Sweet Nina’s dessert shop donates to the Philadelphia NAACP and African American Museum in Philadelphia in honor of Juneteenth

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Owner of Sweet Nina’s Dessert shop Nina Bryan presents donation checks to Phila. NAACP president Catherine Hicks and AAMP president and CEO Dr. Ashley Jordan for both organizations honoring the Juneteenth holiday.

By Napoleon F. Kingcade

During a joyful ceremony on the Juneteenth holiday inside Reading Terminal Market in Center City, Sweet Nina’s dessert shop owner Nina Bryan donated checks for $1,865 each to the Philadelphia Chapter of the NAACP and the African American Museum in Philadelphia.

The checks were donated by Bryan in recognition of Juneteenth, when the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation was announced in Galveston, Texas, June 19, 1865, which marked the official end of slavery and brought freedom to thousands of slaves across the country at the end of the American Civil War.

Catherine Hicks, president of the Philadelphia NAACP, and Dr. Ashley Jordan, president and CEO of AAMP, were happy to receive the donations while members of both organizations gathered at Sweet Nina’s to celebrate the event’s special occasion. It was the second year in a row that Bryan donated a check to the Philadelphia NAACP, and the first time she has donated money to AAMP. Bryan said she felt a great need to give back to both African American organizations who are responsible for helping Black folks to preserve their African American heritage and history.

“We have a responsibility to give back to our community as much as we can and this is our way of saying thanks,” said Bryan who has been operating her pudding business at Reading Terminal Market since 2022. “The NAACP of Philadelphia and the African American Museum are enough for me to support both organizations. Because of both, they have kept much of our history intact. So much of our tradition and history have been swept away. As a race, we can’t allow that to happen. So that’s why we are doing our part. I got the assignment and now I’m doing my homework by giving my support to the Philadelphia NAACP and the African American Museum in Philadelphia. I believe this is part of my homework. I’m doing everything I can to help our people, our city and our country. By giving my support, I want them to know who we really are. It gives another sense of being proud of who I am and being proud of where I come from.”

Nina Bryan, owner of Sweet Nina’s

Born and raised in Albany, Georgia, Bryan learned the sweet ingredients of her delicious banana pudding from her late mother Lucy B. Perry, who lived to be 103 years old. Her mother operated a restaurant in Albany, while her father worked as a cook in the military. They operated the restaurant for three years before moving to Newark, New Jersey.

“Right now, we have over 10 different flavors of our banana pudding,” Bryan said. “Everything is made fresh from Chiquita bananas, vanilla wafers and other ingredients. We make the banana puddings with our hands, we use no machines. We have our own little recipe. We have our own way of doing it and people are enjoying our puddings. We have flavors like our Classic Chocolate, Caramel Pecan, Strawberry, Blueberry, Pineapple, Peach, Apple Crisp and Custard Crisp.”

Bryan said her top seller is the Classic Chocolate Banana Pudding. She said this year, her pudding shop has sold over 50,000 cups of pudding to her customers.

“We have had different kinds of celebrities stopping by to buy our puddings,” Bryan said. “We have had people like Sonny Hill, Patty Jackson, Solomon Jones and award-winning hip-hop artist and actor Common.”

During the special donation presentation ceremony,an African band played music near the shop, creating a party atmosphere quite fitting for the special occasion. The music put everybody in a dancing mood. The 20-minute ceremony also attracted many additional customers to Sweet Nina’s.“I have never worked so hard in my life,” Bryan said. “But what a blessing. I hope this is a new beginning of a great legacy. I have been working closely with the community with help from the Philadelphia NAACP. I have hired many students from NAACP’s ACT -SO program to work at Sweet Nina’s. We have proven we are more than a cup of pudding.”

Hicks has served as president of the Philadelphia Chapter of the NAACP since she was first sworn in on July 18, 2021, and has won back-to-back terms for president. Hicks is the second woman to lead the local branch in its history. She is also the publisher and owner of the Philadelphia Sunday SUN newspaper. As the local NAACP president, Hicks has emphasized addressing issues like educational equity, financial literacy, Black ownership, entrepreneurship and gun violence in Philadelphia. She is known for putting her focus on the importance of community engagement and partnering with various organizations to amplify the NAACP’s voice and power. She aims to retain the community’s trust and ensures the Philadelphia NAACP is responsive and supportive of the issues that exist in the Black community.

Dr. Ashley Jordan has served as president and CEO of the African American Museum in Philadelphia, accepting the position in September 2021. Before coming to Philadelphia, Jordan served as the former executive director of the Evansville African American Museum in Evansville, Indiana. She also once served as senior director of development at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Jordan has also served as an adjunct professor at North Central State College in Mansfield, Ohio. Throughout her career, Jordan has received several professional academic and civic awards.

In receiving the donations from Sweet Nina’s pudding shop, Hicks and Jordan have only proven they are two successful Black women who are destined for more success and achievements in their respective fields.

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