PDXBlack.Com - Portland's Black Business Directory

PDXBlack.Com - Portland's Black Business Directory™ Bridges the Gap between Black Business and Black Consumers. PDXBlack.com provides current business updates on what's happening throughout Portland Oregon and the surrounding counties. Whether you live in the 'PDX' area, or are visiting, use PDXBlack.Com to find and patronize the quality businesses and services found on this wonderful site.
PDXBlack.Com says: "Stay In The Black"™

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Portland's Black Business Directory Supports Black Wealth

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In this new year 2020 African American Media, LLC publisher of PDXBlack - Portland's Black Business Directory takes on the initiative of connecting African American / Black Businesses with the African American / Black community.

Like most cities in the U.S. African Americans spend a larger percentage of their dollars and other resources outside of the Black Community with non-Black people. The consequence of this misguided practice is the continuing impoverishment of the African American Community by its own members. Comparatively, other races and ethnic groups spend their dollars and resources among themselves, and most certainly not with African Americans.

PDXBlack.com - Portland's Black Business Directory is part of the national Buy Black initiative - an advocacy of African Americans / Black People supporting and doing business first with themselves. The Buy Black initiative encourages Black People to acquire all of the goods and services we depend on - food, water, housing, transportation, communications, education, etc. - from our own people. However, one can see that this effort is complicated by lack of Black Media resources and advertisers to help Black businesses be found; by the overwhelming White media from whence most Black People get their information; and by the absence of Black business education and leadership to guide Black people in the right economic direction.

Though there are most certainly hundreds of African American / Black business owners in Portland and surrounding areas, they are rather difficult to find due to lack of advertising and promotion. Hence a Black Business Resource like PDXBlack.com - Portland's Black Business Directory is a must.

Many of us envision the day when African Americans / Black People will as a matter of course spend their dollars and resources among themselves first, before giving our wealth to others. We envision the time when Black Businesses will populate the Black Community, enrich Black People, employ Black People, and be a major resource in lifting Black People out of poverty and White dependency. PDXBlack.com - Portland's Black Business Directory is a step in that direction.

100 Years of Buy Black: 1920 To 2020

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"Buy Black" is a familiar cry whenever a call for supporting Black Businesses or for supporting Black economic health and development. One-hundred years ago, during the 1920's Hon. Marcus Garvey of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), the largest Black organization ever among Black people, encouraged Black people to 'Buy Black'!. Garvey pointed out that the Black people dollars spent with White people could be better spent growing the Black economy, resulting in Black wealth to elevate the Black race. Leading by example, Garvey created the Black Star shipping company to facilitate Black People buying and trading with each other from America, to African, and to the Caribbean. Stocks were sold to the members of the UNIA who in turn invested enough to purchase a total of five ships.

Fast forward to the 1960's and we hear the voices of Hon. Elijah Muhammad, Hon. Malcolm X and even Hon. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. all calling on Black People to 'Buy Black' - to spend their money with the Black Community.

A few people have taken on the challenge to Buy Black for an entire year to see if it can be done, and to show that it can be done.

In January 2009 John and Maggie Anderson of Oak Park, Ill, took on the challenge to find and shop only at black-owned businesses for a year. The called their initiative "The Empowerment Experiment". Their project gained national attention with the publication of her book - 'Our Black Year' - about the experiment. In the book, as well as in interviews, Maggie Anderson and her husband John Anderson made it clear that 'Buying Black' was no easy task, as they encountered Black People who did not support the idea, could not find Black businesses from whence to purchase certain goods and services, and the challenge posed by some Black owned businesses when it came to quality and quantity.

Since 2009 numerous efforts and challenges have been made encouraging Black People to support Black Businesses In 2016 Alissa Ashley and Alyssa Forever launched the 'Black-Owned Makeup Brand Challenge' (called the B.O.M.B. Challenge) encouraging Black People to purchase Black owned and manufactured makeup.

