WATCH: Resources to Help You Buy Black

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A man stands in front of the Djingareyber mosque on February 4, 2016 in Timbuktu, central Mali.
Mali's fabled city of Timbuktu on February 4 celebrated the recovery of its historic mausoleums, destroyed during an Islamist takeover of northern Mali in 2012 and rebuilt thanks to UN cultural agency UNESCO.
TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY SEBASTIEN RIEUSSEC / AFP / SÉBASTIEN RIEUSSEC

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August 21, 2025

By Shernay Williams, Word In Black

BLACK BALLOON SALESMAN ON SOUTH SIDE CHICAGO’S 47TH STREET MANY OF THE CITY’S BLACK BUSINESS OWNERS STARTED WITH… – NARA – 556217.jpg

Did you know there’s Black-owned toilet paper? The Leafy Products company, which specializes in eco-friendly and 100% bamboo paper, was founded by a group of Black friends. And it’s not the only Black-owned toilet paper company out there.

August is National Black Business Month, so we have created a roundup of platforms and directories that are making it easier to shop Black-owned businesses.

“If we are able to put it in the palm of someone’s hand, then I think we’ll see a lot more people willing to [buy Black],” standup comedian and Blapp founder Jon Lester says in the Word In Black video above.

Inside the Blapp app, you can enter your location to find Black-owned businesses near you. So far, Lester says the platform can point its users to 40,000 Black businesses in the U.S. Soon, it will support online shopping, as well.

“So [it’s] a Black Amazon of sorts,” Lester says.

Blapp is one of a handful of platforms hoping to make it easier to find Black-owned businesses.

Click here to continue discovering, More Platforms to Shop Black Businesses

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