Business

Black Wall Street Spring

THE FLORIDA STAR — On Saturday, March 30th, an event was held at The Bethel Church to do just that. It was called Black Wall Street Spring, hosted by Gene Dot Com.

Published

7 years ago

April 10, 2019

Oakland Post

By Carmen Davenport

On Saturday, March 30th, an event was held at The Bethel Church to do just that. It was called Black Wall Street Spring, hosted by Gene Dot Com and I must admit, it was an amazing event. His first Black Wall Street event occurred in November of 2018, with a purpose of encouraging people to forgo Black Friday and invest in BOBs instead. That event was such a success, Gene Dot Com decided to hold another one this spring.

“The purpose for this event is to support small businesses,” states Gene. “I believe that if we support each other, then the black dollar will continue to exist and continue to be an impact. Sometimes people forget about the small businesses which are cornerstones for our communities and neighborhoods and tend to get past away due to lack of support.”

The event in Tulsa, Oklahoma drove his decision to create this event in Jacksonville, Fl. Gene expects for this event to grow and continue to be a beacon light for each other.

I had the personal pleasure of meeting many business owners who possess a true desire of bringing value to other peoples’ lives. Approximately 70 vendors to include 5 food vendors were on site. Approximately 30 vendors were unfortunately turned down due to a lack of space. Business owners displayed clothing, body care products, hair care products, jewelry, and natural oils. Service providers such as authors, financial managers, and realtors were in attendance. Teachings on managing children in managing finances were all available.

We are not able to feature all of the businesses but was able to capture a few.

Black Wall Street: What Is It and Why Should We Care

What is it Black Wall Street?

Information of one of the most traumatic events in the history of America is disappearing. Yes, literally. Court records have disappeared and this particular event was accidentally omitted from history books. This event is known as the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, however, it is known by survivors as a massacre. Most of us are aware of the history of segregation and racial tension in America. Blacks were not allowed in white-owned stores, they were not able to use the same amenities whites used nor could they eat in places owned or occupied by whites. In many cases, whites did not want blacks around them.

Blacks in this area were barred from white areas, therefore, they built their own area for shopping, entertainment, surviving and thriving. This area called Greenwood was considered the Black Wall Street of America. There were 108 businesses, 15 doctor offices, 2 schools, 2 movie theaters, banks, pharmacies, barber shops, beauty shops and anything else needed for survival or entertainment. All businesses were black-owned and for blacks only. They dressed exceptionally and elegantly well, suits, ties, and hats for the men and elegant dresses, gloves, and hats for the women. Against popular belief, black people were and still are highly educated, extremely intelligent and most important, thriving survivors.

Since blacks were prevented from the use of white amenities, one would think whites would be satisfied. Unfortunately, that did not solve the problems whites had with blacks. The success of blacks became the next thing whites did not like. Many became jealous of what blacks achieved, such as possessing grand pianos in their living rooms. This jealousy created a range of emotions and whites only needed one little spark to blow the top off their frustrations.

Unfortunately, this little spark occurred on May 31, 1921. Dick Rowland, 19, a black shoe shiner entered an elevator as he had numerous times prior to this day. This elevator was operated by 17-year-old Sarah Page. The doors closed, a scream was heard from Sarah, the doors opened and both ran out of the elevator. Rumor mill was told of an assault which as time went on, turned into a rape by the time it went through the town. Dick was arrested the next day and taken to the courthouse. Approximately 1000 armed whites surrounded the courthouse requesting for Dick to be lynched. Blacks heard of what happened and also went to the courthouse armed to protect this young boy. The size of the black group did not compare to the size of the white group. An argument and tussle ensued between an armed white and black man. A weapon was fired and the white man was shot. This is the moment when literally, all hell broke loose.

That was the spark the white crowd was waiting for. Over 1000 whites headed to the prestigious town of Greenwood. They looted businesses, murdered black people and set fire to 35 blocks of black-owned businesses. 1,200 homes, 108 businesses were burned and over 300 black people were killed. The bodies of these residents have yet to be located. It is believed they were dumped in mass graves.

Survivors recalled seeing planes overhead shooting down as they tried to escape and dropped bombs on their community. For two days, the prestigious town of Greenwood burned to the ground without relief. There were a few survivors who lost everything. They had to create and live in a tent city. Over 2.7 million dollars in insurance claims were filed and submitted however, all were denied.

Why Should We Care?

Nielson 2018 reported American consumer spending at $13,032.30 billion. The Share of the U.S. White Population for 2018 was 76.4 percent with a Buying Power of $12.1 trillion. The Share of the U.S. Black Population for 2018 was 13.4 percent with a Buying Population of $1.3 trillion. The Buying Power of the Black community is expected to grow to $1.5 trillion dollars by 2021.

