Black Owned Businesses on Amazon

February 11, 2019 Lisa Odigie

It’s been an interesting few months and I will get you all caught up soon, but for now, let’s talk about how we spend our money. I’ve been a big supporter of the #blackownedbusiness movement for some time now, mostly because I strongly believe in recirculating money within my community. This really isn’t a new concept, as most communities tend to spend money within their cultural or ethnic identity (think Asian markets, Hispanic markets, Jewish markets and delis, etc). However, Black owned businesses in America saw a steep decline once segregation ended, and the Black community began to patronize businesses that weren’t “our own”.

Why is this important? Well, let’s look at this comparison from the Money Maven. “A dollar circulates in Asian communities for a month, in Jewish communities approximately 20 days and white communities 17 days. How long does a dollar circulate in the black community? 6 hours!!! African American buying power is at 1.1 Trillion; and yet only 2 cents of every dollar an African American spends in this country goes to black owned businesses.”

We all know that Amazon is changing the game when it comes to our shopping habits, keeping us out of stores and shopping for literally everything online. I know I‘m guilty of using that free 2-day shipping to avoid LA traffic and the general nonsense that seems to happen everyday on these LA streets. In my quest to shop from more Black-owned businesses, I realized that my Amazon purchases are the one area where I find it kind of difficult to locate Black-owned brands. It’s not like they have a “Black owned” category, and even when you’re almost positive the products are Black owned, it’ll be packaged and shipped from somewhere in Asia or owned by a major conglomerate here in America.

So, I’ve done a little research and have found a number of companies that are selling everyday products and specialty items made for us by us. I will be adding to this list as I find them, so if you know of any, please comment below so we can highlight them!