• Semicolon Book Store- https://www.semicolonchi.com/ 
• Phenomenal Woman – https://phenomenalwoman.us/ 
• People of Color Beauty- https://www.peopleofcolorbeauty.com/ 

Supporting black-owned small businesses helps support and maintain the strength of local economies and communities. Especially during these tough times, it is important to provide jobs and opportunities.  

There are a variety of black-owned small businesses that sell and provide different products and services. 

Semicolon Bookstore is blurring the lines between art and literature. The founder and owner, DL Mullen, finds it necessary for the two to have a connection, so in 2019, she created a bookstore that is a gallery.

Creating a relaxing place to enjoy a book by covering the walls with various works of art, Mullen successfully combined the two while strengthening the sense of community. 

In an interview with Chicago Magazine, Mullen said, “[Semicolon] represents the point in a sentence where it could stop, but the author decides to proceed,” which resonates with her and her determination. 

The bookstore has one location in Chicago and an online store where you can purchase books, or donate to the bookstore’s “literacy-focused non-profit” called Parenthesis. Parenthesis is focused on providing literacy and education to children. 

The online store is stocked with many books from all genres, priced from $15 to $25. The team includes different collections of black-written books ranging from the staff’s picks to ‘so good you can’t put down’. 

Phenomenal Woman is another black woman-owned small business that celebrates black culture and shares it with the world. This brand is devoted to bringing awareness to social issues. 

Owner Meena Harris first designed t-shirts for the 2017 Women’s March. She began selling them and quickly realized she should expand to an international business. 

Harris’s brand was inspired by the poetry book “Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou who writes about women empowerment and confidence. 

Phenomenal Woman now sells t-shirts, sweatshirts, and many other products that relate to current events and movements. The newest collection of products is for the movie To All The Boys Always and Forever. 

They sell products with sayings like “ambitious,” “Black Lives Matter,” and “thank black woman.” They also have a collection that says “phenomenal,” and have different endings to the saying like “phenomenal mother,” “phenomenally trans,” “phenomenally Asian,” and many more. 

The price range of their products is $20 to $60. The company has supported and created products for organizations such as “The Breonna Taylor Foundation,” “Justice for Migrant Woman,” “This is about Humanity,” and others. 

People of Color Beauty is a small business that has created nail polish colors that accentuate a variety of skin tones. 

When founder Jacqueline Carrington was growing up, she never saw nail polish colors that highlight the skin tones of others in black communities. She decided to change this and create colors that compliment the many shades of skin and skin tones. 

These colors are not only for people of color but for everyone because we all live in a world of many colors. This then evolved into the brand’s slogan, “nail polish for People of Color and those who live in color.” 

Most of their polishes are $12 and come in a wide variety of colors and textures to highlight any skin tone. All their nail polishes are non-toxic, vegan, and cruelty-free. 

There are many other black-owned small businesses to support, and there are also other ways to support a small business in addition to or instead of purchasing items from their business. 

Another way to support a black-owned business is to spread their business around. Tell friends and family about their products, stories, and how they are contributing to communities. 

Whether purchasing from, donating to, or spreading a brand’s message, all communities benefit from the growth of black-owned small businesses.