Our Stories.

This is how Abantu Audio was created, it was created to represent our people, Black, Native American, and Latino voices. Because each demographic constitutes a "racial minority" in the U.S., we know that we must unite and see past our differences. Race is an illusion, and there are so many similarities between our people and our struggles. For example, in 2020, an 18-year old Salvadoran boy named Andres Guardado was killed in Southern California after being shot 5 times in the back by Compton Sheriffs. At the protest, it wasn't just Hispanic people showing up, the whole community came through. There were black people waving Mexican flags and at the George Floyd Protest, we showed up to support our brothers and sisters because we are all in this together.

Abantu Audio is a revolutionary business, it is providing audiobooks by black and brown authors, narrated by black and brown actors, for black and brown consumers. We also publish a blog (which I manage) where we scout new talent in the form of writers, visual artists, poets, and we've created a community of like-minded people in seeing our vision.

To address the miseducation of our people in schools, we created this platform by black and brown people, for black and brown people. In my experience, Eurocentric curriculum is what I was taught from Kindergarten to University. I attended the Number 1 Public University in the world, Berkeley. And even then, "History of Politics" only covered two societies - Greece and Rome. There is no mention that the civilizations in Egypt, West Africa, Mesoamerica, Peru, were building monumental structures and supporting populations in the millions.

Many people know that systemic racism exists. Not many people have dedicated their life to solving it. Luc is one of those people, and that is why I am so inspired by him. His dedication to this vision has meant bootstrapping a business with no funds, operating solely with the faith that the right people will come along eventually. I admire Luc for his creative mind which always seems to find opportunities where seemingly none exist, he is a true entrepreneur.

Luc is black. Luc is an immigrant. Luc is an entrepreneur who built a business and a following through pure determination and will. This is the American Dream. Having also been born of immigrants, I know our families have sacrificed so much for us to be here, and there is nothing better than having the community supporting you. They say if you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together. Abantu Audio is all about unity, we are not just a business. We are a group of visionaries who recognize there is a lack of our stories in our education, even in higher education such as the university level.

Abantu Audio has teamed up with University publishers to provide select books from new authors. Our selection is historical and informative and includes the works of W.E.B. Dubois, Ida B. Wells, Frederick Douglass, and we even offer choices for fiction- and poetry-lovers. Our blog is open to new authors who want to be published and embraced by a supportive community. This may sound like an ad, and in a sense I am trying to sell this, but this comes from my heart. I have never met anyone who has inspired me more than Luc. He is self-made, he came from the bottom and with all of the systemic barriers put in his way, he still managed to succeed in running this entrepreneurial enterprise while working full-time and caring for his family. I consider him a mentor, even though he is not much older than me. He has expanded my vision and taught me to see opportunities instead of obstacles, how we can unite and come together instead of focusing on what separates us, and finally, Luc has really restored my faith in humanity. As horrible and wretched as our society may be sometimes, there are still people putting in work, day in and day out, striving to make it better, and bringing the community along with them.