I remember when I was a small child, ALL of my dolls were black… just like me. As I aged, I realized how hard my mother actually had to work to give me an environment that subconsciously told me “Black is Beautiful”, something that was a struggling concept during the 90’s and early 2000’s.
When I got older, she exposed me to broadway shows featuring black people, let me as a child run around her film set, seeing all these bustling and mostly black professionals and entertainers do their thing. It has been inspiring me my whole life, so now I have a chance as a mature adult to make conscious decisions to spend my dollars in my community.
I have a chance to surround and enhance my life with positive images and experiences that I relate to, which includes other communities just like mine spread out in this vast network all over the world. Purchasing from the community ALSO means your brethren residing in the UK, or maybe South Africa, she is working on her fashion line and his tech gadget could change how the world does something. The Film Black Friday does an EXCELLENT…. wait… I cannot stress this enough…. [insert amazing description here] job of breaking down the economic issues plaguing the black community.
Photo: Designer Stella Jean (Photo via Gareth Cattermole/Getty)
Buying black does not mean sacrificing quality, buying black means supporting the majesty of our creative talent and purchasing real quality. Since the beginning of time, we have been innovators, inventors and scholars. If you line up many black owned products onto the competitive stage, we do outstandingly well and usually excel. Our intrinsic soulfulness is like honey to the bees, and everyone knows it but us. There are millions of seeds in the ground, just waiting for their chance to SHINE BRILLIANTLY.
We must remember, this is a critical time where we need to funnel as many of our dollars towards our black owned businesses as possible. We must support each other and build up community wealth by carefully selecting where we place our financial power. The last few years are a testament to the chaos that fills this world on a daily basis, and it seems as if things have no intention of slowing down. It is game time on the global stage, and it is time to wake up to the reality that energy will have to be exerted, choices made and plans put into action if we are to stop the hemorrhaging of our power base, and reach the TRUE equal playing friend in life.
Note: I absolutely love Julep Products and this article is in no way shape or form a negative statement against the company. I respect what Julep stands for in bringing natural ingredients and consciousness to beauty.
