“Hella Black, Hella Proud” is featured on shirts by Tribe Worldwide Apparel, a Black owned clothing company. Somehow, Amazon thought it was appropriate to market a swimsuit with that very same phrase. The marketing also featured a white model. It was problematic, to say the least but the issue runs much deeper. Amazon has been known to rip off good ideas and sell them as their own. Their size and reach is immense, making it tempting to simply rely on them for all we need. That, however, simply won’t do: we must build our own.
Recently, Amazon met with startups under the guise of investing in their businesses. However, Amazon immediately went out and launched products to compete with the companies they met with. Amazon has been known to copy best-selling products and then sell them directly to consumers. Amazon plays quite dirty. Small Black owned companies like Tribe Worldwide are especially vulnerable to such a big giant and that’s precisely why We Buy Black’s fulfillment operation is so vital. Black entrepreneurs need a partner in distribution, for sure; they also need assurance that their best ideas won’t be stolen by a company with billions upon billions stacked in the bank.
We Buy Black was launched with a mission to build, not steal. We Buy Black is determined to help Black entrepreneurs grow their companies, not to increase its stock price. When sellers on We Buy Black profit, so do Black communities. To be sure, Amazon does its share of hiring Black folks, especially in their distribution centers in major Black population centers. However, we see a day when Black owned companies are able to hire unemployed Black people, without the side effect of stealing ideas from other entrepreneurs.
Black entrepreneurs can’t afford to rely on an Amazon or any other entity outside of our community. We Buy Black is focused on providing solutions for Black entrepreneurs so that they can grow, scale and ultimately give to the world. What is doesn’t have to be: we can remove, replace and rebuild.
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