Shop with a Conscience and #BUYBLACK This Holiday Season!
If you have missed my Facebook primer on boycotts and #BoycottBlackFriday, find it here. (I do not advocate shopping this Friday at all, but more about that here.) I did my best to come up with a list of great businesses to support in the coming weeks, and especially this #SmallBusinessSaturday. Thanks a million to Raël Nelson James, Pat Armstrong-Watkins, and Faraji Whalen for their suggestions. I hope that you will continue to send me businesses to add to this list.
I also want to note that shopping with a conscience really requires using your brain. Remember that companies change hands, executives direct the paths of their businesses, and "just" being black- or minority-owned doesn't mean the business is good for its community.
(There is one publicly-traded company I want to highlight before we get to the list: Costco. If you need something from a big-box store this holiday season (or ever), consider going to them. They have living wages, days off, and actual benefits for employees. For more on why Costco is probably the best big-old-store, go here.)
But back to the really important thing:
DC-Area Black-Owned Businesses
Food/Bakeries/Restaurants
Acqua al 2 (Eastern Market)
Denson Liquor Bar (Gallery Place)
Ghibellina (Logan)
Harold Black (Eastern Market)
The Hen House (Food Truck)
Orange Cow (Ice Cream Truck)
Oya (Penn Quarter)
Sax (Penn Quarter)
Sei (Penn Quarter)
Smith Common (H Street NE)
Smith Public Trust (Brookland)
Sotto (Coming Soon)
Sweet & Natural (Mt Rainier, MD)
The Sweet Lobby (Barracks Row)
Home Decor
Photographers
Gym
Bridal Magazine
Other Personal Services
Celena Gill (Life Coach)
LoLA Loves (Events, Parties, Creative Outings)
Noire Design Concepts Salon (Silver Spring)
Tax Revolt, LLC (Tax preparation and education)
Online and National Black-Owned Businesses
Custom Stationary
Papered Wonders Atlanta-based, with virtual consultations
Royale Amethyst, LLC (note the website omits the "e") NY-based, with virtual consultations
Jhung Yuro ("young hero")