Support Black Creators.

Since the recent events which including the "Black Lives Matter" movement and so on and so forth, many black-owned businesses have been booming with new customers. African American's (including myself) are experiencing in some ways a Renaissance.

 In all my years of living, I've never seen the world give so much love for my race. It feels so good to know that the world finally has seen my struggle and pain as a black American and wants to help do something about it. 

But something I have noticed is all of a sudden so many commercials are now showing a lot more of us than they usually do. Is it because they were planning to have those commercials aired or is it because black is all of a sudden "In" to them and they know since the "Black Lives Matter" Protests have been happening, they're taking advantage of the movement to make their wallets fatter?

Images of beautiful black women and men of every shade grace my television and I do feel jovial inside to know that there is some child of black and mixed-race are looking at all media and seeing themselves. But as an adult, I see that these big companies are capitalizing on a movement and that's not okay.

Now, it would be different if the Advertisements were supporting black-owned business and business owners to give their brands the exposure they've always deserved. But instead, it's predominately white brands trying to make themselves richer in our movement and time. 

which I know has been happening on and off through the years, but this just feels different because of the given circumstances.

It makes me a bit angry because you can truly see how those big companies really feel about my culture. We're only important to them when they want something from us and right now, it happens to be our 100 shades of brown.

Here are some ways you can support a black-owned business: 

Buy from local restaurants. If you live in Los Angeles, I highly recommend Philips BBQ, The Hilltop Cafe, and Simply Wholesome. If you do buy from them, please be sure to order directly from them because if you use middlemen parties like Grubhub, DoorDash, or Postmates, their business won't reap the full profit so make sure to order straight from the business.

Promote Black artists. It doesn't matter how small your social media presents is. Promoting black artists on Instagram, Twitter, or even TikTok. I prefer doing an IG Live with the artist because your audience can watch and be introduced to them. 

Buy their products. As a person that loves using curly hair products, my stable is Carol's Daughter, Mixed Chicks, and for my body, Honey Pot. There's also another hair/skin line by Kay Cola called OrganiGlow and OrganiGrow that I will be checking out very soon. 

Talk about their books on Youtube. In my opinion, I love it when I hear someone likes my book enough to want to either review it on their website or talk about it on IG Live or IGTV. I implore you to research some black authors that write in your favorite genre, buy and review their books on your website, social media, or even tell your friends about it. The more exposure we get for our books the closer you'll help us get to our dream.

Whether it be clothing, make-up, bookstores, or restaurants, I urge you to support and purchase from them. A ton of these businesses are homegrown and past down from generations and deserve as many if not more recognition than some of the brands we use day to day.