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Great black-owned businesses to support on the west coast

February was Black History Month and to remain committed to change, we want to discuss some of the best black-owned businesses you can find on the entire West Coast. Many of them are not only shops, restaurants, or bookstores but they have become great cultural centers of reference for many people of color.

Best black-owned businesses on the West Coast

Next, we will make a small list of the best sites that you can find throughout the West Coast, we want to try to add all kinds of businesses so we do not miss our recommendations to help a little more fight against racism. Supporting black business owners is a simple gesture that can mean a lot for small businesses.

Markus Books

The first recommendation we want to make is the well-known bookstore Marcus Books. It is located in Oakland, California, and is considered one of the oldest bookstores in the United States owned by black people. Nowadays, and thanks to the greater awareness that there is on the part of many people, the business has experienced great growth and above all, people consult more the books that deal with racial injustice in the United States and with the African diaspora. Marcus Books is an independent bookstore that was founded in the 1960s and since then, in addition to a bookstore, it has become a safe place where customers can talk and discuss current issues of the black community. It is definitively a great black-owned business to support.

A&D Wholesale Vintage Clothing

The second black-owned business we want to recommend is the store A&D Wholesale Vintage Clothing. In it, Deborah Evans Vincent has worked since 2006 and from that year one, she has selected and resold vintage clothing and accessories of the highest quality for men, women, and children. In their selections, you can find clothes from the 20s to the end of the 90s and we assure you that, among all the garments, there are great jewels.

Stuzo Clothing

Stuzo Clothing is that type of brand that is created with a specific objective and with the desire to change the world. Los Angeles residents Stoney Micheli Love and Uzo Ejikeme decided to create together what is now known as Stuzo Clothing. Through this brand, they created unique and genderless clothing for those non-conformist clients who break with the established norms in the world of fashion. Thanks to the great creations of clothing and accessories, they have come to collaborate with great celebrities such as Tiffany Haddish, Lena Waithe, Spike Lee, and Jada Pinkett Smith.

Miss Oddette’s Creole Kitchen

If you prefer to eat very well, we recommend you without a doubt to visit Miss Oddette’s Creole Kitchen, which is inspired by her Louisiana roots to create fantastic dishes. If you go, you cannot miss the ranges or the already very classic ones, macaroni and cheese, or the many other dishes that you will not be able to resist. In addition, another great feature of Miss Oddette’s Creole Kitchen is the famous barbecue sauce which, as explained on her Facebook page, is a recipe that her grandmother made during the Depression-era. Over the years, Oddette has included it in her recipes and in her magnificent dishes.

Black Girl Sunscreen

Another business that we want to recommend so that you can support some of the best black-owned brands is Black Girl Sunscreen. We wanted to select a store that belongs to the beauty industry since it is a sector that has focused for many years only on white people, without taking into account women of color and their skin tone. This is precisely how Black Girl Sunscreen came about. Shontay Lundy founded this sunscreen brand in 2016 after testing a thousand products and having them all designed with only white people in mind. In this way, Lundy began to create sunscreens thinking not only about the skin of black people but also, she began to use nourishing ingredients that were really beneficial for people’s skin.

Cross Colours

The next recommendation is again a clothing store for men and women, but this one is special. Cross Colours is a clothing brand that was born in 1989 in Los Angeles when Carl Jone and TJ Walker decided to create streetwear with great variation and a bold color palette that was inspired by the Pan-African flag. Through their brand, they wanted to make clothes without prejudice, and quickly, it was adopted by the whole community of hip-hop, then, little by little, it spread throughout the world. As stated on their website “Cross Colours Positioned Itself As A Voice Of Urban Youth, With Clothing That Was Fashion Forward And Community Oriented.” In addition, it is important to note that Cross Colours is part of the Exposition Park in the California African American Museum, which is currently closed temporarily due to the pandemic.

Neon Cowboys

The last recommendation we want to include in this article is the Neon Cowboys store. Asia Hall is the founder and owner of this fashion and technology brand founded 6 years ago. As its name suggests and as they state on their website, it is a store specializing in bright, western-inspired clothing and accessories. Their goal as a brand is to transmit joy, that people accept themselves and everyone, and, above all, that they feel proud to be themselves without complexes or fears. We hope that all our recommendations have inspired you to discover other black-owned stores, other brands and above all, have helped you to know other stories.