Minds on Fire: 2021 People to Watch Under 30 Finalist - David and Aaron Cabello

(Published in FunTimes Magazine, February 2021)

Just over four years ago, David and Aaron Cabello dropped out of Shippensburg University following Donald Trump’s election. Now, David is the founder of Black and Mobile, the first Black-owned food delivery service in the country to exclusively deliver for Black-owned restaurants, and his twin brother, Aaron, is his right-hand business partner. COVID-19 has had a detrimental impact on small businesses, but Black and Mobile has managed to trudge through both the pros and cons while simultaneously offering assistance to those in their community. 

Despite the chaos presented by a pandemic, Black and Mobile has continued successfully. Due to a widespread call-to-action for more support of Black-owned business and the necessity for delivery options, David and Aaron’s business has soared, hitting an astonishing $500k mark in the past thirteen months, in spite of competition from larger delivery services such as DoorDash and Caviar. However, when asked about these staggering financial accomplishments, and what he is most proud of, David responded, “I would say I’m most proud of being able to hire my twin brother, Aaron, and supporting my mom, and my family. I’m also proud to be able to help and support the Black community, my people.” Adding, “I’ll admit, being a cameo in JayZ and Pharell’s music video for their song ‘Entrepreneur’ with my brother, Aaron, was pretty cool too.” 

Even though the country faces current economic instability, Black and Mobile is still expanding, pushing delivery services beyond Philadelphia to Atlanta, Baltimore, and Detroit. When asked about some of his long-term goals related to business expansion and community outreach, David responded: “I would love to see Black and Mobile move nationwide and become a go-to delivery service in population-dense urban communities. I also see us moving past just food delivery. We can deliver clothes and other essential goods and necessities to cities in need. As for community outreach, it’s important to keep business circulating in the Black community. I want to keep helping my people.” 

What started as twin brothers working to deliver food on their bicycles to make ends meet, transformed into a successful and continuously progressive Black-owned delivery service. It’s no wonder that David and Aaron’s story is considered inspirational to many young entrepreneurs.

David’s advice to entrepreneurs is, “Be prepared to put in the work. This is a seven days a week job. You have to be prepared to put in the long hours. I mean, not until you burn out, but you have to be passionate and determined to make it happen.”

With Black and Mobile continuing to find financial success, the Cabello brothers will undoubtedly keep steamrolling ahead in the food delivery industry. Please remember to support Black-owned businesses during this time and moving forward. 

You can download Black and Mobile’s official app in the Apple App Store or as an Android app on Google Play.

Published Short Essay Example: Twenty-Three Minutes: The Untold Legend of Indian Echo Caverns

Twenty-Three Minutes by Kaila Snyder

            He was too late. As the stallion’s canter slowed beneath him, William’s eyes were fixated on her body, swaying gently, hanging from the noose above the gathered crowd. His little sister Elizabeth’s blank eyes bulged. Her skin was still flushed violet. The paper in his hands seemed to now weigh a thousand pounds as it fell from his hands, resting open on the dirt and dust of the road, the bold printed “PARDON” slightly exposed. The world spun as he fell from the horse’s back, not bothering to brace his fall.

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           Elizabeth Wilson was the darling of East Bradford Township, Chester County Pennsylvania in 1794; known for her kindness, virtue, beauty, and unblemished character. When she turned eighteen, she left home and went to Philadelphia to find work. It was in here, while working at the Indian Queen Inn on Fourth Street, that Elizabeth caught the eye of “Smith”, a young officer who resided at the inn as a border. Smith convinced Elizabeth that he was in love with her. He whispered sweet nothings in her ear, promising marriage and lifelong happiness all while seducing her body, and therefore ultimately robbing her of her virtue. It was only after she had given her body to him that Smith revealed his secret. He was already married and never had any intention of pursuing Elizabeth past sexual conquest. Quite literally ruined in terms of women during the time period, Elizabeth attempted to conceal the loss of her virtue, but soon found out that she was pregnant with twins. She was living a nightmare, a true horror story.

 During the early stages of her pregnancy, Elizabeth took shelter at the Indian Queen Inn, which was owned by a distant relative of her parents, and continued to work as an employee of the inn to pay for her lodging. However, towards the final stretch of her pregnancy, the innkeeper told Elizabeth she had to leave immediately. They refused to house a dishonored woman any longer. Where does a young soon-to-be mother go? Elizabeth was able to pay a wagon driver who was from the same neighborhood as her parents to take her to her father’s house, however, he wasn’t able to take her the full distance. After being dropped off on the side of a road, heavily pregnant, Elizabeth was forced to walk the rest of the way to her father’s house. When she finally arrived, she was exhausted and collapsed on the front stoop. Elizabeth was able to muster enough strength to knock on the door, waking her father and stepmother, and upon them seeing her horrific condition, was brought inside the house immediately. Later that night, Elizabeth gave birth to two healthy baby boys.

