Last year, the basketball player Stephon Marbury was promoting his shoe brand and in the process he made some huge accusations against Michael Jordan. He called him greedy, blamed him for contributing to black on black crime and even accused him of “robbing the hood.” Jordan...
The early 20th century was a great time for blacks in Greenwood, OK. The oil boom brought tons of educated, wealthy blacks to the area and it became the Negro Wall Street for many prominent black businessmen.
Prior to its destruction, the predominantly black town was worth over 30 million dollars in today’s currency. Money circulated and stayed in the town because everything was black owned. From the airports to the movie theaters, Greenwood money only ever touched black hands.
In 1921, a devastating race riot resulted in the destruction of nearly 2000 homes and over millions of dollars worth of businesses were burned to the ground. From that day on, we were never able to return to that state again.
Here’s why….
Earlier this year, it was revealed that the war on drugs was perpetrated to imprison educated, enlightened black men. This came as no surprise for those who are aware of the government and it's long history of institutionalized racism. Unfortunately, it didn't ignite a conversation that needed to be had on how to reprimand the enforcers and how to compensate those who fell victim to this system.
When I first started my undergraduate studies under the criminal justice major, I was required to read a book titled, Last Man Standing: The Tragedy and Triumph of Geronimo Pratt written by Jack Olsen. This book was life changing. It painted a completely different picture of the Black Panthers and what they stood for. Since then I was completely obsessed with the activism of the Black Panthers. To me, they were the epitome of advancement of the colored people.
"We have to stop looking for white saviors."
In America, the black culture has been looked down upon as a whole. Throughout the century, decades, and years blacks only been giving a negative image only throughout all media outlets. Even our great leader's names have been discredited. In my Hidden facts section. I will open our youth...