TikTok introduced online hub Support Black Businesses as a place where Black entrepreneurs can learn about the video creation platform’s ongoing partnerships and initiatives to help drive awareness, support and patronage of their businesses, as well as in-application campaign #ShopBlack.
Support Black Businesses builds upon previous efforts by TikTok to promote inclusivity in entrepreneurship, including its commitment this summer to grant $500,000 to the Accion Opportunity Fund to provide relief to Black small business owners impacted by the pandemic.
TikTok said in a blog post that with nearly 121,500 Black-owned businesses in the U.S., it knows there is more work to be done.
North America lead, product marketing Gabriel Nicolau added, “We’re excited to support and empower Black-owned businesses, especially during a time when Covid-19 has heavily impacted the economy and widened the opportunity gap for Black entrepreneurs. This is just the beginning, and we’re committed to finding new and creative ways to provide continued support to the Black community.”
ShopBlack, kicking off Nov. 10, enables the TikTok community to participate in a hashtag challenge and create videos that spotlight their favorite Black-owned businesses or share their own stories as Black entrepreneurs.
In addition, over 40 Black Shopify merchants from across Canada and the U.S. will be featured on the Support Black Businesses website Nov. 10 through 15, during which time the TikTok community can explore their products and services via the #ShopBlack hashtag and branded effect.
The official #ShopBlack campaign music comes from Black musician, educator, and community advocate D Smoke, who has his own Shopify store.
Yinka Taiwo-Peters, co-founder of the Support Black Businesses initiative at TikTok, said in the blog post, “More than ever before, 2020 has highlighted the disproportionate burden on Black-owned businesses. When we thought about how we could best support them, we listened to feedback from TikTok creators, who asked us to highlight more Black-owned businesses. As a descendant of Black small business owners, I know the value of giving this community a voice and promoting a #ShopBlack mindset on and off our platform.”
Christina Funke Tegbe, founder of 54 Thrones, a premium skincare brand that celebrates and elevates traditional African beauty rituals, added, “I am beyond excited to be part of the #ShopBlack campaign. The hashtag challenge is an incredible opportunity to share our brand story with the TikTok community, and I’m so happy that Black business owners like me are being given a platform to amplify our voices.”
