Celebrating Black Businesses and Breaking Barriers in Education
August is National Black Business and National Back to School Month
Have you been building black businesses?
by Wendy Christie
When was the last time you consciously contributed to a black business? Come on, you really should not have to ponder that long for a response. Perhaps the delayed reaction is a telling tale of your consumption habits – hmm? This is not meant to be facetious, but it is worth the acknowledgment of a sort of conundrum, right? August is recognized as National Black Business Month – so we are compelled to awake your consciousness. After all, our goal is to liberate you! Whether you are consuming coffee or a caviar, refrigerators or real estate, fast food or financial holdings, black business owners depend on your spending to boost their businesses. Yet, unconsciously, the significance of deliberately helping black businesses secure their share of the economic pie is often overlooked.
Let us briefly examine some numbers: The United States boasts one of the largest, most promising economies in the world, and with millions of business entities in existence, there is still an alarming gap between whites and other groups when it comes to business ownership. A January 2021 press release by the United States Census Bureau showed that blacks or African Americans owned 124, 551 businesses. Of this number, the health care and social assistance sector accounted for 28 percent (35, 547) of the businesses owned by blacks or African Americans.
Here is a breakdown of other ethnic groups named in the release; Hispanic-owned businesses accounted for 331, 625 of all businesses, Asian-owned businesses accounted for 577, 835, approximately 24, 433 businesses were owned by American Indians and Alaska natives. Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders accounted for 6,653 of America’s business owners. The Annual Business Survey (ABS), conducted as part of the census, is the source of these findings. The results covered minority-owned businesses in the reference year, 2018.
Washington DC reportedly accounts for approximately 28% black-owned businesses, the highest percentage ratio in the country. As we celebrate Black businesses this month, task yourself with the responsibility of paying attention to your role in the success of Black business entities.
Let us look at some historic moments for black businesses in California. The images below are from our collection at the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center. We invite you to click on the links to explore even more.
Broadway Federal Savings and Loan President and CEO Elbert T. Hudson (second from left) and his son, Attorney and Inglewood Branch Manager Paul C. Hudson (second from right) receive an award from Black Business Association (BBA) President Earl "Skip" Cooper (left) and BBA Chairman Gene Hale. The award was presented at an event that also celebrated the 98th birthday of Dr. H. Claude Hudson, one of the founders of the savings and loan in 1946. Dr. Hudson, his son Elbert T. Hudson, and his grandson Paul C. Hudson were each president and CEO of the savings and loan, president of the LA chapter of the NAACP, and community activists. Los Angeles, 1984.
Photo by Guy Crowder
Black Business Association President Earl "Skip" Cooper II smiles as he receives a paper crown during a Black Business Association event at the Hyatt Regency, Los Angeles, 1987.
Photo by Guy Crowder
Boxing promoter and keynote speaker Don King talks with a member of the Black Business Association of Los Angeles during the Fifth Annual Black Business Day event at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, 1991.
Photo by Guy Crowder
Breaking barriers in education
August is also National Back to School Month; the images below are also from our collection and reflect some pivotal moments when African Americans challenged the system and took the steps to break barriers in education. We invite you to click on the links to explore even more.
Harold and Debra Erwin, the first two children to be refused admittance to Baldwin School. The local NAACP campaigned to promote school integration. They lost the first round when children of more than forty Negro families were refused admittance at Baldwin Hills Elementary School (5421 Rodeo Road). A few days later, the school admitted the children of Mr. and Mrs. Garr. Los Angeles, 1962.
Photo by Charles Williams
Los Angeles Unified School District teachers hold up protest posters in front of the Board of Education building. Los Angeles, 1983.
Photo by Guy Crowder
Man and woman posing. Vote for James "Jim" Jones, Los Angeles Board of Education. Rev. James E. Jones, Presbyterian minister, was the first black president of the L.A. Board of Education serving from 1965-1969. He was elected president of the Board in 1968.
Photo by Harry Adams
Bradley Center’s new curriculum website to serve LAUSD students, teachers
We are happy to share that we are also making strides in education. As part of the commitment for the grant acquired from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), we have created a website dedicated to expanding the educational resources available to students and educators within the Los Angeles Unified School District. Through our new curriculum-based website, both students and teachers will have access to our dedicated database of photographs by Richard Cross, metadata, and oral histories. This resource will serve as a catalyst for understanding the conflicts in Central and Latin America in the 1970s and early 1980s, the implications for the years that follow, and the relationship between the populations and experiences in the United States. The new educational resource will also provide direct access to our other collections at the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center. Look out for the announcement and details when we officially launch the website! We are still beta-testing the site.
Photos by Richard Cross
MEET THE TEAM
Joseph Silva is a veteran of the United States Navy and just graduated from California State University Northridge with a Bachelor’s degree in Art. He studied photography in the Department of Art, with an emphasis on documentary photography, photojournalism, and graphic design. He is a returning student who used the G.I. Bill to finish his education and dedicate his photography to social justice, activism, and veterans’ issues. He is based in Los Angeles, California, and has several personal documentary photography projects in Latin America, the Caribbean, and U.S./Mexico border. He is currently working on social documentary projects on the deportation of veterans who have served in the U.S. military and on homeless veterans in Los Angeles, California. josephsilvaphotography.com