On Saturday, the Bronzeville Kwanzaa Celebration and Vendor Fair demonstrated the value of Ujamaa, or cooperative economics, in real time.
Twenty Black-owned businesses offered a diverse range of products, including candles, children’s books, Pan-African flags, hand-stitched Chicago Bears hats, framed pictures of political activists and even homemade detergent. Black customers purchased the items, thereby achieving the goal of circulating their dollars within the community.