This is the fifth annual observance of a culturally-responsive campaign to increase employment and sales among the more than 1 million African-American owned companies in the United States and to foster trade with black-owned firms throughout the Diaspora on the African continent, the Caribbean and Europe.
Based on the findings of the annual State of Black Business report, National Black Business Month events encourage policy makers to take concrete steps to make their jurisdictions more attractive to black business owners by increasing
         -- access to capital
         -- promotion of heritage tourism
         -- public and private procurement
         -- use of cutting edge technologies
         -- educational and training opportunities
         -- the exposure of black entrepreneurs
We suggest 31 different ways to support black business on each of the 31 days of August.
To organize events in your state, get your copy of Trouble in the Air: State of Black Business 2008 which includes organizing guides.  Call for more information 415-240-3537  or email us.

D.C. Black Entrepreneurship

The District of Columbia had 8,762 black self-employed in 2004, according to the Social Security Administration, 5.23 percent of the wage and salary earners. While there were fewer total whites, there were more than double the number of white self-employed in the District at 12.45 percent of white earners. To achieve parity would mean another 12,082 black firms in the nation's capital to reach a level of 20,844.
There is a pool of 16,788 black men and 29,545 black women in managerial and professional occupations, according to the 2006 American Community Survey.
Black aggregate income in the District was $6.7 billion with a median income of $28,901.