There are a lot of ways to support an equity agenda in Portland — one of the ways is by supporting minority owned businesses, or frequenting places that hire people of color.
If the people working in a local business don’t reflect the neighborhood, then I typically don’t support that business with my money. I don’t care how cool they might be, or if they offer the best breakfast, beer or wine in town.
The unemployment rate in Portland for African-American youths ages 16 to 19 is 55 percent. For youths ages 16 to 24, it’s 28 percent. That’s more than unacceptable. It’s up to every Portland business and nonprofit to make supporting and employing minorities in our community an intentional effort.
The reality is that when you believe that there is no hope — no chance at an education, or a decent-paying job after high school, much less a career that you love — it’s easy to simply give up and let the chips fall where they may.
It’s something that has to change.
One of the ways Portlanders can help support social change in their everyday lives is by supporting minority-owned businesses.
There are a number of places you can go to find listings of minority-owned businesses in Portland, including going online and visiting Travel Portland and the Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs. Chambers of commerce are also excellent resources for learning more about minority-owned businesses across the spectrum.
A Facebook event has gone viral this week to support black-owned restaurants on Aug. 29 and 30. Everyone should take part. Saying that, we should be supporting these businesses every day. The following is a list of businesses put together by the group. Forgive us if we’ve left anyone out.
- Dub’s St. Johns, 9520 N Lombard St.
- Po’Shines Cafe de la Soul, 8139 N Denver Ave.
- Poshette’s Cafe, 7015 N Greeley Ave.
- Crown Q, 445 NE Killingsworth St.
- Dalo’s,1533 NE Alberta St.
- Enat Kitchen, 300 N Killingsworth St.
- Fuel Portland Oregon, 1452 NE Alberta St.
- Enjoni Cafe, 910 N Killingsworth St.
- Columbia International Cup, 9022 N Newman Ave.
- Cason’s Fine Meats, 8238 N Denver Ave.
- Ella’s Kitchen Soul Food, 3505 N Mississippi Ave.
- Cannons BBQ, 5410 NE 33rd Ave.
- Horn of Africa, 5237 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
- Queen of Sheba International Foods, 2413 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
- AJ Java, 6425 N Albina Ave.
- Clyde’s Prime Rib Restaurant & Bar, 5474 NE Sandy Blvd.
- Alle Amin, 511 NE 76th Ave.
- Chez Dodo, 425 SW Stark St.
- Bete-Lukas Ethiopian Restaurant, 2504 SE 50th Ave., Ste. D
- Gojo Ethiopian, 915 NE Alberta
- Emma’s Ethiopian, SW Ninth and SW Washington
- Caribbean Kookpot , 625 NE Killingsworth
- Portland Prime, 121 SW Third Ave.
- Sunday Table Kitchens, 213 N Killingsworth St.
- Sweet Street BBQ, 7410 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
- Solae’s Lounge, 1801 NE Alberta St.
- Amalfi’s Restaurant, 4703 NE Fremont St.
- Taste of the Bayou, 3441 N Vancouver Ave.
- Stoopid Burger, 3441 N Vancouver Ave.
- The Oregon Public House, 700 NE Dekum St.
- Right Bayou Cajun Cuisine, mobile cart, currently at SW 10th and Alder
- Alberta St. Fish & Chips, 1451 NE Alberta St.
- Peaches Ready Spaghetti cart, 5800 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
- Eliot e-Mat cafe, 2808 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
- Sengatera, 3833 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
- Rahel’s Ethiopian in the Cartlandia Pod on SE 82nd Ave.
- Aberus Ethiopian Restaurant, 438 NE Killingsworth St.
- NE Creperie, 3441 N Vancouver Ave.
- McDonald’s at 82nd/Foster, 82nd/Johnson Creek, 82nd/Sunnyside
- Olive or Twist, 925 NW 11th Ave.
- Mama’s Kitchen, 611 Main St., Vancouver
One business on the list, Po’Shines Cafe de la Soul, not only offers some of the best soul food in the city, but they are also training young people through a workforce program called Teach Me To Fish. The program gives people the opportunity to learn about and experience culinary skills while working through a host restaurant and catering business. It’s the kind of program that should be replicated by many local businesses. Check it out.
Another example of supporting minority businesses is to support minority winemakers, which we featured in the July 31 edition of Street Roots. Did you know that only about 1 percent of the 600 plus winemakers in Oregon are minority-owned businesses? Foundations, the nonprofit industry, local businesses and families should make it a point to support these wine labels. Two vineyards that people could start with are Seven Sails and Abbey Creek Vineyard.
There are a lot of ways of supporting minority-owned businesses, from home repairs and construction jobs to supporting immigrant workers at VOZ and more. If we can modify our habits around things such as oil consumption and the environment, we can certainly begin to regularly support minority-owned businesses in an intentional way.
Israel Bayer is the executive director of Street Roots. You can reach him at israel@streetroots.org or follow him on Twitter @israelbayer.
This article appears in 2015-08-14.