How Amazon is Helping Minority-Owned Businesses Create Sustainable Success
We love to buy stuff, and we love to help- and when our impulse buying ALSO can bring out positive change in a worthy cause… it’s a win/win.
We bought so many mother-effing stamps when we heard the post office was having financial trouble. When the turtles were choking in the ocean, we bought metal straws like it was our own crusty noses getting clogged with plastic. And everyone from both sides of the aisle reach for their wallets as soon as they see this….
So during the Black Lives Matter protests last summer, it was not surprising that when we were encouraged to shop at black-owned and minority-owned businesses, we immediately got down to the beautiful and important work of buying shit. During the height of the protests, there were more than 2,500,000 searches for black-owned businesses on Yelp, which was a 7,043% increase from the previous year.
February is Black History Month, and continuing to feature these businesses really makes a difference- and it needs to. 41% of the businesses closed between February and April of 2020 were black-owned, (compared to 17% white). Additionally, the statistics of how difficult it is for minority business owners to raise capital have been flooding the news.
It’s a notable development that consumers are showing their support with their dollars. But we’ve been there before. The hope among minority groups is that this becomes less of a “trend” and more of a habit as people begin to consistently use these businesses without a friendly reminder from society.
Many platforms began highlighting black and minority-owned businesses and the owners themselves. Amazon was chief among these, partnering with the National Business League to recruit minority-owned businesses and help them sell their products.
They also are featuring minority business owners, their stories, and their products on their site. Several other websites and organizations have started black-owned business directories, including Blax, Official Black Wall Street, and Support Black Owned.
There is a growing awareness of some of the systemic issues that can contribute to small business inequity, which can’t be fixed easily. But guys, shopping is helping, so treat yourself.
