Kim’s Story
Kim Franks is the founder and CEO of Liberated Roots Co., a company she created to celebrate sustainable fashion and support Black creatives. She aims to foster community cooperation and celebrate collective identity through Liberated Roots Co., which includes her community space called Roots Oasis. This space serves as a venue for meetups, workshops, and artistic collaboration, functioning as a third space for the community to gather in person.
In her interview with our storytelling team, Kim discusses the importance of creative energy in overcoming oppression and envisioning a future without it. She emphasizes collaboration over competition among Black-owned businesses, aiming to create a safe model for working together despite systemic barriers. Her approach includes hosting clothing swaps and donating to organizations, supporting sustainable fashion, and promoting mutual aid within the business community.
Kim shares that she sees her work as part of a broader narrative of generational wealth, which extends beyond financial assets to include the values, faith, and community support that have been passed down through generations of Black women in her family. This cultural and spiritual heritage, she argues, is fundamental to thriving and not just surviving.
“The name Liberated Roots reflects that you don't completely disband what you have in substance. There's the soul in essence. There's a soul and an essence of my community, of my community as a Black woman. There are things that are just so fundamental to my existence and the way that I do that are responsible for why I'm still here.
To why my mother was able to birth me, why my mother's mother was able to birth her, and before, and before, and before. And that woman whose body was enslaved, in spite of all odds, what was fundamentally the essence that allowed us to exist? It’s about allowing those roots to continue to be strong and to exist and to see value.
Liberation is the fruits. I see our children, I see our future, as the fruits. So, if you tap into your roots and build off of that - that’s the pathway to living a life where we don't just exist, but where we thrive.”
— Kim Franks,
Founder & Owner of Liberated Roots Co.
The Whole
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Interested in learning more about Kim or participating in one of her workshops, artist pop-ups, or clothing swaps?