Peters: Safely Support Tea Lee’s During Level Red
Diamond Peters
Waves of uncertainty fill our hearts as the second wave is here. As a Five Points resident watching small businesses make swift adjustments is uncomfortable. We would all like to see our neighborhoods and communities flourishing, soaring through the holiday season.
Yet now that Denver is in at level-red restrictions, many of us now look to one another to take better responsibility for keeping ourselves, loved ones, neighbors, and our cities safe. It is crucial to remain cognizant of social distancing and healthy sanitization methods to keep businesses operating as well as continuing to patronize them.
Black-owned businesses are modifying their operations in unique ways. Cafe tea house known as TeaLee’s located at 611 22nd St Denver, CO 80205 is a beautifully aromatic environment filled with sensational bites, vegan/vegetarian selects, fine brews and bookshop established by Rise Jones and husband Louis Freeman. The surrounding richness of Five Points is heavily due to the African American legacy it carries. This is what TeaLee’s showcases, however due to pandemic restrictions, it is now take-out only. Their hours are now Thursdays-Saturday 7am-9pm & Sunday 8am-2pm and unfortunately, we cannot enjoy the bookstore the way we used to.
TeaLee’s has always kept a very professional comfortable space for POC to feel safe and also held a large variety of high quality selects. It has always felt like home with a full staff of POC running this successful business.
Right now it is imperative that we as a community ask ourselves, How can we safely support Black-owned businesses? It is crucial to use buying power to endorse minority-owned spaces especially in a district where there aren't that many. Supporting Black businesses means supporting Black communities. It is our job to shrink the racial wealth gap to help sustain one another.
So don’t forget Tea Lee’s during the holidays. Make sure to stop by and order your favorite tea even if you have to enjoy it at home.