After Elizabeth regained some of her strength, she rode back to Philadelphia to find the babies’ father and inform him of their birth. She soon found him and requested that he help her with the children by giving her money since he was to be an absent father. Smith and Elizabeth talked for several hours during her visit, but she returned to Chester County. However, Smith requested to meet her outside the city of Philadelphia soon after her return to her father’s house, requiring that she bring the two infants with her. Elizabeth then traveled on a wagon with her sons to meet Smith, telling her parents before she left that she was off to find the babies’ father and be married. The wagon driver dropped her off just outside the city, where she waited on a large boulder off-side the main road for Smith’s arrival. Eventually, he met her and the infants. Smith then asked Elizabeth to travel off of the main path into the woods on the side of the road, so they could talk privately.

 Once the family was tucked away into the trees, Smith took the children from Elizabeth, placed them on the ground beside one another, and instructed Elizabeth to kill the infants, or he would kill her. Naturally, as a mother above all else, Elizabeth refused. Enraged, Smith drew a concealed pistol and pointed it at Elizabeth. He said to the terrified mother that he couldn’t give any mercy to her or the “sinful children” and then stomped on the infant’s chests, crushing them to death. With the gun still pointed at Elizabeth, Smith made her swear on her soul’s everlasting welfare to never tell anyone what had happened.  He then left grief-stricken Elizabeth and the mangled babies returned to the main road and traveled back to Philadelphia. Later that night, Elizabeth showed up on the doorstep of the Indian Queen Inn in a state of complete delirium. However, she refused to explain to anyone what had happened and why she was in such a state of haggard appearance. About a week after the horrific incident, the same wagon driver who had taken Elizabeth to Philadelphia was traveling along the main road when he came upon the two bodies of the infants, which were lying a few feet into the grass on the side of the path.  Elizabeth was immediately suspected of their murder, was arrested, and sentenced to be executed.

Elizabeth and her brother, William “Amos”, were especially close, with him being only two years older than her. William was working on a farm in Lancaster County when he heard of his sister’s arrest. However, since news traveled slowly over distance, he didn’t know anything had happened to his dear sister until her trial had already occurred. In a desperate attempt to have her life spared, and with their parents essentially abandoning Elizabeth (on grounds that she had soiled the family name and reputation upon being a convicted murderer), William began traveling the state in search of signatures of individuals of high influence who would support Elizabeth being pardoned. After all, William believed his sister to be innocent of the crime. This was not just due to his trust in his sister’s character, however. Despite Elizabeth’s refusal to publicly defend her innocence (most likely due to her thought that she was a disgrace to her family), she had revealed in the presence of only her brother, the Judge, the Attorney General, the Sheriff, and the prisoner’s counsel what had actually happened to her infants, and who the true murderer was. This statement was then recorded on paper, and upon having Elizabeth swear to its truth, was given to William to aid in his endeavors to save his sister’s life.

While William was away gathering supporters, Elizabeth remained imprisoned but had many of her close female friends visit her, where she frequently told all of them to beware of men like Smith who would use and abuse young women and ruin them entirely. She didn’t worry herself with the thought of her impending death. Instead, she publicly mourned her lost virtue and expressed constantly how sorry she was for shaming her family. Elizabeth was also visited by many distinguished members of her small Pennsylvania community. After all, the darling of Chester County was in a jail cell. These community figureheads continuously expressed their support of her good character and would pray on her behalf throughout her time of imprisonment. Their words and prayers would extend the execution date by a month but wouldn’t save her.

Meanwhile, William Wilson traveled all across the state of Pennsylvania, frantically searching for any government individual of importance to tell his sister’s story to in hopes of gaining enough support to have her pardoned. He managed to gain the sympathies of Benjamin Franklin, the President of the Supreme Executive Council, who (along with the rest of the Executive Council) issued the statement below:

“The petition of William Wilson, brother to Elizabeth Wilson, now confined in jail of Chester under sentence of death, accompanied by a confession of said Elizabeth, was read, and, in consideration of the circumstances stated therin, it was Ordered, - That the warrant issued by the Board for the Execution of Elizabeth Wilson on Wednesday, the Seventh instant, be revoked, and that another issue, directory of her execution on the third day of January, 1788.”

