The FORUBOX service originally started when there was a lot of performative activism surrounding ‘Blackout Tuesday’. The concept, although solid, showed that we need more than a day or a month to understand and change the culture, it needs a movement: a continuous action that everyone can take part in to help the growth of the black economy.

I wanted to find quality products created by black-owned businesses, to have an alternative to the products that I had traditionally used simply because they were convenient and widely available. I began to seek out black business directories and companies that offered a fabulous range of products and started buying products that I grew to know and  now love. 

I started sharing my findings in various online groups to spread the word but I felt this wasn’t enough. So I set myself a small budget to buy products and send them to my friends and family so they could try them, see the results and continue to buy them if they liked – but also pass on their recommendations to others.

I imagined creating a network of positivity to showcase black-owned businesses that grew broader, stronger and even globally. I believed that by buying these products, I was putting my money into good businesses that deserved my custom.  By sharing the information, I hoped to help grow their clientele and I loved the feeling of discovering things I thought people would enjoy too.  I hoped that my recipients in turn would like the gifts enough to keep the sharing going, and thus build the black-economy.

Forubox is a movement that allows us to do more together and show that black-owned businesses are not just making niche products for black people, they are for everybody.