THE B-SIDE EXPERIENCE

The B-Side Experience is a free, public cultural and community event for Black and Brown men and their families. It meaningfully engages residents across generations and creates real opportunities for connection, dialogue, learning, and belonging. Each cultural component carries a defined community function. The Fades, a live barbering showcase, opens workforce and economic-mobility pathways through trade access and entrepreneurial exposure. The Tables, a Spades and Dominoes tournament, drives intergenerational social engagement. The Market places 45 local small businesses before the community, supporting minority business exposure, relationship-based commerce, and local economic circulation. Because these are the ways this community already gathers, they reach residents that flyers and institutions miss while inviting the wider city in. The B-Side Experience is a genuine collaboration among community organizations that broadens its reach and impact. 100 Black Men of Austin, the fiscal sponsor and mentorship partner, activates its four pillars (mentoring, education, health and wellness, and economic development) on-site. Beauty Over Bruises, a survivor-founded organization that wor