HARTFORD, Conn. — After protests broke out following George Floyd and Breonna Taylor's deaths in 2020, Sarah Thompson said she wanted to step up to be an ally.
"I basically wanted to go out and try to do something and move from empathy to action myself," said Thompson.
Thompson had an idea to put together a resource that listed Black-owned business in Connecticut.
"The idea was to uplift and amplify Black-owned businesses and really push for economic equality for everyone in our state," explained Thompson. "Specifically to help Black-owned businesses overcome obstacles to succeeding that have historically been presented to them in the past."
In July 2020, that vision came to life as ShopBlackCT. It's a volunteer initiative and not-for-profit website that lists more than 1,700 Connecticut Black-owned businesses. You can search by county, city, or category.
Co-project lead Yvette Young said its sole mission is to challenge structural racism while giving Black businesses a platform to succeed.
"Because we knew that if people were aware of their existence, the likelihood is that their businesses would receive the support they need, and they would end up having revenue to be able to sustain themselves," Young said passionately.
Young said this website and the initiative behind it was crucial, especially at the height of the pandemic.
"This project was so important at the time beyond the racial justice issues that were surfacing was also COVID was having an impact on small businesses and 41% of Black-owned businesses were going out of business in COVID compared to their counterparts," explained Young.
Young said ShopBlackCT gives people the opportunity to support community members that have historically been disenfranchised. She said the hope is that the project would continue to play a vital historical role in the Black community.
"There's nothing better than knowing that you are changing the path of history by doing something that no one has really focused energy and time on before, and allowing a community of people to be able to thrive, not just survive, but thrive," said Young.
According to ShopBlackCT, 95% of the listed businesses said the site has been helpful, and 83% say it's given them more exposure.
Both Young and Thompson said although it's Black History Month, Black-owned businesses should be acknowledged all year round, and resources like ShopBlackCT can help with that.
"This is happening, people are making moves in history, waves are being made, people in our community and in our state are creating businesses daily that are impacting the community," said Thompson. "They're doing things. They're creating jobs and things that we should be supporting."
"Whenever possible, your dollar has power," said Young. "When it's possible to support someone else in your community that can use that dollar over a large corporation, choose to go local, choose to shop Black, choose to shop within your community, choose to support your community members."
Thompson said there is representation across the entire state on ShopBlackCT. "So don't make assumptions about where these businesses may be. Look, make an effort and then go out and support them."
Raquel Harrington is the race and culture reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at rharrington@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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