So you ask, why should we care? We should care because this is hard-earned money the black community contributes to society. We pay state and federal taxes to a society we fight daily to be recognized as equal. We strive to be treated fairly, we fight to protect the lives of our children and we are killed by the hands that should protect us. We are beaten and killed by people who will never like black people and who are never brought to justice. We are falsely or unjustly imprisoned with unacceptable jail or prison sentences as another means of oppression.

We march but our voices are unheard, we vote but our votes are stolen. Those are situations we obviously cannot control. What can be controlled is how each of us invests our hard earned money. If that means supporting Black Owned Businesses (BOB) for our voices to be heard, then we do so. Can you imagine the difference the black community can make by investing black money with BOBs? That is $1.3 trillion dollars placed back in the black communities. It could be invested to help fight homelessness, drive out drugs, provide proper education where our children can learn about their history, and create other black business owners.

This article originally appeared in The Florida Star.

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Activism

At the event, 16 entities signed the EIP pledge, vowing to take steps to increase public contracting opportunities in their spheres for small and historically underutilized businesses. The pledge signees included Hub International, the Port of San Francisco, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, California High-Speed Rail Authority, the Port of Oakland, Robert Graham of Webcor Builders, Holder Construction, the Weitz Company, Sky Blue Builders, Hornblower, Swinerton, Luster National, Talson Solutions, Center for Community Wealth Building, and the Construction Contractors Alliance.

Published

1 week ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Toks Omishakin, secretary of the California State Transportation Agency, was one of the speakers at the event. Photo by Shellee Fisher Photography and Design.

By Calvin Naito, Special to The Post

On June 4, a national nonprofit named the Equity in Infrastructure Project (EIP) – which aims to increase public construction contracting opportunities for small and historically underutilized businesses – held a day-long event in downtown San Francisco to rally supporters and build momentum to its cause.

It was attended by more than 100 individuals from public agencies, private firms, and other organizations committed to increasing contracting opportunities with governmental agencies, thereby creating more competition and lowering public costs.

The EIP event was held the Hyatt Regency San Francisco in conjunction with BuildIT, which aims to increase contracting opportunities for LGBT-owned businesses.

At the event, 16 entities signed the EIP pledge, vowing to take steps to increase public contracting opportunities in their spheres for small and historically underutilized businesses.

The pledge signees included Hub International, the Port of San Francisco, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, California High-Speed Rail Authority, the Port of Oakland, Robert Graham of Webcor Builders, Holder Construction, the Weitz Company, Sky Blue Builders, Hornblower, Swinerton, Luster National, Talson Solutions, Center for Community Wealth Building, and the Construction Contractors Alliance.

Following the workshop, BuildIT hosted a VIP evening reception honoring EIP, whose principals – Phil Washington, John Procari, and Rick Jacobs – accepted the award.

The event also set in motion the coalition’s efforts to implement recommendations from EIP’s “Procurement for Prosperity: A Playbook.”

The Playbook is a practical guide for public agency leaders and procurement and contracting practitioners to grow the capacity of small and first-time contractors, strengthen competition, and deliver better value for taxpayers.

Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), a long-time EIP supporter, also told attendees, “This is about commitment. This has been a life’s work. This is a tailwind moment.”

The event’s presenting sponsor was Hub International, one of the largest insurance brokerages in the nation, which was joined by partners Travelers Insurance and the State Compensation Insurance Fund.

After the pledge-signing ceremony, attendees participated in a workshop in which they examined the policies, practices, and programs needed to meet EIP goals, learned from practitioners, and identified next steps toward utilizing the Playbook.

Ingrid Meriwether, formerly of Merriwether & Williams Insurance Services (MWIS) and current president of Hub International’s Aligned Risk Management, MWIS, described the hard-fought lessons she and her MWIS team have learned over the last three decades administering contractor development programs (CDPs) for the City and County of San Francisco, Alameda County, City of Los Angeles, LA Metro, and other municipalities.

The CDPs help small and local construction firms win public infrastructure contracts with these government agencies. The program provides bonding assistance, contract financing, technical support, training, and other services to underrepresented businesses funded by public agencies who seek greater contracting participation with these firms.

Merriwether said programs like these “break down systemic barriers, create greater fairness, and save taxpayers money by enabling more competition. The contractor development programs have, cumulatively, over two decades, helped contractors access over $1 billion in bonding, supporting over $380 million in awarded contracts, and maintaining a loss ratio 250 times lower than the industry average – while saving participating municipalities more than $27 million in contracting costs as a result of enabling more competition.”

Rick Jacobs, EIP co-founder and co-chair urged attendees make plans to meet again in the near future “to continue building on this work, share progress on organizational commitments, and discuss how we can collectively advance the goals of the EIP pledge.”

For more information on the EIP and to access a copy of the Playbook, go online to https://equityininfrastructure.org/

Calvin Naito is communications manager for Equity in Infrastructure Project.

