Four Degrees to the Streets is excited to celebrate Black History Month with two episodes that focus on Black history, community, and planning. This week's episode features a panel of Black business owners from around the country!  Speakers include https://kirahibbert.com/ (Kira Hibbert), based in Philadelphia, owner and partner at https://www.instagram.com/3bldevelopers/?hl=en (3BL Developers), and real estate agent at Coldwell Banker Preferred. Basheera Agyeman, founder and owner of https://www.shopshewrapz.com/ (SheWrapz), a Ghanaian-American Muslim educator based in Baton Rouge. We also heard from Justis Pitt-Goodson (Founder/CEO) and Taha Shimou (COO/Head of Design) at https://www.brownmillcompany.com/ (BrownMill Company) based in New Jersey. Press play to hear: Statistics on minority-owned businesses and the significance of Black-owned businesses in the community. Challenges for Black-owned businesses pre-COVID and present-day and how the speakers overcame them.  Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 and its increased spotlight on supporting Black-owned business. From May 25 to July 1, 2020, there were 2.5 million searches for Black-owned businesses, an increase from only 35,000 searches over the same period in 2019 (an increase of 7,000%), according to a https://www.yelpeconomicaverage.com/yea-q2-2020.html (Yelp report) highlighting changes in searches for the phrase ‘black-owned.’

Thank you for listening and tune in every-other Tuesday where Nimo and Jas keep it Four Degrees to the Streets.

Follow us on https://twitter.com/the4degreespod (Twitter) and https://www.instagram.com/the4degreespod/ (Instagram) @the4degreespod. Or send us an email to connect with us!

Resources: https://www.instagram.com/phillyrealtorfinds/ (Kira's Instagram: Philly Realtor Finds) https://www.instagram.com/shewrapz/ (Basheera’s Instagram: SheWrapz) https://www.instagram.com/brownmillcompany/ (Justis/Taha: BrownMill Instagram) https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2021/annual-business-survey.html (US Census Bureau: Annual Business Survey) https://www.brookings.edu/essay/to-expand-the-economy-invest-in-black-businesses/ (Brookings Institution: To expand the economy, invest in Black businesses) https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w27061/w27061.pdf (National Bureau of Economic Research: Labor Demand in the time of COVID-19: Evidence from vacancy postings and UI claims) https://www.forbes.com/sites/elanagross/2020/07/22/support-for-black-owned-businesses-increases-more-than-7000-yelp-reports/?sh=60a1475042a8 (Forbes: Support For Black-Owned Businesses Increases More Than 7,000%, Yelp Reports)