Business
African Americans realizing that black business success depends on them
More and more Black Americans are realizing that the success of Black businesses relies on them.
In a time of financial anguish for many, some African-Americans have decided to take things into their own hands. Rapper David Banner, for instance, wants African-Americans to get financially literate and start making money work for them. In the same vein, Wells Fargo has partnered with the NAACP to build a financial literacy program. Not content to sit around and wait for the economy to get better, African-Americans are figuring out how to earn and build wealth the way the white community has for years. And the start of that wealth, for many, is in business.
Owing to the fact that a vital small business sector is one of the cornerstones of a community’s financial health, Black Americans are paying increasing attention to small businesses within their community. In Detroit, for instance, the Michigan Black Chamber of Commerce (MBCC) is looking to unite Black-owned businesses in order to strengthen them all.
There are 79,000 black-owned businesses in Michigan, 32,000 in Detroit, all among 1.9 million black-owned businesses counted nationwide in the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent Survey of Business Owners, done in 2007. The numbers were up 60.5 percent from 2000. Black businesses employ more than 900,000 people and earn about US$137.5 billion in revenue, the survey found.
The MBCC hopes to cultivate affiliate organizations in dozens of cities throughout the United States, thus creating a nationwide alliance to benefit Blacks everywhere.
