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Racial injustices, police brutality and the current protests against them — both local and national — are an omnipresent topic right now. And Free Times has seen and heard many of you wondering how you might help. In an effort to provide one more resource to guide you in this regard, we’re compiling — and continuing to update — this list of Black-owned businesses in the Columbia area, so you can directly support the community where you live. We’ve also made it freely accessible, with no need for an online subscription. It’s long, but by no means complete, so please email editor@free-times.com with any additions that need to be made.

The #LetUsBreathe Collective is an alliance of artists and activists organizing through a creative lens to imagine a world without prisons and police. The Collective operates the Breathing Room space, a Black-led liberation headquarters for arts, organizing, and healing on Chicago's South Side.

Chicago Birthworks Collective is Chicago's birth and postpartum company for mamas and families of color! The collective comprises of more than a dozen birth workers who are committed to centering Black mamas and birthing people in their own reproductive experiences through radical attention, culturally affirming and centered education and a village centered model of care.

The Bail Project – Charlotte serves people incarcerated at the Mecklenburg County Detention Center Central in the Mecklenburg County 26th Judicial District court system. The Bail Project combats mass incarceration by disrupting the money bail system—one person at a time. We restore the presumption of innocence, reunite families, and challenge a system that criminalizes race and poverty.

Qcitymetro.com is a news, business and culture platform for the Black community in Charlotte, N.C. and surrounding areas. QCity Metro promotes Black excellence, social connectedness and civic engagement via an informed and collective voice online and in person.

A coffee, tea, & oddities shop located at 1224 Commercial Avenue, attached to Get Some Game. We are a locally owned safe space with a focus on supporting marginalized communities.

Community Services, Inc. has been a licensed behavioral health center with the State of West Virginia since May 2004. The agency provides I/DD (Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities) Waiver Services. CSI was formed to meets the needs of individuals who are intellectually/developmentally disabled that were not being met by other providers/resources. CSI is fully committed to serving the needs of the participants and putting forth the utmost effort in trying to provide these services in the fastest, most effective manner possible, with a focus on the needs of the participants and their families.

SHRINK the jails system and improve conditions; DECARCERATE New Yorkers; and #buildCOMMUNITIES through justice reinvestment that moves money from the criminal legal system to programs that support people and communities.

The Network/La Red is a survivor-led, social justice organization that works to end partner abuse in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, SM, polyamorous, and queer communities. Rooted in anti-oppression principles, our work aims to create a world where all people are free from oppression. We strengthen our communities through organizing, education, and the provision of support services.

The African American Heritage Preservation Program (AAHPP) was established by the General Assembly in 2010 to provide capital grants to assist in the preservation of buildings, sites, or communities of historical and cultural importance to the African American experience in Maryland. The AAHPP is administered as a partnership between the Maryland Historical Trust and the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture (MCAAHC) .