Photos: Dwayne Moore
Melvin M. Coleman, President & CEO of the Atlanta Black Chambers, urges collective action, highlighting the vital role Black-owned businesses play in achieving equity, driving local economies, and shaping a more inclusive future.
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Being that a large portion of corporate America is moving away from prioritizing minority consumers, how important is it to have successful Black-owned businesses?
Melvin M. Coleman: Because in this economic system, ownership, control of businesses and institutions, and organizations is real power and influence. When we have successful Black-owned businesses, that is the anchor in our community. It’s about ownership and control, because if we don’t own it and control it, others will.
Facts! And for those that are unaware, what is the simplest way to describe the importance of how these business owners can benefit from joining the Atlanta Black Chambers?
It’s about community and bringing us together so that we can support each other and build relationships among ourselves. The Chamber provides the central place, like the mothership, where we all come to connect, collaborate, and create within ourselves. These relationships are valuable. They’re vital to us building a community that is moving forward in the right direction. The Chamber creates these opportunities for entrepreneurs and business owners to be connected so that we’re all moving together in the same way, understanding the why, and the big picture of what we’re building together.
That being said, how important is Black-owned media when it comes to supporting these Black-owned businesses?
You don’t have a strong, rich community, from a cultural perspective, without Black-owned media, because our stories have to be told the right way, as only we can express ourselves.
Well we are proud to say that AcknowledgeMINT and the Atlanta Black Chambers have been collaborating for just about a year. What are your thoughts on how this working relationship between organizations is developing?
The growth and development of the Chamber has been a journey. A process of reaching and achieving new levels, and as we have moved forward in our journey, various things have presented themselves to us as if they were divine intervention. And so AcknowledgeMINT came right on time for the ABC. I’m holding in my hand a copy of the ABC 20-year anniversary edition of the magazine. For us to have this relationship with AcknowledgeMINT, to be able to have a tangible hard copy in print form, to have our story told this way, it’s powerful.
It’s important to us to share the resources and the messaging that ABC has to offer. One of the many areas you’ve been very passionate about is federal government contracting. The statistics for Black-owned businesses are so disturbing, and this is before the DEl rollbacks.
The federal government spends over $600 billion annually on federal government contracts. White-owned businesses receive 90% of that, then Black-owned businesses get less than 2%. Even if we went from less than 2% to 5%, how many more billions of dollars are coming into the Black business community? The impact would be visible to the naked eye, and we would see construction and building contracts, because we got an opportunity. That’s what happened in Atlanta in the 70s and 80s because of Maynard Jackson. Herman J. Russell had to expand. And once you get to that level and get the experience, the Russell Company now qualifies for other opportunities. And how did they even get the chance in the first place?
Maynard Jackson pioneered government contracting opportunities for Black Businesses.
That’s what we’re trying to tell people so they understand. We already know what works. We know what must be done.
As seen in AcknowledgeMINT Summer 2025 Issue.
