These business owners made lists of Black-owned companies so that customers can spread the wealth that big businesses won’t give up.
After the racial justice protests that happened all over the US in 2020, corporate America made a long list of promises to fix racial inequality. The big business said it would help workers of color move up in the company, and it also said it would support Black businesses, which is a more general but still important goal. A total of $50bn was promised by the 50 largest companies and institutions in the United States. But a study by the consulting firm Creative Investment Research showed that by the next year, only $250 million of the money that had been promised had been spent.
Renee Montgomery, a former player in the WNBA, recently became a part owner of the Atlanta Dream team. She is one of the few Black people who have a stake in sports in the US.
At the same time, a different kind of action, which may seem like a drop in the bucket compared to 11-figure promises, started to become more common. After George Floyd died, a lot of Black business lists and directories were made to help people spend their own money. Institutions started to publish hand-picked lists of Black-run businesses to support. These included fashion magazines, local business associations, food delivery services, and fitness apps.
Several big companies also put out lists. Ron Busby Sr, president and CEO of the non-profit US Black Chambers Inc in Washington, DC, worked with a number of brands to make a directory. American Express was one of those brands. Busby was already known for ByBlack, a shopping guide and certification that makes sure at least 51% of businesses in the US are owned and run by Black people. “The goal is to have all of corporate America go to one place,” says Busby. “We want to have a lot of Black businesses of all sizes and in all kinds of fields.”
Even though online lists might not be able to make a business owner rich overnight, they can move the needle, even if only slowly. When Nisha Blackwell’s handmade bow tie business, Knotzland, was put on a list of Black-owned businesses by the Pittsburgh tourism board, she wasn’t sure it would help her business much. But in the last few years, “I was completely shocked,” she says. She says that many lists of Black-owned businesses “are just for Black History Month or Juneteenth” and don’t last long, but “this list has staying power.”
Jimmy McNeal is the owner of Union Square Shoes, a brand of shoes for action sports. He hasn’t seen his company on any Black-owned list yet. The business owner from Camden, New Jersey, isn’t sure that being on a list of Black-owned companies would make or break a sneaker brand. Instead, he’s putting his attention on growing his label’s social media presence. “Perhaps in five or seven years, the lists will join forces with major TV networks and news websites and go to the next level,” he says. “Don’t get me wrong, the buying black lists aren’t nothing, but in a few years they could be really big.”
Since it opened in Atlanta in 2016, the Village Market has been a retail cooperative with 47 brands owned by Black people. When the pandemic started, the regular pop-ups stopped, so Dr. Lakeysha Hallmon, the company’s founder and CEO, decided to move quickly and focus on the Internet. “Turning in a different direction saved the Village Market and a lot of the people who work there,” she says.