Website launches to support black-owned businesses

The activist organization Black Lives Matter has worked to bring more attention to the challenges faced by black Americans. Now the organization is really getting down to business - by supporting black-owned businesses.

Launched last week, the Google-powered Backing Black Business site aims to list every business in the country owned by a black American. The site - which has about 300 businesses listed so far - will enable visitors to find companies by address, city, state, Zip code or categories that include food and beverage, health and beauty, and entertainment.

There also are separate listings for online companies without a street address and for not-for-profits.

'Black-owned business have long been a staple in the black community providing jobs, economic security and somewhere for us to go and feel seen and safe,” Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors said in a statement, according to Mashable. 'In these uncertain times, we need these places more than ever.”

The organization has partnered with advertising giant J. Walter Thompson to get the site up and running and to spread the word.