Supporting Black businesses has become a common practice for many over the last few months as people are demanding non-Black consumers to put their money where their mouth is.
As we continue to fight for racial equality in America, Black businesses all over are working to create more economic opportunities that benefit all. In doing so, they also ask for customers to support their efforts to compete with the bigger e-commerce businesses of the world like Amazon, Walmart, Target, and others.
In celebration of Black Business Month, check out the below list of Black-owned businesses to replace everyday essential shopping:
Clothing, Shoes, & Accessories
Nubian Skin
Nubian Skin is an inclusive hosiery and lingerie brand that was founded specifically to cater to people of color and their skin tones. The brand offers intimates for both men and women, including bras, underwear, menswear, swimwear, and more.
Kahmune
Kahmune — a luxury footwear line — was created to match the complexions of all women and reflect a color palette that represents the most diverse regions of the world. Each shoe style offered is named after a different woman who has played a pivotal role in founder Jamela Acheampong’s life.
Love, Vera
Lingerie brand Love, Vera — founded in 2018 — promotes self-love, inclusivity and body positivity as it pertains to Black women. Outside of its offerings, the brand’s mission is to celebrate Black entrepreneurship by creating more leadership and business opportunities in fashion.
Southern Gents
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEM6ShupUyA/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Co-founded by creative director Fola Lawson, Houston-based menswear line Southern Gents is a contemporary yet classic online collection that offers a range of unisex goods designed with Black people in mind.
Ruby Love
Ruby Love — formerly known as PantyProp — is a Black-owned apparel company that incorporates patent-pending technology to help protect women from leaks, stains, and other inconveniences on their menstrual cycles.
Atira Lyons
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDsGBxfn9Xg/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Entrepreneur and designer Atria Lyons, 20, started her own luxury brand, designing durags, masks, and other headwear items. She recently opened her own durag store on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles and plans to expand her brand to include clothing and furniture pieces.
The Wrap Life
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_A0RthDN0W/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
The Wrap Life is a headwear brand that offers head wraps and headbands in an array of collections for protective styling needs as it relates to natural hair.
Beauty
BLK+ GRN
BLK+ GRN is an online marketplace that retails all-natural beauty and lifestyle brands created by Black artisans. The inspiration behind the platform stemmed from founder Dr. Kristian Henderson’s desire to help Black women find less toxic products to buy and support Black businesses.
Oui the People
Oui the People — a direct to consumer shaving brand created for women, by women — was created by founder Karen Young to redefine standards of beauty that focus less on flawlessness and more on helping people feel comfortable in their own skin.
Ooli
Black-owned haircare brand Ooli offers a full line of natural hair care products specifically for people with dreadlocks. While other companies overlook the needs of those with locs, Ooli prides itself on being a symbol for people to embrace their natural hair.
Lifestyle Pillows
Lifestyle Pillows — created by dentist turned businesswoman Dr. Dawn Jones — are designed uniquely to accommodate natural curls, blowout or salon styles, and improve the quality of life for those looking to maintain healthy hair.
Unsun Cosmetics
Founded by Katonya Breaux in 2016, Unsun Cosmetics provides clean sunscreen products for women of color in an industry that lacks feasible options to protect melanated skin.
Blade + Bloom
Blade + Bloom — a Chicago-based natural beauty brand — offers plant-based products like soap bars and candles — created by founder Terri Foster — that uses familiar scents to recreate memories from her childhood.
Lifestyle & Wellness
Lor Tush
https://www.instagram.com/p/B92xxCnn2Ez/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Lor Tush — an eco-friendly bamboo toilet paper company — is a Baltimore-based Black women-owned wellness brand that prioritizes sustainability. In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, the toilet paper brand donated hundreds of rolls to consumers when store shelves were left bare.
Honeydipped Essentials
https://www.instagram.com/p/CB3mnMVJX6l/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Honeydipped Essentials is a Black-owned organic and all-natural everything wellness brand that offers cleaning and skin-care products “designed to enhance your mood, reduce stress, and restore your mind and body,” according to their website.
The Black Home
The Black Home — founded by business owner Neffi Walker — is a destination platform that introduces consumers to the Black experience through various home pieces including candles, tableware, and designs.
Love Notes Fragrances
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBf-UPfpE2J/
Love Note Fragrances — founded by Brooklyn native Nya Kam — is a Black-owned startup business that sells hand-poured, soy candles custom-made with various scents.
Mama Glow
Mama Glow — a maternal-care company — was founded by Latham Thomas to support women before, during, and after their pregnancies. The mission for the company is to dismantle fears around childbirth through advocacy tools and educational resources.
GROUNDED
Grounded is a Black-owned subscription-based plant company created to emphasize self-care through plant care and the importance of the wellness aspect of horticulture.
Bookstores
Loyalty Bookstores
Loyalty Bookstores is an independent Maryland-based bookstore that offers a mix of contemporary and diverse books and events to the community.
Good Books
Good Books — located in Atlanta, GA — is an online and pop-up bookstore co-founded by owner Katie Mitchell that amplifies Black authors and voices. The local bookstore uses the motto “all Black books are good books.”
The Dock Bookshop
The Dock Bookshop — founded in 2008 — is the largest Black-owned full-service bookstore in Texas and the Southwest. According to them, the local store has created a space for community members to lean on in times of crisis.
Brave and Kind Books
Brave + Kind Books — a carefully curated bookshop for kids in Decatur, GA — offers a unique selection of diverse, classic, and artful stories for children to indulge in.
Black Pearl Books
Black Pearl Books is an independent bookstore based in Austin, TX that prioritizes the multi-cultural, multi-generational, and multi-socioeconomic needs of the community. Through its book selection, the store promotes diversity, inclusion, equality, and cultural awareness.
Black Gold Publishing
Black Gold Publishing — a Black-owned publishing company based in Hampton, VA — was founded in 2017 by COO Tahara Saron to create more visibility for Black and brown authors in her area. With diversity and inclusion in mind, Black Gold Publishing is creating better opportunities for Black and POC writers.
Food & Drink
Uncle P’s
In response to the recent backlash of food brands Uncle Ben and Aunt Jemima, Uncle P’s — created by well-respected mogul Master P — offers an array of food products, including rice, beans, grits, pancake mix, syrup and oatmeal.
McBride Sisters Collection
The McBride Sisters Wine Collection was created by two sisters to merge their passions for wine and culture. Together the duo built a well-known brand that’s made them trailblazers in the wine industry.
Sankofa Beer Company
Sankofa Beer Company — based in the nation’s capital — was founded by childhood friends Kofi Meroe and Amado Carksy who spent a good portion of their lives in Nigeria, Ghana, and Benin collectively. Infusing their home-brewed creations with ingredients from West Africa, the two were able to bring a new culturally-diverse perspective to the craft beer industry.
The Spice Suite
The Spice Suite is a D.C. based interactive spice bar that features a collection of unique infused cooking oils and spice blends. The mission for the brand is to not just be a default in the spice industry, but a new standard to follow and pedestal for Black businesses.
Dope Coffee
Dope Coffee is a Black-owned coffee company that aims to redefine the stigma around premium coffee by creating products inspired by Black culture designed for everyone to enjoy.
Jive Juice Company
Jive Juice Company is a healthy Black-owned lifestyle company that strives to put the fun back in juicing with the motto “greening your life with juice.” The juice company offers organic cold-pressed juices and smoothies available for delivery and retail.
