Business development advisor Tephanie Delaney spoke with Dave Lee this morning on WCCO-Radio to discuss National Blackout Day and what it means for Black-owned businesses in Minneapolis.
Tuesday, July 7, has been announced as Blackout Day, a call to action where people are encouraged to not spend a dollar outside of businesses owned by Black people.
Delaney spoke about the double punch that Black-owned businesses took when it came to the pandemic and then the rioting and looting that took place. She is calling the community to come together and support Black-owned businesses and is doing her part by launching a website to do just that.
“Blackbuyblack is an online marketplace that features Black-owned businesses, vendors, authors and so forth,” Delaney said.
While many are encouraging those who spend money today to do so with Black-owned businesses, Delaney has recognized that many of those businesses do not have the ability to open their doors like once before. She mentions watching the unemployment rate go up as well as these business owners hopes and dreams in smoke.
“Even though I understand some of the anger that fueled the premise it still was an unfortunate situation for people to just lose their business,” Delaney said. “It was gut-wrenching for me.”
Blackbuyblack.com gives businesses who still have products a space to conduct their business while at the same time giving those who want to support Black-owned businesses a place to find them.