A Moment in Black History: Mike Bellot

Mike Bellot created the Solo Bag following the tragic loss of his cousin who passed away because he was studying by candlelight and had fallen asleep. All of this happened because his cousin didn’t have access to electricity to study. The Solo Bag not only provides light for reading and studying, but power for charging phones and tablets, too. Mike thought the Solo Bag could also address the alarming problem in his home country of Haiti—lack of access to electricity.

The Solo Bag is essentially a backpack with a light powered through an attached solar panel to help students see while studying. Mike wanted to create something that was easy to use, that would charge itself, and would be extremely self-sufficient. After much trial and error, the bag was launched in 2018 and patented in 2019. Matthew took his family crisis and turned it into an opportunity to create a brighter future for students, one Solo Bag at a time.

Matthew Bellot is this week’s Black History Month’s Changemaker.