The Bay State Banner enters its 61st year of publication in a climate that is hostile to Black history, Black businesses and Black culture.

Unfortunately, it is an environment we as a people know very well, an environment that until recent decades was the norm in this country. As in the past, the only way we are going to continue to survive and thrive is by supporting our own businesses and institutions, not just with our kind words and feelings of love, but with our cold, hard cash.

Over time, a powerful tool Black and brown communities have used to force change has been boycotting companies that perpetuated racist policies. We have seen that hold true most recently with Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension by the ABC network. The late-night host commented on the effectiveness of the boycott of Disney+, which is owned by the same parent company as ABC. During the week Kimmel was off the air, the top Google search was how to cancel a Disney+ subscription. Hundreds of thousands of people canceled theirs. Based on this immediate financial cost, ABC put Kimmel back on the air despite what some claimed were his show’s questionable ratings.

Boycotting companies can be an extremely effective way to hold them accountable. The reverse is also equally as important. We must make an effort to spend our money within our own Black and Brown communities. We must make the conscious decision to spend our money with Black-owned companies during this time we are under attack.

We must also go out of our way to support our Black arts and cultural institutions that are under direct attack financially.

Boston has a rich heritage of arts and culture, but many of those institutions have been underfunded for decades and, in the current anti-DEI wave, they are facing shortfalls in their budgets. We as the community must take responsibility for those institutions by putting our hard-earned cash in their donation portals and receiving tax deductions for our donations. It is all fine and dandy to say that we support our community, but without the required financial donations many of those institutions may not survive the current climate.

We know, looking back on our history, that many Black communities prospered when Black people ran their own businesses and consumers’ dollars turned over multiple times in those communities. The generic name for this phenomenon is Black Wall Street. In specific terms, a prosperous Black community in Tulsa, Okla. destroyed in a white riot a hundred years ago.

But Tulsa was not the only city that had a Black Wall Street. There were many neighborhood business districts that thrived on the patronage of residents, recycling Black dollars again and again.

Boston is one example. Recently, there have been celebrations and projects to honor the city’s Black Wall Street of the past.

It is easy to take the quick route when you need to purchase something—to go online or run down to the closest megastore. But remember when you do that, you are giving a little bit of power away by not supporting the companies and institutions in your own community.

Now there are some companies that have not backed away from DEI and have actually benefited. One of the biggest that comes to mind is Costco in the beginning of this year. It was brought to my attention that BJ’s Wholesale Club was hopping onto the anti-DEI Bandwagon and, as a result, a lot of families, including mine, left BJ’s and switched to Costco.

Spending your hard-earned dollars in the community store around the corner or with the online company that is Black- or brownowned will help grow our community as we face a strong tide against us. It is imperative that we all work together to ensure community and individual success.

As I spent time over a recent weekend chatting with some prosperous Black men, I heard a reoccurring concern for the future of our children and what kind of a country will they inherit after the current attempts to dismantle democracy and erase Black history. We must continue to work together as a unit. We must go out of our way and buy from Black businesses, even when it’s not convenient. We must donate to Black art and cultural institutions so they can survive and our grandchildren can have places to go to learn our history. It is up to us to determine our future.

Remember the popular saying, “You haven’t lost the battle until you stopped fighting.”

This struggle is just beginning and is not foreign to us. We have seen this playbook time and time again, so we must remember the longstanding tools we have used in the past to overcome oppression. That strength is the same strength that keeps us spiritually strong. Working together and spending our resources within our own community will strengthen us so we can continue to stand tall and make it through these tough times.

Ronald Mitchell
Editor and Publisher, Bay State Banner