{"id":32856,"date":"2023-01-20T14:03:35","date_gmt":"2023-01-20T22:03:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=30000029485"},"modified":"2023-01-20T14:04:15","modified_gmt":"2023-01-20T22:04:15","slug":"long-beach-resident-and-nonprofit-founder-featured-on-netflixs-bake-squad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/long-beach-resident-and-nonprofit-founder-featured-on-netflixs-bake-squad","title":{"rendered":"Long Beach resident and nonprofit founder featured on Netflix’s \u2018Bake Squad\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Friday, Netflix released its second season of the lighthearted baking competition show, \u201cBake Squad,\u201d featuring Jamaica Aali, a Long Beach resident and founder of the nonprofit organization Black Everywhere<\/a>, in one of its episodes.<\/p>\n

In celebration of Black Everywhere\u2019s 10-year anniversary event, four bakers created \u201880s prom-inspired desserts for Aali to select from.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m feeling excited, I’m feeling a little bit nervous,\u201d said Aali. \u201cI know that the show gets a lot of viewers, so I’m just really curious about how this translates in terms of visibility for Black Everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Black Everywhere, a nonprofit that Aali first founded while living in Philadelphia, has blossomed into an over 12,000-member organization across the United States over the past decade.<\/p>\n

Initially formed as a book club back in Philadelphia, the nonprofit quickly shifted gears once it became clear that no one had actually read the book, Aali said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know when you’re in school, and you can tell no one did the homework?\u201d she said. \u201cIt was just like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the group never returned to the book, Aali realized that a book club wasn’t about reading\u2014it was about the connection and camaraderie.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what Black Everywhere truly is, is a book club with no book,\u201d she said. \u201cWe’re either a very successful nonprofit or a very unsuccessful book club.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aali didn\u2019t initially plan on having Black Everywhere in multiple locations, until moving to Long Beach about seven years ago\u2014where the organization truly got its wings, Aali said.<\/p>\n

While Aali loved how community-centric Long Beach felt, community gathering spaces for the city\u2019s Black population were lacking, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who don’t know each other can’t support each other when they’re seeking housing. People who don’t know each other can’t help each other find jobs,\u201d Aali said. \u201cFor me, Black Everywhere is like watering the seeds, it’s like creating a fertile ground for us to develop anything else you want to develop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through continuous support from the Long Beach community, including being recognized with a Spirit of Downtown award<\/a> last year, Aali has been able to develop Black Everywhere even more.<\/p>\n

While Long Beach has become home to one of Black Everywhere\u2019s largest and most active groups, the organization hosts meetups in 12 cities across the United States that include activities like picnics, kayaking and even international trips.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it can feel trivial, you’re just getting together to grab drinks, or go for a hike\u2014but that’s just it,\u201d Aali said. \u201cBecause it’s a light lift, because it’s something that everyone feels comfortable doing, those are people who end up communicating with one another, and realize, \u2018Hey, we have a lot of commonalities.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In the coming years, Aali hopes to be able to go to any city throughout the country and find community through Black Everywhere.<\/p>\n

But as for this year, Aali hopes to focus on the cities where the organization is already situated, and further establish its presence.<\/p>\n

When Aali received a message on Instagram from a Netflix \u201cBake Squad\u201d crew member, with the opportunity to celebrate the organization, it felt \u201cserendipitous,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

“I said, \u2018You know what, I might as well just see what happens,\u2019\u201d Aali said. \u201cThe next thing you know, it\u2019s me and Christina Tosi, tasting cakes.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is truly a dream come true,\u201d she said. \u201cIt’s dessert\u2014it’s wholesome, it’s positive, and my goal of reaching every city in America, I feel like this is a huge step in that direction.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Friday, Netflix released its second season of the lighthearted baking competition show, \u201cBake Squad,\u201d featuring Jamaica Aali, a Long Beach resident and founder of the nonprofit organization Black Everywhere, in one of its episodes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":281,"featured_media":72246,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[32074,32075,32076],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[31860],"class_list":["post-32856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hi-lo","tag-black-everywhere","tag-netflix","tag-nonprofit","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/281"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32856"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=32856"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=32856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}