Tiffany Haddish had a hard life. It began by hustling from foster home to foster home, always fitting into the margins of other people’s existences. Then, she had a bout of homelessness, living in her car and eating the oranges, pomegranates, and passion fruits that grew on neighboring lawns. She suffered an abusive relationship too, and eight miscarriages.
But she wasn’t the kind of person to let the weight she was carrying sink her into the ground. Instead, she decided to rise. She used the blackest parts of her life and spun them into witty, groundbreaking comedy. Her listeners loved her. Not long afterward, she became a Hollywood star, famous for her unique standup comedy and her stellar acting skills.
And she didn’t stop there. Today, she has branched out even further, entering the world of culinary entrepreneurship.
Tiffany Haddish and Her BIPOC-Focused Food Business
Tiffany still remembers picking free food from her neighbor’s lawns. She knows what it feels like to be deprived of the most essential thing we humans need for survival. That’s why she decided to make financial and food literacy for the BIPOC community more accessible.
Enter, Diaspora Groceries, Tiffany’s new BIPOC-focused grocery store. It’s not any ordinary grocery store, either. Its mission is to recruit products from the Black, indigenous, and people of color communities. Her goal with this business is to chip away at food insecurity so that one day it might go away altogether.
She says that she believes financial and food literacy goes a long way toward creating better and happier human beings. That’s why part of her food business includes cooking classes and a financial literacy class. Her dream is that people will one day stop being insecure over the lack of food. And her food business is her first step toward this goal.
“Food insecurity is a real thing for me,” she told Essence. “Something I’ve experienced the majority of my existence. I would say the last five years have been more like, ‘this is what I’m going to eat.’”
Diaspora Groceries also hosts events such as food drives and language services
Today, you can walk into Diaspora Groceries and feel the warmth of its vibe. It has everything you need to stock your kitchen’s shelves, from pasta to salads to snacks and healthy items. But that’s not all it is. It has special events like food drives, community outreaches, cleaning programs, donation drives, and language services. Anyone is invited to sign up as a volunteer for one of these events.
“I’m a firm believer that once you understand how money works, once you understand how food works, you become a healthier, happier human being,” she told The Washington Post. “And when you’re healthier and happier, the family’s healthier and happier, and the community’s healthier and happier.”
Also, members of the BIPOC community can apply as a vendor at Diaspora Groceries. This allows those living in the long shadow of conglomerates to step forward and showcase their goods to buyers. Overall, Diaspora Groceries is a business that aims to help and educate both buyers and sellers and give them a deeper understanding of the relationship between money, food, and the human body.
Tiffany Haddish: From Darkness to Light
Not everyone can do what Tiffany Haddish did. Most people who go through a past as dark as hers run to the quietest corner to hide for the rest of their days. But not Tiffany. The abuse, homelessness, food scarcity, and lack of belonging only fueled her passion. Today, she works 48-hour stints, moves tirelessly from one event to another, and opens herself up to any idea that would help people suffering the things she used to suffer. She has moved from darkness to light, and her goal is that everyone she encounters can do the same.