Photo: BuyBlackNB
NEW BEDFORD, Mass — In 2021, BuyBlackNB presented nine vendor pop-ups to support Black-owned businesses in the SouthCoast. Formed during the Black Lives Matter protests, the organization has even more impressive goals for 2022.
“The directory was a start,” said BuyBlackNB founder Justina Perry, adding she was proud of what the team created from nothing.
In creating the directory, Perry said she discovered more than 150 Black-owned businesses in the SouthCoast and has registered them all on the website.
“Now it has become a movement throughout the community,” she added.
“In our platform, we are Black and proud and unapologetic about it. That’s what we are highlighting and the community we are starting. We create that sense of pride about Blackness.”
In the wake of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, people showered Black-owned businesses with support. The sudden attention on inequality in America spun numerous online lists spotlighting Black-owned companies for people to support, according to a USAToday article.
Almost as soon as protests kicked off in late May 2020, online sales surged 225% over what was considered average for Black-owned businesses in a 2019 report. Read more.
