Black consumers are in for a unique shopping experience at the New Black Wall Street Market. The Stonecrest, Georgia facility made headlines when it launched in May 2021, and it is still an essential stop for people with an interest in advancing the Black community.
Recently, rolling out spoke to New Black Wall Street business owners Kim Greene, from B.L.A.C.K. and Chamessidine Ly from Mansa Musa Art, about the financial power of the Black consumer and the current state of Black economics. B.L.A.C.K. sells high-quality Negro League Baseball apparel, while Mansa Musa Art offers a cultural experience for customers to connect to their roots in Africa.
What do you think is the current state of Black economics?
Chamessidine Ly: I think investing in the Black economy right now is a must. It should not just be something you say, but an action. We should find a way to support each other instead of the big companies that try to take that money from between us. That’s what’s happening in other communities, so why not between us?
Kim Greene: We’ve always had money, and we’ve always been willing to spend it. I think now, the fact we are embracing the opportunity to spend it within ourselves, it’s never been something that’s really been promoted. It hasn’t really been an option, because there are so many challenges put in front of us as Black entrepreneurs, that we might want to have a business, but the opportunity hasn’t always been there. Now that so many things are opening up through funding and education, and through opportunities like this, I really feel like Black economics is really on the verge of a boom because we want to be able to spend our money, but now we’re really able to circulate in the community and allow ourselves to be elevated, just like it’s done in so many other cultures.
What is the power of keeping the Black dollar within our community?
CL: The power is unbelievable. We have one of the larger communities in the world, not just the U.S., we have Black people everywhere in the world. We have them in Brazil, Asia and Africa. It’s better for us from Africa to deal with our people down here than dealing with anybody else. That’s a big economic difference, that’s a billion-dollar idea. That’s not just a million-dollar idea. That’s a billion-dollar business everybody can find out a way to make it happen and have a better life.
KG: If I have $1, and I give it to a Black business that needs it, and that Black business is able to grow and hire other Black employees, which are able to grow, learn and possibly have the opportunity to get enough knowledge to own their own business. It allows us as a community to be elevated. If you see there are people that come from other countries, and that’s exactly what they do.