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Oakland Museum Presents Landmark Retrospective Celebrating Beloved Bay Area Artist Mildred Howard

“Poetics of Memory” coincides with a year of major recognition for Howard. In 2026, she received the California Arts Council’s 50th Anniversary Award, honoring artists whose work has shaped California’s cultural and civic life, as well as the Museum of the African Diaspora’s Artist Impact Award. In 2025, she was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship in recognition of her transformative contributions to American cultural life.

Published

1 week ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Mildred Howard. Photo by Christine Cueto for the Oakland Museum of California, 2025.

Special to The Post

The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) opened “Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory,” the first major museum survey of Bay Area artist Mildred Howard, on June 12.

The exhibition spans five decades of Howard’s influential work, bringing together immersive installations, found-object sculptures, archival materials, and new commissions that explore memory, identity, and power in American life.

Howard was born in San Francisco in 1945 and raised in the East Bay, where she went on to study Afro-Haitian dance, make and sell clothing, and experiment with collage and sculpture.

Her multimedia art practice emerged from these experiences, later becoming associated with West Coast conceptual art, San Francisco funk, and a vibrant community of artists like Oliver Jackson, Betye Saar, and Raymond Saunders. Since the 1970s, she has used found materials and family stories to explore memory—both individual and collective.

At OMCA, visitors enter “Poetics of Memory” through a series of intimate galleries featuring Howard’s early mixed-media pieces and sculptures, along with a large video projection of a number of her public artworks.

Together, they emphasize Howard’s interest in everyday objects as powerful carriers of individual and shared stories. Highlights include collages that remix images of the artist herself; found-object sculptures like The History of the United States with a few Parts Missing (2007) that address omissions in dominant narratives; and public works like “Locks and Keys for Harry Bridges” (2001) that transform urban space into a meditation on access and labor.

This culminates in a richly detailed “studio” environment, where works in progress, archival exhibition flyers, historic photographs of Howard and her community, postcards from fellow artists, and other materials offer insight into her creative process and daily life.

The exhibition then opens into a high-ceilinged, dramatically lit space that brings together Howard’s signature immersive installations. On one end, “Crossings” (1997/2026) – a field of hundreds of ceramic eggs leading to an ornate mirror – suggests cycles of birth, motherhood, and transition, while drawing on the emotional echoes of the Middle Passage. On the other end, “Blackbird in a Red Sky” (a.k.a. “Fall of the Blood House”) (2002) – a red glass shack bordered by a pond – also uses reflection and transparency to draw viewers into the work and prompt consideration of themes of identity and home.

Howard’s newest video installation, “Moving Stills” (2026), repurposes never-before-seen family footage she took as a teenager on a train trip to the American South. Projected onto cascading layers of translucent fabric that stretch across an entire gallery wall, the piece immerses viewers in a layered meditation on memory, migration, and time.

The “Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory” exhibit will be on display through Oct. 11 at the Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St., Oakland, CA 94612. Museum hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours on Fridays to 9 p.m.

This story is sourced from the Oakland Museum of California press office.

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Alameda County

Ferry Fares to Increase July 1 as Ridership Hits Record Highs

The Oakland and Alameda routes will increase from $4.90 to $5.10, the South San Francisco route will go up from $7.40 to $7.60, and the Vallejo route will increase from $9.90 to $10.

Published

1 week ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Courtesy photo.

By Mike Aldax, The Richmond Standard

Starting July 1, the standard adult fare for the San Francisco Bay Ferry route between Richmond and San Francisco will increase to $5.20, up from the current $4.90.

Discounted fares for eligible passengers, including youth, seniors, people with disabilities, and Clipper START users, will rise to $2.60 from the current $2.40. Children under 5 will continue to ride for free.

The Oakland and Alameda routes will increase from $4.90 to $5.10, the South San Francisco route will go up from $7.40 to $7.60, and the Vallejo route will increase from $9.90 to $10.

The adjustments are part of a systemwide fare update approved by the agency’s Board of Directors, which is moving away from a flat 3% annual increase to route-specific pricing for the 2027 and 2028 fiscal years.

This fare update arrives as San Francisco Bay Ferry celebrates a historic May, transporting 301,270 passengers. The record-breaking figure represents an 8% increase over May 2025 and marks the third consecutive month of record-setting ridership.

Furthermore, it is the sixth month in a row that passenger numbers have exceeded pre-pandemic levels. Weekend travel has been a primary driver of this growth, with average weekend ridership seeing a 56% increase compared to pre-pandemic trends.

The agency states that the fare adjustments are necessary to ensure the long-term fiscal sustainability of public ferry services. By shifting to route-specific adjustments, the agency aims to offset rising operating costs while maintaining the high levels of service frequency and reliability.