On June 15th, Black Young Professionals of Metro Detroit partnered with other community members and organizations to support the first annual Juneteenth Jubilee.
The event, held at the Charles H. Wright (CHW) Museum of African American History in Detroit, was a day-long celebration of the emancipation of slaves in Galveston, Texas, the last geopolitical area of the former Confederate States where slaves were formally informed of their emancipation. The significance of this being the date of the notification, June 19th, 1865, is generally observed as the ending date for the vast majority of Slavery throughout the Southern United States. It wouldn’t be until December of 1865 when the 13th Amendment would be ratified into the Constitution, that slavery would be formally abolished across the entire country for good.
The extravaganza involved spoken word, musical and dance performances, workshops, art and cultural displays, vendors, food, and of course, an Afro-Chic after party. Hundreds from the metro Detroit community filled the museum to join in the commemoration.
Before the Afterglow party, there was an “Activate” and call-to-action phase to culminate all of the day’s educational activity. Black Young Professionals’ own Fatimah Muhammad prepared a presentation and interactive workshop on Supporting Black-owned Businesses. In this presentation she included critical actions Black consumers could take that can help our community’s businesses even when you can’t make it to their brick-and-mortar location.
- Fact: Most Black-owned business are one employee (the founding owner) or a sole proprietorship. That is, most do not generate enough business and revenue to hire additional employees.
- Fact: Black-owned businesses are not necessarily meant to serve only the Black community. The most successful businesses that are not culture-specific will have non-Black customers as well. Ever heard about keeping “dollars in our community longer” ? …. well, how about BOTH getting NEW dollars AND keeping them longer? That means you need non-Black customers as well.
What can you do?
- Find out what Black-owned (not simply Black-targeted or Black-operated) businesses there are in your area by checking out our link to Detroit Area Black Business’ Google Sheet: http://bit.ly/BBB313
- Leave reviews for Black-owned businesses you visit. Reviews help new consumers (Black and non-Black) determine if they’ll try out the business over another. Don’t you look at reviews before you try out a new business or service? Reviews help!
- Consider recommending Black-owned businesses to your non-Black friends/colleagues. Remember, what’s better than keeping money in our community longer? Getting more money into our community AND keeping it longer! Your recommendations will help that.
We would like to thank everyone who came to the Juneteenth Jubilee! Our presentation is available at the link below.