Who: Cultural institutions, retailers, restaurateurs and community groups seeking sustained support for Black creators and entrepreneurs.
What: A practical guide offering concrete, accessible recommendations for observing Black History Month through commerce, culture and community engagement.
Where and when: Applicable across cities and online platforms during the month commonly recognized for these observances and beyond.
Why: The aim is to move organizations and individuals beyond symbolic gestures toward measurable, inclusive action that benefits Black-led businesses and cultural producers.
Sustainability is a business case: long-term support builds resilient markets for Black entrepreneurs and creators. From an ESG perspective, investments in diverse suppliers reduce supply-chain concentration and broaden customer reach. Leading companies have understood that lasting impact requires policies, budgets and measurement—not one-off promotions.
This guide prioritizes practical steps over gestures. It highlights small businesses and restaurants worth visiting, recommends authors whose work deserves wider attention, and lists performances and events that center Black experiences. It also addresses accessibility, covering language interpretation, digital inclusivity and physical access, so celebrations genuinely include everyone.
Support Black-owned businesses and restaurants
How to discover and evaluate places
Support for Black-owned businesses begins with deliberate choices about where to spend money. Seek out establishments that publish ownership information and make a habit of returning beyond commemorative moments. Visiting restaurants and shops repeatedly sustains entrepreneurship and deepens community ties.
FIELDTRIP offers a concrete example. Chef JJ Johnson built the concept around the idea that rice is culture. The restaurant links heirloom grains, freshly milled rice and sustainably sourced ingredients to history and place. Such businesses connect culinary practice to local supply chains and to cultural interpretation.
Practical steps to discover and evaluate places:
- Verify ownership: check business websites, local registries or community directories that list minority-owned enterprises.
- Assess sourcing: look for transparent ingredient sourcing and references to heirloom or local producers.
- Review labour and governance practices: ask whether the business follows living-wage policies and inclusive hiring.
- Consult independent reviews and community feedback: local social media groups, neighbourhood associations and nonprofit directories often provide reliable insight.
- Use certification and disclosure standards: third-party frameworks such as SASB or GRI can signal stronger reporting on social and environmental practices.
- Prioritise frequency: one-off purchases help, but repeat patronage creates sustainable demand and predictable revenue streams.
From an ESG perspective, evaluate impact beyond the shopfront. Examine whether suppliers pursue circular design, publish basic life-cycle assessments (LCA) or disclose emissions across scope 1-2-3. Sustainability is a business case: clear sourcing and operations reduce risk and attract customers who value traceability.
Leading companies have understood that combining cultural authenticity with transparent supply chains creates durable market value. Support that aligns heritage, economic opportunity and measurable sustainability performance.
Start with community directories, neighborhood lists and platforms that highlight Black-owned vendors. When planning a visit, check the venue’s operating hours and accessibility. Verify sustainability practices and supply chains. Look for businesses that use locally sourced ingredients, practice ethical hiring and reinvest in their neighbourhood. These signals indicate long-term stewardship and cultural commitment rather than transient marketing. Prioritise regular patronage over a single visit during a designated month.
Read and amplify Black authors
Support for cultural producers extends beyond commerce to publishing and media. Buy books directly from Black authors, borrow from local libraries and recommend titles to colleagues and book clubs. Write reviews on retail sites and cultural outlets. Use professional networks to place authors on panels, podcasts and speaking circuits. From an ESG perspective, cultural investment strengthens community resilience and diversifies intellectual capital. Sustainability is a business case: audiences reward consistent editorial and purchasing choices. Leading companies have understood that amplifying diverse voices creates measurable social value.
Tips for building a sustainable reading habit
Leading companies have understood that amplifying diverse voices creates measurable social value. From an ESG perspective, promoting continuous engagement with Black writers strengthens community ties and supports cultural resilience.
Start by assembling a balanced reading list that mixes fiction, memoir, history and essays. Prioritize authors at different career stages to maintain variety and ongoing discovery. Sustainability is a business case: a rotating list reduces reliance on single bestsellers and spreads economic support across multiple creators.
Prefer purchases that channel more revenue to creators. Buy new releases from independent bookstores or order directly from authors and small presses when possible. Many stores and presses offer subscription models or curated boxes that provide steady, predictable income for writers.
Turn reading into active community practice. Invite authors to school talks, library events and community readings. Partner with local organizations to host panels or workshops that link books to civic issues. These activities convert solitary reading into cultural exchange and local impact.
Embed reading into everyday routines to ensure longevity. Set realistic targets, such as one book per month or a weekly chapter goal. Combine formats—print, audiobook and e-book—to fit commuting, caregiving and work schedules common among women balancing multiple responsibilities.
Measure and iterate. Track purchases, attendance at events and local economic impact where possible. From a practical standpoint, use simple metrics—number of local author purchases, event attendance, or funds raised—to evaluate which actions create the greatest benefit for writers and communities.
Examples of practical steps: subscribe to an independent bookstore newsletter, join or start a local book club focused on Black writers, and allocate a small monthly budget for direct purchases from authors. These measures create durable demand and sustain creative careers.
These measures create durable demand and sustain creative careers. One practical step is to create a reading circle that prioritizes Black authors or to rotate selections with friends and family. Libraries often maintain curated lists, and independent bookstores commonly feature staff picks that surface lesser-known titles. When recommending books in conversation or online, include a short note on where to buy locally. Small, repeatable gestures like these increase discovery and help authors build audiences that extend beyond a single month.
