Author Buys Black for One Year

March 1st, 2012 - By Brande Victorian

There’s always lots of talk about “buying black” but few people actually do it. A few years ago, Chicago mother Maggie Anderson made her family put their money where their mouth is and for an entire year they only bought black—which she says wasn’t as easy as it sounds.

“What we found was when we went to the West Side, yes, there were some black businesses, but they are all concentrated in the stereotypical black industries: soul food restaurants, barber shops, braiding salons,” she told Fox news. “We could not find those basic things that every community needs to survive: a grocery store, dry cleaner, department store, general merchandise, mom and pop shops.”

Going beyond the lack of retailers. Maggie said most of the businesses she did find weren’t owned by people in the community and they didn’t employ people from the community either.

“We have all these consumers with hard-earned wealth spending money at businesses, and that money exits the community and goes to empower other people’s communities when our communities need that money.”

To bring about awareness of the struggling black economy and encourage consumers to follow in her footsteps, Maggie detailed her experience in the book, Our Black Year. Now that a couple of years have passed since the experiment, she says “It’s turning into a movement.”

“This came out of a conversation that happens among a lot of African American middle class households. We remember a time when we didn’t have these problems because we had local businesses that kept our communities strong. Those businesses are gone.

“We figured maybe if we did something extreme to bring that issue into the national dialogue, we can get folks to start supporting the few great businesses that we do have and maybe inspire economic empowerment.”

Check out Maggie’s interview here. Have you ever tried to only buy black?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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  • MixedUpInVegas

    I try to patronize black businesses as much as possible.  Vegas is a town dominated by big box chain stores which makes it tough for smaller shops to compete.  As another commentor noted, black businesses tend to be concentrated in a very few types of business.

    The real entrepreneurs in Vegas are the Asians and Hispanics.  They have managed to get large ethnic grocery stores and other shops going in their neighborhoods that draw people from around town.  In the historically black west side, it is fast food chains and liquor stores. It’s a shame, really.

  • http://www.youtube.com/user/TheSapphireEmpress96?feature=mhee A.J.

    I would love to be able to buy Black all the time (I try to as much as possible now).  I’d like to think that most of us would, but part of the issue is that there are not enough Black-owned businesses to support ALL of our consumer needs.  Once that happens, and we get more educated Black people to branch out into different areas of the market, it will be easier.

  • Candacey Doris

    I wouldn’t be able to do it where i live. There’s not enough here. I have a Indian dry cleaner, a hispanic hair dresser and hair product supplier, and a middle eastern butcher. The only thing i can honestly say i get from black people is my Caribbean food. There are a lot of black owned places in the town nearby, but good service is not the name of the game there. I know i’ll get blasted for this, but i tried and getting ignored for ten minutes while people talk on the phone at the grocery store, talk it up with other customers at the dry cleaner for 15 minutes, or  make you wait an hour past your hair appointment to get your hair one was not working for me. 

  • Kmallard

    I own a black nail salon and I patronize most black businesses. My accountant, dentist, doctor, gift shop, car mechanic, podiatrist, hair salon, charter bus company, etc is black. I even make a conscious effort to use black salespeople, especially commissioned salespeople, because I know others are deliberately not using them. I can honestly say that I am pleased with the service and products all around.

    • Kmallard

      I meant are black.

  • CaramelBeauty

    Yes, I do try to buy black products, beauty products.  I have all black doctors, from dentist to gynecologists and they are all fantastic!!!  To me, it just makes better sense!!!!

  • sunsetssplendor

    I don’t make a point to buy ALL black b/c where I live that isn’t even possible.
    I do however make sure that when I’m dealing in real estate, insurance, car
    purchase etc… I look for the black or minority person to assist me so that they will
    receive the large commission.

    http://doingmemindbodyandspirit.blogspot.com/

  • guest

    i know i am going to catch a lot of flack for this statement but the civil rights movement was one of the worst things to happen to the  black community. now before i get lynched hear me out. i am not talking about basic rights such as voting, being able to walk the street without abuse and the like but to the actual community. before the movement, american blacks had whole communities that were black run. grocery stores, diners, shoe stores, basically everything needed for us to be self sufficient. after civil rights, a lot of blacks ran to white owned stores just to prove a point while removing funds from their own  communities.

    • http://www.youtube.com/user/TheSapphireEmpress96?feature=mhee A.J.

      I hear what you’re saying.  A lot of people did move out of the community after integration, but the problem is that they didn’t come back to teach others how to run a business, or to stay and help their people.  It’s the same way that the “race film” industry of the ’30s and ’40s floundered as more roles for Blacks in films were opened up.

    • awax941

      You on point. The goal like Farrakhan said is to integrate through separation. Sounds like a paradox but the example is China Town. They’re integrated because they’re in the U.S., but their neighborhood’s are THEIR neighborhood’s! I went to the China Town here in Philly, and a bunch of them couldn’t even speak English. Didn’t look like they wanted to either, and if they did they sure weren’t looking to converse with my Black a** too much. Why don’t we have Africa Town?

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