Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is taking steps to strengthen the Black dollar with the launch of his new online marketplace, Empower Global. The e-commerce platform, which launched last week, is designed to feature exclusively Black-owned businesses.

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“I want to create our own Black Wall Street,” Combs told The Associated Press. He is referring to the Greenwood community, a thriving Black-owned business district in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that was decimated in a two-day attack by a white mob in 1921.

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Combs invested $20 million into Empower Global, which allows consumers to purchase products created and sold by Black entrepreneurs. The platform features clothing, shoes, beauty accessories, skin care, fragrances, and wall art. It was designed and created by two Black-owned companies, TechSparq and ChatDesk.

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The platform launched with 70 brands and plans to introduce new Black businesses monthly. Combs hopes to showcase more than 200 brands by the end of the year.

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“This is about building our own infrastructure and ecosystem,” Combs said. “I’m not doing this for profit. This is about us.”

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Combs said he feels more excited about launching into Empower Global than before the start of his widely-popular label Bad Boy Records. He believes it is important for Black people to circulate money in their own community.

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“It benefits the community to empower and take care of itself,” he said. “Right now, our dollar in the Black community doesn’t even last an hour. Most other communities and ethnic groups, they understand the power of unity. Their dollars stay in their communities for days and get passed on to other people that are like them and from their same community.”

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Sources: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/i-want-to-create-our-own-black-wall-street-sean-diddy-combs-says-about-his-new-e-commerce-platform-3b860de3