Black Economic Power

Buying from and investing in black-owned businesses strengthens our communities and creates jobs.

- Carolyn M. Brown

ONE OF THE MOST OVERLOOKED ASPECTS OF RACIAL equality is economic equality. This is why black-owned businesses are crucial to the modern black liberation movement and economic empowerment in the black community. Consumer activism goes beyond boycotting a company or brand—it also entails buying from and investing in black-owned businesses.

The significance of buying black has been pointed out by scholars and community activists for decades as an avenue to strengthen urban communities. Circulating dollars into black-owned businesses enables them to keep their doors open. Adding 1.1 million more businesses owned by people of color would add about nine million jobs to the American economy—enough to close the black-white unemployment rate gap, according to Algernon Austin, senior research fellow at the Center for Global Policy Solutions.

The purchasing power of African American consumers has reached $1.2 trillion, reports the University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth. Yet, the purported lifespan of a dollar is six hours in the black community compared to 17 days in white communities.