Five African American owned and operate grocery stores became CMA stores in Winston-Salem North Carolina in 1929. The CMA announced plans to expand into “at least 25 cities in one year.” Within a white supremacist capitalist economy cooperatives had been a strategy for African-American businesses to survive. Dating back to 1914 the NNBL called for cooperative buying among African-American retailers. the NNBL’s Albon L. Holsey remarked that the majority ignored the advice and suffer the consequences. “Now that we are awake let us work fast and effectively,” wrote Holsey, we must advocate for black-owned businesses and organize and educate local entrepreneurs about best practices for selling. NNBL leaders believed that the CMA had the combined buying power of the nation’s 12 million African-American consumers behind them. With that economic power the CMA can negotiate with decision-makers for the best possible terms in the mutual interest of our people.
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