April Silver, owner of Akila Worksongs, a public relations agency, is happy to see Blacks supporting Black-owned businesses, but said it’s something that should happen constantly
“I believe that Black-owned businesses need the support of the community not just when something like that happens, when they’ve been mistreated in another place,” Ms. Silver said. “Black people need to proactively look out for directories of Black-owned businesses in their communities. If one doesn’t exist, they should compile it.”
The mosque in New York has been supportive of the efforts made to help pave the way forward, said Abdul Hafeez Muhammad, the eastern region student minister for the Nation of Islam.
“Our involvement is not a personal one. We are involved with directing our people toward Black-owned nail salons,” Mr. Muhammad said. “We want to see our own. So what we’ve been doing is supporting whatever protests are there, but we have not gone and involved ourselves there because that is not our way. We’re guiding our people to opening a Black nail salon.”
Mr. Muhammad said this is not an isolated incident. He remembers a conflict between an Asian-American grocer and Black residents in 1990.
“This is a sign of a mindset of Koreans who do business in our community everywhere,” Mr. Muhammad said. “It just shows the apathy that they’ll take our money, but they have no respect for us as a people. As Minister Farrakhan has taught us, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad said, then go open up for yourself.”
Article Appeared @https://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/article_105224.shtml