Meet Tamyra Gordon | Wife, Mom & Black History Preserver

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tamyra Gordon and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tamyra, is there something you can share with us that those outside of the industry might not be aware of?
Greenwood Seneca works to curate untold stories of Black history through a lens of honor and joy. We do this because connecting to our history is hard and painful and through the systems we learn it – largely incomplete. Those in the public history, tourism and storytelling spaces need to realize that while it is necessary for America as a collective to include fuller accounts of Black history for broad consumption – there is just as great, arguably greater need, for Black people to connect to that full history first and in ways not currently offered. Sometimes we need our own relationship to history – so we can revise our collective relationship with each other.

What should our readers know about your business?
Greenwood Seneca is a capacity building company rooted in anthropology backed by a growing community of 100+ industry leaders, centered around building wealth and capacity within the Black community.

Greenwood Seneca is the parent company to the largest Black owned right of way business, Del Richardson & Associates, a media social enterprise, The Brick TV and the Greenwood Seneca Foundation which operates Your Legacy Tours to reconnect the Black community to Black history.

The shared goal across all of Greenwood Seneca’s businesses is to support businesses, sites and places of history in preservation of the Black story.

As this interview happens, we mourn yet another tragic loss of life to police brutality and institutionalized racism, Tyre Nichols. My husband and I started Greenwood Seneca on the tail of the murders of Ahmad Aubrey and George Floyd to the same systems. We built and continue to evolve Greenwood Seneca to show up in the present for Black people while simultaneously holding the past front and center. And it’s hard – it’s hard to hold our Blackness when it’s constantly being challenged, beaten and murdered. It’s hard to keep focus on the wholeness of our ancestors old and new, their lives and beings when their deaths are so brutally imprinted on our bodies and minds. But this is what we choose – every day. We choose to honor the fullness of who we are as a family, as a community and as a people and use love as a core value of our businesses and philanthropy to move our assignments forward.

We are working to be good ancestors. We want it to matter that we were here and those who got us here aren’t forgotten in the process. Our brand, our story, our legacy is inherently and directly connected to theirs.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My friends and family tend to come to me to find all things Black – so when people come to visit I try to take them to places Black run, owned or operated and sandwich in the touristy stuff in between. Initially I followed Issa Rae’s Insecure spots – there was a published list of spaces from the show that I made sure to try . https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/list/insecure-hbo-where-to-eat-los-angeles-guide

Eat/Drink:
Coffee
South LA Cafe – South LA
Bloom & Plume – DTLA
Hilltop Cafe – Inglewood
Obet & Dels

Co-working space & snack
The Gathering Spot – Inglewood

Tapas & beverage
1010 Wines – Inglewood

Lunch
Simply Wholesome

I love thrift & antique shopping
Black Flea Market – Inglewood
Melrose Trading Post – Weho
Heritage Farmers Market – Rancho Cucamonga

Beauty care:
Brows by Alyssa – NoHo
Kneadz Work – massage therapy

Krak Boba is my fav Boba place

Beach Yoga in Santa Monica – revives the soul

BoxUnion made me love boxing – Weho

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I stand on the shoulders of all those who came before me and raised the people who raised me. I dedicate and shoutout my family in flesh and spirit. I admire the authors like Beverly Jenkins, Connie Porter, Clint E Smith, Ta-Nehisi Coates and Charly Simpson, to name a few, who bring life, love and humanity to my ancestors who survived enslavement. I shoutout my parents who supported my unique path from the beginning and encouraged me to blaze a trail all my own. To my sister who celebrates all I am and makes me make sense. To my husband and son who know me best and love me anyway – they make me feel capable, loved and alive.

Website: www.greenwoodseneca.com

Instagram: @tamyra_gordon

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamyragordon/

Image Credits
Brittney Jean Photography