DeAndrea Abrahams has no doubt that business is booming. The hairdresser, who owns a salon in West Hartford, 黑料吃瓜网, said she sees about six to eight patrons daily, totaling more than 150 customers a month.
鈥淚've been in business for eight years,鈥� Abrahams said. 鈥淐OVID happened, and a lot of other businesses closed 鈥� [but] that didn't happen for me. I grew actually even more during that time frame.鈥�
But despite the growth, Abrahams, who is Black, said she has yet to be featured in a magazine 鈥渂est of list鈥� acknowledging her business as a top salon.
鈥淚t definitely crosses my mind, it is a bit bothersome,鈥� she said.
Embracing the richness of 黑料吃瓜网's culture
Magazines and blogs often publish "best of" lists to promote local businesses and provide a 鈥渟ense of place鈥� for cities and towns. But some minority business owners and advocates say these lists often overlook businesses owned by people of color.
How magazines create 鈥渂est of鈥� lists can vary. Some rely on surveys from readers and residents. Other publications create lists using a team of editorial curators who rely on third-party sources.
But those approaches need to change, said Yvette Young, an initiative lead for , an online directory created to find Black-owned businesses across the state.
鈥淚t would be good for these other larger publications to start embracing the richness of the culture that exists in 黑料吃瓜网,鈥� Young said. 鈥淎re [publications] willing to say, 鈥楲et's make sure we put in a more diverse group of businesses so that the output will be more representative of the communities that we serve?鈥欌��
Young鈥檚 website, which lists thousands of Black-owned businesses, was created during the COVID-19 lockdowns when Young and her team noticed Black-owned businesses were closing at an alarming rate.
That trend was sustained across the United States, with Black businesses experiencing the most acute decline of any racial group in the early stages of the pandemic 鈥� a 41% drop from February to April 2020, according to .
鈥淭here's no reason why in 2024 we're having this conversation,鈥� Young said. 鈥淚t is not an all-white state. It shouldn't take these special projects to be able to bring forth 2,000-plus Black-owned businesses and give them a space to exist.鈥�
This sentiment is echoed by many Black business owners who believe their establishments are consistently overlooked, Young said. The lack of media coverage translates to fewer opportunities for growth and recognition.
It鈥檚 a cycle, Young said. Without media coverage, Black businesses don鈥檛 get the same foot traffic, they don鈥檛 get the same sales and they can鈥檛 grow at the same rate.
鈥淭hat's why those bigger platforms are important because it opens the world up,鈥� Young said.
鈥淚t opens the state up to these entities to say, 鈥楬ey, they're here, and they have quality products that they produce.鈥欌��
For Abrahams and many like her, being featured in these lists isn鈥檛 just about the accolades 鈥� it鈥檚 about the opportunities that come with it. 鈥淚t opens doors,鈥� she said.
鈥淧eople take you a little more seriously,鈥� Abrahams said.
A nationwide problem
This issue isn鈥檛 unique to salons. In January, the New York Times detailing how local restaurants in Detroit benefited from the city鈥檚 team, the Detroit Lions, and their successful run in the NFL playoffs.
The article faced backlash for its lack of diversity in profiled business owners. Despite Detroit being , the piece failed to feature any Black-owned businesses among the local restaurants mentioned.
Philip Lewis, senior editor at The Huffington Post, for its poor research and lack of effort to spotlight minority-owned businesses.
Lewis noticed a significant increase in demand for more diverse voices and stories in mainstream media during 2020, particularly amid the Black Lives Matter movement. During that time, many organizations and publications made an effort to create more inclusive spaces.
But Lewis said this push for diversity was never meaningfully sustained.
"We've never been prioritized by media outlets that have predominantly catered to white audiences," Lewis said, adding that when newsrooms lack diversity, the stories they produce can be limited in scope and fail to represent the full community.
鈥淚 think newsrooms do themselves a disservice when they're not reaching out to diverse voices and finding out what else might be out there,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen you omit Black voices, Hispanic voices, Latino voices, or Asian voices, you really do miss out on what makes your city, or area, great.鈥�
