Celebrating Black Businesses During National Black Business Month

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Blair Reeves |

August is National Black Business Month, a month in which black businesses and entrepreneurs are recognized and celebrated for their success, milestones, and historic progress.

According to the annual business survey data“Black or African Americans own about 124,551 businesses, and about 28.5% or 35,547 of these businesses are in the healthcare and social support sector, which is the highest percentage of the minority group.

Throughout history, black companies have systematically racist, redlining, as evidenced by the Tulsa massacre in which the economically prosperous black community in Tulsa’s Greenwood district was attacked and destroyed in 1921. And even endured violence.

Over the past year and a half, the pandemic has forced many businesses to shut down, which has had a disproportionate impact on black businesses. 40 percent drop Black business ownership.

Nevertheless, the black business continues to grow and succeed.by Yelp Local Economic Impact ReportDespite the setbacks caused by the pandemic, black and female-owned businesses have been patient. According to the report, the percentage of people searching for black-owned businesses on Yelp in the United States increased by 3,085%In 2020, Yelp will add attributes such as “Black-owned” and “Latinx-owned” to help business owners tag businesses and make it easier for consumers to support such businesses. Introduced. (Photo courtesy of Yelp)

Today’s black business owners can partially credit historical figures such as Booker T. Washington and WEB Dubois, who have established organizations and guidelines for the development and growth of black businesses. They also encouraged financial literacy in the black community by establishing organizations such as the National Negro Business League.

Origin of black companies

Founded by Washington in 1900, the National Negro Business League convenes members of the black community of business owners, community figures, and educators to pursue prosperity, economic growth, and economic development in the African-American community. Established an institution.

Washington has outlined criteria and guidelines on how local leagues should run, direct members, and interact with white merchants for success.

According to the booklet on “Organizing a Local Negroid Business for the League”, written between 1915 and 1923, the members were expected to: An important advance in racing. Bring a new member. Look for suspicious people and bring them into your organization. Be prepared to (and) prove that the union has power. “