Push to support Black-owned businesses intensifies amid DEI rollbacks
Participants pose during a past Black Business Bus Tour in Tampa. Candy Lowe hosts the quarterly visit to Black-owned businesses in Tampa Bay.
CANDY LOWE
As shoppers pledge to boycott many big name retailers like Target and Walmart over their decision to discontinue Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, many Black shoppers are wondering how to support Black-owned businesses instead.
The National NAACP issued a Black Consumer Advisory on Feb. 15 encouraging Black consumers to “spend your money where you’re respected, support Black- owned businesses, and demand businesses prioritize people over profit.”
In its advisory, members of the NAACP leadership indicated the nationwide rollback of DEI policies is eliminating DEI-related positions that allowed Black professionals to advance; reducing supplier diversity, which could lead to fewer contracts for Black-owned businesses; leading to a decline in investments to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs); and shifting away from equitable hiring practices that sought to diversify leadership.
According to the NAACP, Black consumers have an estimated purchasing power exceeding $1.8 trillion annually.
How to support Florida’s Black-owned businesses
Candy Lowe, 61, owner of the Black Business Bus Tour, which has operated in Tampa for 20 years, said it’s time for the Black community to come up with a plan for how it will consistently support Black-owned businesses on a regular basis.
“If we as a people intentionally make sure on a regular basis we spend with Black-owned businesses, we can take this to another level,” Lowe said.
“This is to me a jumpstart to something great. A jumpstart to a vision that can open a number of doors for small, Black-owned businesses. “
Four times a year, she leads a tour with customers packing two to three coach buses, where they patronize four Black-owned businesses in the Tampa Bay region. The next Black Business Bus Tour is scheduled for April 19 at 9 a.m., departing from 11213 N. Nebras- ka Ave., Suite 402, in Tampa. The cost is $20.
She suggests Black consumers pick a day of the week or the month where they will spend solely with Black-owned businesses.
“No matter what city I’m in, I put in my social media Black-owned businesses in Chicago, in Tampa. Everybody’s got a page. Whatever city you’re in, search that. It’s up to us to make the change. It’s up to us to stop complaining,” Lowe added.
Candy Lowe, founder of the Black Business Bus Tour, presents an award in August 2024 to Rodney Jones, founder of Business Plans Plus, during the inaugural Black Business Hall of Fame Tampa. The Hall of Fame was organized by Lowe, a Tampa native and entrepreneur.
How the Target boycott began
After the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020, Target instituted several DEI initiatives, which in part aimed at increasing the number of Black-owned businesses supplying products to its stores, provided professional development opportunities for workers from diverse backgrounds, and offered diversity-focused surveys to consumers and outside groups.
While the retailer said in a news release the initiatives were only intended to last for three years and end in 2025, many find the timing troubling considering the Jan. 24 announcement came after President Trump’s inauguration when many other retailers and companies announced they were walking away from their DEI policies.
Target’s stock price hit a high of 142.50 on Jan. 27 and then fell to 125.99 as of March 3. In comparison, according to the Nasdaq stock exchange.
Atlanta pastor, Dr. Jamal Bryant, of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, has called for a Target fast for 40 days that began March 5. A website, targetfast.org, has been created. It includes a “Black Wall Street Ticker,” which explains the movement and asks people to sign a pledge to join the boycott.
Upon doing so, they are given access to the Black Chamber of Commerce’s digital business directory, which features 300,000 Black-owned businesses.
On its voter wallet page, you can see the amount of dollars redirected away from Target being spent in real time. The site asks people their first and last name, email, race, where they spent money and how much, and it asks for people to be honest in their responses. As of 11 a.m. March 3, more than $125,000 had been spent elsewhere.
Other directories of Black-owned businesses SupportBlackOwned is an online directory of Black-owned businesses around the world. It allows users to search their city for Black-owned businesses, or search for the product or serve they’re looking for.
Blk+Grn, which stands for Black and Green, elevates non-toxic beauty products while supporting Black women entrepreneurs from around the world.
It features over 136 Black artisans.
DSI Black Pages offers an online directory of Black businesses to support, many of them based in the Tampa Bay region.
The Greenbook of Tampa Bay is an online directory of Black-owned businesses in Florida, with an emphasis on businesses located in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
Black Pages Miami showcases Black-owned businesses in Palm Beach, Miami and Broward County in its online directory.
The 2023-2024 Black World Guide, created by the Miami-Dade County Black Affairs Advisory Board, is a list of everything related to the Black community in Miami. It highlights everything from Black-owned food trucks and vendors, to Black-owned hair salons and restaurants and gyms. The vendors are grouped together based om where they’re located.
Visit Jacksonville has assembled a lot of content related to Black-owned shops, restaurants and entertainment venues on its website’s “Black Travel Guide.”
Black Jax Connect dubs itself as Jacksonville’s largest directory of Black-owned businesses. It lists businesses based off of the category of product or service it provides.
The African American Chamber of Commerce of Central Florida is a membership organization serving public, private, and not-forprofit African American-owned businesses and organizations in Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia counties.
