In 1905, a man named Ottwa Gurley bought 40 acres of land in Tulsa Oklahoma that he vowed to only sell to other Black people/entrepreneurs. This was the birth of Greenwood, dubbed the legendary “Black Wall Street.” The Black Wall Street community was legendary for its number of businesses, the wealth of its residents, and the tenacity of its Black entrepreneurs. At its height, the Greenwood community boasted hundreds of businesses that included 32 grocery stores, a hospital, law offices, a bank, a trolley system, and even six privately owned airplanes. All of this was built by people less than a generation removed from slavery. Black Wall Street painted a new reality that proved Black potential was limitless, even in a country that enslaved us and made racism the cornerstone of its identity.
It is this new story, written by the founders of Black Wall Street that was its crown Jewel and greatest gift. And it is truly an incredible blessing that this was the case. because in 1921, the ineffable achievement of entrepreneurial genius that was Black Wall Street, was burned to ashes.
“Economic studies tell us that Median black wealth in America is on track to hit zero by the year 2053. ZERO. Today, only half of the top 10 occupations that African Americans typically hold pay above the federal poverty guidelines for a family of four, and all ten of those occupations pay below the median salary of a US worker. To make matters worse, many of these occupations are among the top 15 occupations most at risk for automation-based displacement.”
Tyrance Billingsley II
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Black Tech Street is an initiative to rebirth Historic Black Wall Street as a Black Innovation Economy and
catalyze a movement that engages Black people across the globe to embrace the tech industry as a means to build wealth and impact the world.
Powered by the unique and unparalleled legacy of Black Wall Street, Black Tech Street’s endgame is to serve as a model for utilizing Black Innovation Economies to generate wealth and socioeconomic power for Black people.
Tyrance Billingsley II is a born and raised Tulsa entrepreneur, ecosystem builder, and community leader with a background in politics and community organizing. For the past 3 years he has worked to seed the narrative of the rebirth of Black Wall Street as the world's premiere Black Innovation Economy under the new moniker “Black Tech Street'' and founded the Black Tech Street organization to achieve that goal.
Tyrance in an Inaugural Forbes the Culture 50 Champion, has given a TEDx Talk on "How the opportunity of the tech industry, powered by the story of Black Wall Street, can transform Black America", has chaired various statewide boards, worked with startups and VC's as well as brokered partnerships with fortune 100 companies.
Cioré is a social wellness influencer, human engineer and communication enthusiast who specializes in
people development and community health. She leverages her background in systems design, product
development, design thinking, leadership and creative expression to teach effective communication to
those willing to do the work. Her advising style is compassionate yet non-traditional and her thought
leadership creates awareness with invaluable returns.
By discovering remarkable patterns in the way people think, act and communicate when under
tremendous stress, Cioré blends lessons learned across the Economic Development, Social Impact,
Entertainment, Finance and Energy sectors to inform human performance, operations, marketing and
programming. By assessing the personal, cultural and operational blindspots in your execution, Cioré
repositions you for success.
Allen Collins is a proud North Tulsa native and a Booker T. Washington High School graduate. He is the Admin and Communications Manager with Black Tech Street and is a former tech recruiter, media professional, freelance writer and nonprofit professional.
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Black Tech Street was founded as an answer to the question “what could Black Wall Street have been had it been supported and not destroyed?” Thinking about the level of tenacity that it took for these Black entrepreneurs to build these incredible businesses during Jim Crow, the smashing through walls and out-of-the-box thinking echoed the tech industry. That leads us to a three-pronged epiphany:
Tech is one of the only industries in which you can build intergenerational wealth in 7-10 years via a successful company exit.
Technology is the core medium through which all global innovation and the creation of new wealth-generating markets take place consistently.
By the year 2030, there will be as many as 4.3 million vacant, high-paying tech jobs due to a tech talent shortage.
These three points not only present the perfect wealth-building solution to the projected Black Wealth Crisis of 2053, they present a new horizon for the Black Wall Street vision. So, we surmised that, had Black Wall Street been supported and not destroyed, it would be nothing other than America’s premiere premiere Black Innovation Economy. Black Tech Street.
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