Kimora Spencer is a 13-year-old honor student who wanted to learn about business. She saved her money, bought lemons and cups, made signs for “Polar’s Lemonade,” and dreamed of being an entrepreneur. Her mother, Johneisha Spencer-White, called the DeKalb Park District to do everything by the book. They got permission from the park district to set up the stand on the sidewalk of the park.
On June 10, 2025, this Black child set up her stand at Hopkins Park and started selling lemonade to willing customers. She was participating in what should have been part of an American tradition on a sidewalk in DeKalb County, Illinois.
A white woman affiliated with the park district, approached Kimora’s stand and threatened to call police. Mat Emken, another white person affiliated with the park district, declared the stand was getting shut down and proceeded to call the police on a 13-year-old Black child.
“A white child selling lemonade is called enterprising. A Black child doing the exact same thing gets police called on her,” said Hakeem Muhammad, the family’s attorney. “This is the criminalization of Black childhood in America, and we’re fighting back.”
When the police arrived, an officer told the family he saw “nothing wrong” with what Kimora was doing. No citation. No violation. Case closed, right?
Wrong.
After police left,city officials back to repeat the same threats and harassment. Even after law enforcement determined she was doing nothing wrong, they refused to let this Black child operate a legal business in peace.
Johneisha Spencer-White says the damage runs deep. “Kimora was so excited about her business that day. She’d invested her own money, made professional signs, learned about pricing and customer service. These people treated my daughter like a criminal in front of everyone. They didn’t just shut down her stand—they tried to shut down her dreams.”
Muhammad Law Center is seeking to hold these officials within DeKalb Park District accountable for the deliberate psychological harm inflicted on a child who was simply trying to run a lawful business.
But the fight isn’t just happening in the courtroom. Spencer-White and Kimora are raising funds to transform “Polar’s Lemonade” from a shuttered stand into a thriving business—proof that when the system tries to criminalize Black entrepreneurship, the community responds by building Black people.
Muhammad Law Center will be assisting the family and young Kimora in growing her entrepreneurial dreams into reality. They want to create a support system for other young Black children facing similar persecution, because Kimora’s story isn’t unique. It’s a pattern as old as this country: Black people existing freely in public space, and white people calling armed enforcement to stop them.
We must send a different message: Support Kimora Spencer. Fund her business. Demand accountability from those who traumatized her. Prove that every attempt to crush Black children’s dreams becomes fuel to build them bigger.
Because Black kids deserve to chase their dreams without white officials turning entrepreneurship into a nightmare. They deserve to sell lemonade without sirens. They deserve childhoods free from the trauma of being criminalized for existing.
Kimora Spencer’s lemonade stand was more than a summer business venture. It was an act of hope, ambition, and faith in the American promise. When Hite and Emken called the police, they weren’t just shutting down a lemonade stand—they were attempting to extinguish that hope.
They failed. And with community support, legal accountability, and the resilience of a 13-year-old entrepreneur who refuses to be broken, Polar’s Lemonade will rise stronger than ever.