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100 Days In, Black Businesses Are Already Being Erased



It’s been just over 100 days since Donald Trump returned to the White House, and already, Black business owners are feeling the fallout. But this time, the rollback isn’t creeping in slowly; it’s happening fast and without apology.


I know, because I’m living it.


For the past eight years, I’ve built platforms that support thousands of Black-owned businesses, especially Black Women-owned businesses. I’ve partnered with corporations, led national tours, secured grants, and helped our businesses get seen, funded, and supported. But in just a few months under this administration, the foundation we worked so hard to build is being bulldozed.


We’ve been here before: economic promises that don’t reach us, policies made without us, and jobs created that never last. But now, with Trump back in office, we’re not just being left behind; we’re being intentionally targeted.


DEI is being gutted, and so are our businesses.


  • Federal contracts that made space for marginalized business owners? Gone.

  • Workplace protections for people of color? Rolled back.

  • Systems of accountability for race and equity? Scrubbed out.


They’re calling it “streamlining.” Let’s be honest, it’s erasure.


We were already fighting for crumbs. Before these rollbacks, Black businesses received less than 1% of venture capital and were denied loans at three times the rate of our white counterparts. DEI initiatives didn’t solve everything, but they gave us a fighting chance.


Now, even that chance is gone.


“I did not know it would happen so quickly, so swiftly, and so immediately.”

Tariffs are making it harder for us to stay in business.

Billion-dollar brands have options. We don’t.



They even defunded the one agency built for us.

For over 50 years, the MBDA has helped Black business owners access capital, contracts, and mentorship. Removing it tells us exactly where we stand: invisible and undeserving of support in their eyes.


So what’s left? Bootstrap narratives. Closed doors. The lie that “we all have the same opportunities.”


This is not just about politics. This is about survival.

This isn’t about being a Democrat or a Republican. This is about being a Black business owner in America and watching, again, as our progress is stripped away, right as we start to gain ground.


We can’t wait for anyone to come save us. We have to save ourselves. Again.


  • Circulate the Black dollar intentionally and unapologetically.

  • Shop with each other. Invest in each other.

  • Build and protect Black business ecosystems, because the old infrastructure isn’t coming back.


I said it before, and I’ll say it again:


When they erase us, we write ourselves back in.


And we won’t ask permission to do it.

 
 
 

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