Beyoncé Partners with NAACP to Support Black-Owned Businesses

Singer, superstar, and pop culture influencer Beyoncé has recently teamed up with NAACP to support Black-owned businesses, as a way to give back to the black community. The singer also just completed producing the visual album Black is King, set to premier globally on July 31.

In April, Beyoncé partnered with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to support small businesses that were affected by the impact of the coronavirus with $6 million. The funds were directed to community-based organizations that would benefit communities rather than just a few individuals. Also, Beyoncé worked with fellow artist and rapper Megan Thee Stallion to release hit song Savage, the proceeds from the single went directly to Houston non-profits to support underserved communities struggling amid the pandemic.

 Beyoncé has shown that she is a major supporter of humanity way before the pandemic hit America. In May, she partnered with her mother, Tina Knowles-Lawson to create and promote the #IDIDMYPART campaign which is supposed to encourage colored residents across the country to seek free Covid-19 testing.

Beyoncé’s most recent act of service involves partnering with the NAACP through the BeyGOOD foundation to launch the Black-owned Small Business Impact Fund, providing $10,000 grants to small Black-owned businesses in particular cities to “strengthen small businesses” and to see substantial “economic empowerment for Black businesses,” according to the NAACP.

“The challenges of Black business owners navigating in the climate cannot be understated, as the effects of uprisings across the nation have led to many businesses being placed in dire straits due to damages and other small business needs,” an NAACP statement read.

The new initiative was created after the singer launched the Black Parade Route on Juneteenth as a way of promoting Black-owned brands across many sectors of the US economy.

“Over the last couple of months, the pandemic and outpours for justice throughout the Black community and across the country have been felt in every imaginable area of our lives, including in how our local businesses continue to operate,” said NAACP in a press release.

The funding will be available only to Black business owners resident on Atlanta, Houston, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, or New York. All applicants in these cities have until July 18, 2020, to apply. The list of successful applicants will be published on Beyonce.com, by July 31.