Gabrielle Bunton|Louisville Courier Journal
Unity and support havebeen a consistent, strong undercurrent among the Black community in Louisville, especiallyas the social justice movement swept the city during the past year. And as more people come together for a common cause, there's been an emphasis on how people can continue to support the Black community.
One way is byspending their money atBlack-owned restaurants, stores and more.
EnterBlack Business Boxes, a local Black-owned business that has createdmonthly subscription boxes, similar to Birchboxand Stitch Fix,that includespecially curated products from Black-owned businesses across the country.
Launched in 2020 by Savon Gray and Robbie Dobbs, Black Business Boxes was born during a time of unrest in their hometown of Louisville. After weeks of deliberation, protesting and consideration, the pair decided to try to make a change in an unconventional way.
"So while that washappening, we were brainstorm and we're just like, 'what can we do tomake a difference in our city?,'" Gray told the Courier Journal.
While doing research, they came across a troubling statistic about the wealth in the Black community.
"We found that we spend$1.2 trillion every single year, but on average, that dollar only stays in the black community for six hours, where it's like days forother ethnicities and nationalities," Gray said.
The pair decidedto combat the issue and create change by helping generate money for Black-owned businesses and keeping it in the community.
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While trying to extendthe period time the Black dollar stays within the Black community, they also wanted to create a space where people can easilyfind Black-owned businesses.
"We have an online marketplace now with different vendors that you can just go on and shop from," Gray said. "We sell our boxes that we curate with just different products or different businesses to kind of get them in your hand, which is what we consider the best way to market."
They include a variety of vendors like Focused on Forever Eyewear, a Lexington-based business that sells various styles of glasses. The owner, Brandy Ashford,started the business back in 2017 but was unable to fully invest in it while she was in school.She opened it back up in 2019.
Ashford was inspired to start her business based on her and her husband's experience growing up in rural Kentucky.Their families eachraised and trainedhorses and watched them compete in races.Horses often wear blinders to help them stay focused on the race and Ashford wanted to use the concept of blinders for her eyewear.
"I kind of came up with that concept of having our own form of blinders and really using that as symbolism. Stayingfocused on our path and what we have to do," Ashford said. "That's why the trademark logo is just the horse and jockey."
When deciding what glasses to sell, she chooses from various manufacturers as well as the latesttrends in eyewear. Whenever Ashfordgets inspiredor sees something she likes, she contacts the manufacturers to see if they can get the colors, lens styles, molds and more.
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"We want our brand to be really classic. Just really sophisticated. I'm not really a flashy type of person, so I appreciate our manufacturers working with me to keep it simple," Ashford said.
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She first learned about Black Business Boxes when they reached out to her through Instagram. After doing her researchand seeing what they were about and trying to accomplish, Ashford thought it was the perfect opportunity to grow her Black-owned business.
"For people who look like us, we really want to see one another succeed. Once we did that research on them, it was kind of like a no-brainer," Ashford said."This is where we want to be."
Ashford said working with Dobbs and Gray has beena growing and learning experience.
"...they are definitely always there. They're very responsive and always positive. They are always promoting, supporting and sharing. They have been absolutely amazing," Ashford said.
Another featured business isMelanin Minerals, a Black-owned holistic, handcrafted skincare brand based out of Oregon. The owner, Johannah Hamilton, creates her productsfor those seeking a natural alternative to relieve pain, anxiety, and skin issues. She also includes a line infused withcertified organic hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD).
UBeauty Essentialsis another skincare brand that creates organic products such as body butter, lip oil, body scrub and headbands that can also be found in the Black Business Boxes. The owner, Kyra Tucker, began the business after growing up with eczema and sensitive skin.
"It was difficult as a child to find things that, as I put it, disrupt my beauty," Tucker said.
The many difficulties she faced with herskin made her sit down to find natural alternatives. Eventually, after doing her research and thorough product testing trial and error, Tucker and her friends created theproducts. The positive results encouraged her to keep creating.
The name is also inspired by her journey with her skin — a constant reminder that everyone, including herself,is beautiful regardless of what their skin looks like.
"The name UBeauty Essentials is ... me telling myself that I am beautiful. Your skin is essential to you," Tucker said.
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In an effort to expand her business, she reached out to Black Business Boxes after seeing multiple social media posts from a friend promoting thenew business.
"Over the past month, I have been getting more orders through their site," Tucker added.
The partnership also makes herappreciativeof the support she got from them as a Black business owner.
"Although you have a business by yourself, you have other people that are not just rooting for you, but you have other people that can help market you," Tucker said.
With all the businesses they promote, they want to stress the importance of having a strong Black economy. Not only do they want to keep the Black dollar circulating longer, but promoting boutique businesses inthis way also provides more opportunities for Black people to create their own businesses.
"...it's gonna make you more creative or make you more inclined to look into something or create something. Just doing it broadens the spectrum of opportunity. That's how I look at this," Dobbs said. "That's why I think it's kind of super important to build a Black economy."
Since beginning their business, the duohave been in contact with various Black-owned businesses doing everything fromfarming andbuilding apps to coding and more. Meeting all of these people has inspired the team to create an even greater social impact while providing opportunities for others.
"We're really wanting toimpact the world itself," Dobbs said. "...just kind of change things for people that didn't get a chance that they should have gotten."
The way Gray sees it, Blackpeople have a lot of money to spend in the economy, so why not spend it at Black-owned businesses? It's up to Black people, he says, to build their communities.
"...because the question that we always ask ourselves is what is 1% of $1.2 trillion?" said Gray. "...that's enough to make some type of change or to empower someone.That's what we have to do because we don't have the head start."
Moving forward, the teamwould like to expand their business with more vendors and additional themed boxes.
"We realized that in order for us to have a box every month, we need to have a lot of vendors. That's been our biggest mission for our past couple of months," Gray said.
They would also like to eventually have a storefront.
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"It is more than just trying to sell you a product," said Dobbs. With a storefront,they plan to reach out into other ventures like clothing, music, fashion, art and more.
The end goalis to keep Black dollars in the Blackcommunity.
"That's our end goal. We get the money, we funnel into the businesses, we start buying up our communities and we own them. Now we are the ones that are able to win opportunities," Gray said.
Reach Features Intern Gabrielle Bunton at gbunton@gannett.com.
Black Business Boxes
For more information on Black Business Boxes, go toblackbusinessboxes.com.
To become a vendor, visit blackbusinessboxes.comand check out theGet Featuredpage.
