Black History Month Turns 100—Now Let’s Make It Count Where It Matters Most: Our Wallets
- Sean Long
- Feb 1
- 3 min read
This year marks a powerful milestone. One hundred years ago, in 1926, Carter G. Woodson launched what we now know as Black History Month, originally as Negro History Week—not to be symbolic, but to be instructional. His mission was clear: Black history must be studied, understood, and applied.
A century later, the assignment hasn’t changed.Remembrance without reinforcement is not progress. And the most direct form of reinforcement we have today is economic support.
Why Supporting Black-Owned Businesses Is the Work
Black History Month isn’t only about remembrance—it’s about responsibility. Every February, we honor the builders, innovators, and risk-takers who carved space where none was offered. The truth is simple and uncomfortable: history without economic support is symbolism without power. If we want Black excellence to endure, we have to fund it, amplify it, and show up for it—consistently.
This year, that call to action is clear.
Showing Up Where It Matters: Fashion, Beauty, Ownership
Three living examples of modern Black ownership deserve our immediate, intentional support.
Montee Holland and the Tayion Collection
On February 5, Tayion steps onto one of the most visible stages in American retail: Macy’s Harlem Fashion House at the NYC flagship store. This moment isn’t just a show—it’s a test. A test of whether Black consumers, Black leaders, and Black institutions will rally behind a brand that has carried our culture into rooms where access is earned inch by inch.
Runways create headlines. Sales create leverage. Support means attendance. It means purchases. It means posts, shares, and referrals. When Tayion wins, it opens doors for the designers coming behind him.
Stephanie Luster and the Essations brand
For over four decades, Essations has been rooted in healthy hair science, professional education, and Black ownership—long before “textured hair” became a marketing buzzword. This is what legacy looks like when it’s built the hard way: formulation by formulation, stylist by stylist, generation by generation.
Supporting Essations isn’t nostalgia. It’s reinvestment in proven Black manufacturing, distribution, and leadership.
Lanny Smith and Actively Black
Actively Black represents the next evolution of Black ownership—where culture, wellness, and economics intersect. As an activewear brand unapologetically rooted in Black identity and excellence, Actively Black proves that we don’t have to dilute who we are to compete at the highest levels. Supporting brands like this keeps ownership, storytelling, and scalein Black hands.
When we invest in Black-owned brands across fashion, beauty, and lifestyle, we’re not just buying products—we’re underwriting ecosystems.
Why This Matters—Beyond February
Black America has never lacked creativity. What we’ve been denied is consistent capital alignment—the habit of backing our own with the same energy we give to outsiders who profit from our culture.
Every purchase from a Black-owned brand does more than move inventory:
It sustains jobs
It validates ownership
It strengthens negotiating power with retailers and distributors
It keeps intellectual property in our hands
This is how culture turns into infrastructure.
The Call to Action
This Black History Month, do more than repost quotes.
Support Tayion on February 5—online, in-store, and on social via www.macys.com
Buy Essations products and recommend them to professionals and families by visiting www.essations.com
Visit Actively Black and support by buying their high quality products at www.activelyblack.com
Name Black-owned brands out loud—visibility is currency. Share other brands.
Commit to year-round support, not seasonal solidarity
History is watching how we move right now.If we want Black businesses to last, we have to act like stakeholders—not spectators.
Let’s do the work.
Let’s fund the future.
-Sean T. Long
Author: Project 2030: The Agenda For Black America
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