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Are You Aware? Made in Detroit
This is part IV in our Awareness Wednesday series for Black History Month 2021. Read the other posts in the series here. In the 1920s, Detroit was the fourth-largest city in the United States, and there was considerable tension in the city. The city — which in 1910 had a population of 456,000, with fewer than 6,000 Black people — had a population of 990,000 in 1920 with nearly 41,000 Black people. The tension created by this phenomenon gave rise to a relatively large Ku Klux Klan presence by the mid-1910s. This was fueled by southern whites and European immigrants competing with Blacks for housing and jobs. The automotive industry, although in…
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Are You Aware? Black Entrepreneurship and Obtaining an Economic Foothold
This is part III in our Awareness Wednesday series for Black History Month 2021. Read the other posts in the series here. Booker T. Washington said Blacks should obtain an economic foothold before trying to tear down social and political barriers. There have been, throughout our history, Black people who have prospered as free people — who made a living that allowed them to buy their own freedom or those of other Black family members. But for most, there have been enormous barriers of prejudice and scant means to overcome in their pursuit of success. This post is about those who have worked to secure an economic foothold. The result…
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Are You Aware? The Destruction of a Dream and the Race Massacre of Tulsa’s Black Wall Street
This is part II in our Awareness Wednesday series for Black History Month 2021. Read the other posts in the series here. After the Civil War, Blacks availed themselves of the opportunity to buy land. During the 1889 Land Rush, the “Unassigned Lands” (ceded Native territory) were the only lands approved to be sold to Blacks. In 1868, John and Rosanna Gurley lived in Huntsville, Alabama. That year they welcomed their firstborn son — Ottowa. Eight years later, John and Rosanna relocated their family, including Ottowa and his three younger siblings, to Pine Bluff, Arkansas. During this post-Civil War era, Black families were quick to take advantage of their newly…
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Are You Aware? The Harlem Renaissance
This is part I in our Awareness Wednesday series for Black History Month 2021. Read the other posts in the series here. The Harlem Renaissance was a product of the Great Migration. Millions of rural Blacks left the South, which had failed them, for better opportunities in western, midwestern, and northern cities. These largely factory driven cities needed industrial workers, especially during World War I. Cities like Detroit, Chicago, Tulsa, and New York were the beneficiaries of the great pool of talent and labor that arrived. Once they had arrived, they built up vibrant neighborhoods full of art, music, and industry. Restaurants, barbershops, grocery stores, and pool halls were opened…
