"To invest in black businesses is to invest in the black community as a whole." 2nd Year Law student, Rachael Harvey, rounds up some of the best black-owned businesses that you should consider swapping to.
Rachel Harvey
2nd Year Law
This blog is a snapshot of an article, 47 Black Owned Businesses You Need To Buy From Today, available on Rachel’s website.
'Buying black’ isn’t something that we should do once to feel good about ourselves. To invest in black businesses is to invest in the black community as a whole.
As the business you buy from grows, the choice of high-quality products that anyone can consume increases as well as the number of jobs provided to the local community, generating wealth to be shared by locals. Not only do black businesses provide jobs, they also become customers for other local businesses, whether it be accountants, marketers, printer companies or lawyers. It is also more likely that the business will donate to local black charities, and the uniqueness of an independent shop in a local area and attract tourism.
So not only should we buy from black businesses, we should also make the effort to swap a big brand in our lives for a black brand. Regardless of how much our favourite celebrities endorse global brands or how many statements such brands publish promising support to the black community, it remains a fact that these companies have an ashamedly low number of black employees at executive and corporate levels and are less likely to donate to charities supporting the black community.
These companies are owned by white executives who pocket black money without helping black people and, as a result, it is time that we permanently swap some of our favourite big brands for the following US and UK based black brands:
Clothing and Fashion
No Wallflower Project
Shop here: nowallflowerproject.com
"Taking inspiration from a youth spent in her grandmothers workshop watching her craft elaborate tasseled curtains and upholstery for her customers, while sharing in her love of interiors and art history; Creative Director, Henrietta O'Connor combines this with her passion for visual storytelling and an eccentric approach to design to bring you luxury womenswear and accessories for sleep and street."
Makeup and Cosmetics
Pink Salad Ldn
Shop here: pinksaladldn.com
"Pink Salad London is for lip gloss obsessives. All our cosmetics are vegan, gluten free, cruelty free, which is good for you and for the environment."
"Pink Salad Ldn glosses are highly moisturising and non-sticky, with Vitamin E oil to repair and hydrate lips. With long lasting application clear glosses, and a selection of fruity, glitter, and pigmented lip glosses, there's a shade for everyone at Pink Salad LDN."
Hair Care
The Afro Hair and Skin Co.
Shop here: theafrohairandskincompany.co.uk
Home and Lifestyle
Detola and Geek
Shop here: detolaandgeek.com
"My Detola & Geek African inspired handmade products are a quick & easy way to inject splashes of colour into your spaces. Quite functional & very trendy too. These vibrant designs always get the conversation started."
Health and Fitness
S Core Fitness
Shop here: s-corefitness.com
"At S Core Fitness our motto is "Health is Wealth" but we also recognise there is no shortcut or quick fix to achieving your desired body.
"However, our central product the S Core Sweat Belt is a unique belt which creates excessive sweating in the abdominal area. Featuring Nano Silver Insulation with QuickSweat technology which accelerates thermogenic activity, further increasing blood flow to the abdominal area."
Games and Toys
Nina Ballerina
Shop here: niaballerina.co.uk
"Nia Ballerina is a UK based company and we have designed musical jewellery boxes with black ballerinas. Nia Ballerina is the inspiration of my own daughter, and her absolute love for ballet from the age of before she was even 3 years. As any mother, I wanted to support my daughter in her passion and began to take an interest in the ballet industry. It became obvious that ballerinas from diverse backgrounds were and still are hugely underrepresented within the industry. I felt it was vitally important that my daughter saw images of herself as a ballerina, and one way to achieve this for children is by the toys they play with and books they read
"My mother had brought my daughter a jewellery box with a ballerina figurine, however I did not understand why the ballerina did not resemble my daughter! I wanted my daughter to have a music box with a ballerina that looked like her, and had presumed music boxes with black ballerinas were readily available. I searched for about 18 months both in the UK and in different countries around the world but was unable to find any musical jewellery boxes containing black ballerina figurines. I finally made the decision in the autumn of 2015 that I would begin the process of creating my own music box with a black ballerina. The process of producing the music boxes has taken time, has not been easy and has meant learning a lot of new things and skills but has been worth it."
Food and Drink
BERRY and Brie
Shop here: berryandbrie.com
"BERRY and Brie was born from a natural love of creativity, cooking and the arts. It is an expression of a long standing dream to push her creative outlet in the colourful culinary events world. The eldest daughter from a family of five, Mako has always been one to experiment in the kitchen from a tender age and later host and entertain.
"This creative dream came into fruition during her second Maternity Leave, after voluntarily catering for a friends Baby Shower. Her passion for perfection, eye for detail, dedication and enthusiasm is a force to be reckoned with, that has nourished this venture to blossom."
Want to find more Black-owned businesses? Read Rachel’s full article: 47 Black Owned Businesses You Need To Buy From Today.
About the author
A Black-owned business that isn’t mentioned above but certainly needs to be is Rae’s art shop! Alongside completing her Law degree and writing blogs on a wide range of topics, she also is an extremely talented and eco-friend artist! Her products include gender neutral clothing, earrings, bags, posters, and small prints!
Check out her art Instagram page @artist_named_nobody and make sure you take a look at her website.
