These businesses stabilize communities, but structural racism makes their struggles harder, and the pandemic forced many to shutter
— Michelle Singletary, The Washington Post
Dear Reader,
I’d like to share with you why Black businesses matter. In particular, I want to tell you about James Brodie.
Brodie, as all his customers called him, was my brothers’ barber when they were growing up. He gave them their first haircuts. He was like so many Black entrepreneurs who strive for self-sufficiency, inspiring others to build wealth through business ownership. They are the unsung neighborhood heroes who sell real estate or insurance, own beauty salons or barbershops and run funeral homes, corner convenience stores, medical practices, banks, bookstores and restaurants.
Featured Image,
Full Article @ The Washington Post
— Related
The National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) was incorporated as The National Black Chamber of Commerce, Inc., in 1993. It is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian organization dedicated to the economic empowerment of African American communities. Additionally, the organization indicates that it represents the views of its members regarding economic and political policy issues; domestically and internationally. It is organized as a 501(c) corporation and has at least 190 chapters within the United States. The NBCC also has international chapters in the Bahamas, Brazil, Colombia, Ghana and Jamaica. As with all Chambers of Commerce, affiliate branches are committed to carrying out the goals of the main Chamber within their areas.
However, the organization is largely funded by non-African American businesses on behalf of whose interests it often lobbies, such as the fossil fuel, telecommunications, and tobacco industries, and has sometimes been accused of being a front group.
The National Black Chamber of Commerce is based in Washington, D.C.
Source – National Black Chamber of Commerce (Updated: 20 June 2020) Wikipedia. Available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Black_Chamber_of_Commerce, (Accessed: 23 October 2020)