AABL began as late-night conversation among friends in Issaquah, Washington, USA, in 1993 and soon became a newsletter and directory of local businesses in Greater Seattle. Our original focus was to attempt to be part of the solution to the "digital divide" that was keeping minority households and businesses out of the surging growth of the WWW. At that time few black households in our milieu had computers, let alone access to the Internet.
Since then we've expanded our focus in the belief that the 21st Century can be a time of transition unmatched since our ancient ancestors scattered across the globe thousands of years ago. We also believe that the United States, acting as a good neighbor and caring relative, can play a mutually beneficial role in that transition.
Of course, the Web has moved on under our feet. The move from desktop computers to tablets to phones has required that we strive to adapt our layouts and our organization, with varying success. We started with just a news digest and a directory, seeking to give a web presence to local businesses and inform potential customers, both within and outside the black community, about the opportunity to use inclusiveness as a way to expand everyones horizons.
A contemporary survey reported that "...in 2018, 45% of small business owners were minority ethnic groups. This was already a dramatic increase from 2015, when the amount of minority business owners was just 15%. The biggest increase among minority small business owners however has been the huge increase in the number of African American small business owners year over year 400% increase in a year-over-year period between 20017 and 2018. Following African Americans, Hispanics were the next largest group of minority small business owners representing 14% of the business owners interviewed for the survey. Meanwhile, Asians made up 8% of the business owners surveyed while Native Americans made up 4%."
At AABL, the searchable DIRECTORY has grown to include businesses in most US states and in other countries as well. We are frequently adding search features to assist users in narrowing their search results. We look forward to forming associations with local resellers who will take our message to their neighbors and bring them into our network, including farmers, manufacturers, wholesale and retail merchants. The common thread is not what we look like but rather a common desire to accent the growing strength of the African diaspora.
Our DIGEST is a compendium of information written or compiled by local writers from others around the world. We borrow leads from other publications, giving full credit and attributing to the original sources as fully as possible.
The FORUMS are open to all viewpoints. We hope to see them become a focus of conflict resolution as well as airing of differences. We will strive always to lift our readers and members up and not hold them down.
Readers who enroll as MEMBERS also have their own publishing platforms. Each user has a personal profile and a place to post personal updates and links to share interesting items they discover. All personal contact information is confidential by default, and we do not sell or otherwise share our member data; don't bother asking! That said, we may discretely share information and advertising we believe is germane to our common interest. Members can also contribute to our Digest, subject to review by our editorial committee. Viewpoints can be varied, but facts and truth will rule the process, and opinion will be clearly identified.
We have recently added audio-visual support with a PODCAST tool and a video channel. Watch the Digest for announcements.
This effort has begin with a core group of primarily English speakers. However, we are building an interface in which most if not all controls and key information can appear in any of several languages. The language selection will be automatic whenever the user's computer or device is configured to use a supported language other than English and selectable otherwise. Our expected order of development at this time is French, Portuguese, Afrikaans, Swahili. As we begin each language phase we will be asking for your help. Parlez vous français? Você fala português? Praat u Afrikaans? Unazungumza Kiswahili?
