The Blacker The Berry Market: Building A New Black Wall Street, One Business At A Time

Black Wall Street was never simply a place.
It was an economic philosophy: our businesses, our dollars, our communities, and our responsibility to intentionally support one another.

That spirit is alive in Central Arkansas through THE BLACKER THE BERRY MARKET, the brainchild of founder and CEO Delicia Brown, owner of MADE WITH BLKLUV.

Brown's story is one of action.
Before becoming an event host, she became a full-time traveling vendor herself. She packed up her clothing business and took it on the road—from Nashville, Memphis, Atlanta, and Dallas to Houston, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Washington, Birmingham, Chattanooga, High Point, and Los Angeles.

Those miles became her classroom.
Brown met entrepreneurs, studied markets, listened to vendors, and experienced firsthand the investment, preparation, long hours, and uncertainty that come with putting your products in front of the public. Then she did something entrepreneurs have always done: she identified a problem and created a solution.

The result was THE BLACKER THE BERRY MARKET, a specially curated experience designed to connect Black entrepreneurs with consumers while encouraging people to support Black-owned businesses throughout the year—not simply during Black History Month or Juneteenth. That year-round mission is central to the organization's stated purpose.

BUSY BUYING BLACK

On Saturday, August 29, 2026, that philosophy came alive again at Midtown Event Center in Little Rock.

The BUSY BUYING BLACK experience brought dozens of Black-owned businesses together with food, music, entrepreneurship, families, and community. The official event promoted more than 50 Black-owned businesses, while organizers and participating vendors described an even larger collection of entrepreneurs represented throughout the experience.

And the name on the entrance said exactly what needed to be said:

BUSY BUYING BLACK.
That is more than a slogan. It is an economic instruction.

Among the Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs represented through Blacker the Berry Market are the following:

UNITEE GRAPHICS & DESIGNS • CARRY LESS TRAVEL WITH KEE WATSON – INDEPENDENT TRAVEL ADVISOR • EUPHORIC ESCAPADES & TRAVEL BY SHAKARIE MURPHY • HUSTLE IN SILENCE • BLACKBERRY MOLASSES BOUTIQUE • GIVE MORE LOVE TO BIRTH DOULA SERVICES • BRICKHOUSE BLING WITH ERICA O'NEAL • ANDREA'S CRAFT THERAPY • WICKED FILLINGS • OMG COOKIES & MORE • FAITH GONE DAILY • LITTLE MAMAS BUNDT CAKES • A PRECIOUS FLAME • EBONYOPOLY • LOTUS LOVE • VELVET ROSE FASHION BOUTIQUE • IMAG'N THAT • SUGAR SNAP JEWEL • LANDROSE ESSENTIALS • PAPER PIE • LOOKS LIKE ME CREATIONS • SCENT WORTHY • FANCIPANCE FLUFF • PHOENIX NEST • ROSE & REIGN HERBALS • THE EMBER MINDSET • UTOPIA • KJ JEWELS • SHE CARES OILS • GGC BLINGTIQUE • INFINITE BOUTIQUE • TBR ON WHEELZ • BIG MOOD ROLLZ • SO SO GLOSSY • EXOTIX KREATIONS • SHE'S IT CUSTOM CLOTHING • ALEXANDER ARRANGEMENTS • ASHEL DESIGNS • GIANNI LYN HAIR CARE • BRAGGS BIG BITES • KING OF SMOKE • BOSS CUTS & BEAUTY SUPPLY • NYARAI SKINCARE • PLANNET • TYNZ-LETZ CREATIONS • CRAVEN'S SWEETZ • ERICA O'NEAL NOTARY SERVICES • WRITTEN AROMAS HANDCRAFTED CANDLES & WAX MELTS • IN-TOUCH FRAGRANCES LLC • AROMA LUXE BAR • HOLISTIC WELLNESS & HERBAL MEDICINE BY TY'STACIA DEAN • BUTTERED BY HER WITH PATRICE HAMETH • MONIQUE BENSON/GIVEN ENCORE • SINCERELY YOURS DECOR • TEES, TUMBLERS & THINGS • THE LEMONADE BAR LLC • MY FYE EGGROLLS • SELF-LOVE.CO • THE MONTGOMERY GROUP • TASTE OF DA LAND • AFRO BOHO VIBES • TRIBAL A.R.M.S. • MIRACLE IN MOTION • CLASSY ROCKS & MORE • YO KISSES LIPS WEAR.

And providing the soundtrack to the experience: DJ HUD THA HUNCHO.

MORE THAN A MARKET

I don't normally cover many local events because of my schedule, but my team had its eyes on this one. My wife, Monica Davis; our son, Kalon; and I were grateful to participate as UNITEE GRAPHICS & DESIGNS, creating custom trucker hats on-site while experiencing the vending, community, connections, and culture firsthand.

What struck me was the intentionality.
THE BLACKER THE BERRY MARKET reminds me of the National HBCU Black Wall Street Career Fest because both embrace a Black Wall Street ethos: bring people into the same space, connect consumers with entrepreneurs, circulate opportunity, and make supporting Black enterprise something tangible.

Black economic empowerment cannot survive as a hashtag.

Somebody has to rent the building. Somebody has to organize the vendors. Somebody has to promote the businesses. Somebody has to create the experience. And, most importantly, somebody has to buy something.

Delicia Brown took a chance on herself because she saw a need. Instead of waiting for someone else to create the resource, Brown and her team built it.

That is entrepreneurship. That is community. That is Black Wall Street. THE BLACKER THE BERRY MARKET offers a model other neighborhoods, towns, and cities can study: create spaces where Black businesses are not an afterthought but the attraction.

Keep building, Delicia Brown, the team, and volunteers. Keep connecting businesses. Keep creating culture. And Central Arkansas, let's stay BUSY BUYING BLACK—not just in February, not just on Juneteenth, but 365 days a year. Because Black Wall Street isn't only something we should remember.

It is something we can rebuild.
COMMUNITY. CONNECTIONS. CULTURE.
MADE WITH BLKLUV.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Edmond W. Davis is one of America’s top social historians, media strategists, and professors. Davis is the founder of the National HBCU Black Wall Street Career Fest. A native of Philadelphia, PA, he, his wife, and his son currently live in Little Rock, Arkansas. area. Davis is committed to cultural empowerment and educational equity through storytelling and civic engagement. In 2026, Davis was a grand marshal at the 38th Annual African American History Month Celebration Parade, the largest in the U.S. during Black History Month. His life is told in the 2023 ‘Short Documentary of the Year.' at the Black Excellence Awards, titled ‘FROM GRIND TO GROWTH: The Edmond W. Davis Story. Davis was also the courthouse jailroom deputy on the NBC TV miniseries Bluff City Law.

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