"Spend in the Black" event on South Side aims to boost small Black businesses in Chicago

Dozens of vendors transformed 75th Street and King Drive into Chicago's "Black Wall Street" on Saturday.

Dubbed "Bullseye: Spend in the Black – Resurrecting the Black Dollar," the event featured more than 100 small businesses showcasing their products in a bid to boost Black economic power.

The goal was to highlight small businesses over big box stores ahead of Easter.

Ald. William Hall (6th) co-led the event with Rev. Charlie Dates, senior pastor of Salem Baptist Church.

"When the mayor gave me the assignment of chairman of [the Subcommittee on] Revenue, I knew one thing; First I gotta go to talk to the families. And so community revenue is what's going to sustain Chicago, because this is what built Chicago," Hall said.

Organizers said the event was the greatest concentration of Black businesses in a single corridor in Chicago this year.