Black History Month at Eastern Michigan University started with The Black Business Expo to get the first weeks going. The Black Business Expo was hosted by the organization The Nation in the Student Center Ballroom on Thursday, Feb. 7. 

The event was targeted towards young African-American business owners to promote and sell their brands and give them a chance to present it to the public. Many of the business owners who were at the event were young entrepreneurs with high hopes of becoming new faces of the black business. 

Throughout the event, many students interacted with one another, and they even had a chance to buy some of the business owners’ products. From graphic design t-shirts, custom wigs, food, paintings, natural hair products, bath and beauty products and many more, the event even got a chance to promote local photographers and massage therapy.  

Many EMU students were at the event as well as out-of-state business owners. There was a live DJ playing today’s hip-hop and R&B throughout the entire event while some people were dancing and socializing with others. Close to the end of the event, a member from the Poetry Society performed a poem that was talking about young African-American males and how society treats them as a whole.  

The business owners who attended the event were able to help promote their business by giving out business cards, flyers with their prices for their products and website information. They also included customers in a raffle to have a chance at winning one of their products for free. This allowed customers to get more active with the actual business and their owners.  

The lay out of the event was comfortable for students to have a time to relax and purchase different types of unique clothing and products for themselves or for their loved ones. Anybody from any other community was welcomed and was able to enjoy themselves. Tamia Barnes, an EMU student, was one of many students who attended the event and was engaged to her experiences at the 2019 Black Business Expo. 

“I enjoyed the culture of unity, organization and supporting one another’s hustle when it comes to the black dollar circulates in the African-American community,” Barnes said. “We support our black business.” 

“Here in America, black history is all of American history, just like how black history is humankind of history,” Barnes said when asked about what Black History Month means to her.

Various people come to mind when Black History Month is mentioned. People think about Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Barack Obama and many more. African-Americans across the country use this month to establish more culture awareness that is amongst the African-American community and people of African descent all over the world. It's time to unify and be proud of African-American culture and its people who helped build America, and still care about their legacies.

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