The blog post this week is directed toward the consumers,  yes, the customers. We have a tendency to be very hard on the merchants in our community. We place more stringent rules and guidelines for patronage on our local merchants than on the larger stores and mall merchants we often frequent.

While I travel about the city and nearby areas searching for community-based black owned businesses to frequent, I have observed that many, if not most of our local businesses are owned and operated by proprietors who are employed full-time. I understand that for many, the full time job is the consistent flow of resource fueling and funding the business venture. This is not an impossible feat, however, organization and discipline around schedules is very important.