Black Wall Street: A Thriving Community Destroyed by Hatred

Black Wall Street. What could it mean? Is it a region of New York? As it turns out, Black Wall Street was a label that Booker T. Washington used to describe the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma in the early 20th Century. The city is a very unique economic and cultural wonder, and it serves as an example of a black community that persevered and prospered against all odds. Yet very few people have ever heard of it. This can be attributed to an act of hatred that whites have misleadingly dubbed the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921- a historical event which effectively terminated the existence of Black Wall Street, destroying the lives of thousands of black families who had worked so hard to make the city what it was. The goal of this presentation is to explore and inform others about this oft-neglected historical event and economic community