When Black-Owned Brands Should Speak on Injustice

Seun Shokunbi - Editor

Ordinary employees and celebrities alike risk losing their jobs if they say anything about Gaza. Industry icons are being accused of crimes and threatening to retaliate against anyone holding them accountable. 

Being 100% neutral isn’t easy when building a brand relies heavily on authentic connections with your audience. This pressure intensifies when addressing a political or social issue that may alienate a brand from customers or business partners. 

When is it ever safe to speak out about injustice, if/when the backlash could affect whether your bills get paid?

If you’re Black and a woman, it could be Russian roulette whenever you open your mouth (ask Claudine Gay about it).

Because Black content creators generate the largest and most engaged online audiences, we attract attention for the right and wrong reasons. We’re valuable and vulnerable in business partnerships, with more to lose if our audience or investors think we made the wrong moves.

There’s no universal law forcing Black businesses and brands to take a stance whenever something happens in the world. But there’s an invisible gun to our head with two fingers on the trigger—one from White Capitalist Patriarchy and the other from Cancel Culture. So creating a strategy and guidelines for addressing social issues as a Black and women-led business or brand might be worthwhile. At least under certain circumstances…

When Black-Owned Brands Should Speak on Injustice

1. When the goal is to get more aid & protection for your constituency.

How does speaking out serve your customers or beneficiaries? Answer this question from a selfless vs. self-centered point of view. 

For not-for-profit or charitable organizations, the answer is usually in the mission statement and bylaws already. As a for-profit company, answering this question requires more intentionality.

The LIT Bar in the Bronx, NY, is a great example of this intentionality. Owner Noëlle Santos founded the Black-owned bookstore after fighting for years to keep the only bookstore available in her neighborhood open. Since opening in 2019, LIT Bar is intentionally putting a spotlight on African and African-American authors and increasing literacy levels in one of America’s lowest-performing school districts.

Sofia Ongele created the ReDawn app to make it easier for victims of sexual assault to get help without being stigmatized. Additionally, Ongele coded an online tool for residents to protest city officials who refused to memorialize students killed at a local high school shooting. Her work is spawned by a desire to equip her beneficiaries with the power to resist being silenced or ignored.

2. When a political action or law inhibits you from fulfilling your mandate.

Are politicians or lobbyists blocking your ability to do good and avoid harm? It’s time to speak up if the answer is “yes”.

This is a battle the Abundant Birth Project is fighting in San Francisco, after being sued for alleged discrimination by “providing funds” for maternal and postpartum care “exclusively to women of color.” 

At least five years of data and analyses from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) prove that the Abundant Birth Project’s focus on Black mothers is warranted. However, the Californians for Equal Rights Foundation and American Civil Rights Project claim that Abundant Birth’s work is unconstitutional based on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This law, ironically, was passed to end racial discrimination and segregation that disproportionately and negatively affected Black Americans’ quality of life.

Black-owned brands benefit from highlighting the irony of political actions like this in content marketing campaigns. Use engaging tactics to explain how these actions prevent you from improving society with your product or service. Using plain and clear language that isn’t debatable or contradictory strengthens your message, making it difficult for any backlash to affect your bottom line. 

3. When your donors/supporters ask you to.

This is the easiest, enviable position to be in as a brand. But it is possible to achieve this if your brand has been consistent with its priorities and non-negotiables from the start. 

Early-stage content creators can poll current followers to confirm that their values are aligned and, if not, plan to pivot toward an audience better suited for them.

Well-established brands should pay attention to what their supporters are implicitly and explicitly telling them to decide how to proceed when addressing injustices. What comments are they leaving under social media posts? What are the most watched videos from other content creators with the same subscribers?

Manychat and vidIQ are services that help brands automate and track this process. But never neglect including decision-makers within your team to add a human touch to community management, especially when addressing sensitive topics like assault and hate crimes.

Dealing with the Consequences of Speaking Up

I saw a white man laugh and shout “terrorists” at a Palestinian family the other day, in a crowded street. People nearby stared but said nothing. The Palestinian father yelled back and almost hit the man, held back by his wife as their children watched in their strollers.

Frankly, I wanted to curse out the laughing man. I felt secondhand rage for the way this family was embarrassed publicly. Then I thought about what would happen if I, a Black woman, tried to intervene without anyone protecting me.

Eventually, I walked up to the wife and rubbed her shoulder once her husband calmed down and the laughing man was far away. 

“I’m sorry,” I said. She gave me a tired nod, her eyes saying “Thank you”.

Our Blackness is cool but complicated, an asset and Achilles’ heel. 

Ever since imperialists decided their White skin made them superior, Blackness has been the chief marker of global oppression. With that came a sense of obligation, and the motto “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” To be Black meant siding with the world’s underdogs by default. The Black Panthers’ Rainbow Coalition and synergy between BLM and Palestinians show how far and for how long that solidarity stretches.

Businesses and brands are taking sides on social media even at the risk of losing paid ads on posts. In most cases, the effort is arguably brave and commendable. 

With advertising dollars reaching $880 million for Black-owned media yet remaining only 1% of total dollars available, it makes sense for Black brands and influencers to be the ones thinking twice before taking a stand. Hopefully, the three tips offered above assist them with making intelligent decisions that combine their profit strategy with social responsibility.