Women Rise up to Help Boost Black-Owned Businesses

The concept of community has acquired its real meaning in COVID times across the United States, and particularly in Brooklyn, where Black-owned businesses managed to stay afloat and are now booming, mainly due to concerted efforts from Black women. 

“Black women have been able to really rise up in times that you just have to get it done,” says Isha Joseph, owner of Make Manifest BK, a clothing and jewelry store that also functions as a workshop space for the community. “It’s like a magical thing. Black girl magic is all about how women literally can turn dust into gold.”

Women who own businesses on Tompkins Avenue, in Brooklyn, have banded together through the Tompkins Avenue Merchants Association (TAMA), helping store owners apply for loans and grants. Other steps were taken to keep business and morale afloat, like sidewalk sales and online business, and checking on each other on a daily basis in a WhatsApp group. Banding together played a huge role. Today, the number of Black-owned businesses in America is 30% above pre-pandemic levels.