Did You Know About Black Wall Street?
In the early 1900s in Tulsa, Oklahoma where proactive African American entrepreneurs had their own governed community in Greenwood District named Black Wall Street. During this segregational period, the Black community was unified understanding the importance of building economic wealth for each other. These businesses consisted of 21 restaurants, 21 churches, 30 grocery stores, two hospitals, law offices, a bank, and a post office, housing, education including schools and libraries, public transportation, and six private planes. Black Wall Street gave the infrastructure of success in the black community.
On June 1, 1921, a great Massacre took place in right in the midst of Greenwood District bombed and burned to the ground. Behind it all was the White Supremacy Ku Klux Klan organization being known for their destruction and mass murders against blacks while invading their communities. Whites who were less fortunate grew jealous and envious of the African American’s self-empowerment. Black owners were highly proud of what they had helped build and wanted it to continue for generations to come. Blacks refused to give up any of their property or businesses to whites. This invasion led to over 600 businesses crashing and having 36 blocks worth of land with a population of 15,000 African Americans 3,000 lives were lost and 1,500 homes burned. Many entrepreneurs from Black Wall Street owned some of the biggest cotton gins and farms. It was great for African Americans to have great leadership initiative in their communities and be able to run it themselves. This took place when a time where blacks were under a lot of harder circumstances than today. Under the circumstances today don’t you think we can rebuild Black Wall Street?
I AM
For the month of February Jabari Hakeem had his residents at the University Towers participate in Black History Month. For every room in the Towers their are two residents and on every door their is a note which reads, “I am.”
“I want my residents to gain self-knowledge from this program, what I want is for them to basically write a description of themselves,” said Jabari. “Two words Dr. Martin Luther King used to exaggerate in his speeches were I am, I am somebody, I am God’s child, I am soul power, I am black power and from that I just want the residents to build self confidence so that every time that they look at they’re doors its like they’re looking at themselves.”
Great way to go about Black History Month!
Midterm State of Mind
Jabari Hakeem doing his duties as a Resident Assistant at Texas Southern University giving his residents tips on studying prepping them for their upcoming midterm exams.
