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Proud Black Business
p/proud-black-businessDigital badge + API to easily identify Black businesses
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Garren Givens

Proud Black Business - Digital badge + API to easily identify Black businesses

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We ask businesses to self-identify as Black-owned so that companies & consumers can choose to support them. Businesses get a digital badge for their sites, and the directory can be made available via API to connect businesses with other economic opportunities

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Garren Givens
Maker
Hello Product Hunt Community! My name is Garren Givens. My co-founders and I are former Presidential Innovation Fellows under President Obama. We are passionate about startups and social impact. This is why we are applying our networks and passion for tech to launch the Proud Black Business campaign -- to support America's 2.6 million Black-owned businesses during this challenging time. As many as 40% of Black Owned Businesses could close as a direct result of the coronavirus and unequal access to capital like PPP loans. There has been a huge outpouring of support for Black-owned business, but many are finding that identifying Black-owned businesses is actually a huge challenge, especially online. Our campaign asks businesses to self-identify as Black-owned so that allies and consumers can more easily direct their spending. As individuals sign our pledge, and businesses display “Proud Black Business” badges on their websites and storefronts, we create a movement toward conscientious consumerism. Huge thanks to the PH community for your feedback and support!!
Eduardo F. Ortiz
This is a fantastic idea; thanks Garren and Olivier for launching this; as a Black business owner I've taken the pledge!
Garren Givens
Maker
@eduardoortiz Thanks for the support, our numbers are growing!! I'm grateful for the feedback!
Garren Givens
Maker
@eduardoortiz We appreciate you. And see you. Hope we can support one another.
Rachel Martin-Austin
Yes finally! Thank you
Garren Givens
Maker
@rma I love this comment :) thank you!!
Jason Shen
Congrats on the launch Garren and Olivier! Such an important time to use technology to advance racial justice. Can you tell us more about the inspiration for this product (the implementation) and where you want to take it?
Garren Givens
Maker
@jasonshen Thanks for the question!! My co-founders and I have been building a platform for diverse freelancers, so we were already in the mindset of supporting black firms, freelancers and creatives when George Floyd was killed. We saw the outpouring of support for black businesses, but in our own outreach realized that it's actually difficult to know which businesses are Black-owned. The SBA certification process is way to long and only helpful if you're looking to do business with the government, so we were looking to do something super lightweight where businesses can opt in. In terms of direction, we'd really like to see this grown into a sort of open directory that you can search directly or contact via API. This would make it super easy for businesses to opt-in to add a label to other services they might be listed, like Yelp, UberEats, or Amazon. Our goal is to figure out more ways to create visibility and economic opportunity for underrepresented businesses!
E.J. Kalafarski
Important effort, thank you for launching this and making it possible for consumers to participate!
Garren Givens
Maker
@skeejay Thank you EJ! The feedback from the community has been tremendous :)
Gajen Sunthara
Important work here and much needed during this timeframe!!
Garren Givens
Maker
@gajen_sunthara Thanks for amplifying!!
Marta Atencia
This is great, thank you for launching Proud Black Business!!
Garren Givens
Maker
@marta_atencia thanks for the kind words of encouragement. These businesses need our support. So thank you for sharing!
abasa aka pfazer
This is great. Happy to support!💪🏽💪🏽
Olivier Kamanda
Maker
@abasa Thanks for the support. We're starting to see some real traction!
Garren Givens
Maker
@abasa Thank you for the support!!
Aileen McGraw
Love this! Makes me think of Intentionalist, an online, crowdsourced guide to help folks #SpendLikeItMatters. https://Intentionalist.com - the way you’ve built this badge and API make shopping as a tool to advance racial justice so accessible. Look forward to seeing this grow!
Olivier Kamanda
Maker
@aileenmcgraw Thanks Aileen!
Stephen Campbell
Dope. ✊🏽 I’m in.
Garren Givens
Maker
@stephenalan Appreciate the love!