One of the biggest shopping days of the year is approaching, and many are preparing to shop till they drop this coming Black Friday. One online initiative is making selecting what exactly to buy that much easier and also helps highlight Black-owned businesses and boutiques in the City of Brotherly Love.
#BuyBlackFriday is a new initiative that was started nationally on Facebook, and the main goal is to support and uplift voices of the Black community by supporting their businesses. The site was created with the help of the US Black Chambers and other leading voices in the Black community, and feature gifts across categories ranging from beauty to home to fashion.
The official site also states that this digital initiative is also finding other ways to support the Black community and businesses: Philadelphians can even participate one step further and join their #BuyBlackChallenge. The site began by encouraging people to tag their favorite Black-owned businesses and use the #BuyBlackChallenge hashtag. Using the hashtag will add a #BuyBlackChallenge footer to any post, which encourages others who see it to join in too. Participants can also connect with the #BuyBlack Friday movement through the site’s partners – US Black Chambers, Etsy, DoorDash and Refinery29’s Unbothered, Bacardi RUM, Buxom, ForwardPMX, Kepler, MuteSix, BeautyStat, Uniworld, Shopify, Vimeo, StitcherAds and more.
To add to all of the shopping, #BuyBlackFriday also has another event that will be happening online on Nov. 27 at 11 a.m. The event takes place on the Lift Black Voices Page and will “spotlight Black businesses, celebrate Black culture and inspire consumers to #BuyBlack.” Each episode, hosted by comedian Phoebe Robinson, featured a different theme ranging from game-changers to the Black diaspora. Episode one kicked off earlier this month with Black Girl Magic, an all-female roster of owners, artists and creators, including writer and activist Janet Mock, writer and editor Elaine Welteroth, and musical guest Tayla Parx, according to the event details. The final event taking place this Friday is titled “All Black Everything” and is a combination of all of the earlier episodes’ themes.
In Philly specifically, there are plenty of Black-owned shops and boutiques that are offering gifts and unique items for everyone on your list. Black and Nobel on South Street for instance offers a variety of products ranging from health to DVDs to original art. Owner Hakim Hopkins wanted not to just create a retail store, but also a creative atmosphere for Philadelphians.
D’IYANU is another Black-owned business that offers clothing that you really can’t find in the city. The business was started by Addie Elabor, who came to the United States from Nigeria when she was six years old. Elabor wasn’t involved in fashion at first, more so actually on the marketing and business side, but found the need for a specific type of niche market in the world of style. D’IYANU offers blazers, pants, scarves, maxi dresses, skirts, jumpsuits and since COVID-19, masks. Blending the prints that are typically offered in Western African cultures with modern designs has always been at the core of the brand’s mission, so it only made sense for the masks to follow suit and become much more than just essential items.
Trunc in Northern Liberties is Philly’s only Black-owned, female-owned and Veteran owned retail and maker space. The storefront offers everything from apothecary, art, clothing, accessories, home goods, jewelry, vintage goods and more. Owners Dorothea Gamble and Dagmar Mitchell also found their own way to give back during the pandemic with a new exhibition inside. The storefront showcased ceramics specially made by artist Dominique Ellis of Dellisdesign and proceeds from two dozen pieces that were on display sale, all of which were handcrafted for Trunc. 50% of the sale of these pieces are also being directly donated to The Colored Girls Museum.
To find out more about #BuyBlackFriday and to view the full gift guide, visit about.fb.com
