Blog Post 4

For Monday, November 21, we are assigned to read the Commercial Appeal article titled, “What role do #BLM activists see for Memphis Businesses?”. The article written by Kevin McKenzie chronicles the thoughts of activist Tami Sawyer, NAACP Executive Director Madeline Taylor, and Juliet Walker, a history professor and director of the Center of Black Business History, Entrepreneurship and Technology at the University of Texas at Austin. In the article, the contributors talk about the sentiment to “buy black” and keeping the black community aware of black businesses. Overall, the article’s contributors think that success of black economics lies in the black community’s support of black business. Walker says, “black Americans have encouraged supporting black businesses since the 18th century” (McKenzie). She continues, “In the post-Reconstruction era rise of Jim Crow until the 1964 Civil Rights Act, black business operated in a virtual separate black economy. Literally, there was no alternative except to buy black notwithstanding that outside of the basic necessities, African Americans were literally forced to buy from white corporate America”(McKenzie). Walker’s comments show that unsuccessful black business does not occur due to the lack of support from the black community. Walker demonstrated that due to segregation and Jim Crow, “buying black” was the only option for black people. Sawyer says that “I don’t think it’s a widespread idea. With integration, we lost that natural support of our businesses when we didn’t need them anymore. We forgot that they also needed us, so a lot of black businesses crumbled.” To some extent, I agree with Sawyer. Because of integration black people were able to shop wherever. Maybe instead of having to drive an extra mile to a black owned grocery store, black people shopped at the white owned grocer because it was closer to their house. However, I do think that there is an immense desire in the black community to “buy black”. Walker highlights a Chicagoan black couple who decided to exclusively “buy black” during the 2009 calendar year. I think this challenge illuminates the desire to “buy black”. I think the discrepancy lies in the fact that the black community does not know about black businesses in their cities/communities. This is why I think initiatives like the Official Memphis BLM Chapter’s #blackfridayeveryday and resources like Sawyer’s PowerBox are so essential to black economics. How can black communities be expected to “buy black” if they do not know about black businesses in the towns?

Link to article: http://archive.commercialappeal.com/business/development/What-role-do-Black-Lives-Matter-activists-see-for-Memphis-businesses-370700211.html