Black businesses as community anchors: History, economic power, and the fight to reserve it

Black-owned businesses have long served as essential pillars of community wealth, resilience, and cultural identity. They anchor local economies in cities such as Tulsa, Durham, New Orleans, and Birmingham, where entrepreneurship has been both a pathway to opportunity and a response to exclusion and devaluation. At the same time, a shifting legal landscape is raising urgent questions about how to sustain equitable economic development efforts.

On Monday, June 15, the Center for Community Uplift at Brookings will host an event to examine how Black businesses continue to function as community anchors amidst an ever-evolving policy landscape. Andre Perry, senior fellow and director of the Center for Community Uplift, will present new findings from the Black Business Parity Dashboard. This research models the increase in revenue, jobs, and wages a community would receive if the share of Black businesses were to match the population share of Black people. These projections help us answer the question: In which metro areas is progress toward business ownership parity accelerating, and where do gaps remain most entrenched?

Our panel of scholars, practitioners, and business leaders will explore the historical and contemporary importance of Black-owned businesses in cities that have long served as cultural and economic centers of Black life; the measurable economic and social returns of closing ownership gaps; and the strategies—public, private, and philanthropic—needed to preserve and expand Black business ecosystems in an era of heightened scrutiny.

This event will be open to attend in person or watch online. Online viewers can submit questions via e-mail to [email protected].