Wilson managed to additionally collect another statement from the Council, which stated, “Do not execute Wilson til you hear further from the Council” and was addressed directly to the Sheriff. As soon as he had the formal statements in hand, Wilson immediately started his return back to Elizabeth, realizing that her scheduled date of execution was the next day. During his travels, however, Wilson experienced torrential rainfall which caused roads and ditches to flood and overflow. Upon reaching the Middle Ferry over the Schuylkill, he realized that crossing the river in this state at night would be impossible and was forced to wait until morning to attempt to cross. However, when morning arrived, the river was so swift and flooded from the previous day’s rain that the ferryman refused to take William across. William begged the ferryman for hours to reconsider, arguing that human life was at stake. The ferryman still declined to take him to the other side. In desperation, William fastened the pardon in the lining of his cap and placed it on his head. He then secured the hat by tying a handkerchief under his chin and forcing his horse into the rushing water of the river.

William and the horse battled the strong current and were battered with drift-ice and heavy pieces of timber that had been driven by the floodwaters as they made their way across the river. However, upon almost reaching the opposite bank, the horse sank from complete exhaustion, leaving William to fight alone in the raging current. Miraculously, William made it to the other side, and despite total exhaustion, he immediately started looking for another horse. It took quite some time until he was able to secure a new mount, but eventually, William resumed his journey back to Elizabeth.

On the morning of her execution, Elizabeth gathered her parents and her closest friends together and received her sacrament from Reverend D. White. The Sheriff delayed as long as he could, but with no reprieve and William nowhere in sight, he was forced to enforce the execution. At half-past 10 on January 3rd, 1786, Elizabeth Wilson was placed on a cart and led to a wild cherry tree on “Hangman’s Lot” at the intersection of Edgemont and Providence Avenues, and her inescapable demise. However, she went with grace, showing all who watched why she was fitting of her dignified reputation. When the noose was placed around her slender neck, Elizabeth seemed almost inhuman. She was the picture of serenity; not what you expect from a woman only mere moments from death. Even when she dropped, the cart pulled from under her feet, Elizabeth was peaceful. Her death was quick, with minimal struggle, as the noose strangled the life from her.

Twenty-three minutes after Elizabeth’s death, William arrived on horseback, coated in layers of mud and dazed from exhaustion, only to discover the grisly scene. In his hand, he held the pardon. He was too late. In a state of utter shock, William fell from his horse, passing out. Upon being resuscitated, he laid in the dirt, unmoving except for the rise and fall of his chest from the silent sobbing, completely absorbed by grief. The Reverend, who had attended to Elizabeth in her final moments, then gave William a note, which he had been instructed to give to William when he returned by Elizabeth before her death. The note stated that Elizabeth believed her brother had given up on his mission to secure her pardon and therefore had attempted to travel as far away as possible from the location of her execution so as to spare himself the feelings of loss and guilt. She died believing that her brother had abandoned her.

Following Elizabeth’s tragic death, William went into a state of delirium for months. His mental health shattered by the image of his baby sister hanging, he went into total solitude and seclusion, isolating himself entirely from a society that failed him in a Hummelstown cave in the Swatara Mountains, Dauphin County, now known as Indian Echo Caverns. William spent the remaining years of his life living in the caverns, employing himself by making grindstones, which he then sold to a Mr. Wolfersberger in Campbellstown. He survived simply using the bare essentials, refusing contact with most people. Despite his relatively young age, they say his body showed signs of aging induced by severe trauma. The stress lines on his face resembled that of an elderly man and his hair turned snow white.

William’s life in the cavern was as you would expect, lonesome and dreary. However, William kept himself busy making grindstones at the Derry Brown Stone Quarry and writing in his journals, which are now kept at the Harrisburg Archives. Throughout his adolescence, William had a deep love for English and the written language. This passion led to his friendship with the writer, who aided William in producing his own works of literature to the public throughout William’s time in Indian Echo Caverns. These works included “The Sweets of Solitude”, an essay-style piece that expressed William’s distaste for society and tells (in Wilson’s opinion) how happiness is the overall goal of mankind but is both unachievable and unrealistic. According to Wilson, mankind is selfish and insatiable, with most individuals always wishing for more than what one has. Therefore, happiness is unobtainable; unless an individual is entirely pious. Such bitterness and cynicism coincide with his view that his sister’s death was unfair in terms of life.

William Wilson was found dead in the caverns in 1821. It is still unknown how exactly he died, but many believe he died from cardiac arrest. He was then buried, his grave marked with a large stoned initialed “W.W”, which still is yet to be found.

Works Cited

1.     The American Female Hanged 1608 - 1937, www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/amfemhang.html.

2.     “Swatara News in the Sun.” Received by Rich Hartwell, 21 Jan. 1776.

3.     Swartz, Edward. “Elizabeth Wilson.” Received by Kaila Snyder, 18 Feb. 2019.