In February of 2017, Cadene and I dedicated ourselves to strictly supporting Black-owned businesses for an entire month in honor and celebration of Black History Month. We only purchased goods and services, for all of life needs, from black-owned manufacturers, distributors, retailers, or entrepreneurs. It was a tough and eye-opening endeavor, but very rewarding. I originally had the idea hit me in December 2016 and a friend recommended I read “Our Black Year” first. I read it and did a lot of research. I took 30 days to prepare for the endeavor (January 2017) and we took the journey in February 2017. I have some solid lessons learned (philosophical and tactical) and I want to expand on the endeavor by going again in February 2018 for Year 2.

Additionally, On February 9, 2017, Jameel Scott and I pulled together 18 Black men and women to open bank accounts at black-owned Industrial Bank. In total, we moved over $100,000 to Industrial Bank in new accounts. We had a chance to meet with the CEO of Industrial Bank, Doyle Mitchell, for a little over an hour to discuss the history of the bank and ways that we can help them moving forward.

This year, I would like to invite friends, colleagues, and family to join us. To make an informal pledge to proudly support businesses owned by Black Americans in honor and celebration of Black History Month (February 2018). It’s my hope that this will be a fulfilling economic and spiritual journey for many.

Ujamaa is a Swahili word and Kwanzaa principle that means “familyhood” and “cooperative economics”. The principle is taught on the fourth day of the Kwanzaa celebration and the idea is to openly discuss and reinforce ways to support businesses by Black Americans– which are often times marginalized and undercapitalized.

I’m putting together a simple online listing of Black-owned businesses in the DC metro area at mitchbrooks.com/february. You can add new listings to it as well. I ask that you confirm 100% that a business is black-owned before adding them.

-Mitch