Nationwide — Over 25 years ago, Shauna Anderson created the Chitlin Market, where her staff cleaned, sold, and even shipped out the best tender chitlins all across the United States. Sales at the market had reached upwards of more than $1 million until one day, Shauna says the Prince George’s County government in Maryland decided to unjustly shut her business down forcing her to let go of all of her employees. Shauna says that she received a call from a government insider who told her, “We don’t mind you selling chitterlings, but you must take the word ‘Chitlin’ out of the name of your business.”
What’s interesting is that before her business was shut down, Shauna was well-admired by the local community and the media.
She says that she would always tell her employees that they had to want something more in life. As a former Internal Revenue Service instructor, she would even train her staff on how to come off of any type of public assistance, how to buy houses and cars, and how to become a productive member of society. NBC4 Washington carried the story, did live shots, promoting the business.
The Washington Post ran many stories about her and her business, and Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum in Maryland even decided to install an exhibit about The Chitlin Market.
Positive news reports were published all over the nation, and many of her customers were Congressmen, celebrities, and other influentials.
But the PG County government had made their decision. They rezoned The Chitlin Market back to residential.
The situation is so bizarre that actor/comedian J. Anthony Brown is producing a documentary about what happened. Shauna herself filed a lawsuit against the county, and has even written a book about her experience called Offal Great: A Memoir from the Queen of Chitlins now available on Amazon.
For more information or for press inquiries, visit ChitlinMarket.com or contact Angela Holmes at 240-755-8119.
