"You Do It With Your Heart": Black Business Solidarity Initiative

You Do It With Your Heart highlights the economic power of Black New Yorkers and the cultural significance of Black-owned businesses, which have long been a cornerstone of New York City neighborhoods. In this new multimedia series, Black business owners share their backgrounds, and discuss how they have been affected by the economy, COVID-19, and growing gentrification. Their oral histories play over stunning images taken by the Commission's Public Artist in Residence, renowned photographer Andre D. Wagner.

Videos

Photos

Ad Campaign

In recognition of the efforts of Black business owners during COVID-19, the Commission amplified this multimedia series into an out-of-home and print advertising campaign. Through key placements, we sought to share our gratitude to Black business owners directly. Placements included the New York City subway and in print community and ethnic media outlets such as Amsterdam News, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, El Diario, and the Queens Gazette.

Click on images below to view ad in larger size.

Subway Ad

Print Ad

Partners

Logos for NYC Commission on Human Rights, Department of Cultural Affairs, Small Business Services, Weeksville Heritage Center, and BE NYC Advancing Black Enterpreneurship

NYC Department of Cultural Affairs' Public Artists in Residence (PAIR) is a municipal residency program that embeds artists in city government to propose and implement creative solutions to pressing civic challenges. Learn more about the PAIR program.

The Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) works to support New York City's thriving creative economy and make it accessible to all, coordinating film and television production throughout the five boroughs.

Weeksville Heritage Center is a historic site and cultural center in Central Brooklyn that uses education, arts and a social justice lens to preserve, document, and inspire engagement with the history of Weeksville, one of the largest free Black communities in pre-Civil War America, and the Historic Hunterfly Road Houses.

Flatbush Development Corporation (FDC) is dedicated to meeting the needs of a diverse and vibrant Brooklyn. FDC identifies and responds to these needs by building partnerships, creating programs, and developing campaigns that promote enhanced quality of life, safety, equity, and preservation of our community.

Black Entrepreneurs NYC (BE NYC), an initiative of the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS), is a groundbreaking model for a major American city to help create equity of opportunity by advancing Black entrepreneurship. Learn more and get involved at nyc.gov/benyc.