FIGHTing for the Soul of Black Capitalism

This chapter documents the various plans to encourage Black entrepreneurship. It mentions that Kodak spearheaded the creation of the Rochester Business Opportunities Council (RBOC) after it became wary of further negative publicity. It also analyzes the collaboration between the locally headquartered corporations, several universities, and private citizens with RBOC in order to provide funds, training, and technical assistance to Black individuals seeking to start or expand a business. The chapter discusses other organizations in Rochester that envisioned a different form of Black capitalism, a more collective capitalism wherein the Black community would operate businesses for the common good. It explores the alternative vision of Black capitalism, where profits are reinvested in daycare centers, affordable housing, and shopping centers.

How health-conscious urban gardeners aim to increase vegetable consumption in their community while simultaneously supporting Black entrepreneurship

While the food justice movement was initially asso¬ciated with increasing availability of fresh produce in low-income communities of color through insti¬tutions such as farmers markets, scholars have cri¬tiqued this as imposing a right way of eating. Food justice scholarship has moved away from a focus on healthy eating toward a focus on community economic development, as food enterprises can stimulate job creation. This paper investigates the dual goals of the food justice movement through a case study in San Diego. While food justice has moved beyond promoting a love of produce and is increasingly oriented toward good jobs, for the urban gardeners in this study, the movement is still a lot about vegetables. They see food as medicine, and note the health benefits of moving toward a plant-based diet. Yet, they are reluctant to push this way of eating on others, as they do not want to come across as elitist. Instead, they spread aware¬ness that plant-based diets are an African tradition that should not just be associated with rich white folks. Rather than leading with nutrition, they lead with tradition, taste, and buying Black. To encour¬age consumption of vegetables, they aim to in¬crease the supply of prepared food options in the community, and to market dishes as delicious rather than healthy, all the while supporting Black food entrepreneurs. When selling produce direct to the consumer through farmers markets does not achieve their vision of promoting health or sup¬porting livelihoods, they re-imagine a strategy of promoting food justice through a neighborhood food supply chain.

The Need for Increasing Black Entrepreneurship as a Result of the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 and recent high-profile police killings are putting focus on the inequities and societal hurdles facing blacks in the U.S. There is no quick fix or singular solution; however, increasing black entrepreneurship may be a key piece of the solution. The reasons for, and potential benefits of, new public policies and private investment to spur black entrepreneurship are discussed.

What Does Political Economy Tell Us About the Dearth of Black Entrepreneurs?

There is a historical and consistent lack of parity in the Black community between labor and firms. Various authors have attributed entrepreneur-centered failures and shortcomings as the source of Black Entrepreneurship under-performance. This study, however, utilizing the Theory of Market Barriers, sought to discover the factors associated with market conditions that may play a causal role on new firm entry and coincidentally entrepreneurship choice. With count data from the Survey of Minority Owned Enterprises 1992-1997 (SMOBE), this study estimated the parameters of a Limit Profit Model to determine the effect political economic barriers have on new firm entry. The results implicate historical and ongoing biased policy generating imperfect market conditions lowering the economic value of entrepreneurial choice and hindering Black Entrepreneurship. This suggests that among the various explanations for the dearth of Black entrepreneurs, low Black labor demand and persistent high Black unemployment, barriers emanating from political economy, also appear to be important. JEL Classifications: I, J, O

Black entrepreneurship and ethnic beauty salons: possibilities forresistance in the social (re)construction of black identity

ABSTRACT This paper addresses the case of five lack entrepreneurs who own businesses a public that for years has denied a esthetic and phenotypic traits. These spaces, branded as ‘ethnic salons’, aim to take care of the curly and / or Afrohair of Black men and women.In the face of this context, we ask: how canBlack entrepreneurs and enterprisesconfront colonialmentality in social relations, by creating businesses aimed at giving value to, and appreciatingthe identity of Black men and women? The field research was conducted via observations and interviews,collecting narratives from both. The narratives went through a process of synthesis and analysisprocesses that allowed us to flag the motivesbehind these enterprises, as well as the racial/ethnic acceptance present in these spaces. Thus, the main contribution of this paper is to discuss ‘hairtype’ as a constitutive element of Black racial identity, and the opportunity for more autonomywhen entering the labor market.