Black Businesses Continue to Face Down the Pandemic

By: Gregory Smith, Howard University News Service During the pandemic, Black businesses have faced challenges. Some were forced to close or nearly shut down, while others were fortunate to have an uptick in business. Black businesses were hit the hardest and had to adapt quickly to the mandatory shutdowns across the country while everyone was forced to stay at home. Here’s a look at how Black businesses from the nation’s capital to the deep south have managed to survive through creative strategies.   WASHINGTON – Virginia Ali is owner of Ben’s Chili Bowl, an iconic restaurant she and her husband, Ben Ali, opened in 1958 in Washington D.C. Ben Ali died in 2009. He was 82. The restaurant has since become such a landmark that a long list of celebrities have made a trek through its doors, including former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Serena Williams, Jimmy Fallon, Kevin Durant, Steve Harvey, Kevin Hart, Mary J. Blige, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock and Anthony Bourdain. The restaurant is woven into the fabric of the city’s Black community. It helped serve the tens of thousands of protesters who came to Washington during the Poor People’s Campaign in 1968 and the March on Washington in 1963. Ben’s was one of the few restaurants open after curfew to provide food and shelter for those working to restore order after the Washington riots in 1968 following the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Still, Ali said that COVID-19 was the hardest obstacle that her business has ever faced, because this was the first time that her business had to close its doors for an extended amount of time. It normally stayed open from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. and until 4 a.m. on the weekends, she said. “We didn’t receive the (federal Paycheck Protection Program) loan the first go around,” Ali said. “We had to cut back on staff, adjust our hours, and figure out a way to reach the community in a different and more effective way. This virus has been very frightening, but our community […]

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