The Razing of Greenwood: Black Wealth Then and Now

https://daddys-gun.com/2015/05/09/the-heroism-of-the-tulsa-oklahoma-race-riots-our-alamo/

I wrote this for a blog that I established a few years ago called Daddys-Gun.

The premise was simple. African Americans had been forced to establish a vigorous firearms culture during the Reconstruction, and it served us well when other measures failed.

I'm liberal. I'm also pro gun.

I'm posting this for a couple of reasons. First, 97 years ago today, the Greenwood section of Tulsa Oklahoma would still be smoking. 

More importantly, The Greenwood section of Tulsa OK, also known as Black Wallstreet, has almost a mythic status. It represents both our wildest dreams and greatest nightmares.

When I wrote this I was interested in how the men of Tulsa defended themselves and their families and businesses from the onslaught of White rioters. 

The odds were impossible, but how many survived that would have died if they had just surrendered?

Now I'm drawn to what Black wealth is, and how it can go beyond personal achievement and enrich the entire community. 

Greenwood wasn't the only Black Wallstreet. There were hundreds of towns and cities across the country that amassed wealth. They were a feature, not a bug.

The question is, how do we recreate it? We've got more tools now than we ever have before. Think communal. Think global. 

Initiatives like @urbanarray and @guap offer a framework that didn't exist 10 years ago. 

Imagine a wealthy, vibrant Black community, free of the threat of violence from Jim Crow. We are closer than ever before. We just have to know where to look.