Reparations for Our Black

Wall Streets

[ [link removed] ][IMG][ [link removed] ][IMG]

A $300 billion investment to reinvigorate the pinnacles of Black success

  [ [link removed] ]TAKE ACTION
Dear John,

As HBO’s series, The Watchmen reminds us, harm was done to the folks of
Tulsa, Oklahoma. Angry at the economic success of Black people, on June 1,
1921, white residents of Tulsa attacked the all-Black, Greenwood
neighborhood known as Black Wall Street. After looting Greenwood,
attackers used dynamite and planes to bomb the city, leaving more than
8,000 people homeless.^1 The white power structure did nothing to stop the
massacre, as the intent was to let successful Black businesses and wealth
burn. Tulsa’s Black Wall Street wasn’t the only city crushed by white
terrorist violence - be it destruction, assault, or the orchestrated
erosion of Black communities.  With few safe spaces for Black banking and
business, Black people created safe havens to meet economic and financial
needs.

That’s why this Black History Month, we’re lifting up our Black Wall
Streets and calling for a combined $300 billion reparative investment to
help reinvigorate the spirit of the pinnacles of Black success. Like
Tulsa’s Greenwood neighborhood, themes of entrepreneurship, ingenuity, and
fullness resounded with Blackness.  Nearly all of the Black Wall Streets
had banks, businesses, and residential homes. Most declined around the
Great Depression, but the cities themselves still exist. While there
aren’t many records of each Black Wall Street’s total asset holdings, one
estimation indexed to today’s inflation gives a value of around
$195,000,000,^2 totaling an equivalent value of $300 billion. [ [link removed] ]Join us
in demanding economic redress for the once vibrant Wall Streets of Black
America.

The municipal banks receiving the investments would house no-repayment
business investment initiatives for Black businesses, zero percent
interest loans, and equity funding for neighborhood stabilization efforts.
$300 billion is the equivalent value of cited Black Wall Street holdings
during their peak economic boom. Our Black Wall Streets are directly
impacted by decisions made at the municipal level; therefore it would be
their responsibility to ensure these neighborhoods remain a part of the
local fabric. [ [link removed] ]These are the Black Wall Streets we’re calling on local
municipalities to restore:

* Durham, NC: The all-Black neighborhood of Hayati (named after the
country Haiti)^3grew to house the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance
Co., the richest Black-owned company during the early 1900’s, which
still has assets of over $200 million,^4 as well as the first liberal
arts HBCU to be state-funded in 1925 - North Carolina Central
University.^5
* Columbia, SC: For nearly a century, Columbia’s Black Wall Street was
home to hundreds of thriving Black businesses, grocery stores, funeral
homes, theatres, and two Black medical facilities. The last remnants
were demolished to make way for an area currently known as Assembly
and Gadsden Streets in downtown Columbia.^6 
* Richmond, VA: Home to Black-owned banks, insurance companies and other
investment groups, the all-Black community of Jackson Ward was
originally called the “birthplace of Black capitalism,” leading
Richmond into the epicenter of Black finance.^7
* Birmingham, AL: The area known as “Little Harlem” boasted retail
shops, attorneys, banks, insurance companies, doctor’s offices, and
half a dozen hotels.^8 The buildings were designed by Black architects
and built by Black construction companies, including the six-story
structure built by the Black-owned Penny Savings Bank.^9
* Boley, OK: Boley’s Black Wall Street boasted two colleges, a
newspaper, its own water system, five grocery stores, five hotels,
seven restaurants, four cotton gins, three drugstores, a jewelry
store, four department stores, two insurance companies, two
photographers, an ice plant, and a Black-owned electrical
plant.^10 Today, Boley hosts the largest and most popular Black rodeos
in the country every year.^11
* Mound Bayou, MS: An all-Black town in the delta of Mississippi, Mound
Bayou had a post office, churches, banks, schools and stores. Despite
its sharp population decline throughout the century, Mound Bayou still
exists and has a 98.6 percent total black population.^12

After the 1930s, despite their resilience,  Black communities couldn’t
keep up with urban renewal efforts. With inflated and unaffordable land,
housing, and the number of Black-owned banks at their lowest number for
the first time in history,^13 the trail of ever-widening disparities can
be traced to orchestrated attacks on Black Wall Streets. This trail will
serve as the foundation for just repair. [ [link removed] ]Join us in demanding
reparations for our Black Wall Streets.

 

Until justice is real,

--Brandi, Rashad, Arisha, Jade, Johnny, Amanda, Evan, Eesha, Samantha,
FolaSade, Marcus and the rest of the Color Of Change team 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

References:

 1. “A Long-Lost Manuscript Contains a Searing Eyewitness Account of the
Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921,” Smithsonian Magazine, May 27, 2016,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 2. “How the Other Half Banks.” Mehrsa Baradaran.  October 6, 2015.
 3. “Hayti: The Heart of Durham’s Black Wall Street.” BlackThen. December
31, 2017.
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 4. “Hayti: The Heart of Durham’s Black Wall Street.” BlackThen. December
31, 2017.
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 5. “Hayti: The Heart of Durham’s Black Wall Street.” BlackThen. December
31, 2017.
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 6. “Remembering Columbia’s Black Wall Street.” Carolina Panorama. August
24, 2017.
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 7. “The Rise and Fall of Black Wall Street.” The Atlantic. August 31,
2016.
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 8. “The Rise and Fall of Black Wall Street.” The Atlantic. August 31,
2016.
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 9. “Fourth Avenue Business District, Booming Under Segregation.” AL.com.
Updated January 14,
2019.[ [link removed] ][link removed]
10. Fourth Avenue Business District, Booming Under Segregation.” AL.com.
Updated January 14,
2019.[ [link removed] ][link removed]
11. “Little Known Black History Facts: Boley, Oklahoma.”
BlackAmericaWeb.com. No Date cited.
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
12. “Little Known Black History Facts: Boley, Oklahoma.”
BlackAmericaWeb.com. No Date cited.
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
13. “Mound Bayou.” BlackPast. January 18, 2007.
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
14. “Minority-owned banks disappearing.” Avios. November 21,
2019.[ [link removed] ][link removed]


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