Black Lives Matter! Black Businesses too.
Black Lives Matter! Although it may seem like a taboo statement to some, it's a matter of life and death to many. At this point in time, the world is longer accepting silence or even neutrality in support of this statement by the strongly oppressed. This fact is even supported by the large influx of official statements regarding the deaths of unarmed black people killed by the police; Breonna Taylor and George Floyd for example, by large corporations. Target, Twitter, Netflix, and even Ben and Jerry’s are just a few of the large brands that have made statements and even substantial contributions to the Black Lives Matter movement or in support of low income, predominantly black community initiatives.
Although for small business owners, even in support of the movement, the experience has been a little different. Small business owners tend to be more on the front lines and are more susceptible to irreparable damage from rioting as well as already being affected from COVID19. This is not to say that people's anger isn’t warranted, and even supported. Either way, small business owners unfortunately don’t have the same protections as the large corporations against physical and financial affects of the uprising.
So, what is the answer? Surely, this isn’t the time for divisiveness within the black community.
Surely, we cannot just let our own people be oppressed by our anger either.
Black lives matter doesn’t define any differences between us, the success of one black person is the success for the majority. At least...it should be. Whether business owner or consumer, we have a responsibility to support the communities we serve and live in. That means; knowing the community where your business or storefront exists and being a part of it, as well as knowing the black business owners in your community, and supporting them.
Due to the deeply rooted racism and systematic oppression that's embedded into the DNA of this country, it's hard to tell traumatized and hurt people of color how to react to the current situations and even the fact that it has continued from our pasts. But as deep as the racism in this country runs, so does the unification of black people in order to fight for our rights to live.
Once upon a time, small black businesses and owners were protected by their own communities and every dollar earned by a black person was spent in their own community. This is essentially how the legendary Black Wall Street began and thus the importance of the “black dollar”.
“Black buying power continues to grow, rising from $320 billion in 1990 to $1.3 trillion in 2018. Between 2000 and 2018, Black buying power rose 114%, compared with an 89% increase in White buying power.” -The Nielson Report 2019
https://www.nielsen.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/09/2019-african-american-DIS-report.pdf
If you aren’t patronizing the communities or color you may or may not live in, you are essentially counting yourself out of the largest spending group in the United States. As a business owner, being known and supportive IN your community is a great way to get their support, as well as protection, especially during hard times like these. It’s not only important to stand with the black community right now, but to recognize yourself as a leader of the black community, because...you own your own. Being a leader doesn’t just earn you clients and support, but respect. There are grassroots organizations in low impoverished communities of color all over the U.S.
Participating in grassroots events and knowing your local teams, is a great way to connect directly with people in your market and generally in the community. Indivisible.com is a great resource to use to find your local grassroots organizations (https://indivisible.org/groups).
Black people are not animals, they are angry and hurt! Even in the midst of unrest we have the historical and current wherewithal to uprise without hurting our own or ourselves. Get to know your community, this is an easy and perfect time to connect with them; because no matter who you are in this country, you can and should understand why people feel the need to say BLACK. LIVES. MATTER. Its up to you to take the first steps, you’re a leader remember? Your community will become your market...have faith they will protect you too.