Attend shows and center accessible programming
From an ESG perspective, supporting live events and accessible programming strengthens cultural ecosystems and broadens participation. Sustainability is a business case: festivals, readings and panels that remove barriers attract larger, more diverse audiences and create new revenue channels for creators.
Prioritise venues with accessible seating, offer sliding-scale tickets and partner with local community organisations to reach underrepresented readers. Curate line-ups that mix established names with emerging voices to sustain attention over time. Leading companies have understood that integrating accessibility into programming is both ethical and commercially sensible.
Practical implementation starts with simple checks: evaluate venue accessibility, provide captioning or live audio description, and ensure promotional materials list purchase options and local retailers. These steps translate advocacy into measurable support for creators and communities.
These steps translate advocacy into measurable support for creators and communities. Live and digital performances by Black artists offer spaces for reflection and celebration. Institutions that adopt inclusive practices expand audiences and strengthen cultural ecosystems.
Who should act? Presenters, venues and producers. What to implement? Basic measures include captioning, audio description, wheelchair access and language services. Ticketing and program pages must be navigable and offer clear contact points for special-needs requests. These measures reduce barriers to attendance and increase ticket sales reliability.
Where does this matter? In theatres, concert halls, streaming platforms and community venues. From an ESG perspective, accessibility is part of responsible programming. Sustainability is a business case: accessible events generate repeat attendance, foster loyalty and improve brand reputation.
How to proceed in practice. Audit physical and digital access points. Train front-of-house and technical staff. Include accessibility requirements in contracts with promoters and distributors. Leading companies have understood that measurable inclusion delivers cultural and financial returns.
Examples already exist: some institutions publish accessibility statements and contact forms, while others provide dedicated sensory-friendly performances. Track uptake and audience feedback to refine offerings. Clear metrics make inclusion a repeatable operational practice and a visible commitment to equity.
Universities, cultural centers and community groups increasingly publish event details that underline their accessibility commitments. Many institutions state nondiscrimination policies and offer language access or translation services on request. These measures help ensure conversations reach people with limited English proficiency. When organizers advertise such supports, attendees can participate with confidence and organizers signal that inclusion is a priority.
Make impact last beyond one month
Who should act: event hosts, venue operators and funders need to plan for sustained inclusion. What to do: embed accessibility and language services into standard event budgets and vendor agreements. Where to apply this: in live performances, panel discussions and community workshops. Why it matters: repeatable processes turn a one-off initiative into lasting institutional change.
From an ESG perspective, sustainability is a business case for inclusion. Clear metrics make inclusion a repeatable operational practice and a visible commitment to equity. Trackable indicators include the number of events with language services, percentage of venues with accessible seating and attendee satisfaction by accessibility need.
How to implement in practice: allocate a fixed line for accessibility in event budgets. Contract interpreters and captioning providers in advance. Require accessibility checklists from venues before confirming bookings. Use post-event surveys to measure whether supports met participants’ needs and to calculate basic key performance indicators.
Leading companies and institutions have understood that inclusion reduces barriers and expands audiences. Examples include universities that publish accommodation procedures alongside ticketing information and cultural centers that list contact points for language support. These steps convert commitments into measurable outcomes and open new revenue and engagement pathways.
Practical roadmap: (1) standardize accessibility clauses in contracts, (2) set minimum service levels for language and access supports, (3) monitor compliance with simple metrics, and (4) report results publicly. From a corporate and nonprofit angle, this approach aligns diversity aims with operational discipline and accountability.
The next step is operational: translate policy into procurement, training and reporting so accessibility is embedded, not optional.
How to sustain support after Black History Month
The operational step is simple: convert commitments into regular practices. Continue visiting Black-owned restaurants, subscribing to newsletters by Black publishers, and attending performances outside dedicated seasons. Small, repeated actions compound and strengthen local cultural ecosystems.
From an ESG perspective, embed these practices into procurement and programming cycles. Prioritize vendors and partners that demonstrate equitable hiring, fair pay, and transparent reporting. Sustainability is a business case: recurring spend and long-term contracts create stability for businesses and creators.
Respect autonomy and dignity when offering support. Ask how creators and businesses prefer to be engaged. Compensate artists and cultural workers for talks, performances, and advisory work. Avoid requests that rely on unpaid cultural labor.
Make support measurable. Track spend with minority-owned suppliers, report on audience diversity for events, and include qualitative feedback from community partners. Use simple metrics that inform procurement, training, and reporting.
Consider targeted investments that build capacity. Donate to community organizations focused on cultural infrastructure, sponsor apprenticeship programmes, and mentor emerging talent. Leading companies have understood that capacity building delivers both social value and sustainable talent pipelines.
Showcase and amplify responsibly. Curate regular features of Black creators on institutional channels, and provide marketing support that translates into sales or bookings. When possible, share distribution or platform access rather than token visibility alone.
Practical steps for organisations: add supplier-diversity clauses to contracts, allocate a budget line for artist fees, and require accessibility and nondiscrimination commitments from partners. Training for procurement and programming teams lowers the risk of performative gestures.
Examples of actionable models include multi-year commissioning programmes, revolving funds for small cultural enterprises, and partnership agreements with clear deliverables and payment terms. These models turn episodic recognition into durable opportunity.
From audits to annual targets, integrate progress into governance. Report outcomes publicly and invite independent verification when appropriate. Transparency strengthens accountability and signals that support is institutional, not seasonal.
Continued commitment transforms celebration into sustained uplift. Sustained, compensated, and respectful engagement helps ensure that Black voices, businesses, and stories thrive beyond a single month.