Community garden specialist and owner of Black Flower Market, Kehmari Norman, works towards adding joy to her community, sparking critical conversation, and enhancing recovery from one of the black community’s most significant issues, homicides. She is a self-proclaimed transformer of “public environments and intimate spaces.” She intends to turn them into “self-care and immersive visual experiences.” Norman walks with purpose, making sure to add positivity and beauty to the parts of the D.C. community that need it the most, creating projects to pollinate the mourning with love.

One of Norman’s projects, the Concrete Rose Project, flourishes from her understanding, empathy, and personal experience. The project was created to give bouquets to D.C. families who have experienced the loss of a family member or loved one to homicide. Throughout Norman’s life, she experienced the loss of several family members, including her father, two of her uncles, and even her first love. These experiences have inspired her to figure out a way to give back and provide relief to families who have experienced a similar loss.

Norman also hosts Flower Labs, which she defines as a way to “learn more about yourself and others through the lens of flowers and design, engaging in sensory activities, exploring the medicinal and cultural context of florals, and learning floral design techniques to create beautiful arrangements.” She also encourages individuals to attend her Smudge Labs, where attendees choose from various herbs and flowers to build their own Smudge Sticks. Norman hosts her Smudge Labs every 4th Saturday of the month at Shopkeepers.

Norman’s interest in gardening began with her great-grandfather, a sharecropper in North Carolina. It began to blossom during her time at Temple University, where she helped to convert vacant lots into vibrant gardens for the community. With her business and contribution to her community, Norman hopes to use her green thumb to preserve and even intertwine Black history and green spaces throughout Washington, D.C., ultimately bettering and beautifying our future.

Last but certainly not least, don’t forget to stop by Norman’s store, Black Flower Market, located at the SpiceGirls Marketplace at 1025 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20032. The floriculture design studio features an assortment of cut flowers touched and gathered through thoughtful rituals, paying homage to our ancestors.

For more information, visit Norman’s website @ https://www.blackflowermarket.com and explore her businesses Instagram @blkflwrmrkt.