Multnomah County Commissioners Make National Black Business Month Official in Portland

“I asked him, ‘What’s next?’ He said, ‘I’m going to open up my own barbershop.’ And about five years after, he did just that. He opened up Champions Barber Shop (on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.) and that was because of the support he received, not only from the community but some of the incentives he received from the city and the county. After he opened up that barbershop and I believe two barbershops subsequent after that, I asked him what’s next. He said I’m going to open up a barber school. And he did that because of the relationships.”

Jones-Dixon spoke during Wednesday’s August proclamation signing ceremony to mark the work that he cosponsored with Commissioner Shannon Singleton to establish the county’s recognition of National Black Business Month.

“Black business owners provide more than just jobs, but rather a route to ending disparities,” Singleton said.

“Everyone knows in Black communities that when our businesses are thriving, the community is doing well. Black business owners take care of their employees, not just through paychecks but also by humanizing them as workers.”

black business month proclamation med Multnomah County Commissioner Shannon Singleton (Screenshot of live feed)
Singleton will host a series of weekly meetups and listening sessions at Black-owned businesses for Black business owners, with the first scheduled for Aug. 7 at Stoopid Burger inside Lloyd Center Mall. The theme of the meetup is Education and Early Learning, and Singleton invites Black business owners in those fields to tell her about their concerns, challenges and victories. RSVP to attend: http://bit.ly/MultCoBBM. See below for more upcoming weekly events.

Throughout the month, Singleton will also be drawing attention to Black-owned businesses in the Portland area through social media.

So far she has highlighted lifestyle shop EcoVibe (1906 NE Alberta St.), mobile Black beauty supplier Elegant Boutique Beauty Supply and Five Star Cleaning Company of Oregon.

Long Time Coming

National Black Business Month was launched in 2004, with historian John William Templeton and engineer Frederick E. Jordan partnering to advance economic and business policies that would enable the nation’s then-2.6 million African American-owned businesses to thrive, in turn enabling Black communities to develop greater economic freedom, Singleton said.

After 21 years, she added, it was time to bring the celebration to Multnomah County.

In reading the proclamation, Singleton's policy advisor Salomé Chimuku noted a less joyous occasion: Aug. 3 was National Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, which is always scheduled to coincide with with the additional length of time Black women must work on average to catch up with what White men earned the previous year. In 2024, Black women earned 66 cents for every dollar their White male counterparts did, which adds up to a discrepancy of about $1 million over the span of a 40-year career. Last year, National Black Women’s Equal Pay Day fell on July 9, illustrating the widening wealth gap.

“Black businesses and people built this nation and many of our communities,” Singleton said. “We have done everything from raising and educating children to saving lives through medical and scientific achievements. Black-owned businesses in the U.S. are a significant economic force contributing billions in revenue and providing millions of jobs.”

The proclamation notes that the Black Business Association of Oregon last year identified 530 Black-owned businesses in the state, with 38% of those businesses located within three miles of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

But that may not be the complete picture of Black entrepreneurship in Portland, Singleton warned.

“There is work to be done here in Multnomah County,” she said. “We need to work on making sure we aren’t just relying on (Certification of Business Inclusion and Diversity) and (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise) certification to identify our Black businesses…We need to be willing to disaggregate our data so that we can better understand where, in bidding contracts and our systems, the barriers exist that prevent more Black businesses from getting involved.”

Boosting Black Entrepreneurship

The proclamation referred to the hostile landscape for Black businesses operating in the country since the 18th century, specifically citing the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre that decimated a thriving business and residential Oklahoma community once known as “Black Wall Street.” Though devastating, the loss was long buried and unacknowledged – It took nearly 100 years for the state of Oklahoma to require that the event be taught in its public schools.

“Generationally, the community wealth in the Black community has been stripped and remains under attack.

"There is no restorative justice without economic justice, and a thriving Black community which includes supported entrepreneurship,” the proclamation concludes.

Jones-Dixon spoke of his own experience bringing a new Juneteenth tradition to Portland.

“That’s one reason I cofounded 8 Seconds Rodeo, to be in an environment where we can be an example and inspire the hearts and minds of everyone,” he said. “That was an idea that came from a community member in a park.”

Singleton similarly emphasized the importance of listening to local entrepreneurs.

“Black business owners are here and ready to tell us about their experience, but they also already have the solutions to ensure equity in how we spend public money,” she said.

Upcoming Black Business Month Meetups:

Visit https://www.instagram.com/d2_shannonsingleton for details.