Shopping Black-Owned Business Just Got Even Easier Thanks to Target’s New Badges

Conscious shopping is something every consumer should strive for. Money talks, and where we put our dollars matter — but it admittedly takes a bit more effort. So when major retailers like Target do the work of identifying "criteria" to help shoppers make smarter choices, it's incredibly helpful.

In an effort to support Black-owned businesses, Target now has a "Black Owned or Founded Brand" badge online.

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Target

The badge itself is a light brown circle with five hearts in it, each one a different skin tone. It appears in the "At a Glance" section underneath individual products. Other markers in the section include "vegan" identifiers and "clean" badges so consumers can get a quick summary of the products they are investing in.

The importances of shopping consciously has never been more emphasized.

"A lot of people think it's important to support Black businesses because, until you fully engage the Black community, you're living in a capitalist society but they're not capitalists. If that's going to be how we organize our society, that means I don't have a ticket," William E. Spriggs, AFL-CIO chief economist and Department of Economics professor at Howard University, told The Zoe Report.

It's especially essential to focus on in this climate.

In addition to the work of dismantling white supremacy, the pandemic has especially been hard on Black-owned businesses. According to NPR, many Black-owned businesses were denied CARES Act government aid, and partially as a result of that, Black Americans are dying at a rate of 2.5 times faster than white Americans.

Target's CEO has previously made statements in support of movements like Black Lives Matter.

“Target stands with Black families, communities and team members. As we face an inflection point in Minneapolis and across the country, we're listening to our team, guests and communities, committed to using our size, scale and resources to help heal and create lasting change,” Brian Cornell, Target chairman and CEO, said in a press release regarding protests around the murder of George Floyd. 

However, that doesn't mean Target has escaped all criticism within the movement.

But in terms of putting its money where its mouth is for Black-owned brands, Target has shown up.

Target has since added seven Black-owned beauty brands with more than 150 products to its shelves — a number it will hopefully expound upon. 

Although a majority of those products fall in the beauty section, Target also has fashion and food brands worth checking out. 

Happy shopping!