The legacy of Black-owned firms: 100 years of resilience

By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com

Owning a business that makes it to 100 years or more is a significant feat, especially for Black business owners who often face multiple layers of adversities along the way. 

Throughout the history of the U.S., Black business owners have had to endure and navigate systemic racism in its many shapes and forms, including a lack of financial opportunities, exclusion and economic exploitation.

“Systemic racism is quieter in Boston than some other cities, but it’s still very present and has a steel-like grip on the opportunities that are available for Black and Brown opposed to White firms,” said John B. Cruz III, a president and CEO of Cruz and Companies. “As a Black-owned firm that has been in business almost 78 years, we still don’t get opportunities or get doors closed in our face because of systemic racism.”

According to the 2024 State of Black Business report, 97 percent of Black-owned businesses have fewer than 20 employees, and most have under five. 

Though these businesses are growing year over year, Black entrepreneurs remain underrepresented—making up just 2.5 percent of all U.S. businesses in 2021, up slightly from 2 percent in 2018. That year, there were 49,326 Black-owned businesses, a sharp increase from 2018.

Though Black-owned businesses may be smaller in number, when they are able to endure they inspire many.

“When I was nine, my father, Tommie L. Turner, told me stories about Black entrepreneurs who built businesses during segregation,” said Nathaniel A. Turner, co-founder of League of Extraordinary Parents. “Those stories inspired me to start a lawn service, which allowed me to buy a red Schwinn and later cover my expenses through middle and high school. Their legacy stayed with me.”

League of Extraordinary Parents is a charitable non-profit that works to improve the educational and socio-economic futures of youth.

This National Black Business Month, the AFRO is spotlighting three Black-owned businesses that have persevered and have been operating for around 100 years.

The Chicago Defender

Robert Sengstacke Abbott founded the Chicago Defender on May 5, 1905, with just 25 cents and an initial press run of 300 copies. The first issues was a four-page, six-column handbills filled with local news content gathered by Abbott and other newspapers. After five years, the paper gained national notability, going on to become one of the nation’s most influential Black weekly newspapers by the start of World War I.

Now, 120 years later, the Chicago Defender operates as a digital-only weekly news source—carrying forward a legacy of accolades that reflect its powerful role as the eyes and ears of Black America.

W.H. Jefferson Funeral Home

W.H. Jefferson Funeral Home has served the Vicksburg community in Mississippi since 1894. Founded by William Henry, Mississippi’s first Black funeral director, and Lucy Jefferson, a community leader, the legacy of service, integrity and excellence continues through the generations of this company. 

The Jefferson family has been so impactful in their community that in 2004, they were honored with their likenesses in the Vicksburg Riverfront Murals, a series of painted portraits with a theme of “New Beginnings and Lasting Legacies.”  

The business is now co-owned by James E. Jefferson Jr. and his uncle, Robert Sr., and continues to serve the Vicksburg community in times of grief and loss—from the same location it has called home for decades.

McKissack and McKissack

McKissack and McKissack was founded in 1905 by brothers Moses and Calvin McKissack in Nashville, Tenn. It is the nation’s first Black-owned architectural firm and the oldest still in operation today as a national family business. 

The brothers, trained via correspondence courses and licensed in 1922 in Tennessee, originally focused on church architecture, gaining recognition for projects like the Morris Memorial building and Beebe Memorial CME Church. They also won the largest federal contract awarded to a Black-owned company at the time—designing the Tuskegee Army Airfield during World War II. 

After the founders’ deaths, family members stepped up and continued to lead the firm, reaching national expansion under Deryl McKissack–a member of the fifth generation.

The survival of these companies stand as an example of what can be achieved with persistence and determination. 

“These Black-owned businesses didn’t just survive racism, recessions and exclusion, they created a legacy,” said Turner. “They made it possible for others like me to build promising futures.”