Cafe X Builds Black Assets ‘By Any Means Necessary’ in San DiegoDaily Coffee News by Roast Magazine

When Malcolm X reclaimed his identity by adopting the surname “X,” it was a public statement against injustices past and present.

Cafe X: With any necessary grainsThe San Diego-based coffee shop concept created by mother-daughter duo Khea Pollard and Cynthia Ajani similarly seeks to lead, motivate and inspire through the apply of coffee.

“Our goal is to apply coffee as a tool to unite people from all walks of life to solve sophisticated problems in our communities,” Khea Pollard told Daily Coffee News. “I was inspired by the transformative life and legacy of Malcolm X, knowing that the Black community in particular needs self-determination and building assets to pass on to the next generation.”

Cafe X: By Ana Beans Necessary founders Khea Pollard and Cynthia Ajani.

Cafe X is housed in a colorful 2,800-square-foot gallery and features a dual-group espresso machine from Casadio in combination with Eureka grinder for your espresso plus menu Curtis a device for brewing beer in batches.

The company sells bags of its branded house mix online, as well as T-shirts and other merchandise. In the store, vivid artworks circulate in a gallery run by a local real estate firm Co-activateand the constant mural behind the bar depicts the red-cheeked cordon bleu, a bird native to tropical sub-Saharan Africa.

“There’s a touch of modernity and a lot of symbolic, ethnic elements surrounded by greenery,” Pollard said. “There’s also a great green space outside in the back for visitors to sit, eat and work. We wanted a cozy and artistic theme.”

Both Ajani and Pollard come to Cafe X with experience in nonprofit leadership, and the shop’s coffee program is supported by a partnership with an El Cajon-based supplier Daymar Artisan Coffee Roastery and importer of green coffee Cut to cup.

Through these connections, the owners hope to expand educational and professional development opportunities, including a paid internship program for newborn people at Cafe X. The store is also a driving force behind the Black Women’s Resilience Project, which seeks to provide guaranteed income to low-income black mothers in San Diego County.

“It’s not just a poverty reduction measure, but a method that doesn’t rely on families to sustain it, like mutual aid, or to prove their worth,” Pollard said. “Café X is the community organizing force behind the concept, as we convened community focus groups, including an advisory board, to discuss it, and we partnered with Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFS) to implement it.”

Ajani and Pollard hope to expand the Cafe X concept to other locations over time, with the ultimate goal of generating enough revenue to at least partially sustain their social projects.

As Pollard said, “The more we collaborate, the more our communities flourish.”

Cafe X: By Any Beans Necessary is located at 1835 Imperial Ave. San Diego. Tell DCN editors about your novel café or roastery here.