Over 300 black-owned businesses once thrived in Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Greenwood District aka, ‘Black Wall Street.” In 1921, Greenwood was burned to the ground in the worst race massacre in United States history. It was rebuilt. But, eventually succumbed to the systemic racism of urban planning and discriminatory policies in the mid-20th century.
Dream Tulsa, a new program developed by the George Kaiser Family Foundation, is growing local talent and recruiting black entrepreneurs from around the nation to rebuild Black Wall Street.
Today, a highway covers much of the area that became known as Black Wall Street; hiding the history of hard-won economic freedom and entrenched racial animus. Generations of black entrepreneurs and investors have been inspired by the story of Tulsa’s Greenwood. Greenwood is, perhaps, the best-known of the many black economic zones—known as Black Wall Streets—that flourished in the early 20th century.
In May 2018, Dream Tulsa is bringing a group of black entrepreneurs and innovators from around the nation to Tulsa. They will be immersed in the history of Greenwood and enticed to move to Tulsa to rebuild Black Wall Street.
Black Enterprise Contributor Brandon Andrews sat down with Dream Tulsa coordinator Onikah Asamoa-Caesar to talk about the legacy of Black Wall Street and ambitious plans to spark a new movement for economic freedom in Tulsa and beyond.
Black Wall Street has become a rallying cry for economic independence. The modern #BankBlack and #BuyBlack movements trace their roots to the story of Tulsa’s prosperous Greenwood District. Many people are familiar with the name, but what’s one thing people may not know about Black Wall Street?
A lot of people don’t realize both the tragedy and triumph of Black Wall Street, which in Tulsa was the name for the Greenwood District; an economically thriving community with well over 300 black-owned businesses, including banks, movie theatres, hospitals, hotels, and much more.
The race massacre of 1921, historically known as the 1921 Race Riot, is considered by some to be the first documented case of the U.S. using airstrikes against its own citizens. The entire Greenwood District was burned to the ground by white Tulsans, including members of law enforcement and government, and that history was not meaningfully addressed for decades.
In the mid-1990’s, community leaders and lawmakers began the process of really peeling back the layers of that history and now, as a community, we are working toward ensuring that it is no longer hidden. (Courtesy of 
Brandon Andrew)