No amount of effort has caused Black People to budge significantly in the direction of supporting themselves, Buying Black. Instead Black People shop en masse on 'Black Friday' - a business holiday created by White business owners to ensure their businesses stay 'in the black' - i.e. profitable; as opposed to being 'in the red' - not profiting. Black people seemingly turn up and out for new businesses by other peoples opening in Black communities; and of course we continue to shop in non-Black communities as though it were the right thing to do.

Black People of Portland and throughout Oregon are called to take up the challenge in 2020 and Buy Black


In The Black - Business/Consumer Groups

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Heru-Ka Anu, Owner of African American Media publisher of Business directories announces the creation of 'In The Black' Business/Consumer Groups – including ITB-Business Group; ITB-Financial Literacy and Wealth Group; the ITB-Conscious Consumer Group. Anu indicated that creating the three groups is necessary.

The ITB-Business Group seeks to address Black Business needs as it relates to new business, business growth, business advocacy, and business promotion. That a disproportionate number of our businesses fail within the first 1-3 years is detrimental to our overall economic stability and wellbeing. It is the goal of the ITB-Business Group to support our businesses in a way that they can not only survive but thrive.

The ITB-Financial Literary and Wealth Group is created to support our people in money management and creating long-term wealth. As it stands now many of our people fail to create wealth; instead we lose wealth because of not knowing what to do to raise money, save money, and what to do with it when we have it. For example, throughout the year we hear of Black millionaires going bankrupt largely due to financial ignorance, whether related to failure to save, invest, or properly manage their money. This kind of financial loss is experienced across the board. The ITB-Financial Literary and Wealth Group objective is to bring solutions to our crisis.

The ITB-Conscious Consumer Group is created to address the unconscious spending behavior of African Americans. In spite of the reports touting increased ‘Black consumer spending power’, the truth is just the opposite, what we see is an increase of Black dollars going out of the Black community into the coffers of other peoples. Our goal is to raise the consciousness of Black Consumers and support their spending within the Black Community.

The ITB Groups meet on Mondays at 7:00 P.M. – 9:00 P.M. at The Ankh Center; 5257 NE Marting Luther King Jr., Blvd - Suite 202-D, Portland OR 97211. Those interested in joining should contact Heru-Ka Anu at: 971-216-9732 or write to Info@AnkhCenter.com


From the Publisher

Heru-Ka Anu, Publisher

Welcome to PDXBlack.Com - Portland's Black Business Directory™.

Of course we promote Black Businesses 24/7 - 365-days of the years, and I encourage you to use our Business Directory to find the goods and services you want and need to maintain your quality of life. Please use it often.

We update the site frequently with new businesses so be sure to check back for new listings. Also tell your Black Business owners to get listed on PDXBlack.Com ; when they do we can support their efforts to Stay In The Black. I also encourage you to do the same.

Heru-Ka Anu,
Publisher

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Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was on my mind as I contemplated how to advance the Black 'Economic' Agenda. We must have a 'movement' that turns the tide of our actions back to us. We must successfully educate, promote, and incentivize our people to practice 'Race First' economically or continue to suffer impoverishment. We cannot let this be our fate.


Sunday January 5, 2020

Thinking of a Buy Black Contest
I am giving considerable thought to the idea of sponsoring a Buy Black Contest to give Black Peopole an added incentive to practice buying from themselves first before spending their dollars and resources with others not of the African American / Black Community.


Wednesday January 1, 2020

New Years Day 2020
I brought the New Year in sober and in serious thought about our economic plight. 2019 was not a good year for African American / Black People in general; we spent more money and resources with others than we did with ourselves. We must break through the mental colonization of 'economic stupidity'. PDXBlack.com - Portland's Black Business Directory will be a factor in that direction.


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If you use PDXBlack.Com - Porland's Black Business Directory™ write to us and tell us why and what businesses you have supported. We would like to publish your comments to this site for others - consumers and businesses - to know how our effort is working. Send your comments to AdWorks@PDXBlack.com



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