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

Jasmine is the founder of Cafecito Con Jasmine, a community organization with the purpose of empowering low-income communities in Texas.

Hi Jasmine, what do you want your legacy to be?
Legacies are hard to control because everyone you meet is touched by you differently, and most of us want to be remembered for the best parts of us. That is not what I want; I want people to know me as a whole person. A person who dealt with adversity and sometimes its effects still have room in my worst moments but makes my good moments richer—a person who has fallen but always picked herself back up and others with her.

However, I recognize that, more often, our legacies will be morphed by others’ misconceptions of us. Some people may adorn you, while others meet you on a bad day and have not given you a chance to redeem yourself. One of my wildest dreams has always been to build a smaller world where I get to know everyone on a personal level. Not everyone will have the opportunity to learn my entire being, nor will I theirs. With that, I try not to worry too much about their thoughts about me.

In maturity, I hope to find my purpose and learn how to translate it with strangers. I have not mastered it, but when I do, I want my darkness, genuineness, torment, kindness, hatred, passion, etc., to be included.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Cafecito Con Jasmine is a community organization that I founded to empower Oak Cliff and tackle racial and socioeconomic inequities in other low-income communities. In the start, I got a job as a barista and started to learn more about coffee. I started to visit coffee shops and write reviews about them. Then, I began to write book reviews of some of my favorite books. Eventually, I started to write life rants with my reviews, and people loved them. At that point, Cafecito felt like a personal blog accompanied by a coffee or book review.

A couple of months before my twenty-first birthday, I dealt with a mental health crisis that nearly cost my life. That crisis somehow led to the creation of the Cafecito Con Jasmine Scholarship. I spent a lot of my energy on its creation and allocation, which brought a lot of good into my life. I found the motivation to keep moving forward with my life and gathered momentum to expand the organization. With the assistance of my network, we awarded $2,000 in scholarship awards. And as of November, I have found my board and have worked behind the scenes to build the new Cafecito.

If you had told me a year ago that I overcame that mental health crisis and that Cafecito is as beloved by people today, I would not believe it. It was not easy and has taken many sleepless nights, but it has been rewarding. This organization is for the community and will always exist to empower.

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?
In Cafecito style, we have to visit some of my favorite coffee shops and hangouts. In Houston, I would take them to The Doshi Coffee House, my favorite coffee shop in Third Ward. I would tell them to order a Pistachio Latte with Oat Milk or a Golden Pond Tonic. I am not entirely unbiased, but I would also take them to Cougar Grounds at the University of Houston, where I work. It is a student-run coffee shop and a gem of the campus. Our drinks are what made me fall in love with coffee in the first place. After, we would visit the museum district and spend the day exploring the museums. For dinner, we would visit the amazing Asian restaurants and shops in Bellaire. Afterward, we might catch some drinks at Axelrad, especially if it is Cumbia Night.

If visiting Oak Cliff, we would have to stop at Espumoso Caffe, a Latin coffee shop. It is always fun to walk around Bishop Arts and visit some minority-owned small businesses like CocoAndre Chocolatier & Horchateria. For brunch, we must visit Xaman Cafe on Jefferson Bulverard and the Oak Cliff Cultural Center. Then, we have to visit Tyler Station’s shops and my favorite bookstore, Whose Books. If they are music nerds like me, we will visit the Stevie Ray Vaughn monument at Kiest Park. To end the night, we would grab a couple of drinks at Vidorra in Deep Ellum.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My community and family have always showered me encouragement to pursue my endeavors. In fact, the whole creation behind Cafecito Con Jasmine has been attributed to the love I have received from my community. I have met incredible people in my time that I carry with me in all the spaces I enter. Whether in academic or professional spaces, I carry their lessons with me and hope to represent them well.

Most recently, my team at Cafecito Con Jasmine has been incredible and a pleasure to work with. I started this organization alone, and that was quite daunting to maintain. Having a group of people with the same passion for empowering low-income communities has grown our ambitions. I am excited to see how far Cafecito will grow and the types of ventures we will follow in the future.

Website: https://linktr.ee/cafecitoconjasmine

Instagram: @CafecitoConJasmine

Linkedin: Cafecito Con Jasmine

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