Gurley later subdivided his plot into residential and commercial plots and also opened a grocery store. Greenwood, now known as “Black Wall Street,” soon became a prosperous Black community and had a large working-class population, including doctors, lawyers, and other professionals, according to Forbes. “Greenwood was perceived as a place to escape oppression—economic, social, political oppression—in the Deep South,” Forbes quoted Hannibal B. Johnson, a Tulsa-based historian who has written numerous books about Greenwood, including Black Wall Street. Gurley later left Tulsa and resettled in California. “What Gurley did was for the long term–for the generations who never would have met him,” said Dr. Michael Carter, Sr. the founder of Black Wall Street USA, a nonprofit.

Source: The North Africa Journal June 05, 2021 13:07 UTC