Buy Black New Bedford is hosting its second annual Dream Makers Market on July 13, 2023, featuring all children and teen vendors. The event, according to founder and director Justina Perry is “a signature vendor market featuring all children and teen vendors.” The aim of the event is to encourage Black children and teenagers to participate and thrive in a global marketplace. Jonathan Felix, Assistant to the Executive Director at the Boys and Girls Club of Greater New Bedford describes the aims of the event in a press release: “America is a mixed market/capitalist economy, but few children are offered the opportunity to learn and apply market principles at home or in school. Many become playthings of powerful economic forces we do not understand as we were never taught. The Dream Makers Market provides a unique learning opportunity for children to dream, strategize, market, network, and learn basic principles to thrive in a global competitive marketplace which America still leads…In my 30 years of experience in education, this is the first time I’ve encountered something like this.”
According to Herald News, Buy Black New Bedford was birthed in 2020 as a free community platform dedicated to discovering highlighting, and promoting Black-owned businesses within the South Coast region of Massachusets. The group hosts year-round events featuring hand-selected, diverse groups of vendors and often works in concert with local businesses and organizations like the New Bedford Boys and Girls Club, First Citizens Federal Credit Union, and Perry’s Oshun Physical Therapy and Pelvic Health. Perry describes this year’s focus in a statement provided to Herald News. “This year we’re hosting a space devoted to uplifting 20 local, talented, young creatives…Our partner organizations for this year’s market are Our Sisters’ School and Boys & Girls Club of Greater New Bedford. E For All Southcoast is back to do what they do exceptionally well in offering business training while First Citizens Federal Credit Union offers an interactive financial workshop to our vendors.”
According to the Brookings Institute, Black-Owned businesses saw a significant boom during the pandemic of 2019-2020. Some of this has been attributed to the loss of jobs as well as multiple rounds of stimulus checks which combined to create a high rate of Black businesses in middle-class Black neighborhoods. Predictably, PPP loans were not made available to Black business owners at the same rate they were for white business owners. This meant that they used the funds available to them, generally stimulus checks, to create and sustain their new businesses. Historically, that has always been the case, access to lines of credit and capital has generally been limited for Black people in America. This means that Black business owners have had to be creative with how they procured funding, often relying on personal credit lines or funds to finance their ventures. Buy Black New Bedford fits into this landscape both in terms of being a Black-owned venture and as a connective hub dedicated to connecting Black businesses both to each other and the larger community. According to their website, Buy Black New Bedford has been successful at amplifying the voices of Black women, fundraising for local organizations, and connecting local businesses with opportunities.