As we celebrate Black History month (and in our ongoing celebration beyond February) we thought it would be helpful to highlight some ways in which you can support Black-owned businesses in 2021. Support of these businesses should be more than just a trend and genuinely extend beyond a one-time transaction. Here are some ways you can seek to support Black-owned businesses:

Support Black-Owned Banks & Credit Unions

Consider transferring an existing bank account or opening a new account with a Black-owned bank. Learn more about the #BankBlack movement and explore an interactive map of Black-owned banks and credit unions within the U.S.

Support Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

Data reflects that HBCUs outperform non-HBCU institutions in retaining and graduating first-generation, low-income African American students. By supporting an HBCU, scholarships and support can extend to help support the success of students of color.

According to Dr. Michael Lomax’s article “Why HBCUs Still Matter“: The impact of HBCUs begins, naturally, with the college experience itself. A 2015 Gallup-Purdue poll reports that African American graduates of HBCUs are more likely to have felt supported while in college and to be thriving afterward than their black peers who graduated from primarily white institutions (PWIs). The poll reports that the greatest measured difference between African American graduates of HBCUs and black graduates of other schools is their perceived level of financial well-being. Forty percent of HBCU students report feeling financially secure during college, as opposed to 29 percent of black students at other schools.

View an interactive map of HBCUs across the U.S.

Buy Black-Owned Brands

By diverting your purchasing power to more Black-owned businesses, it will help close the racial wealth gap, strengthen local economies, foster job creation, celebrate Black culture, serve Black communities, and help hold other companies accountable.

View goods and services of Black-owned brands

Here are some additional resources to finding Black-owned businesses to support:

• Support Black Owned: This website and mobile app helps you find Black-owned businesses from all over the country.
• African American Literature Book Club: This database is dedicated to the many Black-owned bookstores across America.
• EatOkra: The EatOkra app is great for specifically finding Black-owned restaurants and food services.
• Instagram: Useful for finding smaller, independent Black-owned shops to support. Start off by following some hashtags: #SupportBlackBusiness, #SupportBlackArt, #ShareBlackStories.

More websites, apps, and databases meant for finding Black-owned businesses:

• Black-Owned Brooklyn
• WeBuyBlack
• WhereU Came From
• I Am Black Business

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You may also be interested in:

• Black Women in Marketing (BWM) – An Organization Created to Spotlight and Connect Black Women in the Marketing Industry
• 10 Black Inventors of Modern Innovations Who You May Not Have Known About
• I Have a Dream – The Lasting Impact of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Famous Speech