I have no will power. Well…at least when it comes to shopping. I’ve tried shopping “black” a hundred times, but always lose the gumph! Having lived in D.C. and Brooklyn, one would think it’d be easy. Unfortunately, Koreans don’t have a drop of black in them and the Pakistanis on the corner accept card and cash.
That’s right, I said it. It’s hard to buy black.
With so many of our neighborhoods being financially dominated by other races, finding a black establishment can be a chore. Unlike my trifling wavering self, families all over the country took the extra initiative to only patronize black-owned businesses for one year.
Started by a Chicago couple, the Empowerment Experiment is a pledge they and others committed to, in order to support black entrepreneurs and empower our under-served communities.
Bringing known scholar Dr. Michael Eric Dyson to the team, they’re site offers a pledge plan. You can document your patron journey and they even list black owned establishments in your neighborhood.
“We have the real power to do something, to use the money we spend every day to solve our problems,” said Maggie Anderson, one of the Empowerment Experiment’s founders, at a meet-and-greet in Atlanta. “We have to believe that black businesses are just as good as everybody else’s.”
As hard as the adjustment is, I have to admit it’s a worthy case. There’s nothing better than walking out of an establishment and knowing you’ve contributed to building your community. So many other races of people do it, isn’t it about time for us to invest in us?
