Episode 45- Keeping It Black

How often do you buy black? Is “Support Black Business” just a hashtag during social media-created “holidays” or is it a practice you employ regularly? For some, supporting black businesses is convenient only when the price is right. If a discount isn’t available or a familial hookup isn’t included, on to the next boutique, designer, or other retail outlets regardless of black-owned or not. Why are some of us like this? Is this deep-rooted “self-sabotage”, self-being those of our same hue? Or can this be attributed to the all too familiar communal mentality referred to as “crabs in a barrel”? Some black patrons may say the customer service experience received when buying black is lackluster and leaves quite a few things to be desired. Are “we” harder on ourselves than we are on others? Why are we so keen to broadcast a negative interaction without showing the same motivation to announce when the opposite encounter happens? Do we show the same energy when shopping with Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel or Bottega Veneta? Many will attribute this less than desirable experience with black-owned businesses to the lack or opportunity to acquire the same business acumen as entrepreneurs of other cultures. Does the cultural divide we feel in society impact our perception or is this a case where perception is reality? If we, blacks with entrepreneurial aspirations, had the same generational financial literacy as those of Chinese, Jewish or another ancestry, would we be more successful in customer satisfaction and customer retention? Or, despite the lack of educational equity, have we reached a point in society where we are finally able to fulfill the dreams of our ancestors and break generational curses of poverty?