WHAT IS BBM/M2M?

Black Business Month (BBM) Marching2March is a continuous campaign of the OvergrondRR!!® movement. Pastors of the ORR decided that, to economically empower our people, we needed to focus the community on celebrating and supporting our businesses. They chose March of each year to be Black Business Month.

It was also chosen because the OvergroundRR!!® is a continuation of the Underground Railroad. Since its lead conductor was Harriett Tubman and she died on March 10th, March is a perfect month for Black Business Month.

A movement to achieve any degree of true economic freedom requires continuous and long-term commitment. We are not to only support and celebrate Black businesses one month of the year. We must do it all the time, 12 months a year, 365 days a year. March is the month for annual re-focusing of our unified efforts. During Black Business Month we will evaluate and celebrate the progress made during the year, as well as announce the plans for greater progress in the upcoming year.

Therefore, we will always be Marching To March, hence it is called Black Business Month/Marching2March.

What is the Mission?

The mission of the Overground RR!!® is the economic freedom of the Black community, and BBM/M2M is one of its signature campaigns. Specifically, the mission of the ORR is to empower the Black community by increasing the share of the Black economy controlled by the Black community. As of 2008, according to the Selig Center of the University of Georgia, Blacks spent approximately $910 billion, but the gross revenues of Black businesses approximate only 15% of that amount. SEE FULL REPORT.

As shown by its name, the ORR’S mission is a continuation of the Underground Railroad’s mission to deliver Black people to freedom. This leg of the journey is aimed at economic freedom, instead of physical freedom. It is overground because we no longer have to meet in the dead of night, down by the riverside, speaking and singing in secret codes.

The Black church has been, is, and always will be, important in protecting and advancing the interests of our people. And so obviously it has been central to the ORR movement. Indeed, BBM/M2M was initiated by the Rev. Timothy McDonald one of Atlanta’s leading pastors. He is the Senior Pastor of one of the founding ORR churches, First Iconium Baptist Church.

BBM/M2M as a signature campaign of the ORR unifies the community for economic freedom by focusing the community on the importance of celebrating and supporting Black-owned businesses.

Additionally, Community Organizations have played an integral part in building the ORR. Indeed, the Atlanta Business League is a founding member of the ORR. The ORR and BBM/M2M implement resolutions adopted by the ABL’s Congress on the State of Black Business in Metro Atlanta calling for action to change the dismal share of the Black economy controlled by the Black community.

Indeed, the ORR consists of more than 90 churches, 140 businesses and 40 community organizations. It connects the entire Black community. To learn more about the ORR’s mission, strategy and tactics, see the formal Mission Statement and overgroundrr.com.

There’s a place for everyone on the OvergroundRR!!®, but no one can fill the special place that God has for you in this movement. We welcome you onto the OvergroundRR!!®. Get on board!!!