By Dr. Frances Murphy DraperAFRO Writer and CEO
Black-owned companies have at all times been a cornerstone of our communities—anchoring neighborhoods, creating jobs and proving that imaginative and prescient can thrive even within the face of financial headwinds. Final week, we celebrated firms throughout the nation which have endured for a century or extra, surviving depressions, recessions, and sweeping cultural change. They remind us that Black entrepreneurship shouldn’t be a development, however a convention—rooted, resilient and important.
In each nook of our neighborhood, enterprise homeowners are working not just for themselves, however for the generations who will observe. With the best assist, they’ll be a part of the ranks of these centenarian success tales.
Contemplate Bando Fight Athletics. Based and led by Lon Partitions—a sixth-degree black belt within the Burmese martial artwork of Bando and a veteran communications skilled—it’s greater than a coaching heart. It’s a spot the place self-discipline, focus, and confidence are taught alongside bodily power, making ready college students to fulfill challenges far past the ring.
Or look to Noir Sunshine Wines and Liquid Intrusion Brewing Firm, two of this area’s standout beverage creators, featured on a latest episode of “The Rooster Boxx,” the AFRO’s weekly multigenerational on-line podcast. Each carry craftsmanship, high quality, and neighborhood delight to every part they produce.
Veteran-owned companies additionally add a particular perspective. Marine veteran Nathaniel Batey helps run B’Extra Mojo in Owings Mills, serving up scrumptious hamburgers and different consolation meals with the identical precision and delight he delivered to navy service. The Laundry Basket, based by Military veteran Hyacinth Tucker, started in Maryland and now reaches Northern Virginia, Northeast Ohio, and even Toronto—proof that persistence opens doorways far past state strains.
Fleurs d’Ave, of the identical household that runs Wylie Funeral Properties, is understood for its elegant floral designs and private service, creating preparations for all times’s most significant events—from celebrations to solemn farewells.
But even the strongest concepts face steep odds. Nationally, solely about 51.6 p.c of recent companies survive 5 years; simply 35.9 p.c make it to yr 10. For Black-owned companies, the variety of firms nonetheless in operation after 3.5 years is a sobering 4 p.c. These figures mirror not a scarcity of expertise or ambition, however structural limitations—restricted entry to capital, fewer networks and fewer visibility.
That’s why sources like these in Megan Sayles’s article, “Bridging the Funding Hole: Grants for Small Companies,” matter so deeply. The Hustler’s MicroGrant and Simply Thrive Program are among the many instruments serving to entrepreneurs beat the percentages.
To the aspiring entrepreneur: your concept issues. You’re a part of a convention that has overcome far higher challenges. And to neighbors, prospects and neighborhood leaders: your decisions matter simply as a lot.
Let’s act with intention—search out Black-owned companies domestically and on-line– share their tales, spend the place your values are and advocate for extra private and non-private funding in Black distributors. Assist ventures like Bando Fight Athletics, Noir Sunshine Wines, Liquid Intrusion Brewing Firm, B’Extra Mojo, The Laundry Basket, Fleurs d’Ave, Postal Petals, and plenty of extra. And keep in mind, sustaining Black companies additionally means sustaining Black media retailers like the AFRO, which inform these tales, join communities, and assist hold historical past alive.
As a result of once we put money into one another, all of us transfer ahead—and our future will get stronger, collectively.
