Niyelle Tucker is a senior Biological Engineering Major at the University of Georgia. Alex Fairley graduated from the University of Georgia in 2019 and Majored in Marketing and Finance. Recently, these two ladies have started the Buy Black Friday Initiative to help amplify Black businesses. Keep reading to learn more about this initiative and hear why they felt it was necessary to start!
What motivated the two of you to start this initiative?
“While it felt good to protest, donate, petition and vote in light of recent events, the both of us were looking for a way to channel the momentum and solidarity that we have all been experiencing into something that would have long lasting positive effects on our community. Large corporations have shown their true colors over the past couple of months by only doing the bare minimum to support those who are fighting for human rights. Our initiative is designed to simultaneously boycott these corporations weekly and uplift black owned businesses.”
What do you think its impact will be on the community?
“Historically, Black Americans are one of the few ethnic groups that have not been allowed to tap into their full potential economically for obvious reasons. Today, we have more resources than ever. The problem is we are generations behind other ethnic groups. We hope to bring awareness of black owned brands in consumers’ backyards and to make buying black more than a hashtag, but something to be proud about. This year’s Juneteenth alone brought millions of dollars to black owned businesses. Imagine if we continued to show that level of support every Friday.”
Do you have any advice for young/college activists who looking to organize?
“My advice is to keep sharing your ideas and be open to collaboration. Social media is your friend, especially in a time like this. You never know how what you say could spark an idea in someone else, and you never know how asking your timeline one question could end up answering so many other things for you . Our initiative started all from us venting on social media and asking ourselves and others the question “what can we do to make this better?”