This Holiday Season make It Your Business to Support a BLACK OWNED Business

This Holiday season, Black people will spend hundreds of millions of their $1.1 trillion dollars in spending power on gifts for friends and family.

But it won’t spend any of that money with Black-owned businesses like mine.

Which is why the Black community remains poor the remaining 364 days of the year after the holiday season.

Black people consume without considering who is producing. And that’s why the Black community is behind the 8-ball economically compared to the rest of the world.

In the aftermath of racial profiling incidents like the ones at Barneys and Macy*s, Black folks should be making a serious effort to support Black-owned businesses.

Black folks, your money is valuable. And you deserve the very best in service from a business. If a business is going to enforce illegal policies such as racial profiling, don’t protest the business.

Take your money elsewhere.

Too many times Black people sit there and tolerate abuse and call it customer service. We put up with bag checks, being followed around and having our money examined and questioned if our credit cards are stolen or not. Heck, we can’t even take stuff back to the store for a refund in a lot of shopping districts like Fordham Road which cater to Black customers.

Black people often feel we don’t have any options but we do. 

Shop at Black-owned Businesses.

When I was a teenager, I used to shop at jeans and sneaker stores Fordham Road because I thought they were the only game in town.  I don’t shop there anymore.

Why? Because I realized my money was valuable. I came to understand that I didn’t have to deal with merchants who disrespected me with those racist policies such as racial profiling and questioned the authenticity of my money. There were other options for me as a consumer. In this age of online businesses like mine, a Black customer doesn’t have to deal with poor customer service and racist business practices.

Black folks There are thousands of Black-owned merchants in retail and online who value your business and your money. People like myself who appreciate the time you take to spend your money with us.

Black dollars are valuable. And they’re more valuable when spent with Black businesses. When Black dollars are spent with Black businesses Black people can create jobs for other Black people.

When you spend money with me I can do shows like The
Harlem Book Fair, Circle of Sisters and keep Black dollars
in the community! The more money I make the more Black
people I can hire! 

When you spend money with people who look like you, they can hire people who look like you. But when you spend your money with people who don’t look like you, they take your money to hire people who look like them. 97 percent of Black dollars go to hire Whites, Latinos, Asians, Arabs and finance their lifestyles.  

While Black folks remain in poverty. Going into debt to finance a Holiday season that takes care of NonBlack people 364 days of the year.

Economic power is what allows people to build wealth. And wealth is what allows people to have the resources to create policy that builds strong communities.

Black folks, give yourself a gift that gives back to you 365 days of the year : A stable economy that takes allows Black people to take care of other Black people. Because when you spend Black, the money comes back.