Thinking of going a little green this vacation? Think local, think black and brown. | Calavia-Robertson
Jeff Bezos doesn’t need your money. And the Waltons – who own a controlling stake in Walmart – will do just as well without it. So, that party where you’re on your mad rush to cross your loved ones off your Christmas list, opening your wallet, ready to spend all your green, think local, and think black and brown.
Invest your money in buying gifts for family and friends at the Black and Latino owned businesses that are here in your own backyard. “It’s a win-win,” said Desiree Hadley, founder of Urban Girl Magazine and its Black Business Crawl events.
Hadley, a millennial who said she tapped into the public’s thirst for black-owned businesses when her TikTok review of “Crabs on Thee Way” seafood restaurant in Newark went viral, recently conducted an exploration with a bus filled with paying guests to stop at seven black-owned businesses in New Jersey.
“When I first started doing reviews on TikTok, I was really shocked at how many people didn’t know these black-owned businesses existed,” she said.
“People were really excited to hear, ‘Oh, is there a black-owned seafood restaurant over there? Oh wait, is there a Black-owned nail salon here? and a big part of that is, if we don’t know that these businesses … that our businesses exist and are here, then how can we ever come forward and support them? “
And that’s what they did: “When I saw all these people get off the bus and come in here, I knew it was special, I knew it was real,” Kalisha Carmichael said. , the Afro-Latina owner of Boss Blend Coffee Co., the Halsey Street cafe in Newark that was one of the stops on Hadley’s business tour.
Carmichael, who has been in business for about seven months, said that for small business owners, every sale counts. The mother of three whose family is from Cuba told me that after being denied bank loans, she invested her life savings in opening the brick and mortar store.
According to the Federal Reserve, 80.2% of white business owners receive at least a percentage of the financing they request from a bank, compared to 66.4% of business owners of color.
“I wasn’t going to let not getting a loan stop me from making my dream come true,” she said. So after being convinced by a friend, she put her pride aside and opened a Kickstarter to raise money for the store, which she says along with her savings helped her reach her goal.
Kalisha Carmichael, owner of Boss Blend Coffee Co. in Newark, says she made a point of making everyone feel welcome in her store – “Black, Latino, Trans. Everyone. Always. . ” The cafe hosts open mic and karaoke nights each week and regularly features the work of local black artists on its walls. “As a black woman and as a Latina, I know what it’s like to not always feel included, so inclusivity here is very important,” Carmichael said.Carucha L. Meuse | For NJ Advanc
“This is why all support is so important,” Carmichael said. “When you buy black and Latin, when you shop locally, you are helping a family survive, you are helping them pay their bills on their own… there is something super powerful about being able to do it on your own. place of business and provide a life for yourself and a stable home for your children.
The higher the circulation of dollars in a community, the greater the economic stability and the opportunities for economic growth. Unfortunately, money only circulates once within the black community, compared to more than six times in the Latino community, and nine times in the Asian community and an unlimited amount within the white community. This Christmas you can take it upon yourself to do something about it.
There’s a popular social media meme that says when you buy into a small business a real person is doing a happy dance. And as I sipped my latte at Cafe Carmichael, I got the chance to watch her do just that.
I could see her do it happily cafes for customers, chatting with a lot, myself included in English and Spanish about the coffee culture, cappuccinos and karaoke night coming up on Friday. Can you get it all on Amazon? I do not think so. Give this woman and all the other black and latino business owners all of your coins. Our communities – and your donations! – will only be better.
Daysi Calavia-Robertson can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Instagram at @presspassdaysi or Twitter @presspassdaysi.
Our journalism needs your support. Please register today at NJ.com.
here is how to submit an editorial or letter to the editor. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at Opinion NJ.com. Get the latest updates straight to your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.com newsletters.