An e-Commerce Movement Melanoid Exchange is an e-commerce movement for melanin complexion business owners. The platform allows black businesses to sell and promote their products all while uplifting the black culture, creating positive energy for change, and cultivating unity within the minority entrepreneur community.
a boycott of not just Gucci but other gigantic brands. Buy Black was the new route for fashion and changed the game for black business owners. The Buy Black Movement supported smaller black-owned businesses and the black community as a whole. Jovante and Darsha Ham decided to participate in the “buy black” movement. After committing to the boycott they soon found it to be less empowering and more of a task. The businesses they did find were scattered on-line, at various flea markets, trade shows, festivals, and small pop-up shops. it became very hard to remain consistent supporting black businesses due to the lack of black businesses having an online presence.
Melanoid Exchange started its journey in 2019 during the offensive Gucci Black Face Sweater. The release of the racist imagery Gucci called fashion during Black History Month sent the black community into an uproar. The idea of a white person painting their face with black paint or polish, dressing in raggedy tattered clothes, with exaggerated features to make fun of the black culture was not acceptable in the past and was no way ac- Curious to find out the reason ceptable now. these companies were not on any of the available marketThe skepticism of Gucci’s lack place platforms the couple set of discernment for their black out on a journey. In search of and brown buyers resulted in answers, they revisited the flea 10
|
AVID MAGAZINE
markets, trade shows, festivals, and pop up shops to find answers. Many of those businesses stated that they believed being online could help them but could not afford the maintenance fees of those platforms. The concerned couple began to think, “how can we make this easier for the businesses to gain loyal customers in one on-line platform?” After researching and strategic planning, we created Melanoid Exchange built on providing an affordable platform for black business owners, while centralizing a place to purchase and buy all things black. Shortly after launching, Jovante saw the same type of disadvantages for all minority-owned businesses in his community. Whether product or service-based, all small minority businesses were facing a lack of customer retention. Melanoid Exchange now had
