Black History Month 2025: What 82% of Black businesses share now

Each February, Black History Month serves as a time to honor the rich contributions, resilience, and achievements of Black individuals throughout history. This evolving article will celebrate each year's unique theme, exploring its significance and highlighting the stories, voices, and progress that shape our collective history. From civil rights milestones to cultural innovations, we will chronical the past, examine the present, and look toward the future- ensuring that each year's theme adds to a growing narrative of empowerment, reflection, and change.

The theme for this year, African Americans and Labor, highlights the profound impact Black workers have had in shaping industries, fighting for labor rights, and advancing economic progress. Recognizing this theme is not only a historical reflection but also a crucial step toward building inclusive workplaces.

Since 2004, August has been known as National Black Business Month, highlighting the distinct needs and value of Black-owned businesses in America. Like much of Black history, the history of Black-owned business in this country is a study in dogged determination. As we roll into another celebration of Black businesses, we find a rapidly expanding segment of the small business community that still has room to grow. 

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Business Survey in 2020, there were an estimated 140,918 US companies with majority Black ownership. That number represented a nearly 15% increase from 2017. New data from a subsequent survey conducted in 2022 showed continued growth for Black-owned businesses. That survey showed that there were an estimated 161,031 Black or African American-owned businesses with $183.3 billion in annual receipts, 1.4 million employees, and about $53.6 billion in annual payroll.