Woodlawn festival to carry on legacy of Black Wall Street in Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) – A Woodlawn community group is creating a forum that encourages positive transformation and elevates small businesses.
CBS 2's Noel Brennan showed how organizers are hosting an even this weekend hoping to use history to help inspire Black excellence and innovation.
Her office overflows with a big idea and Carlas Prince is excited to share it. She's been planning and mapping it out for weeks in Woodlawn.
"This is where Black Wall Street Chicago will be showcased," she said, showing CBS 2 her plan on poster board.
Prince said the idea "represents the legacy of the original Black Wall Street that was started in Tulsa, Oklahoma, back in the 1900s."
A dream on poster board will become a reality on city blocks. Prince said they'll have 40-plus small business owners, "from fashion to oils to candles."
"I want the community and small business owners to see what's possible for them," Prince said.
With the festival a day away, Prince has been waiting on one last delivery.
The printed backdrop of a tent is just as she expected, but Shad Bryant's background is a surprise. It's a connection to the original Black Wall Street.
She pointed to Green Smith.
"He's my great grandfather who lived in Oklahoma at the time of Black Wall Street," Bryant said. "And he had actually had built theaters there."
Bryant said Green hid in a theater as a white mob killed dozens and burned city blocks. It's a 102-year-old story from Tulsa that resonates in Chicago.
"This is a legacy and this is why I wanted to keep it alive," said Prince.
Black Wall Street can come back and Prince wants it to thrive.
"I am here to keep the legacy going," she said. "I want to plant the seed."
The second annual Black Wall Street Chicago kicks off Saturday in Woodlawn at noon until 8 p.m.
