If you've checked the news already, then you'll know that this past weekend has been extremely monumental. The death of an innocent African American, George Floyd, at the hands police officers has sparked nationwide protests. It has also helped the Black Lives Matter movement go into full momentum and has now even caused worldwide protests.

Many people, specifically young people, have flocked to the streets to join protesters in an effort to stop police brutality on African Americans.

Many of you are probably wondering what you can do to help in a different way.

Well, if you're wanting to make a difference, you can help in several different ways that not only include joining the protests or raising awareness on social media, but by contributing to black-owned restaurants within the community that you live in.

It's well-known that black-owned businesses have a history of struggling to finance their business due to racial disparity. According to the Press Herald, the effects of racism and Jim Crow laws have denied black people equal opportunities which can be seen through the struggles that black-owned businesses have gone through.

Not only have they struggled because of this, but there have also been points in history where black businesses have especially struggled with the effects of racism, specifically during 1921 where racists white mobs had killed hundreds of black residents.

And if things can't get worse, the outbreak of COVID-19 has had a detrimental effect on black-owned businesses.

According to the Press Herald, the pandemic could widen the existing black wealth gap and exacerbate existing discrepancies of Black-owned businesses. Though the government gave a paycheck to alleviate the financial burden of small businesses, the payroll had run out in only 13 days, leaving many black-owned businesses to fend for themselves.

Therefore, black-owned restaurants have been really struggling with the effects of COVID-19. Many of them also depend on customers from churches to come to their restaurant on Sundays after mass, but because of the outbreak, churches were prohibited from holding mass.

And though dine-in has resumed once again after the reopening of many businesses, many black-owned restaurants are still struggling to get back on their feet again after the tremendous effects that the outbreak has had on their finances.

And on top of the struggles that these restaurants are facing financially from the direct impact of the outbreak, the outbreak has also had a detrimental effect on minorities, specifically for African Americans. COVID-19 has caused the highest rate of deaths for African Americans than for any other group.

According to The Guardian, Black people have died at a rate of 50.3 per 100,000 people, compared with 20.7 for White people, 22.9 for Latinos, and 22.7 for Asian Americans. These numbers impact the community that black-owned restaurants are located in which therefore affects their business.

Most of these restaurants really need our help during this time.

If you want to make a difference in several different ways, you can start by going to black-owned restaurants more often to help them recover financially from the effects of the outbreak.

You may wonder, how do I know where there are black-owned restaurants within the community I live in? Luckily, there is a new app that was just released that pinpoints where there are black-owned restaurants near you!

The app is known as EatOkra, which can be found in the app store.

It will not only tell you where there are black-owned restaurants within your community, but it will also pinpoint where you can find food trucks that are black-owned, too.

The app is very accessible and easy to use. You just have to type in the city that you live in and search it through the app. It's that simple! You can bookmark specific restaurants, give reviews on the restaurant, and even order food using the app. It can also be used anywhere which makes it very useful.

With everything that has been going on, you could make such a huge impact by just visiting a black-owned restaurant and giving them your service. You are helping to fight against racial inequality since you are giving businesses the opportunity to thrive regardless of their race.

Just think, by going to a black-owned restaurant instead of a big company-owned restaurant, you are not only helping the community, but also helping to stop black-owned restaurants from going out of business due to the pandemic.