Business
Advocates of local Black business urge better-educated spending
According to a 2011 Nielsen consumers report, the U.S. Black population’s collective buying power is projected to be US$1.1 trillion by 2015. Many community members, hearing that at least US$4 billion is spent annually just by Black Minnesotans, are wondering aloud why economic inequalities in the Black community persist. The answer, some say, is in how and where Blacks are spending that money.
The report also found that Black households make more shopping trips annually than any other group, they spend more on basic food ingredients and beverages, fragrance and personal health, and beauty products.
How can we as African Americans use that money to contribute to savings, to investment — to create our own banks?” asks Tasha Byers, a member of the African American Leadership Forum.
Shawn V.T. Pearce of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, an interfaith organization, points out that with such buying power, “I really encourage people to ‘Think Black, Shop Black.’”