4 minute read
Spotlight on Black businesses
Justina Perry, founder of BuyBlackNB.
By Steven Froias
Advertisement
After the nation – and world – witnessed the horrific murder of George Floyd last May, many were galvanized to take to the streets and express their outrage and force America to grapple with its legacy of racial injustice.
Justina Perry, too, was galvanized into action. The 32-year-old life-long New Bedford resident says the sight of what she saw happening to Black bodies around the nation compelled her to take action.
That determination found expression in a campaign she launched last June called BuyBlackNB – an online platform highlighting the area’s many Black-owned small business and creative endeavors. It was launched as a website that featured over 75 Black-owned businesses. You can find it at buyblacknb.com.
In a release announcing the new venture, Perry stated “In supporting local Black-owned businesses, we are working to close the racial wealth gap, strengthen our local economies, foster job creation, and celebrate Black culture.”
It has certainly done all that. Indeed, it quickly entered the collective consciousness of the region and became widely shared via social media – fulfilling its mission almost from day one and gathering new teammates to the cause.
The impressive BuyBlackNB.com offers viewers an interactive map to help patrons discover the businesses it listed in its directory, and it continued to add new ones over the summer and into the autumn. And, it doesn’t charge any sort of fee to be listed as a Black-owned business on its website or social media platforms.
“The work is a labor of love for people, places, and products that make up the New Bedford community,” the group’s first press release stated, adding that BuyBlackNB would serve as “a source for resources and action.” It quickly made good on that pledge by conducting a fundraiser consisting of a branded t-shirt and tank tee sale, with all of the proceeds going to the New Bedford branch of the NAACP.
Intersectional justice
This past holiday season, BuyBlackNB introduced the first Black-owned Holiday Gift Directory to the South Coast, ending a satisfying first half-year of life. But far from resting on its laurels, the BuyBlackNB movement is poised for an even bigger 2021.In February, BuyBlackNB launc hed “Black in Business” to highlight and support Black entrepreneurs and aspiring business leaders. To do this, they’re partnering with the New Bedford Historical Society to host its first virtual event called, “HERstory: A Celebration of Black Women.”
HERstory events will give participants the opportunity to hear from women entrepreneurs, “drawing from a collective wealth of business experience and a shared passion for supporting women of color businesses,” the introduction states. “With HERstory, we invite everyone to join in celebrating Black Women role models and to enjoy women-led and focused discussions.”
The first HERstory took place on Thursday, February 25th. The speakers included Samia Walker of EforAll; Celia Brito, Tanya Alves, Cynthia Rose of Celia’s Boutique; Lori Gomes of Beauty Union; and Iva Brito, artist, educator and activist. (Be sure to follow the website or Facebook.com/BuyBlackNB for future online meeting links.)
“This dynamic team of women entrepreneurs are drawing from a collective wealth of business experience and a shared passion for supporting women of color businesses. Come listen to their stories of how they have worked towards, successfully navigated, and sustained their own businesses,” event promotion for the series stated. Justina Perry herself, with Rayana Grace of the New Bedford Historical Society, led the first discussion.
That’s not all that BuyBlackNB has on its 2021 agenda. In an effort to continue supporting Black-owned businesses, the group will host an outdoor market in Custom House Square Park, downtown New Bedford this summer. There, all people are invited to come purchase goods and services from BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) Owned Businesses in a safe and inclusive place.
It’s clear that a moment in time has become so much more for BuyBlackNB. It is now an indelible part of the fabric of the South Coast community. As the website states, it is “your go-to source” for supporting Black-owned businesses.
In a list of 2021 New Year’s Resolutions, BuyBlackNB blogger Diogo Fernandes Tavares leads off with this: “If you want to support Black business, put your money up. You must convince your friends and families that Black business is integral to a future where healing and love can take place.”
Fernandes ends – or perhaps begins anew – with this: “Amplify Black voices and spread the word – In 2021 I urge all people, not just Black people, to consider changing your buying habits as a way to end racism in our country.”
In 2021, that means BuyBlackNB. A grace note delivered to South Coast by Justina Perry, Diogo Fernandes Tavares, and the growing team that is offering all of us a way forward.